DFDs:Evolutionary Status andA Cognitive Based Empirical Investigation of Level 0 DFD Clarity

The data flow diagram (DFD) has been a development, communication, and documentation technique in the systems analyst toolbox for almost two decades. Both surveys and expert opinion confirm that the data flow diagram is a popular and most preferred tool of its class structured analysis and design tools (Whitten,Bentley, & Ho, 1986, p.221). Recent surveys indicate as much as an 80% usage of DFDs (Jain & Purao, 1991; Martin, M., 1991, p.98). These surveys also indicate that of all the structured tools , the DFD is consistently used more than the others. Numerous authors attest to the DFD\u27s popularity (Vessey & Conger, 1994; Vessey, Jarvenpaa, & Tractinsky, 1992; France, 1992; Kung 1991; Abrahami 1993, Liu, 1993; Warren, Stott, & Norcio, 1991; Protsko, Sorenson, Tremblay, & Schaefer, 1991; Capron, 1986; Gore & Stubbe, 1988; Kendall & Kendall, 1988; Martin & McClure, 1985; Martin, M., 1991; Powers, Cheney, & Crow, 1990; Wetherbe, 1988; Whitten, Bentley, & Ho, 1986; Yourdon, 1989, etc)

Graph layout for applications in compiler construction

We address graph visualization from the viewpoint of compiler construction. Most data structures in compilers are large, dense graphs such as annotated control flow graph, syntax trees, dependency graphs. Our main focus is the animation and interactive exploration of these graphs. Fast layout heuristics and powerful browsing methods are needed. We give a survey of layout heuristics for general directed and undirected graphs and present the browsing facilities that help to manage large structured graph

An Experimental program animation system

Bibliography: p. 97-100

Graph layout for applications in compiler construction

We address graph visualization from the viewpoint of compiler construction. Most data structures in compilers are large, dense graphs such as annotated control flow graph, syntax trees, dependency graphs. Our main focus is the animation and interactive exploration of these graphs. Fast layout heuristics and powerful browsing methods are needed. We give a survey of layout heuristics for general directed and undirected graphs and present the browsing facilities that help to manage large structured graph

Rechnerunterstützung für die konzeptuelle Modellierung

Ein konzeptuelles Modell ist eine stark abstrahierte Darstellung eines Ausschnittes der realen Welt. Viele der bekannten Modelliertechniken geben nur eine Sicht des Weltausschnittes wieder. Für die Verwendung von konzeptuellen Modellen z.B. in der Analysephase der Software-Entwicklung müssen allerdings mehrere Sichten betrachtet werden. Die Diskussion über verschiedene Basistechniken sowie kombinierte und objekt-orientierte Modelliertechniken ergibt, daß es wünschenswert ist, nacheinander mehrere Modelle mit unterschiedlichen Techniken zu erstellen und die Teilmodelle zu einem konsistenten Gesamtmodell zu integrieren. Durch den Einsatz rechner-gestützter Werkzeuge (CASE-Tools) kann der Modellierer bei der Anwendung einzelner Modelliertechniken in vielerlei Hinsicht unterstützt werden. Zur Unterstützung des Integrationsprozesses werden mehrere Werkzeuge zu einem Modelliersystem (I-CASE-Systeme) zusammengefaßt, wobei die Art und die Zahl der in einem Modelliersystem verwendeten Werkzeuge festgelegt ist und nicht vom geplanten Verwendungszweck der konzeptuellen Modelle abhängig gemacht werden kann. Durch die Standardisierung von Repository-Schnittstellen (IRDS, Repository Manager, etc.) konnten offene d.h. erweiterbare Modelliersysteme entwickelt werden. Aufgrund der unbekannten Zusammensetzung solcher offenen Systeme ist es aber schwierig, Funktionen für die Integration von (mit verschiedenen Werkzeugen erstellten) Teilmodellen bereitzustellen. Als Lösungsvorschlag für ein sowohl erweiterbares als auch integrierendes Modelliersystem werden in dieser Arbeit der Aufbau und die Funktionsweise von C-CASE-Systemen (Configurable-CASE-Systeme) vorgestellt. Diese neue Art von Modelliersystemen besteht aus einem generischen Modelliereditor, einem semantischen Repository und einer Integrationsfunktionalität. Alle drei Komponenten müssen vor dem Einsatz des Systems konfiguriert werden. Sie können aber auch nachträglich neu konfiguriert werden, wenn z.B. eine zusätzliche Modelliertechnik eingesetzt werden soll

Quantitative functional complexity analysis of commercial software systems

Digitisation of this thesis was sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Process management for geographical information system development

The controlled management of software processes, an area of ongoing research in the business systems domain, is equally important in the development of geographical information systems (GIS). Appropriate software processes must be defined, used and managed in order to ensure that, as much as possible, systems are developed to quality standards on time and within budget. However, specific characteristics of geographical information systems, in terms of their inherent need for graphical output, render some process management tools and techniques less appropriate. This paper examines process management activities that are applicable to GIS, and suggests that it may be possible to extend such developments into the visual programming domain. A case study concerned with development effort estimation is presented as a precursor to a discussion of the implications of system requirements for significant graphical output.Unpublished1 Albrecht, A.J. Measuring application development productivity. In Proceedings Joint SHARE/GUIDE Application Development Symposium, 1979 pp. 83-92. 2 Aldridge, C., Benwell, G., Turnbull, I., Henderson, J., Harris, M. and Tay, A. Dunedin pilot hazards information system - a system analysis and proposal. In Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Colloquium of the Spatial Information Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, 1993 pp. 247-264. 3 Arthur, J.D., Nance, R.E. and Balci, O. Establishing software development process control: technical objectives, operational requirements, and the foundational framework. Journal of Systems and Software 22 (1993), 117-128. 4 Benwell, G.L. and MacDonell, S.G. Assessing the graphical and algorithmic structure of hierarchical coloured Petri net models. Australian Journal of Information Systems 2, 1 (1994), 17-28. 5 Bias, R.G. and Mayhew, D.J., Eds. Cost-Justifying Usability. Academic Press, Boston, 1994. 6 Boehm, B.W. Software Engineering Economics. Prentice-Hall, New York, 1981. 7 Boehm, B.W. Software Risk Management. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos CA, 1989. 8 Bregt, A.K. and Wopereis, M.C.S. Comparison of complexity measures for choropleth maps. The Cartographic Journal 27 (1990), 85-91. 9 Date, C.J. An Introduction to Database Systems Vol. 1, 5th Ed, Addison-Wesley, Reading MA, 1990. 10 Feuchtwanger, M. Towards a geographic semantic data model, PhD thesis, Simon Fraser University, Canada, 1993. 11 Firns, P.G. An extended entity relationship model applicable to the design of spatially referenced databases PhD thesis, University of Otago, New Zealand, 1994. 12 Lehman, M.M. Uncertainty in computer application and its control through the engineering of software. Journal of Software Maintenance 1, 1 (1989), 3-28. 13 Love, W.R. GIS design and implementation: a successful methodology. In Proceedings of the 19th Australian Conference on Urban and Regional Information Systems, Wellington, New Zealand, 1991 pp. 474-484. 14 MacEachren, A.M. Map complexity: comparison and measurement. The American Cartographer 9, 1 (1982), 31-46. 15 Mersey, J.E. Colour and Thematic Map Design: The role of colour scheme and map complexity in choropleth map communication. Cartographica Monograph 41, Toronto, 1990. 16 Monmonier, M.S. Raster-mode area generalisation for land use and land cover maps. Cartographica 20 (1983), 65-91. 17 Protsko, L.B., Sorenson, P.G., Tremblay, J.P. and Schaefer, D.A. Towards the automatic generation of software diagrams. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 17, 1 (Jan. 1991), 10-21. 18 Ratcliff, B. Software Engineering: Principles and Methods. Blackwell, Oxford, 1987. 19 Sallis, P., Tate, G. and MacDonell, S. Software Engineering: Practice, Management, Improvement. Addison-Wesley, Sydney, 1995. 20 Symons, C.R. Software Sizing and Estimating: Mk II FPA (Function Point Analysis). John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1991. 21 Tan, K.P., Chua, T.S. and Lee, P.T. AUTO-DFD: An intelligent data flow processor. The Computer Journal 32, 3 (1989), 194-201. 22 Tate, G. and Verner, J. Software costing in practice. In Veryard, R. Information and Software Economics. Butterworth Scientific, UK, 1990. 23 Zwart, P.R. The rise and decline of land information systems. In Proceedings of the 12th International Cartographic Association Conference, Perth, Western Australia, 1984 pp. 123-133

Process management for geographical information system development

The controlled management of software processes, an area of ongoing research in the business systems domain, is equally important in the development of geographical information systems (GIS). Appropriate software processes must be defined, used and managed in order to ensure that, as much as possible, systems are developed to quality standards on time and within budget. However, specific characteristics of geographical information systems, in terms of their inherent need for graphical output, render some process management tools and techniques less appropriate. This paper examines process management activities that are applicable to GIS, and suggests that it may be possible to extend such developments into the visual programming domain. A case study concerned with development effort estimation is presented as a precursor to a discussion of the implications of system requirements for significant graphical output.Unpublished1 Albrecht, A.J. Measuring application development productivity. In Proceedings Joint SHARE/GUIDE Application Development Symposium, 1979 pp. 83-92. 2 Aldridge, C., Benwell, G., Turnbull, I., Henderson, J., Harris, M. and Tay, A. Dunedin pilot hazards information system - a system analysis and proposal. In Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Colloquium of the Spatial Information Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, 1993 pp. 247-264. 3 Arthur, J.D., Nance, R.E. and Balci, O. Establishing software development process control: technical objectives, operational requirements, and the foundational framework. Journal of Systems and Software 22 (1993), 117-128. 4 Benwell, G.L. and MacDonell, S.G. Assessing the graphical and algorithmic structure of hierarchical coloured Petri net models. Australian Journal of Information Systems 2, 1 (1994), 17-28. 5 Bias, R.G. and Mayhew, D.J., Eds. Cost-Justifying Usability. Academic Press, Boston, 1994. 6 Boehm, B.W. Software Engineering Economics. Prentice-Hall, New York, 1981. 7 Boehm, B.W. Software Risk Management. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos CA, 1989. 8 Bregt, A.K. and Wopereis, M.C.S. Comparison of complexity measures for choropleth maps. The Cartographic Journal 27 (1990), 85-91. 9 Date, C.J. An Introduction to Database Systems Vol. 1, 5th Ed, Addison-Wesley, Reading MA, 1990. 10 Feuchtwanger, M. Towards a geographic semantic data model, PhD thesis, Simon Fraser University, Canada, 1993. 11 Firns, P.G. An extended entity relationship model applicable to the design of spatially referenced databases PhD thesis, University of Otago, New Zealand, 1994. 12 Lehman, M.M. Uncertainty in computer application and its control through the engineering of software. Journal of Software Maintenance 1, 1 (1989), 3-28. 13 Love, W.R. GIS design and implementation: a successful methodology. In Proceedings of the 19th Australian Conference on Urban and Regional Information Systems, Wellington, New Zealand, 1991 pp. 474-484. 14 MacEachren, A.M. Map complexity: comparison and measurement. The American Cartographer 9, 1 (1982), 31-46. 15 Mersey, J.E. Colour and Thematic Map Design: The role of colour scheme and map complexity in choropleth map communication. Cartographica Monograph 41, Toronto, 1990. 16 Monmonier, M.S. Raster-mode area generalisation for land use and land cover maps. Cartographica 20 (1983), 65-91. 17 Protsko, L.B., Sorenson, P.G., Tremblay, J.P. and Schaefer, D.A. Towards the automatic generation of software diagrams. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 17, 1 (Jan. 1991), 10-21. 18 Ratcliff, B. Software Engineering: Principles and Methods. Blackwell, Oxford, 1987. 19 Sallis, P., Tate, G. and MacDonell, S. Software Engineering: Practice, Management, Improvement. Addison-Wesley, Sydney, 1995. 20 Symons, C.R. Software Sizing and Estimating: Mk II FPA (Function Point Analysis). John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1991. 21 Tan, K.P., Chua, T.S. and Lee, P.T. AUTO-DFD: An intelligent data flow processor. The Computer Journal 32, 3 (1989), 194-201. 22 Tate, G. and Verner, J. Software costing in practice. In Veryard, R. Information and Software Economics. Butterworth Scientific, UK, 1990. 23 Zwart, P.R. The rise and decline of land information systems. In Proceedings of the 12th International Cartographic Association Conference, Perth, Western Australia, 1984 pp. 123-133