DAIDA: an environment for evolving information systems

ABSTRACT

We present a framework for the development of information systems based on the premise that the knowledge that influences the development process needs to somehow be captured, represented, and managed if the development process is to be rationalized. Experiences with a prototype environment developed in ESPRIT project DAIDA demonstrate the approach. The project has implemented an environment based on state-of-the-art languages for requirements modeling, design and implementation of information systems. In addition, the environment offers tools for aiding the mapping process from requirements to design and then to implementation, also for representing decisions reached during the development process. The development process itself is represented explicitly within the system, thus making the DAIDA development framework easier to comprehend, use, and modify.

REFERENCES

• 1: ABmAL, J.R. An informal introduction to B. Manuscript, Paris, 1986.
• 2: ABRIAL, J. R., GARmNER, P., MORaAN, C., ANn SPWEY, M. Abstract machines. Manuscript, Oxford Univ., UK, 1988.
• 3: Evan W. Adams , Masahiro Honda , Terrence C. Miller, Object management in a CASE environment, Proceedings of the 11th international conference on Software engineering, p.154-163, May 1989, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States [doi>10.1145/74587.74610]
• 4: Frank W. Allen , Mary E. S. Loomis , Michael V. Mannino, The Integrated Dictionary/Directory System, ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), v.14 n.2, p.245-286, June 1982 [doi>10.1145/356876.356882]
• 5: ALLEN, J. F. A general model of action and time. In Proceedings 7th IJCAI Conference, (Vancouver, B.C., 1981).
• 6: ASLETT, M. J., MELLGREN, D., YAN, Y. F., A~D PmTm, F. ASPIS: a knowledge-based approach to systems development. In Proceedings ESPRIT Conference (Brussels, Nov. 1989), pp. 334-344.
• 7: Jay Banerjee , Hong-Tai Chou , Jorge F. Garza , Won Kim , Darrell Woelk , Nat Ballou , Hyoung-Joo Kim, Data model issues for object-oriented applications, ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), v.5 n.1, p.3-26, Jan. 1987 [doi>10.1145/22890.22945]
• 8: John Barron, Dialogue and process design for interactive information systems using Taxis, ACM SIGOA Newsletter, v.3 n.1-2, p.12-20, June 21-23, 1982
• 9: D. Barstow, Artificial intelligence and software engineering, Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Software Engineering, p.200-211, March 1987, Monterey, California, United States
• 10: C. Batini , M. Lenzerini , S. B. Navathe, A comparative analysis of methodologies for database schema integration, ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), v.18 n.4, p.323-364, Dec. 1986 [doi>10.1145/27633.27634]
• 11: Friedrich Ludwig Bauer , Bernhard Möller , Helmut Partsch , Peter Pepper, Formal Program Construction by Transformations-Computer-Aided, Intuition-Guided Programming, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, v.15 n.2, p.165-180, February 1989 [doi>10.1109/32.21743]
• 12: N. Belkhatir , J. Estublier, Software management constraints and action triggering in the Adele program database, Proc. of the 1st European Software Engineering Conference on ESEC '87, p.44-54, December 1987, Strasbourg, France
• 13: P. A. Berstein, Database system support for software engineering, Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Software Engineering, p.166-178, March 1987, Monterey, California, United States
• 14: T. J. Biggerstaff , C. Richter, Reusability framework, assessment, and directions, Software reusability: vol. 1, concepts and models, ACM Press, New York, NY, 1989 [doi>10.1145/73103.73104]
• 15: Alex Borgida , Matthias Jarke , John Mylopoulos , Joachim W. Schmidt , Yannis Vassiliou, The software development environment as a knowledge base management system, Foundations of knowledge base management, Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New York, NY, 1989
• 16: BORGIDA, A., MEIRLAEN, E., MYLOPOULOS, J., AND SCHMIDT, J. W. Report on the Taxis Design Language. ESPRIT 892 (DAIDA), FORTH-CRC, Iraklion, Greece, 1989.
• 17: Alexander Borgida , John Mylopoulos , Joachim W. Schmidt , Ingrid Wetzel, Support for data-intensive applications: conceptual design and software development, Proceedings of the second international workshop on Database programming languages, p.258-280, December 1989, Salishan Lodge, Gleneden Beach, Oregon, United States
• 18: BOR6IDA, A., MYLOPOULOS, J., AND WONG, H. K. T. Generalization/specialization as a strategy for software specification. In M. L. Brodie, J. Mylopoulos, and J. W. Schmidt, Eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1984, 87-114.
• 19: BOUZEGHOUB, M., GARDARIN, G., AND METALS, E. Database design tools: an expert systems approach. In Proceedings 11th International VLDB Conference (Stockholm, 1985), pp. 82-95.
• 20: BRY, F., MANTHEY, R., AND MARTENS, B. Verification of integrity constraints in knowledge bases. Rep. ESPRIT Basic Research Action 3012 (COMPULOG), ECRC, Munich, 1990.
• 21: BUBENKO, J. On concepts and strategies for requirements and information analysis. SYSLAB Rep. 4, Dept. Computer Sciences, G6teborg, Sweden, 1980.
• 22: Peter Pin-Shan Chen, The entity-relationship model—toward a unified view of data, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.1 n.1, p.9-36, March 1976 [doi>10.1145/320434.320440]
• 23: Lawerence Chung, Representation and utilization of non-functional requirements for information system design, Proceedings of the third international conference on Advanced information systems engineering, p.5-30, May 1991, Trondheim, Norway
• 24: Lawrence Chung , Panagiotis Katalagarianos , Manolis Marakakis , Michalis Mertikas , John Mylopoulos , Yannis Vassiliou, From information system requirements to designs: a mapping framework, Information Systems, v.16 n.4, p.429-461, 1991 [doi>10.1016/0306-4379(91)90033-6]
• 25: Jeff Conklin , Michael L. Begeman, gIBIS: a hypertext tool for exploratory policy discussion, ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), v.6 n.4, p.303-331, Oct. 1988 [doi>10.1145/58566.59297]
• 26: CURTIS, B. Models of iteration in the software process. In Proceedings 3rd International Software Process Workshop (Breckenridge, Co, 1986), pp. 53-56.
• 27: U. Dayal , A. P. Buchmann , D. R. McCarthy, Rules are objects too: A knowledge model for an active, object-oriented databasesystem, Lecture notes in computer science on Advances in object-oriented database systems, p.129-143, September 1988, Bad Mu:9Ainster am Stein-Edernburg, Germany
• 28: Victor Weinberg, Structured Analysis, Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1978
• 29: DHAR, V., AND JARKE, M. Learning from prototypes. In Proceedings 6th International Conference Information Systems (Indianapolis, Ind, Dec. 1985), pp. 114-133.
• 30: Klaus R. Dittrich , Willi Gotthard , Peter C. Lockemann, DAMOKLES—a database system for software engineering environments, An international workshop on Advanced programming environments, p.353-371, January 1986, Trondheim, Norway
• 31: Dowso~, M. Integrated project support with IStar. IEEE Softw. 4, 4 (1987), 6-15.
• 32: ENDRES, R., SCHNEIDER, M. The GRASPIN software engineering environment. In Proceedings ESPRIT Conference (Brussels, Dec. 1988), pp. 349-364.
• 33: FINDLER, N., El). Associative Networks. Academic Press, New York, 1979.
• 34: Pankaj K. Garg , Walt Scacchi, A Hypertext System to Manage Software Life-Cycle Documents, IEEE Software, v.7 n.3, p.90-98, May 1990 [doi>10.1109/52.55233]
• 35: GIBBS, S., PREVELAKIS, Y., AND TSICHRITZIS, D. Software information systems: a software community perspective. In Object-Oriented Development, D. Tsichritzis, Ed., Universit~ de Geneve, 1989, 41-60.
• 36: C. Green , D. Luckham , R. Balzer , T. Cheatham , C. Rich, Report on a knowledge-based software assistant, Readings in artificial intelligence and software engineering, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1986
• 37: GREENSl~AN, S. Requirements modeling: the use of knowledge representation techniques for requirements specification. Ph.D. thesis, Dept. Computer Science, University of Toronto, Ont., 1984.
• 38: Udo Hahn , Matthias Jarke , Thomas Rose, Group work in software projects, Proceedings of the IFIP WG 8.4 confernece on Multi-user interfaces and applications, p.83-101, January 1990, Heraklion, Crete, Greece
• 39: HAMAN, R., AND MEYER, R. Requirements modeling and system specification in a logic-based knowledge reprsentation framework. To appear in Development Assistance for Database Applications, M. Jarke, Ed., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1992.
• 40: Scott E. Hudson , Roger King, Cactis: a self-adaptive, concurrent implementation of an object-oriented database management system, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.14 n.3, p.291-321, Sept. 1989 [doi>10.1145/68012.68013]
• 41: Richard Hull , Roger King, Semantic database modeling: survey, applications, and research issues, ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), v.19 n.3, p.201-260, Sept. 1987 [doi>10.1145/45072.45073]
• 42: J^RKE, M., ED. ConceptBase V3.0 user manual. Rep. MIP-9106, Univ. Passau, Germany, 1991.
• 43: M. Jarke , M. Jeusfeld , T. Rose, A software process data model for knowledge engineering in information systems, Information Systems, v.15 n.1, p.85-116, 1990 [doi>10.1016/0306-4379(90)90018-K]
• 44: J^RKE, M., LINNEMANN, V., AND SCI~Mm% J.W. Data constructors: on the integration of rules and relations. In Proceedings 11th International Conference Very Large Data Bases (Stockholm, Aug. 1985), pp. 227-240.
• 45: Manfred A. Jeusfeld , Michael Mertikas , Ingrid Wetzel , Matthias Jarke , Joachim W. Schmidt, Database application development as an object modeling activity, Proceedings of the sixteenth international conference on Very large databases, p.442-454, September 1990, Brisbane, Australia
• 46: C B Jones, Systematic software development using VDM, Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd., Hertfordshire, UK, 1986
• 47: Gail E. Kaiser , Naser S. Barghouti , Peter H. Feiler , Robert W. Schwanke, Database Support for Knowledge-Based Engineering Environments, IEEE Expert: Intelligent Systems and Their Applications, v.3 n.2, p.18-23, 26-32, June 1988 [doi>10.1109/64.2102]
• 48: KOUBARAKIS, M., MYLOPOULOS, J., STANLEY, M., ANn BoRGmA, A. Telos: features and formalization. Tech. Rep. KR-89-04, Univ. of Toronto, Ont., 1989.
• 49: Peter Lyngbaek , William Kent, A data modeling methodology for the design and implementation of information systems, Proceedings on the 1986 international workshop on Object-oriented database systems, p.6-17, September 23-26, 1986, Pacific Grove, California, United States
• 50: N. H. Madhavji , V. Gruhn , W. Deiters , W. Schäfer, Prism = methodology + process-oriented environment, Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Software engineering, p.277-288, March 26-30, 1990, Nice, France
• 51: David Maier, Theory of Relational Databases, Computer Science Pr, 1983
• 52: MALL, M., REIM~R, M., AND SCHMm% J.W. Data selection, sharing, and access control in a relational scenario. In On Conceptual Modehng, M. L. Brodie, J. Mylopoulos, and J. W. Schmidt, Eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1984, 411-436.
• 53: MEmLAEN, E., TRINON, J.-M., AND VENKEN, R. An object-based prototyping workbench in Prolog. In Proceedings ESPRIT Conference (Brussels, Dec. 1988), pp. 423-437.
• 54: MosTow, J. Towards better models of the design process. A! Mag. 6, I (1985), 44-66.
• 55: John Mylopoulos , Alex Borgida , Matthias Jarke , Manolis Koubarakis, Telos: representing knowledge about information systems, ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), v.8 n.4, p.325-362, Oct. 1990 [doi>10.1145/102675.102676]
• 56: John Mylopoulos , Philip A. Bernstein , Harry K. T. Wong, A language facility for designing database-intensive applications, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.5 n.2, p.185-207, June 1980 [doi>10.1145/320141.320150]
• 57: NmBER~ALL, J, AND SCHMm% J. W. DBPL-USE: a tool for language-sensitive data-base programming. Rep. ESPRIT 892 (DAIDA), Univ. Frankfurt, {989.
• 58: NIL~ON, N. Problem-Solving Method~ in Artificial Intelligence. McGraw-Hill, Now York, 1971.
• 59: Brian Nixon, Implementation of information system design specifications: a performance perspective, Proceedings of the third international workshop on Database programming languages : bulk types & persistent data: bulk types & persistent data, p.149-168, April 1992, Nafplion, Greece
• 60: L. Osterweil, Software processes are software too, Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Software Engineering, p.2-13, March 1987, Monterey, California, United States
• 61: PALMER, J. F. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Database Program. Des. 3, 10 (1990), 31-38.
• 62: D. E. Perry , G. E. Kaiser, Models of software development environments, Proceedings of the 10th international conference on Software engineering, p.60-68, April 11-15, 1988, Singapore
• 63: C. Potts , G. Bruns, Recording the reasons for design decisions, Proceedings of the 10th international conference on Software engineering, p.418-427, April 11-15, 1988, Singapore
• 64: Thomas W. Reps , Tim Teitelbaum, The synthesizer generator reference manual (3rd ed.), Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New York, NY, 1989
• 65: RICH, C. A formal representation for plans in the Programmer's Apprentice. In On Conceptual Modeling, M. L. Brodie, J. Mylopoulos, and J. Schmidt, Eds., Springer-Verlag, New York, 1984, 239-269.
• 66: ROMAN, G -C. A taxonomy of current issues in requirements engineering. IEEE Comput. 18, 4 (1985), 14-21.
• 67: T. Rose , M. Jarke, A decision-based configuration process model, Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Software engineering, p.316-325, March 26-30, 1990, Nice, France
• 68: Thomas Rose , Matthias Jarke , Michael Gocek , Carlos Maltzahn , Hans W. Nissen, A decision-based configuration process environment, Software Engineering Journal, v.6 n.5, p.332-346, Sept. 1991
• 69: Ross, D.T. Structured Analysis: a language for communicating ideas. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng'. 3, i (1977), 16-34.
• 70: ROUGE, A. A graphical editor for knowledge bases. To appear in Development Asszstance for Database Applications, M. Jarke, Ed., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 1992
• 71: RowE, L., AND WENSEL, S., EDS. In Proceedings ACM Workshop Software CAD Databases (Napa, Ca, Feb. 1989).
• 72: Joachim W. Schmidt, Some high level language constructs for data of type relation, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.2 n.3, p.247-261, Sept. 1977 [doi>10.1145/320557.320568]
• 73: SCHMIDT, J. W., ^ND MATTHES, F. DBPL language report and user manual. Rep., ESPRIT 892 (DAIDA), Univ. Hamburg, 1990.
• 74: Tim Sheard , David Stemple, Automatic verification of database transaction safety, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.14 n.3, p.322-368, Sept. 1989 [doi>10.1145/68012.68014]
• 75: Herbert A. Simon, The sciences of the artificial (3rd ed.), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996
• 76: Douglas R. Smith , Gordon B. Kotik , Stephen J. Westfold, Research on knowledge-based software environments at Kestrel Institute, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, v.11 n.11, p.1278-1295, Nov. 1985 [doi>10.1109/TSE.1985.231879]
• 77: Richard Snodgrass, The temporal query language TQuel, ACM Transactions on Database Systems (TODS), v.12 n.2, p.247-298, June 1987 [doi>10.1145/22952.22956]
• 78: J. M. Spivey, An introduction to Z and formal specifications, Software Engineering Journal, v.4 n.1, p.40-50, January 1989
• 79: SRIKANTH, R., AND JARKE, M. The design of knowledge-based systems for managing illstructured software projects. Decks. Support Syst. 5, 4 (1989), 425-447.
• 80: SUFRIN, B. Effective industrial application of formal methods In Information Processing '89 (San Francisco, Aug. 1989), North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1989, pp. 61-69.
• 81: Terry Winograd , Fernando Flores, Understanding computers and cognition, Ablex Publishing Corp., Norwood, NJ, 1986
• 82: Niklaus Wirth, Programming in MODULA-2 (3rd corrected ed.), Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New York, NY, 1985

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: Computer-aided software engineering (CASE)
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Software quality assurance (SQA)

  H. Information Systems
  H.2 DATABASE MANAGEMENT
      H.2.3 Languages
          Subjects: Database (persistent) programming languages
      H.2.7 Database Administration
          Subjects: Data dictionary/directory

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.4 Knowledge Representation Formalisms and Methods
          Subjects: Representation languages

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management
          Subjects: Software development; Software maintenance

General Terms:
Design, Languages, Management

Keywords:
knowledge engineering, mapping assistant, multi-level specification, repository, software information system, software process model