Viewpoint Languages Research Articles

A deep view-point language and framework for projective modeling

Most view-based modeling approaches are today based on a “synthetic” approach in which the views hold all the information modeled about a system and are kept consistent using explicit, inter-view correspondence rules. The alternative “projective” approach, in which the contents of views are “projected” from a single underlying model on demand, is far less widely used due to the lack of suitable conceptual frameworks and languages. In this paper we take a step towards addressing this problem by presenting the foundations of a suitable language and conceptual framework for defining and applying views for projective modeling. The framework leverages deep modeling in order to seamlessly support views that exist at, and span, multiple levels of classification. The viewpoint language was developed in the context of Orthographic Software Modeling but is more generally applicable to any projective modeling approach.

SAMM: an architecture modeling methodology for ship command and control systems

Ship command and control systems (SCCSs) are composed of large-scale, complex, real-time and software-intensive systems that complete tasks collaboratively. Open architecture has been introduced to design the architecture of SCCSs and has been refined into functional architecture (FA) and technical architecture (TA) to meet architectural requirements such as adapting fast-speed functional and technical changes. Thereby, specifying the architecture of SCCSs, based on FA and TA, becomes a key issue for stakeholders of the domain. In this paper, we propose an architecture modeling methodology (named as SAMM) for describing the architecture of SCCSs. SAMM is derived by following a systematic and generic framework--modeling Goal, domain-specific Conceptual model, architecture Viewpoint, and architecture description Language (GCVL), which guides domain experts to devise domain-specific architecture modeling methodologies of large-scale software-intensive systems. SAMM contains three viewpoints and 22 models, and a UML/SysML-based architecture description language. An industrial application of SAMM, along with the subsequent application of the derived SAMM architecture model (i.e., a deployed SCCS prototype) was conducted to evaluate SAMM. A questionnaire-based survey was also conducted to subjectively evaluate whether SAMM meets the modeling goals and its applicability. Results show that SAMM meets all modeling goals and is easy to apply.

Translation and multilingualism in the psychoanalytic dimension

From an intralinguistic viewpoint language as a ‘living substance’ is conditioned historically and socially, but also differently in different languages. This article discusses a number of questions about the complex relationship between Freud, the Freudian text and translation, and provides clinical examples to highlight some of the issues that psychoanalysts confront in their work when more than one language is involved, when either analyst and patient do not share the same mother tongue, or because a multilingual fact plays a special role within the interpersonal or intrapsychic dimension.

Ontology Development for Designing and Managing Dynamic Business Process Networks

Recent advances in flexible process design and deployment technologies, such as web services and flexible workflow systems, promise the development of flexible intra- and inter-organizational business process networks with potential economic benefits. However, exploiting this potential requires the development of scalable process-management technologies that provide a consistent viewpoint and common language (for describing properties of the process network) to all stakeholders involved in its management. Current approaches to managing such networks requires one to use a babel of languages (in the formal sense) at different levels of abstraction. The development of explicit process ontologies is one of the potentially viable approaches to provide an unified view. In this paper, we discuss the need for process ontologies, propose a task-based ontological framework synthesizing recent research in the fields of AI planning and software engineering, and illustrate the need to link declarative and procedural process representations. We illustrate the use of this ontological framework for managing processes in developing applications for integrating information from disparate information sources in multiple domains. Further, based on this experience, we discuss potential benefits and areas for future research.

Bridging the gap between IEEE 1471, an architecture description language, and UML

A lot of attention has been paid to software architecture issues in academia, industrial research and standardization organizations working in the software area. The software architecture research community has focused on the creation and improvement of special-purpose languages: architecture description languages (ADLs). However, ADLs lack adequate support for separating various kinds of stakeholders’ concerns along different viewpoints. But also, they do not address the difference between the architecture of a software system and its representations. In contrast, ANSI/IEEE-Std-1471 makes a clear distinction between the architecture and the architectural description of a software system. In this paper, we propose ConcernBASE, a UML-based approach to software architecture, which instantiates the conceptual framework defined in ANSI/IEEE-Std-1471 and complements the abstractions and mechanisms found in current ADLs. ConcernBASE provides a viewpoint for structural descriptions of software architectures that supports key concepts of ADLs and defines a UML profile as a viewpoint language. We validate this profile through a mapping between a representative ADL, called Structural ADL (SADL), and the new profile and by providing a UML-based tool prototype, called ConcernBASE Modeler, which integrates with SADL tools.

ODP enterprise viewpoint specification

The Open Distributed Processing (ODP) standardisation initiative has led to a framework by which distributed systems can be modelled using a number of viewpoints. These include an enterprise viewpoint, which focuses on the objectives and policies of the enterprise that the system is meant to support. Although the ODP reference model provides abstract languages of relevant concepts, it does not prescribe particular techniques that are to be used in the individual viewpoints. In particular, there is a need to develop appropriate notations for ODP enterprise specification, in order to increase the applicability of the ODP framework. In this paper, we tackle this concern and develop a specification language to support the current draft of the enterprise viewpoint. In doing so, we analyse the current definition of the ODP enterprise viewpoint language. Using the Unified Modelling Language ( uml), a meta-model of the core concepts and their relationships is constructed, and we also investigate to what extent the uml can be used for enterprise viewpoint specification. We, then, focus on the expression of enterprise policies that govern the behaviour of enterprise objects. We develop a policy language, which is a combination of structured English and simple predicate logic and is built on top of the formal object-oriented specification language Object-Z, into which the complete language is translated. We illustrate the ideas in the paper with a case study that presents an enterprise specification of a library support system.

Tele-education process modelling supported by the ODP enterprise viewpoint language

Tele-education process modelling supported by the ODP enterprise viewpoint language

Patterns for constructing CSCW applications in TINA

There is a convergence between the idea of design patterns and the goal to achieve reuse of component design in the telecommunications information networking architecture (TINA). Patterns can be specified using graphical and syntactical notations proposed by the TINA consortium (TINA-C) for the information and computational viewpoint languages of the open distributed processing reference model (ODP-RM). In this article, design patterns are proposed that efficiently support computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) applications in TINA: multi-party stream binding, connectivity integrity criteria, voting, floor control, role management and group integrity criteria. These design patterns can be specialized such, that they suit a large variety of collaborative activities. An implementation of the patterns should become part of an object-oriented framework for CSCW applications in TINA.

Constructing an enterprise viewpoint: evaluation of four business modelling techniques

Business process modelling is presented as an important first step in the process of designing a distributed system by integrating pre-existing components. The elements describing a business process are derived from the ODP-enterprise viewpoint language. One of the viewpoints distinguished in the Open Distributed Processing standard is the enterprise viewpoint. This viewpoint describes the organizational context in which the distributed system to be constructed will be used. In this paper we will review four business modelling techniques and their suitability for expressing the enterprise viewpoint is evaluated.

Specification of multiparty audio and video interaction based on the Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing

The Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) is an emerging ISO/ITU-T standard. It provides a framework of abstractions based on viewpoints, and it defines five viewpoint languages to model open distributed systems. This paper uses the viewpoint languages to specify multiparty audio/video exchange in distributed systems. To the designers of distributed systems, it shows how the concepts and rules of RM-ODP can be applied. The ODP “binding object” is an important concept to model continuous data flows in distributed systems. We take this concept as a basis for multiparty audio and video flow exchanges, and we provide five ODP viewpoint specifications, each emphasising a particular concern. To ensure overall correctness, special attention is paid to the mapping between the ODP viewpoint specifications.

Conversions of Feature-Based Design Representations Using Graph Grammar Parsing

In order to trade off required functionality with manufacturing, cost, and other life-cycle considerations, it is necessary to evaluate designs in these secondary view-points. Representations of mechanical components designed with design features must be converted into representations containing relevant secondary viewpoint features. When describing a design verbally, designers often use languages of design features. In other viewpoints, different languages of viewpoint-specific features are used. Thus, translation capability between viewpoint languages is needed to convert from one representation to another. The approach taken here is to use formal graph grammars to define the feature-based design of thin-walled components and the secondary feature languages. Features are defined by graphs that explicitly represent the feature, its geometric entities, and their connectivity. Components are built up by combining feature graphs based on designer specified feature connectivity. To convert from the design to a secondary viewpoint, a three-step process is used where the last step is parsing by a grammar from the secondary viewpoint. To illustrate the conversion process, a converter for tool cost evaluation in injection molding and die casting is developed and applied to an example component.