Dynamic Modelling of Information Systems

K.M. van Hee, H.G. Sol

• Publisher: North Holland
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780444889232
• eBook ISBN: 9781483294841
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Computer Science General
• Index: Computer Science

The use of dynamic models in the development of information systems is regarded by many researchers as a promising issue in design support. Modelling the dynamics of information systems is likely to improve the quality and the performance of the design products. Dynamic modelling as a new approach for dynamic analysis of problems within an existing situation, and design and evaluation of different solution strategies may overcome many difficulties in the design process.

INCLUDING DYNAMIC MODELLING INTO THE OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN

Hannelore Frank, Digital Equipment GmbH, CEC Karlsruhe

Wolfgang Gerteis, University of Karlsruhe, Institute for Telematics

Abstract

Development and integration of distributed application software is still a complex task regardless of the actual type of application. The DOCASE project is introducing an architecture for a development support environment that is based on common understanding of the development data representation. To facilitate this strategy, two representation languages are developed to cover the needs during the requirements and the design phases. Object-orientation and modelling of dynamic behaviour have been emphasized and transformation from the requirements representation to the design representation is included.This paper introduces both languages and the transformation strategy and provides an example.

Keywords

Requirements engineering

object-oriented design

distributed applications

language

1 INTRODUCTION

The demand for ever higher integration of application software into computer integrated manufacturing systems, distributed office automation systems, enterprise-wide information management systems etc. cannot sufficiently be met today, as no adequate concepts for development and integration of distributed application software are available.

To face this problem we believe that a synthesis of three large areas of computer science is necessary: distributed programming, software engineering, and object-oriented techniques.

The DOCASE project (distribution and objects in computer aided software engineering) intends to show the way towards environments, tools and languages appropriate for the development of distributed applications (1, 2).

Object-oriented languages (3, 4) have proved to help managing complexity, a major problem of distributed applications. The very few existing approaches to distributed object-oriented programming have proved that a number of helpful concepts in distributed programming can be easily introduced using the object paradigm (e.g., transparency of the underlying network structure). To support the design a language covering the range from high level, incompletely specified early development phases to low level, detailed description of software, has to be provided. A central goal to DOCASE is to include modelling of application dynamics and animation of the model into such a language. The seamless path from early to late phases and the ease of maintenance make this approach very attractive.

This paper introduces an approach to use object-orientation to model requirements in the DORL (DOCASE Requirements Language) and software in the DODL (DOCASE Design Language) with adjusted concepts for the modelling of dynamics of the application system and tool supported transformation from DORL to DODL.

2 OBJECT-ORIENTED APPROACH TO REQUIREMENTS AND SOFTWARE MODELLING

The life-cycle of the development of an application starts with the analysis of the application domain and the gathering of the requirements. In this phase it is necessary to describe a model of the real world and build the picture of the new solutions within this model. The view we have of the real world is oriented towards objects, their looks and feels and their behaviour, so that it seems natural to use the object-oriented approach to build the real-world model.

The application view of objects is oriented towards the elements in the application domain. Those elements have static properties, their ‘looks and feels’, and dynamic properties, their behaviour. As in the object-oriented approach those properties can be divided into properties important to the outside and those only important within an object. A major difference with the purely object-oriented approach we find in the usage of typing and instantiation. Describing a real-world model the tendency is to describe an instance when collecting properties of an element and a type when describing the use of a number of elements of a kind. It is important to recognize this difference and to include this into the language supporting requirements modelling.

When using the object-oriented approach the requirements objects will represent environmental objects plus the objects of the system that are visible to the environment. The description will give information on the environment and on the interface of the system to the environment.

When stepping from the real-world model to the software model the object structure of the requirements builds the framework of the system. The software model evolves from this framework.

3 INCLUSION OF DYNAMICS ON REQUIREMENTS LEVEL

Considering the application view to objects, the need makes itself felt for an input model a requirements language has to support. The following section gives an overview of the DORL, the DOCASE Requirements Language. A requirements model described in DORL will be transformed into a framework for the software model using DODL (DOCASE Design Language) constructs as output.

The DORL has to deal with representation of application objects and their b...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• PREFACE
• Chapter 1: INCLUDING DYNAMIC MODELLING INTO THE OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN
• Chapter 2: A COMMUNICATION ORIENTED APPROACH TO CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS MODELLING
• Chapter 3: USING MODELING AND SIMULATION IN THE ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• Chapter 4: DYNAMIC MODELLING: AN EXAMPLE OF AN EVENT-DRIVEN APPROACH
• Chapter 5: USING AN OBJECT-ORIENTED DIAGRAM TECHNIQUE FOR THE DESIGN OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• Chapter 6: AN OBJECT-ORIENTED RULE-BASED APPROACH TO THE DYNAMIC MODELLING OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• Chapter 7: INTERACTIVE MODELLING FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS DESIGN: THE MOSAIC TOOL
• Chapter 8: A FORMAL FRAMEWORK FOR DYNAMIC MODELLING OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• Chapter 9: FIRST AND SECOND ORDER DYNAMICS IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• Chapter 10: ON TRIGGERS AND HIERARCHY IN CONCEPTUAL MODELLING
• Chapter 11: MODELLING LOGISTIC SYSTEMS WITH EXSPECT
• Chapter 12: EXPERIENCES WITH RULE-BASED DYNAMIC MODELLING
• Chapter 13: DYNAMIC MODELLING FOR ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF OFFICE SYSTEMS
• Chapter 14: THE APPLICATION OF PARALLELISM IN COMMERCIAL DYNAMIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS: THE FORTH-CLYDE PROJECT
• Chapter 15: PROTOTYPING AS MODELING: WHAT IS BEING MODELED?