XML-based Language Research Articles

Performance modeling from software components

When software products are assembled from pre-defined components, performance prediction should be based on the components also. This supports rapid model-building, using previously calibrated sub-models or "performance components", in sync with the construction of the product. The specification of a performance component must be tied closely to the software component specification, but it also includes performance related parameters (describing workload characteristics and demands), and it abstracts the behaviour of the component in various ways (for reasons related to practical factors in performance analysis). A useful set of abstractions and parameters are already defined for layered performance modeling. This work extends them to accommodate software components, using a new XML-based language called Component-Based Modeling Language (CBML). With CBML, compatible components can be inserted into slots provided in a hierarchical component specification based on the UML component model.

Development of TrafficXML: Prototype XML for Traffic Simulation

With the wide adoption of XML as a standard means of data representation and exchange, more XML-aware applications and open resources are added to the library. It is therefore beneficial for the transportation community to develop an industrywide common language not only to leverage the open resources but also to ease external and internal communication. A prototype of XML-based language, TrafficXML, was developed for data representation in traffic simulation, and the prototype was formally defined in an XML schema. Discussions include the role of XML in traffic simulation, procedures for developing and applying the prototype, and issues of validation with an XML schema. As an illustrative example, the prototype was applied to KWaves, an enhanced macroscopic traffic simulation software built on Java and XML technologies.

XML-based Specification of Diagram Editors

This paper describes a graphical specification tool for Dia Gen, a diagram editor generator based on hypergraph grammars and hypergraph transformation. The specification tool greatly simplifies the process of specifying and generating diagram editors. It uses an XML-based specification language, and it is an extension of a generic XML editor which offers syntax-directed editing based on the DTD, i.e, syntax specification, of the underlying XML-based language.

An XML-based language for the Research & Development pipeline management problem

Process management frameworks, such as Sim-Opt [AIChE J. 10 (2001) 2226], which addresses the Research & Development (R&D) pipeline management problem with mathematical programming and discrete-event simulation give rise to formulations that are extremely data-intensive and have complex hierarchical data-requirements. This necessitates a data model that can be used to model any given problem instance in the form of a structured input language. Further, the language requires a parser that reads and interprets any input instance in order to capture the input data in memory and allow the formulation and solution of the corresponding optimization and simulation models. In the past, structured documentation languages have been designed for this purpose. However, such customized languages often lead to a strong coupling between the language definition and the parser implementation. Any redefinition or extension of the language to accommodate changes in the problem scope and/or optimization/simulation formulations would imply a customized extension of the parser, thus leading to software engineering difficulties. One solution to the above difficulties is provided by the Extensible Markup Language (XML) technology, a recent advance in software technology that enables extensibility and data abstraction and provides efficient data structuring parsers and object orientation. XML imposes the requirement of specifying data in an inherently hierarchical structure and provides generic parsers that do not require any re-design upon language extensions or redefinitions. This paper describes an XML-based language that has been developed for the R&D pipeline management problem, with the keywords, structural syntax, and data content models for representing all aspects of the problem. It also discusses the practical issue of effectively accessing data that gets stored in the document object model (DOM) upon parsing, by designing a set of problem definition classes (PDC), which organize the data stored in the generic DOM structure into an effective set of data structures that facilitate formulation generation. Efforts to integrate the language, the DOM parser, and the PDC in a discrete event simulation application for the R&D pipeline problem are also discussed.

Distributed policy-based management of measurement-based traffic engineering: design and implementation

This article discusses an architecture using monitoring feedback as an assisting factor for delivering QoS on packet-based networks. The handling of this feedback is done in an automated way, through the use of a policy-based management architecture. For this, a formal model for describing data plane and measurement objects was translated into an XML-based configuration language. On top of this, a proof-of-concept management architecture was developed and evaluated, using both a modified network simulator and enhanced Linux prototype routers.

Application of XML for neural network exchange

This article introduces a framework for the interchange of trained neural network models. An XML-based language (Neural Network Markup Language) for the neural network model description is offered. It allows to write down all the components of neural network model which are necessary for its reproduction. We propose to use XML notation for the full description of neural models, including data dictionary, properties of training sample, preprocessing methods, details of network structure and parameters and methods for network output interpretation.

Improving SMIL with NCM Facilities

SMIL is an XML-based language for specifying documents with temporal and spatial synchronization relationships, recommended by the W3C. However, SMIL has some limitations as a hypermedia authoring language. In order to overcome these limitations, this work presents the integration of SMIL documents with HyperProp, a hypermedia system based on an object-oriented model called NCM (Nested Context Model). As benefits, the integration makes both NCM facilities and HyperProp authoring and formatting tools available for SMIL documents. Furthermore, this work presents how the SMIL language can be extended to incorporate NCM facilities through the inclusion of new XML elements and attributes found in NCL, the NCM declarative language. Among the facilities, we can highlight the possibility of reusing document components and their presentation characteristics, offering flexibility in temporal specifications, adapting a document presentation according to user navigation and specifying n-ary relationships expressing causality or constraint among components.

An XML-based modeling language for the open interchange of decision models

These days, a modeling tool or environment has to know about the others on the market and build bridges to them with which their customers insist on sharing models and data. When it is based on a closed architecture, a tangle of import/export point translators is required. Using an exchange standard, we can design an open architecture for the interchange of models and data. XML (Extensible Markup Language) provides a framework for describing the syntax for creating and exchanging data structures. The explosive growth of XML-based proposals and standards reflects the urgent requirements and its strength. This paper proposes an XML-based language for sharing models within the MSOR/DSS community. The language is able to allow applications and on-line analytic processing tools to models obtained from multiple sources without having to deal with individual differences between those sources.

Implicit human computer interaction through context

In this paper the term “implicit human-computer interaction” is defined. It is discussed how the availability of processing power and advanced sensing technology can enable a shift in HCI from explicit interaction, such as direct manipulation GUIs, towards a more implicit interaction based on situational context. In the paper, an algorithm is given based on a number of questions to identify applications that can facilitate implicit interaction. An XML-based language to describe implicit HCI is proposed. The language uses contextual variables that can be grouped using different types of semantics as well as actions that are called by triggers. The term of perception is discussed and four basic approaches are identified that are useful when building context-aware applications. Two examples, a wearable context awareness component and a sensor-board, show how sensor-based perception can be implemented. It is also discussed how situational context can be exploited to improve input and output of mobile devices.

XML: an interview with Peter Flynn

The developers of XML (Extensible Markup Language) intended it as a metalanguage - a language in which you can describe another language - for designing your own markup. Today, businesses see XML as a way to tag data so they can interchange it among applications, and groups are developing XML-based languages for exchanging data for business-tobusiness e-commerce, directory services, financial transactions, and wireless devices. As such, XML is becoming an important tool in application integration. Peter Flynn was a key voice in developing the standard and remains an active observer of how XML is finding its place in the world.

Object-oriented Web application development

Most Web applications are still developed ad hoc. One reason is the gap between established software design concepts and the low-level Web implementation model. We summarize work on WebComposition, a model for Web application development, then introduce the WebComposition Markup Language, an XML-based language that implements the model. WCML embodies object-oriented principles such as modularity, abstraction and encapsulation.