Using UML’s Sequence Diagrams for Representing Execution Models Associated to Triggers

11 pages, 3 figures.-- Contributed to: 23rd British National Conference on Databases (BNCOD 23, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, July 18-20, 2006).Using active rules or triggers to verify integrity constraints is a serious and complex problem because these mechanisms have behaviour that could be difficult to predict in a complex database. The situation is even worse as there are few tools available for developing and verifying them. We believe that automatic support for trigger development and verification would help database developers to adopt triggers in the database design process. Therefore, in this work we suggest a visualization add-in tool that represents and verifies triggers execution by using UML’s sequence diagrams. This tool is added in RATIONAL ROSE and it simulates the execution sequence of a set of triggers when a DML operation is produced. This tool uses the SQL standard to express the triggers semantics and execution.This work is part of the project "Software Process Management Platform: modelling, reuse and measurement". TIN2004/07083.Publicad

A distributed system architecture for spatial data management to support engineering modeling

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-50).This research seeks ways to manage the process of analysis and synthesis of geographic data to support collaboration among researchers, planners, and engineers working on a spatial problem. This question is addressed on two levels. The first level examines the abstraction and representation of the analysis process, using the Unified Modeling Language. The second level examines the distributed environment that enables such collaboration, and proposes a three-tier distributed system architecture. The interdisciplinary Urban Respiration project provides a context and examples illustrating the need for such design. A prototype application is developed to test and understand the applicability of the proposed designs.by Ayman Ismail.M.C.P

Search-based system architecture development using a holistic modeling approach

This dissertation presents an innovative approach to system architecting where search algorithms are used to explore design trade space for good architecture alternatives. Such an approach is achieved by integrating certain model construction, alternative generation, simulation, and assessment processes into a coherent and automated framework. This framework is facilitated by a holistic modeling approach that combines the capabilities of Object Process Methodology (OPM), Colored Petri Net (CPN), and feature model. The resultant holistic model can not only capture the structural, behavioral, and dynamic aspects of a system, allowing simulation and strong analysis methods to be applied, it can also specify the architectural design space. Both object-oriented analysis and design (OOA/D) and domain engineering were exploited to capture design variables and their domains and define architecture generation operations. A fully realized framework (with genetic algorithms as the search algorithm) was developed. Both the proposed framework and its suggested implementation, including the proposed holistic modeling approach and architecture alternative generation operations, are generic. They are targeted at systems that can be specified using object-oriented or process-oriented paradigm. The broad applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated on two examples. One is the configuration of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) under multi-objective optimization and the other is the architecture design of a manned lunar landing system for the Apollo program. The test results show that the proposed approach can cover a huge number of architecture alternatives and support the assessment of several performance measures. A set of quality results was obtained after running the optimization algorithm following the proposed framework --Abstract, page iii

A meta-language for systems architecting

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 164-168).(cont.) To demonstrate its practical value in large-scale engineering systems, the research applied OPN to two space exploration programs and one aircraft design problem. In our experiments, OPN was able to significantly change the modeling and architectural reasoning process by automating a number of manual model construction, manipulation, and simulation tasks.The aim of this research is to design an executable meta-language that supports system architects' modeling process by automating certain model construction, manipulation and simulation tasks. This language specifically addresses the needs in systematically communicating architects' intent with a wide range of stakeholders and to organize knowledge from various domains. Our investigation into existing architecting approaches and technologies has pointed out the need to develop a simple and intuitive, yet formal language, that expresses multiple layers of abstractions, provides reflexive knowledge about the models, mechanizes data exchange and manipulation, while allowing integration with legacy infrastructures. A small set of linguistic primitives, stateful objects and processes that transform them were identified as both required and sufficient building blocks of the meta-language, specified as an Object-Process Network (OPN). To demonstrate the applicability of OPN, a software environment has been developed and applied to define meta-models of large-scale complex system architectures such as space transportation systems. OPN provides three supporting aspects of architectural modeling. As a declarative language, OPN provides a diagrammatic formal language to help architects specify the space of architectural options. As an imperative language, OPN automates the process of creating architectural option instances and computes associated performance metrics for those instances. As a simulation language, OPN uses a function-algebraic model to subsume and compose discrete, continuous, and probabilistic events within one unified execution engine.by Hsueh-Yung Benjamin Koo.Ph.D