4 research outputs found
A pattern-based method for building requirements documents in call-for-tender processes
This paper presents our PABRE method for facilitating Requirements Elicitation on the basis of Requirement Patterns with the goal of saving time and reducing errors during this activity. The process presented applies for elicitation in Off-The-Shelf selection projects driven by call-for-tender processes and uses a Requirement Patterns Catalogue. The process selects patterns from the catalogue that apply to the particular selection project, and convert them into the real requirements that finally configure the project Requirements Document. We show some benefits of the pattern approach for requirements engineers and IT consultants, as well as for customers. Finally we discuss
the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal and identify some future work.Postprint (published version
Functional Size Measurement and Model Verification for Software Model-Driven Developments: A COSMIC-based Approach
Historically, software production methods and tools have a unique goal: to produce high quality
software. Since the goal of Model-Driven Development (MDD) methods is no different, MDD
methods have emerged to take advantage of the benefits of using conceptual models to produce
high quality software.
In such MDD contexts, conceptual models are used as input to automatically generate final
applications. Thus, we advocate that there is a relation between the quality of the final software
product and the quality of the models used to generate it. The quality of conceptual models can
be influenced by many factors. In this thesis, we focus on the accuracy of the techniques used to
predict the characteristics of the development process and the generated products.
In terms of the prediction techniques for software development processes, it is widely
accepted that knowing the functional size of applications in order to successfully apply effort
models and budget models is essential. In order to evaluate the quality of generated
applications, defect detection is considered to be the most suitable technique.
The research goal of this thesis is to provide an accurate measurement procedure based on
COSMIC for the automatic sizing of object-oriented OO-Method MDD applications. To
achieve this research goal, it is necessary to accurately measure the conceptual models used in
the generation of object-oriented applications. It is also very important for these models not to
have defects so that the applications to be measured are correctly represented.
In this thesis, we present the OOmCFP (OO-Method COSMIC Function Points) measurement
procedure. This procedure makes a twofold contribution: the accurate measurement of objectoriented
applications generated in MDD environments from the conceptual models involved, and
the verification of conceptual models to allow the complete generation of correct final applications
from the conceptual models involved.
The OOmCFP procedure has been systematically designed, applied, and
automated. This measurement procedure has been validated to conform to the
ISO 14143 standard, the metrology concepts defined in the ISO VIM, and the
accuracy of the measurements obtained according to ISO 5725. This
procedure has also been validated by performing empirical studies.
The results of the empirical studies demonstrate that OOmCFP can obtain
accurate measures of the functional size of applications generated in MDD
environments from the corresponding conceptual models.MarĂn Campusano, BM. (2011). Functional Size Measurement and Model Verification for Software Model-Driven Developments: A COSMIC-based Approach [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/11237Palanci
A bottom-up process management environment dedicated to process actors
Les organisations adoptent de plus en plus les environnements de gestion des processus car ils offrent des perspectives prometteuses d'exécution en termes de flexibilité et
d'efficacité. Les environnements traditionnels proposent cependant une approche descendante qui nécessite, de la part de concepteurs, l'élaboration d'un modèle avant sa mise en
oeuvre par les acteurs qui le déploient tout au long du cycle d'ingénierie.
En raison de cette divergence, un différentiel important est souvent constaté entre les modèles de processus et leur mise en oeuvre. De par l'absence de prise directe avec les
acteurs de terrain, le niveau opérationnel des environnements de processus est trop faiblement exploité, en particulier en ingénierie des systèmes et des logiciels.
Afin de faciliter l'utilisation des environnements de processus, cette thèse présente une approche ascendante mettant les acteurs du processus au coeur de la problématique.
L'approche proposée autorise conjointement la modélisation et la mise en oeuvre de leurs activités quotidiennes. Dans cet objectif, notre approche s'appuie sur la description
des artéfacts produits et consommés durant l'exécution d'une activité. Cette description permet à chaque acteur du processus de décrire le fragment de processus exprimant les
activités dictées par son rôle.
Le processus global se décompose ainsi en plusieurs fragments appartenant à différents rôles. Chaque fragment est modélisé indépendamment des autres fragments ; il peut aussi
être greffé progressivement au modèle de processus initial. La modélisation des processus devient ainsi moins complexe et plus parcellaire. En outre, un fragment de processus ne
modélise que l'aspect structurel des activités d'un rôle sans anticiper sur le comportement des activités ; il est moins prescriptif qu'un ordonnancement des activités de
l'acteur.
Un moteur de processus basé sur la production et la consommation d'artéfacts a été développé pour promulguer des activités provenant de différents fragments de processus. Ce
moteur ne requiert pas de relations prédéfinies d'ordonnancement entre les activités pour les synchroniser, mais déduit leur dépendance à partir de leurs artéfacts échangés. Les
dépendances sont représentées et actualisées au sein d'un graphe appelé Process Dependency Graph (PDG) qui reflète à tout instant l'état courant de l'exécution du processus.
Cet environnement a été étendu afin de gérer les changements imprévus qui se produisent inévitablement lors de la mise en oeuvre des processus. Ce dispositif permet aux acteurs
de signaler des changements émergents, d'analyser les impacts possibles et de notifier les personnes affectées par les modifications.
En résumé, notre approche préconise de répartir les tâches d'un processus en plusieurs fragments, modélisés et adoptés séparément par les acteurs du processus. Le moteur de
processus, qui s'appuie sur la disponibilité des artéfacts pour synchroniser les activités, permet d'exécuter indépendamment les fragments des processus. Il permet aussi
l'exécution d'un processus partiellement défini pour lequel certains fragments seraient manquants. La vision globale de l'état d'avancement des différents acteurs concernés
émerge au fur et à mesure de l'exécution des fragments. Cette nouvelle approche vise à intégrer au mieux les acteurs du processus dans le cycle de vie de la gestion des
processus, ce qui rend ces systèmes plus attractifs et plus proches de leurs préoccupations.Companies increasingly adopt process management environments, which offer promising
perspectives for a more flexible and efficient process execution. Traditional process management environments embodies a top-down approach in which process modeling is
performed by process designers and process enacting is performed by process actors. Due
to this separation, there is often a gap between process models and their real enactments.
As a consequence, the operational level of top down process environments has stayed
low, especially in system and software industry, because they are not directly relevant to
process actors' needs.
In order to facilitate the usage of process environments for process actors, this thesis
presents a user-centric and bottom-up approach that enables integration of process actors
into process management life cycle by allowing them to perform both the modeling and
enacting of their real processes. To this end, first, a bottom-up approach based on the
artifact-centric modeling paradigm was proposed to allow each process actor to easily
describe the process fragment containing the activities carried out by his role.
The global process is thus decomposed into several fragments belonging to different
roles. Each fragment can be modeled independently of other fragments and can be added
progressively to the process model; therefore the process modeling becomes less complex
and more partial. Moreover, a process fragment models only the structural aspect of
a role's activities without anticipating the behavior of these activities; therefore the
process model is less prescriptive.
Second, a data-driven process engine was developed to enact activities coming from
different process fragments. Our process engine does not require predefined work-sequence
relations among these activities to synchronize them, but deduces such dependencies
from their enactment-time exchanged artifacts. We used a graph structure name Process
Dependency Graph (PDG) to store enactment-time process information and establish
the dependencies among process elements.
Third, we extend our process environment in order to handle unforeseen changes
occurring during process enactment. This results in a Change-Aware Process Environment
that allows process actors reporting emergent changes, analyzing possible impacts and
notifying people affected by the changes.
In our bottom-up approach, a process is split into several fragments separately
modeled and enacted by process actors. Our data-driven process engine, which uses the
availability of working artifacts to synchronize activities, enables enacting independently
process fragments, and even a partially modeled process where some fragments are
missing. The global process progressively emerges only at enactment time from the
execution of process fragments. This new approach, with its simpler modeling and more
flexible enactment, integrates better process actors into process management life cycle,
and hence makes process management systems more attractive and useful for them