Toward Reverse Engineering of VBA Based Excel Spreadsheet Applications

Modern spreadsheet systems can be used to implement complex spreadsheet applications including data sheets, customized user forms and executable procedures written in a scripting language. These applications are often developed by practitioners that do not follow any software engineering practice and do not produce any design documentation. Thus, spreadsheet applications may be very difficult to be maintained or restructured. In this position paper we present in a nutshell two reverse engineering techniques and a tool that we are currently realizing for the abstraction of conceptual data models and business logic models.Comment: In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Software Engineering Methods in Spreadsheets (http://spreadsheetlab.org/sems15/

Assessing and Improving Industrial Software Processes

Software process is a complex phenomenon that involves a multitude of different artifacts, human actors with different roles, activities to be performed in order to produce a software product. Even though the research community is devoting a great effort in proposing solutions aimed at improving software process, several issues are still open. In this Thesis work I propose different solutions for assessing and improving software processes carried out in real industrial contexts. More in detail, I proposed a solution, based on ALM and MDE, for supporting Gap Analysis processes for assessing if a software process is carried out in accordance with Standards or Evaluation Framework. Then, I focused on a solution based on tool integration for the management of trace links among the artifacts involved in the software process. As another contribution, I proposed a Reverse engineering process and a tool, named EXACT, for supporting the analysis and comprehension of spreadsheet based artifacts involved in software development processes. Finally, I realized a semi-automatic approach, named AutoMative, for supporting the introduction in real Industrial software processes of SPL for managing the variability of the software products to be developed. Case studies conducted in real industrial settings showed the feasibility and the positive impact of the proposed solutions on real industrial software processes

Bridging the Gap between Produced Water and Source Water: An Economic Analysis of Produced Water Treatment

Accumulating seismicity and groundwater contamination concerns are fueling increased regulations that can significantly burden an exploration and production (E&P) company’s water management budget – especially in a low-cost market. The goal of this research is to evaluate the economics of oil and gas produced water (PW) treatment and reuse as an alternative to injection well disposal. The primary objectives are: 1) determine general field conditions that economically favor treatment and reuse, 2) compare the relative economics between mobile (on-site) and centralized treatment, 3) evaluate pipeline versus trucking transportation and 4) assess zero liquid discharge (ZLD) treatment technology feasibility. The model, built to address the objectives, functions as a PW management planning and decision support tool for an operator. For input field conditions, the model simulates disposal and treatment and reuse – comparing mobile versus centralized treatment. Trucking and pipeline conveyance are evaluated for centralized treatment transportation. The model outputs the net water management cost and operator breakeven treatment cost (OBE) for each scenario. The OBE is the cost of treatment for which the economics of injection disposal and treatment and reuse are equal. When a service company’s treatment cost is less than or equal to the OBE, treatment and reuse is feasible. A sensitivity analysis identified the primary economic drivers. The observed effects of each driver on the OBE indicate conditions that promote treatment and reuse. These conditions include long distances, high treatment recoveries, high injection costs and long project lifespans. Relative economics favor on-site treatment and reuse for long distances, high treatment recoveries, low project lifespans and an increase in pipeline cost. The opposite is observed for centralized with pipeline. The model simulated for the Texas Permian Basin. Results demonstrate the use of the model and provide insights into the potential for Permian Basin water cost savings

Model inference for spreadsheets

Many errors in spreadsheet formulas can be avoided if spreadsheets are built automati- cally from higher-level models that can encode and enforce consistency constraints in the generated spreadsheets. Employing this strategy for legacy spreadsheets is dificult, because the model has to be reverse engineered from an existing spreadsheet and existing data must be transferred into the new model-generated spreadsheet. We have developed and implemented a technique that automatically infers relational schemas from spreadsheets. This technique uses particularities from the spreadsheet realm to create better schemas. We have evaluated this technique in two ways: First, we have demonstrated its appli- cability by using it on a set of real-world spreadsheets. Second, we have run an empirical study with users. The study has shown that the results produced by our technique are comparable to the ones developed by experts starting from the same (legacy) spreadsheet data. Although relational schemas are very useful to model data, they do not t well spreadsheets as they do not allow to express layout. Thus, we have also introduced a mapping between relational schemas and ClassSheets. A ClassSheet controls further changes to the spreadsheet and safeguards it against a large class of formula errors. The developed tool is a contribution to spreadsheet (reverse) engineering, because it lls an important gap and allows a promising design method (ClassSheets) to be applied to a huge collection of legacy spreadsheets with minimal effort.We would like to thank Orlando Belo for his help on running and analyzing the empirical study. We would also like to thank Paulo Azevedo for his help in conducting the statistical analysis of our empirical study. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions which helped us to improve the paper. This work is funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-010048. The first author was also supported by FCT grant SFRH/BPD/73358/2010

Container arrivals forecasting practice and experience at marine terminals

The advent of the container traffic in maritime transportation has led during its 40-year long history to novel perceptions and operation planning requirements for the port container terminal. A major requirement in this respect refers to the efficiency of the operations in the container transfer between the different modes. The current study presents a methodology on the development of a forecasting tool to access the service demand patterns at a marine terminal on per day basis. A set of forecasting models was introduced and their implementation difficulties were explored. The main effort in this approach was to replicate the distribution of container arrivals/pick-ups before and after the scheduled voyage date of a vessel. A data-driven decision support system was developed to retrieve and to analyze the historic information captured at a major terminal of the U.S. East Coast for a period of 18-months. The evaluation of the current solution revealed a satisfactory fit of the forecasting model projections to the actually observed patterns. Due to the lack of a solid theoretical background, the approach is unfavorable to the use of applied statistical tests. In general the product should be seen as a management information system designed to assist the terminal activity planning and equipment management in conjunction with the coherent experience of the operating team

EDC China Operations and Evaluation

This report presents the development of a global retailer\u27s China export distribution center\u27s Key Performance Indicators (KPI). A 3PL has been selected for managing the main processes of the retailer\u27s global supply chain. After learning about the supply chain processes and the associated timeline, the team developed measurements to evaluate the 3PL\u27s performance in managing the vendors, inventory, and carriers. Possible implementation methods as well as a set of spreadsheets for calculating the identified KPI are also developed

Optimizing the Disposition and Retrograde of United States Air Force Class VII Equipment from Afghanistan

To meet the President\u27s established OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM drawdown date of 1 December 2014, the United States Air Force, while continuing to conduct and support combat operations, must begin to plan disposition and execute retrograde its Class VII equipment. Calling upon concepts utilized in the management of closed-loop supply chains and optimization, this research proposes a multiple objective linear program to optimize the alignment of Bagram and Kandahar Air Base positioned equipment with in-garrison demand. Closed-loop supply chains provide planning process guidelines necessary for second use value creation and efficient reverse logistical flows. Optimization concepts provide the methodology for model development and output. The proposed multiple objective model provides solutions and equipment disposition instructions that minimize the deviations from the lowest total surface transportation cost and maximum average demand satisfaction values. To ensure compliance with Air Force guidance on equipment prioritization, cost-efficient transportation and maximum amounts of supply, multiple pre-process and model constraints limit the allocation of supply to demand bases. Combining situational specific user input values and constraints provides United States Air Force equipment managers the ability to test multiple courses of action for both real-time and future equipment movements

MCPHS Peer Review

The objective of this MQP was to review the structural design of the superstructure office and academic building recently built for the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Studies. The design included post tensioned concrete slabs, as well as reinforced concrete columns, shear walls and a mat foundation. The design was reviewed using load resistance factor design, in accordance with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts state building code, and accounted for both gravity and lateral loads. The flooring system was also redesigned as an alternative steel design to compare and contrast the two material options