19 research outputs found

    iStarJSON : a lightweight data-format for i* models

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    JSON is one of the most widely used data-interchange format. There is a large number of tools open for modelling with i*. However, none of them provides supporting for JSON. In this paper we propose iStarJSON language, a JSON-based proposal for interchanging i* models. We also, present an open source software that transforms XML-based format models to JSON models that expose a set of web services for mining iStarJSON models.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

    Tool interoperability using iStarML

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    iStarML is an XML-based format for enabling interoperability among i* tools. Its main design focus was to support data interchange even when involved tools implement different i* variants. In this paper, we present a summary of the format, we briefly describe the ccistarml Java library, and we show an application of it. We finally summarize the requirements for representing new i* concepts in order to generate a revised version of iStarML.Postprint (published version

    Towards interoperability of i* models using iStarML

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    Goal-oriented and agent-oriented modelling provides an effective approach to the understanding of distributed information systems that need to operate in open, heterogeneous and evolving environments. Frameworks, firstly introduced more than ten years ago, have been extended along language variants, analysis methods and CASE tools, posing language semantics and tool interoperability issues. Among them, the i* framework is one the most widespread. We focus on i*-based modelling languages and tools and on the problem of supporting model exchange between them. In this paper, we introduce the i* interoperability problem and derive an XML interchange format, called iStarML, as a practical solution to this problem. We first discuss the main requirements for its definition, then we characterise the core concepts of i* and we detail the tags and options of the interchange format. We complete the presentation of iStarML showing some possible applications. Finally, a survey on the i* community perception about iStarML is included for assessment purposes.Preprin

    iStarML: principles and implications

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    iStarML is an XML-based format for enabling i* interoperability. A relevant difference with any other interoperability proposal is that iStarML is founded under the assumption that there is not a common ontology guiding this communication proposal. The different i* variants and even particular applications proposing new language constructors forced to confront a theoretical approach for supporting an interoperability approach in an evolving and variable semantic scenario. In this paper we focused on the theories behind the iStarML proposal, which include sociological, cybernetics and linguistics approaches. Finally, we apply what these theories predict to the case of the i* framework and its research community.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    Implementing structural measures over i* diagrams

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    Measuring is a key issue in any software-related activity. In the context of the i* framework, we are implementing Measufier, a prototype for measuring i* diagrams in terms of properties that may be derived from their structure (structural measures). The prototype works over i* diagrams represented by the iStarML interchange format, and provides some facilities for managing measures' catalogues, customizing the measures to the analyst needs, and computing the measure over particular diagrams.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    A metamodelling approach for i* model translations

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    The i* (i-star) framework has been widely adopted by the information systems community. Since the time it was proposed, different variations have arisen. Some of them just propose slight changes in the language definition, whilst others introduce constructs for particular usages. This flexibility is one of the reasons that makes i* attractive, but it has as counterpart the impossibility of automatically porting i* models from one context of use to another. This lack of interoperability makes difficult to build a repository of models, to adopt directly techniques defined for one variation, or to use i* tools in a feature-oriented instead of a variant-oriented way. In this paper, we explore in more detail the interoperability problem from a metamodel perspective. We analyse the state of the art concerning variations of the i* language, from these variations and following a proposal from Wachsmuth, we define a supermetamodel hosting identified variations, general enough so as to embrace others yet to exist. We present a translation algorithm oriented to semantic preservation and we use the XML-based iStarML interchange format to illustrate the interconnection of two tools.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

    Definition and uses of the i* metamodel

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    The clear definition of a metamodel can be considered helpful for any conceptual modeling approach, and the i* framework is not an exception. Agreeing on a metamodel for i* can be considered even more convenient than ever when we are aware of the different dialects and variations that the commu-nity proposed, and keep proposing, over the seminal i* definition. In this paper we present the revised version of the i* metamodel proposed by the GESSI re-search group at 2005 and we report some current contexts of use: 1) definition of a data interchange format; 2) definition of the inheritance construct; 3) defi-nition of a modularity construct; and 4) definition of a metrics framework.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    Applying business strategy models in organizations

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    Increasing adoption of Open Source Software (OSS) in information system engineering has led to the emergence of different OSS business strate-gies that affect and shape organizations’ business models. In order to obtain the specific organizational model for a concrete organization that is adhering to a specific OSS business strategy, we need to instantiate the general knowledge included in this business strategy. This paper describe the process in which this general knowledge is instantiated and define a set of operations over i* models to implement the instantiation concept. Although conceived in the field of OSS, the approach is generalizable to any kind of business strategy.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    Ontological analysis of means-end links

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    The i* community has raised several main dialects and dozens of variations in the definition of the i* language. Differences may be found related not just to the representation of new concepts but to the very core of the i* language. In previous work we have tackled this issue mainly from a syntactic point of view, using metamodels and syntactic-based model interoperability frameworks. In this paper, we go one step beyond and consider the use of foundational ontologies in general, and UFO in particular, as a way to clarify the meaning of core i* constructs and as the basis to propose a normative definition. We focus here on one of the most characteristics i* constructs, namely means-end links.Postprint (published version
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