An object-oriented approach to application generation

The TUBA system consists of a set of integrated tools for the generation of business-oriented applications. Tools and applications have a modular structure, represented by class objects. The article describes the architecture of the environments for file processing, screen handling and report writing

SPEEDY: An Eclipse-based IDE for invariant inference

SPEEDY is an Eclipse-based IDE for exploring techniques that assist users in generating correct specifications, particularly including invariant inference algorithms and tools. It integrates with several back-end tools that propose invariants and will incorporate published algorithms for inferring object and loop invariants. Though the architecture is language-neutral, current SPEEDY targets C programs. Building and using SPEEDY has confirmed earlier experience demonstrating the importance of showing and editing specifications in the IDEs that developers customarily use, automating as much of the production and checking of specifications as possible, and showing counterexample information directly in the source code editing environment. As in previous work, automation of specification checking is provided by back-end SMT solvers. However, reducing the effort demanded of software developers using formal methods also requires a GUI design that guides users in writing, reviewing, and correcting specifications and automates specification inference.Comment: In Proceedings F-IDE 2014, arXiv:1404.578

Spacelab software development and integration concepts study report, volume 1

The proposed software guidelines to be followed by the European Space Research Organization in the development of software for the Spacelab being developed for use as a payload for the space shuttle are documented. Concepts, techniques, and tools needed to assure the success of a programming project are defined as they relate to operation of the data management subsystem, support of experiments and space applications, use with ground support equipment, and for integration testing

The development of a tool to promote sustainability in casting processes

The drive of the manufacturing industry towards productivity, quality and profitability has been supported in the last century by the availability of relatively cheap and abundant energy sources with limited focus on the minimisation of energy and material waste. However, in the last decades, more and more stringent regulations aimed at reducing pollution and consumption of resources have been introduced worldwide and in particular in Europe. Consequently, a highly mature and competitive industry like foundry is expecting challenges that an endeavour towards sustainability can turn into significant opportunities for the future. A tool to undertake a systematic analysis of energy and material flows in the casting process is being developed. An overview of the computer program architecture is presented and its output has been validated against real-world data collected from foundries

Maintenance of Automated Test Suites in Industry: An Empirical study on Visual GUI Testing

Context: Verification and validation (V&V) activities make up 20 to 50 percent of the total development costs of a software system in practice. Test automation is proposed to lower these V&V costs but available research only provides limited empirical data from industrial practice about the maintenance costs of automated tests and what factors affect these costs. In particular, these costs and factors are unknown for automated GUI-based testing. Objective: This paper addresses this lack of knowledge through analysis of the costs and factors associated with the maintenance of automated GUI-based tests in industrial practice. Method: An empirical study at two companies, Siemens and Saab, is reported where interviews about, and empirical work with, Visual GUI Testing is performed to acquire data about the technique's maintenance costs and feasibility. Results: 13 factors are observed that affect maintenance, e.g. tester knowledge/experience and test case complexity. Further, statistical analysis shows that developing new test scripts is costlier than maintenance but also that frequent maintenance is less costly than infrequent, big bang maintenance. In addition a cost model, based on previous work, is presented that estimates the time to positive return on investment (ROI) of test automation compared to manual testing. Conclusions: It is concluded that test automation can lower overall software development costs of a project whilst also having positive effects on software quality. However, maintenance costs can still be considerable and the less time a company currently spends on manual testing, the more time is required before positive, economic, ROI is reached after automation

An Algebra of Hierarchical Graphs

We define an algebraic theory of hierarchical graphs, whose axioms characterise graph isomorphism: two terms are equated exactly when they represent the same graph. Our algebra can be understood as a high-level language for describing graphs with a node-sharing, embedding structure, and it is then well suited for defining graphical representations of software models where nesting and linking are key aspects

Civil aircraft advanced avionics architectures - an insight into saras avionics, present and future perspective

Traditionally, the avionics architectures being implemented are of federated nature, which means that each avionics function has its own independent, dedicated fault-tolerant computing resources. Federated architecture has great advantage of inherent fault containment and at the same time envelops a potential risk of massive use of resources resulting in increase in weight, looming, cost and maintenance as well. With the drastic advancement in the computer and software technologies, the aviation industry is gradually moving towards the use of Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) for civil transport aircraft, potentially leading to multiple avionics functions housed in each hardware platform. Integrated Modular Avionics is the most important concept of avionics architecture for next generation aircrafts. SARAS avionics suite is purely federated with almost glass cockpit architecture complying to FAR25. The Avionics activities from the inception to execution are governed by the regulations and procedures under the review of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Every phase of avionics activity has got its own technically involvement to make the system perfect. In addition the flight data handling, monitoring and analysis is again a thrust area in the civil aviation industry leading to safety and reliability of the machine and the personnel involved. NAL has been in this area for more than two decades and continues to excel in these technologies

An Adaptive Design Methodology for Reduction of Product Development Risk

Embedded systems interaction with environment inherently complicates understanding of requirements and their correct implementation. However, product uncertainty is highest during early stages of development. Design verification is an essential step in the development of any system, especially for Embedded System. This paper introduces a novel adaptive design methodology, which incorporates step-wise prototyping and verification. With each adaptive step product-realization level is enhanced while decreasing the level of product uncertainty, thereby reducing the overall costs. The back-bone of this frame-work is the development of Domain Specific Operational (DOP) Model and the associated Verification Instrumentation for Test and Evaluation, developed based on the DOP model. Together they generate functionally valid test-sequence for carrying out prototype evaluation. With the help of a case study 'Multimode Detection Subsystem' the application of this method is sketched. The design methodologies can be compared by defining and computing a generic performance criterion like Average design-cycle Risk. For the case study, by computing Average design-cycle Risk, it is shown that the adaptive method reduces the product development risk for a small increase in the total design cycle time.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure

Modelling data intensive web sites with OntoWeaver

This paper illustrates the OntoWeaver modelling approach, which relies on a set of comprehensive site ontologies to model all aspects of data intensive web sites and thus offers high level support for the design and development of data-intensive web sites. In particular, the OntoWeaver site ontologies comprise two components: a site view ontology and a presentation ontology. The site view ontology provides meta-models to allow for the composition of sophisticated site views, which allow end users to navigate and manipulate the underlying domain databases. The presentation ontology abstracts the look and feel for site views and makes it possible for the visual appearance and layout to be specified at a high level of abstractio