Maria-Ribera Sancho

An approach to test-driven development of conceptual schemas

Test-Driven Development (TDD) is an extreme programming development method in which a software system is developed in short iterations. In this paper we present the Test-Driven Conceptual Modeling (TDCM) method, which is an application of TDD for conceptual modeling, and we show how to develop a conceptual schema using it. In TDCM, a systems conceptual schema is incrementally obtained by performing three kinds of tasks: (1) Write a test the system should pass; (2) Change the schema to pass the test; and (3) Refactor the schema to improve its qualities. We also describe an integration approach of TDCM into a broad set of software development methodologies, including the Unified Process development methodology, the MDD-based approaches, the storytest-driven agile methods and the goal and scenario-oriented requirements engineering methods. We deal with schemas written in UML/OCL, but the TDCM method could be adapted to the development of schemas in other languages.

A method for filtering large conceptual schemas

We focus on the problem of filtering a fragment of the knowledge contained in a large conceptual schema. The problem appears in many information systems development activities in which people need to operate with a piece of the knowledge contained in that schema. We propose a new method in which a user focuses on one or more entity types of interest for her task at hand, and the method automatically filters the schema in order to obtain a set of entity and relationship types (and other knowledge) relevant to that task, taking into account the interest of each entity type with respect to the focus, computed from the measures of importance and closeness of entity types. The method has been implemented in a prototype tool, and it has been experimented with the schema of the osCommerce and the ResearchCyc ontology.

Understanding Redundancy in UML Models for Object-Oriented Analysis

A phenomenon that frequently appears when designers define analysis specifications is that of redundancy between models. A correct and deep understanding of this phenomenon is necessary to help the task of the designer. In this paper, we study the problem of redundancy in UML Models for Object-Oriented Analysis. In this context, we identify different kinds of redundancies that may arise. We evaluate the impact of redundancy in specifications from the point of view of their desirable properties. We also propose how to obtain a canonical analysis model, which does not include any of the identified redundancies, and we sketch the possibility of having redundant views of some aspects of the canonical model.

Reasoning on UML Data-Centric Business Process Models

Verifying the correctness of data-centric business process models is important to prevent errors from reaching the service that is offered to the customer. Although the semantic correctness of these models has been studied in detail, existing works deal with models defined in low-level languages e.g. logic, which are complex and difficult to understand. This paper provides a way to reason semantically on data-centric business process models specified from a high-level and technology-independent perspective using UML.

Verification and Validation of UML Artifact-Centric Business Process Models

This paper presents a way of checking the correctness of artifact-centric business process models defined using the BAUML framework. To ensure that these models are free of errors, we propose an approach to verify (i.e. there are no internal mistakes) and to validate them (i.e. the model complies with the business requirements). This approach is based on translating these models into logic and then encoding the desirable properties as satisfiability problems of derived predicates. In this way, we can then use a tool to check if these properties are fulfilled.

The Role of Structural Events in Behaviour Specification

An important challenge of the Information System research field is to facilitate the designer the task of conceptual specification. Our aim is to contribute in this direction by facilitating the behavioural specification component of this task. Our approach is based on providing a set of semantically enriched structural events for a given Information Base schema and using them to simplify the definition of the Information Base transition schema.

Entity Evolution in ISA Hierarchies

In a conceptual schema that includes specializations and generalizations, and that allows multiple classification, an entity may be, at a given time, instance of one or more entity types. We call type configuration of an entity the set of entity types of which it is instance at some time. In this paper, we characterize the set of valid type configurations, taking into account the constraints defined by specializations and generalizations. We also analyze the problem of determining the valid evolution of the type configuration of entities in the context of IsA hierarchies. We describe the temporal features of entity types and the evolution constraints that influence entity evolution. In particular, we propose and define the specialization evolution constraints, which extend the classical distinction between static and dynamic entity types. Taking into account all these features and constraints, we characterize the set of valid type configuration transitions. In both cases, we tackle the problem for the general class of conceptual schemas, allowing multiple specialization, generalization and classification, as well as dynamic classification.

BSC best practices in professional training and teaching for the HPC ecosystem

This paper outlines the key components of the European HPC ecosystems, analyses the major challenges as well as corresponding specific technical focus areas which needs to be addressed in European strategic research agenda for HPC leadership. Further the need for education and training is clearly identified and the BSC approach, BSC model and best practices are presented and analyzed. Further a generalization and analysis of the approach are given.

Temporal Features of Class Populations and Attributes in Conceptual Models

Constraints play an important role in conceptual modeling. In general, the specification of constraints, both static and transition, must be done in some logic-based language. Unfortunately, the resulting formulas may be complex, error-prone and difficult to read. This explain why almost all conceptual modeling languages have developed a special, easy-to-use syntax (language features) to state the most common constraints. Most features (often with graphical symbols) developed so far are concerned with static constraints (like keys, partitions or cardinalities), and very little work has been done for transition constraints.

Evaluation and assessment of professional skills in the Final Year Project

In this paper, we present a methodology for Final Year Project (FYP) monitoring and assessment that considers the inclusion of the professional skills required in the particular engineering degree. This proper monitoring and clear evaluation framework provides the student with valuable support for the project implementation as well as for improving the quality of the projects, thereby reducing the academic drop-out rate. The proposed methodology has been implemented at the Barcelona School of Informatics at the Universität Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech. The FYP is structured around three milestones: project definition, project monitoring and project completion. Skills are assigned to each milestone according to the tasks required in that phase, and a list of indicators is defined for each phase. The evaluation criteria for each indicator at each phase are specified in a rubric, and are made public both to students and teachers. Thus, the FYP includes an exhaustive evaluation method distributed throughout the whole project implementation, thereby facilitating project organization for the student as well as providing a clear and homogeneous assessment framework. The methodology for the FYP organization, assessment and evaluation was launched and piloted over two semesters. We believe the experience to be general in the sense that it has been conducted as part of an ICT engineering degree, but may easily be extended to any other engineering degree.