Development of a network-integrated feature-driven engineering environment

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

A Generic Feedback Mechanism for Component-Based Systems

Computers have been integrated into all spheres and occupations and the need for users to easily understand how to use each computer application has become paramount. The end-user should not be expected to decipher cryptic messages or to understand the inner functioning of the computer itself. With computer-users spanning all walks of life, there is a need for a change in the mind-set of software developers in making their product more user-friendly. In addition, software systems of the future will increasingly be built from independent encapsulated software components and will often be distributed over various sites. This new paradigm brings a new realm of complexity for the end-user, especially with respect to the increased possibility of failure, so that in addition to the nontrivial task of interpreting the general functioning of an application, the user will be expected to deal with the results of perplexing errors too. The nature of component- based systems makes the provision of support for handling errors far more difficult due to the independent and diffuse nature of the creators of the individual parts making up these systems. Other factors with respect to application use also need to be addressed. For example, it is a rare user who is able to spend 100% of his or her time concentrating on interaction with the computer, without distractions of some sort interrupting. It is even rarer to find an application which is not prone to occasionally unintelligible error messages or breakdowns. Few applications are designed with these realities in mind and when problems do occur, or users are interrupted, they often find it difficult to recover and to resume their primary task. It is also difficult for applications to tailor the provided feedback according to the specific needs of different end-users or the differing roles within which they function. This dissertation will highlight the role of feedback in increasing the interpretability of an application and in alleviating the effects of interruptions, errors and breakdowns. Rather than expecting feedback to be provided by programmers, this dissertation will argue that feedback can be enhanced in a distributed component-based system by separating the feedback concern from the basic functional concern of the application and executing the application within a generic feedback enhancing framework. The feedback concept is examined in depth and the role of feedback in enhancing understanding of applications, and in alleviating the effects of disturbances in our working day, is explored. The concept of a generic framework for enhancing feedback has been developed and a prototype implemented. The design and implementation of this prototype are described, as is the evaluation of the feedback thus produced

Empirical modelling for participative business process reengineering

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a new broad approach to computing - Empirical Modelling (EM) - and to propose a way of applying this approach for system development so as to avoid the limitations of conventional approaches and integrate system development with business process reengineering (BPR). Based on the concepts of agency, observable and dependency, EM is an experiencebased approach to modelling with computers in which the modeller interacts with an artefact through continuous observations and experiments. It is a natural way of working for business process modelling because the modeller is involved in, and takes account of, the real world context. It is also adaptable to a rapidly changing environment as the computer-based models serve as creative artefacts with which the modeller can interact in a situated and open-ended manner. This thesis motivates and illustrates the EM approach to new concepts of participative BPR and participative process modelling. That is, different groups of people, with different perceptions, competencies and requirements, can be involved during the process of system development and BPR, rather than just being involved at an early stage. This concept aims to address the well-known high failure rate of BPR. A framework SPORE (situated process of requirements engineering), which has been proposed to guide the process of cultivating requirements in a situated manner, is extended to participative BPR (i.e. to support many users in a distributed environment). Two levels of modelling are proposed for the integration of contextual understanding and system development. A comparison between EM and object-orientation is also provided to give insight into how EM differs from current methodologies and to point out the potential of EM in system development and BPR. The ISMs (interactive situation models), built using the principles and tools of EM, are used to form artefacts during the modelling process. A warehouse and logistics management system is taken as an illustrative case study for applying this framework

Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering

This open access book constitutes the proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering, FASE 2021, which took place during March 27–April 1, 2021, and was held as part of the Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2021. The conference was planned to take place in Luxembourg but changed to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 16 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 52 submissions. The book also contains 4 Test-Comp contributions

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2007 Annunal Edition

This bibliography lists citations of English-language articles, books and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. Most sources have been published from 1990 through 2007; however, a limited number of key sources published prior to 1990 are also included

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2006 Annunal Edition

According to the preface, this bibliography presents selected English-language articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. Most sources have been published between 1990 and 2006; however, a limited number of key sources published prior to 1990 are also included

Management dynamischer Virtueller Organisationen in Grids

Seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre wird unter dem Grid-Problem allgemein das koordinierte Problemlösen und die gemeinschaftliche Nutzung von Ressourcen in dynamischen, multi-institutionellen, Virtuellen Organisationen verstanden. Das Konzept Virtueller Organisationen (VO) ist damit für Grids von zentraler Bedeutung. Intuitiv bestehen VOs aus Personen und/oder technischen Ressourcen autonomer realer Organisationen. Der für VOs typische Lebenszyklus impliziert zahlreiche, zum Teil neue, Anforderungen nicht nur an die Bereitstellung von Grid-Ressourcen, sondern insbesondere auch an das Management von VOs selbst. Fragen nach gezielter IT-Unterstützung in der Formation, dem Betrieb, und der Auflösung von VOs rücken in Grids immer mehr in den Vordergrund. Trotz der drängenden Notwendigkeit eines auch gerade VOs als managed objects umfassenden, integrierten Grid-Management-Ansatzes, sind die Fragestellungen bezüglich der hierzu erforderlichen Architekturen, Plattformen und Betriebskonzepte noch weitgehend ungeklärt. Existierende Konzepte liegen bestenfalls für einzelne Teilaspekte vor (z.B. dem Mitgliedsmanagement). Bestätigt wird dies durch eine Analyse bestehender Architekturkonzepte, deren zum Teil erhebliche Defizite auf die aktuelle betriebliche Praxis im Grid-Management und den vereinfachend getroffenen Annahmen zu Lebensdauer, Gründungsprozess oder Kooperationsstruktur von VOs zurückzuführen sind. Die Dissertation verfolgt das Ziel, eine VO-Managementarchitektur (VOMA), in der die Managementobjekte dynamische Virtuelle Organisationen sind, zu entwickeln. Im Informationsmodell der Architektur wird für alle am VO-Management beteiligten Rollen ein gemeinsames Verständnis über die auszutauschenden Managementinformationen festgelegt. Das Organisationsmodell identifiziert die am VO-Management beteiligten Rollen und ordnet ihnen entsprechende Handlungsdomänen zu. Im Kommunikationsmodell werden die spezifischen Anforderungen an die Kommunikationsmechanismen dieser Rollen spezifiziert. Im Funktionsmodell wird der Gesamtaufgabenkomplex des VO-Managements auf der Basis der anderen Teilmodelle in einzelne Funktionsbereiche gegliedert, die sich an VO-Lebenszyklen orientieren. Während VOMA zunächst Plattform-unabhängig spezifiziert wird -- und damit ein allgemeines Rahmenwerk liefert, muss die Architektur für einen realen Einsatz Plattform-spezifisch transformiert werden. Dies wird am Beispiel des Web Services Distributed Management gezeigt. Zudem wird geklärt, wie die Architektur in bestehende oder zukünftige Grid-Projekte integriert werden kann. Dazu wird VOMA um eine Infrastrukturkomponente (VOMA-I) erweitert, über die VOMA an Hand von Konfigurationsmustern in einem klassischen Manager/Agenten-Paradigma zum Einsatz gebracht werden kann. Die Tragfähigkeit des Konzeptes wird an Beispielen demonstriert. Eine Zusammenfassung der erzielten Ergebnisse und ein Ausblick auf weiterführende Forschungsthemen runden die Arbeit schließlich ab

Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography: 2008 Annunal Edition

This bibliography lists citations of English-language articles, books and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. Most sources have been published from 1990 through 2008; however, a limited number of key sources published prior to 1990 are also included