Designing Software Architectures As a Composition of Specializations of Knowledge Domains

This paper summarizes our experimental research and software development activities in designing robust, adaptable and reusable software architectures. Several years ago, based on our previous experiences in object-oriented software development, we made the following assumption: ‘A software architecture should be a composition of specializations of knowledge domains’. To verify this assumption we carried out three pilot projects. In addition to the application of some popular domain analysis techniques such as use cases, we identified the invariant compositional structures of the software architectures and the related knowledge domains. Knowledge domains define the boundaries of the adaptability and reusability capabilities of software systems. Next, knowledge domains were mapped to object-oriented concepts. We experienced that some aspects of knowledge could not be directly modeled in terms of object-oriented concepts. In this paper we describe our approach, the pilot projects, the experienced problems and the adopted solutions for realizing the software architectures. We conclude the paper with the lessons that we learned from this experience

Some notes on an extended query language for FSM

FSM is a database model that has been recently proposed by the authors. FSM uses basic concepts of classification, generalization, aggregation and association that are commonly used in semantic modelling and supports the fuzziness of real-world at attribute, entity, class and relations intra and inter-classes levels. Hence, it provides tools to formalize and conceptualize real-world within a manner adapted to human perception of and reasoning about this real-word. In this paper we briefly review basic concepts of FSM and provide some notes on an extended query language adapted to it.ou

Set operations in semantic data models

Class creation by set operations has largely been ignored in the literature. Precise semantics of set operations on complex objects require a clear distinction between the dual notions of a set and a type, both of which are present in a class. Our paper fills this gap by presenting a framework for executing set-theoretic operations on the class construct. The proposed set operations determine both the type description of the derived class as well as its set membership. For the former, we develop inheritance rules for property characteristics such as single- versus multi-valued and required versus optional. For the later, we borrow the object identity concept from data modeling research. Our framework allows for property inheritance among classes that are not necessarily is-a related

Construct redundancy in process modelling grammars: Improving the explanatory power of ontological analysis

Conceptual modelling supports developers and users of information systems in areas of documentation, analysis or system redesign. The ongoing interest in the modelling of business processes has led to a variety of different grammars, raising the question of the quality of these grammars for modelling. An established way of evaluating the quality of a modelling grammar is by means of an ontological analysis, which can determine the extent to which grammars contain construct deficit, overload, excess or redundancy. While several studies have shown the relevance of most of these criteria, predictions about construct redundancy have yielded inconsistent results in the past, with some studies suggesting that redundancy may even be beneficial for modelling in practice. In this paper we seek to contribute to clarifying the concept of construct redundancy by introducing a revision to the ontological analysis method. Based on the concept of inheritance we propose an approach that distinguishes between specialized and distinct construct redundancy. We demonstrate the potential explanatory power of the revised method by reviewing and clarifying previous results found in the literature

Knowledge formalization in experience feedback processes : an ontology-based approach

Because of the current trend of integration and interoperability of industrial systems, their size and complexity continue to grow making it more difficult to analyze, to understand and to solve the problems that happen in their organizations. Continuous improvement methodologies are powerful tools in order to understand and to solve problems, to control the effects of changes and finally to capitalize knowledge about changes and improvements. These tools involve suitably represent knowledge relating to the concerned system. Consequently, knowledge management (KM) is an increasingly important source of competitive advantage for organizations. Particularly, the capitalization and sharing of knowledge resulting from experience feedback are elements which play an essential role in the continuous improvement of industrial activities. In this paper, the contribution deals with semantic interoperability and relates to the structuring and the formalization of an experience feedback (EF) process aiming at transforming information or understanding gained by experience into explicit knowledge. The reuse of such knowledge has proved to have significant impact on achieving themissions of companies. However, the means of describing the knowledge objects of an experience generally remain informal. Based on an experience feedback process model and conceptual graphs, this paper takes domain ontology as a framework for the clarification of explicit knowledge and know-how, the aim of which is to get lessons learned descriptions that are significant, correct and applicable

Conceptual design and implementation of the fuzzy semantic model

FSM is one of few database models that support fuzziness, uncertainty and impreciseness of real-world at the class definition level. FSM authorizes an entity to be partially member of its class according to a given degree of membership that reflects the level to which the entity verifies the extent properties of this class. This paper deals with the conceptual design of FSM and adresses some implementation issues.ou

A model-based approach to hypermedia design.

This paper introduces the MESH approach to hypermedia design, which combines established entity-relationship and object-oriented abstractions with proprietary concepts into a formal hypermedia data model. Uniform layout and link typing specifications can be attributed and inherited in a static node typing hierarchy, whereas both nodes and links can be submitted dynamically to multiple complementary classifications. In addition, the data model's support for a context-based navigation paradigm, as well as a platform-independent implementation framework, are briefly discussed.Data; Model; Specifications; Classification;