A Mechanism For Converting A Relational Database Into An Object-Oriented Model: An AIS Application

The object-oriented (OO) approach in system design and development is gaining popularity.  In the management information systems literature, OO system development is viewed as superior to conventional systems development because of advantages such as easier modeling, more efficient model reuse, and more convenient maintenance (Booch 1994; Briand, et al. 1999; Coleman, et al. 1994; Cockburn 1999).  Several studies have explored the applicability of the OO paradigm for the design and implementation of accounting information systems (AIS) and the advantages of OO design for this purpose (Adamson and Dilts 1995, Chu 1992a, 1992b; Kandelin and Lin 1992; Murthy and Wiggins 1993; Verdaasdonk 2003).  Nevertheless, OO techniques are often applied only to front-end applications while a relational database is generally used to store data at the back-end.  Based on an existing relational database model for a retail enterprise, this paper contributes to the AIS literature by providing a mechanism for transforming a relational database into an OO data model.

TUTORIAL 2 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE OBJECT PARADIGM AND OBJECT-ORIENTED SYSTEMS

Object-oriented is one of the key phrases of the decade. The object paradigm has been variously billed as everything from a great revolution, how we will build the information systems of the future to an evolution, not a revolution to much ado about nothing. Companies are admonished to go 00 or be left behind as their competitors gain an advantage by building 00 systems. 7\u27he tutorial will provide a basic understanding of the object paradigm and of object-oriented (00) systems for those with little or no familiarity with them. The tutorial will begin wilh a small example to introduce the principle concepts of the paradigm in a specific setting, and to give a sense of what an 00 system is and how it runs. l\u27he concepts will include abstraction; classes, instances, and objects: methods, messages, and polymorphism; generalization, specialization, and inheritance; aggregation; (other) associations; and encapsulation and data hiding. As we examine the implementation of the example, we will be looking for answers to the queslions Where is the program? How does il work? How does il stan? We will see also some of the differenccs between a structured program and an 00 one. Next we will examine the process of creating an 00 system. The 00 life cycle is generally considered to be a prototyping-like process involving repeated cycles through modeling and implementation. Modeling involves 00 analysis and logical design. implementation involves physical design and 00 programming. The principle boundary in the process is between modeling and implementation. Two of the alleged strengths of the paradigm are the blurring between analysis and logical design in modeling and the reduced gap (compared to traditional structured approaches) between modeling and implementation. We will look at a framework for classifying the various modeling tools (e.1., object diagrams and state transition diagrams) with some examples from our earlier problem. Of course, 00 systems don\u27t build themselves. So next we will spend a few minutes discussing the management of 00 projects because Lhe best technology and ideas won\u27t help much if you can\u27t get them inlo practice. Reuse has become to some people the key concept and promise of the object paradigm. Reuse is supposed to reduce development time, eliminate bugs, improve quality, etc. We will briefly examine some types of reuse and offer some comments on these claims. Finally. as you might expect, a topic as hot as the object pan,digm is generating a great deal of research, both applied and theoretical. Time permitting, we will identify some current key research areas. A list of definitions and a selected reading list will be available at the tutorial. The example system will be available from the speaker

Web Design Frameworks: An Approach to Improve Reuse in Web Applications

In this paper we introduce Web design frameworks as a conceptual approach to maximize reuse in Web applications. We first discuss the need for building abstract and reusable navigational design structures, exemplifying with different kinds of Web Information Systems. Then, we briefly review the state of the art of object-oriented application frameworks and present the rationale for a slightly different approach focusing on design reuse instead of code reuse. Next, we present OOHDM-frame, a syntax for defining the hot-spots of generic Web application designs. We illustrate the use of OOHDM-frame with a case study in the field of electronic commerce. We finally discuss how to implement Web design frameworks in different kind of Web platforms.Trabajo publicado en Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, vol. 2016)Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzad

Development of an object oriented program information database with support for software reuse, 1996

This research addresses the need for organizations to have a project support environment that can produce large, complex, quality systems at a reasonable cost. Many researchers recommend a program database as the basis for this project support environment. The development of an object-oriented database to store and retrieve program information is described along with the design for a software reuse library. The program objects are based on the common taxonomy of all software, e g. composed of modules, programs, functions, and procedures, rather than the domain knowledge that software represents. This design permits maximum flexibility in accommodating most applications. The reuse library is composed of reusable components in the program database. The multi-attributes of keywords and component signatures are used to classify and retrieve reusable software objects. This research demonstrates a means for an organization to provide immediate improvement to its project support environment and to implement a software reuse program. These benefits translate to improved software quality and productivity which are needed to remedy the current software crisis

Measuring the Impact of Reuse on Quality and Productivity in Object-Oriented Systems

This paper presents the results of a study conducted at the University of Maryland in which we assessed the impact of reuse on quality and productivity in OO systems. Reuse is assumed to be a very effective strategy for software industry to build high-quality software. However, there is currently very little empirical information about what we can expect from reuse in terms of productivity and quality gains. This also applies to OO development which is supposed to facilitate reuse. Our experiment is one step towards a better understanding of the benefits of reuse in an OO framework, considering currently available technology. Data was collected, for four months, on the development of eight medium-size management information systems with equivalent requirements. All eight projects were developed using the Waterfall Software Engineering Life Cycle Model, an Object-Oriented (OO) design method and the C++ programming language. This study indicates significant benefits from reuse in terms of reduced defect density and rework as well as increased productivity. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-95-2

Pattern Reification as the Basis for Description-Driven Systems

One of the main factors driving object-oriented software development for information systems is the requirement for systems to be tolerant to change. To address this issue in designing systems, this paper proposes a pattern-based, object-oriented, description-driven system (DDS) architecture as an extension to the standard UML four-layer meta-model. A DDS architecture is proposed in which aspects of both static and dynamic systems behavior can be captured via descriptive models and meta-models. The proposed architecture embodies four main elements - firstly, the adoption of a multi-layered meta-modeling architecture and reflective meta-level architecture, secondly the identification of four data modeling relationships that can be made explicit such that they can be modified dynamically, thirdly the identification of five design patterns which have emerged from practice and have proved essential in providing reusable building blocks for data management, and fourthly the encoding of the structural properties of the five design patterns by means of one fundamental pattern, the Graph pattern. A practical example of this philosophy, the CRISTAL project, is used to demonstrate the use of description-driven data objects to handle system evolution.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure

A Parsing Scheme for Finding the Design Pattern and Reducing the Development Cost of Reusable Object Oriented Software

Because of the importance of object oriented methodologies, the research in developing new measure for object oriented system development is getting increased focus. The most of the metrics need to find the interactions between the objects and modules for developing necessary metric and an influential software measure that is attracting the software developers, designers and researchers. In this paper a new interactions are defined for object oriented system. Using these interactions, a parser is developed to analyze the existing architecture of the software. Within the design model, it is necessary for design classes to collaborate with one another. However, collaboration should be kept to an acceptable minimum i.e. better designing practice will introduce low coupling. If a design model is highly coupled, the system is difficult to implement, to test and to maintain overtime. In case of enhancing software, we need to introduce or remove module and in that case coupling is the most important factor to be considered because unnecessary coupling may make the system unstable and may cause reduction in the system's performance. So coupling is thought to be a desirable goal in software construction, leading to better values for external software qualities such as maintainability, reusability and so on. To test this hypothesis, a good measure of class coupling is needed. In this paper, based on the developed tool called Design Analyzer we propose a methodology to reuse an existing system with the objective of enhancing an existing Object oriented system keeping the coupling as low as possible.Comment: 15 page

A diagnostic service tool using FMEA

The use of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) as the basis for a Diagnostic Service Tool (DST) is discussed in the context of Design for Service. Designers are assisted in developing diagnostic service tools early in the design process rather than this being a post-production activity. A system for computerised interactive FMEA generation from FMEA elements has been created by enhancing an existing object-oriented FMEA model to generate the FMEA elements and Diagnostic FMEA. The use of an object-oriented FMEA environment and FMEA object libraries promotes the reuse of information and increases data availability for diagnostic tool development. The Diagnostic Service Tool (DST) uses existing failure mode data to determine further characteristics of the failure of parts. The prototype software has been evaluated in a field service application using four automatic transmission problem cases. There was significant difference in repair times between the use of conventional repair manuals and DST. The research has demonstrated that the prototype software is successful in providing effective field service tools and suggests a method of providing feedback to the designer. In this way knowledge sharing between engineering and field service can be continuous and provide a significant improvement in product development. The approach has validity across many domains but has so far only been evaluated in the context of automotive systems and in particular automatic transmissions. Application in other areas would require substantial efforts in knowledge acquisition but the same general methods would be used

Reusability in software engineering

This paper surveys recent work concerning reusability in software engineering. The current directions in software reusability are discussed, and the two major approaches of reusable building blocks and reusable patterns studied. An extensive bibliography, parts of which are annotated, is included