José H. Canós

A grid ant colony algorithm for the orienteering problem

In this paper we propose a distributed ant colony algorithm to solve large scale orienteering problem instances. Our approach is based on a multi-colony strategy where each colony works in an independent portion (cluster) in the original graph. This results in no need for communicating pheromones information among colonies and in increasing speedup. We have implemented our algorithm as a .NET Web services infrastructure following a grid computing philosophy and we provide some promising experimental results to show the feasibility and effectiveness of our approach

Document product lines: variability-driven document generation

In this paper, we propose a process model, which we call Document Product Lines, for the intensive generation of documents with variable content. Unlike current approaches, we identify the variability sources at the requirements level, including an explicit representation and management of these sources. The process model provides a methodological guidance to the (semi)automated generation of customized editors following the principles, techniques, and available technologies of Software Product Line Engineering. We illustrate our proposal with its application to the intensive generation of Emergency Plans.

Maturity Levels of Information Technologies in Emergency Response Organizations

In emergency response organizations with very limited resources, information technologies are not adequately explored. In such organizations, the simple adoption of new information technologies is not productive, as their efficient use depends on many other interrelated technologies. This work describes a model to help understanding these interrelationships. The model allows the cooperative evaluation of an organization through different perspectives. The model also helps the performing of the evaluation from different perspectives, making it suitable to collaborative evaluation. Using the model, an organization can measure its maturity level and guide the investment in emergency response capabilities. The information technology dimension of the model has been applied to the firefight organization in Brazil.

Using Hypermedia to Improve Safety in Underground Metropolitan Transportation

One of the main concerns in the organization and management of public transportation is passenger safety before an emergency. This is even more critical in the case of subway transportation, where risks are higher in the case of fire. Handling a critical emergency is a stressing task, in which large amounts of information must be used in order to make the right decision in a very short time.In this paper, we describe a pioneering application of hypermedia technology consisting of the integration of all the information needed to handle emergencies in a large hypermedia document. It reduces the response time remarkably by integrating text, graphics, sound, video and 3D models in a user-friendly interface. The authors and the Safety Office of Metro Valencia, the public transportation company of Valencia, developed it jointly between 1998 and 2000. We outline some of the technical decisions made during the project, as well as some of the lessons learned concerning the development of large hypermedia projects.

A grid architecture for building hybrid museums

The advent of the Internet has led to dramatic changes in the cultural habits of citizens, the most remarkable of which is undoubtedly the democratization of the access to the culture. Focusing in the museum world, we foresee a new generation of information systems providing compatibility with the sensorial richness of existing in-place visits, augmentation of visits with virtual information so that artworks are better understood, dynamic content management, and ubiquity. In this paper we introduce the notion of Hybrid Museum as a virtual organization consisting of a physical museum where visitors are present, plus a distributed heterogeneous collection of sources of catalogued artwork, a middleware infrastructure to provide ubiquitous access to those sources and a wireless infrastructure so that disseminations may be available to visitors at any moment. We aim at building hybrid museums by integrating heterogeneous distributed sources that are managed and operated independently. We identify the different services hybrid museums must provide, and use the grid architectural model which has been successfully tested in other virtual organizations, to define their architectural features. Finally, we also describe MoMo, an implementation of a hybrid museum running on market-based handheld PCs to prove the feasibility of our ideas.

A framework for variable content document generation with multiple actors

Abstract Context Advances in customization have highlighted the need for tools supporting variable content document management and generation in many domains. Current tools allow the generation of highly customized documents that are variable in both content and layout. However, most frameworks are technology-oriented, and their use requires advanced skills in implementation-related tools, which means their use by end users (i.e. document designers) is severely limited. Objective Starting from past and current trends for customized document authoring, our goal is to provide a document generation alternative in which variants are specified at a high level of abstraction and content reuse can be maximized in high variability scenarios. Method Based on our experience in Document Engineering, we identified areas in the variable content document management and generation field open to further improvement. We first classified the primary sources of variability in document composition processes and then developed a methodology, which we called DPL – based on Software Product Lines principles – to support document generation in high variability scenarios. Results In order to validate the applicability of our methodology we implemented a tool – DPL fw – to carry out DPL processes. After using this in different scenarios, we compared our proposal with other state-of-the-art tools for variable content document management and generation. Conclusion The DPL fw showed a good capacity for the automatic generation of variable content documents equal to or in some cases surpassing other currently available approaches. To the best of our knowledge, DPL fw is the only framework that combines variable content and document workflow facilities, easing the generation of variable content documents in which multiple actors play different roles.

DPLfw: a framework for variable content document generation

Variable Data Printing solutions provide means to generate documents whose content varies according to some criteria. Since the early Mail Merge-like applications that generated letters with destination data taken from databases, different languages and frameworks have been developed with increasing levels of sophistication. Current tools allow the generation of highly customized documents that are variable not only in content, but also in layout. However, most frameworks are technology-oriented, and their use requires high skills in implementation-related tools (XML, XPATH, and others), which do not include support for domain-related tasks like identification of document content variability. In this paper, we introduce DPLfw, a framework for variable content document generation based on Software Product Line Engineering principles. It is an implementation of the Document Product Lines (DPL) approach, which was defined with the aim of supporting variable content document generation from a domain-oriented point of view. DPL models document content variability in terms of features, and product line-like processes support the generation of documents. We define the DPLfw architecture, and illustrate its use in the definition of variable-content emergency plans.

Enforcing reuse and customization in the development of learning objects: a product line approach

The growing use of information technologies in the educational cycles has raised new requirements for the development of Interactive Learning Materials in terms of content reuse, customization, and ease of creation and efficiency of production. In practical terms, the goal is the development of tools for creating reusable, granular, durable, and interoperable learning objects, and to compose such objects into meaningful courseware pieces. Current learning object development tools require special technical skills in the instructors to exploit reuse and customization features, leading sometimes to unsatisfactory user experiences. In this paper, we explore a new way to reuse and customization following Product Line Engineering principles and tools. We have applied product line-based document engineering tools to create the so-called Learning Object Authoring Tool (LOAT), which supports the development of learning materials following the Ciscos Reusable Information Object strategy. We describe the principles behind LOAT, outline its design, and give clues about how it may be used by instructors to create learning objects in their own disciplines.

MoMo: enabling hybrid museums

Present-day museums are not mere passive institutions for the preservation of a societys cultural heritage. They have become instead learning environments, research centres and even tourist attractions. The paper introduces the notion of a hybrid museum (HM) in which wireless personal digital devices (PDAs) are used to tailor digital contents to the visitor to enrich both the learning and entertainment experience. The paper describes a fully functional hybrid museum infrastructure (MoMo) implemented with the.NET compact framework running on the PocketPC platform. Several research challenges that had to be faced during the implementation of the system such as the exploration of large sets of information on PDAs are also presented; and the customisation and personalisation of the displayed contents using a modified partial prediction matching algorithm are also discussed.

KAOS: an object-oriented software tool for the objects definition, updating, querying and programming in an object-oriented environment

The main purpose of this paper is to present KAOS, an object-oriented software tool built as an implementation of the object-oriented model OASIS developed at the Information Systems and Computing Department of the Technical University of Valencia and based on the object-oriented specification language OASIS. KAOS is a first prototype that offers the functionality of an object-oriented, deductive and active database management system, built over KBMSI, a knowledge-base management system.