Generating XML based specifications of information systems

Computer Languages, Systems & Structures, 2015

Models have been widely used in the information system development process. Models are not just means for system analysis and documentation. They may be also transformed into system implementation, primarily program code. Generated program code of screen forms and transaction programs mainly implements generic functionalities that can be expressed by simple retrieval, insertion, update, or deletion operations over database records. Besides the program code of generic functionalities, each application usually includes program code for specific business logic that represents application-specific functionalities, which may include complex calculations, as well as a series of database operations. There is a lack of domain-specific and tool-supported techniques for specification of such application-specific functionalities at the level of platformindependent models (PIMs). In this paper, we propose an approach and a domainspecific language (DSL), named IIS n CFuncLang, aimed at enabling a complete specification of application-specific functionalities at the PIM level. We have developed algorithms for transformation of IIS n CFuncLang specifications into executable program code, such as PL/SQL program code. In order to support specification of application-specific functionalities using IIS n CFuncLang, we have also developed appropriate tree-based and textual editors. The language, editors, and the transformations are embedded into a Model-Driven Software Development tool, named Integrated Information Systems CASE (IIS n Case). IIS n Case supports platform-independent design and automated prototyping of information systems, which allows us to verify and test our approach in practice.

This paper shows how XML metalanguage capabilities and related tools could be used first to model data structures and operations of domain specific languages, and second to facilitate the transformation process from system specifications to software systems. This approach allows to identify the subsystems of a software system using different domain specific languages. Such languages and the language transformer rules are the result of a domain analysis process adequately customized for this propose.

INCOSE International Symposium, 2013

Technical requirements, specifications, and standards are fundamental documents that serve all the stages of the systems engineering management process. This paper presents Tesperanto-"Technical Esperanto"a model-based methodology and language for authoring, analysis, design, and testing of system specifications, and its integrated development environment. Tesperanto is an English text that is generated automatically from the evolving graphical model of the system being specified, creating corresponding textmodel representation of technical information. Tesperanto was evaluated in a case study over a period of more than two years by a multinational group of systems engineering and enterprise management experts as a means to enhance text in ISO international standards. The evaluation showed that Tesperanto improves the consistency and quality of standards and can potentially be of similar value for other kinds of technical documents.

Computers in Industry, 2004

This study proposes an implementation process model for integrating eXtensible Markup Language (XML) into enterprise applications, which also meets the inter-organization data exchange standard of RosettaNet. This model is motivated by the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) group of Taiwan's Mechanical Industry Research Laboratories (MIRL) in meeting their needs on enterprise applications integration for producing the data exchange specifications. There are seven stages in this process model, but only the analysis-and-design stage is specific to XML characteristics for defining Data Type Definition (DTD) to be used with XML in the inter-organizational data exchange. This paper illustrates the core sub-process of defining DTD and producing XML documents. We start with a MIRL example regarding information exchange of a work order between the MIRL-MES and an ERP system connected by IBM MQSeries. Then the RosettaNet components are used to demonstrate how additional elements can be incorporated in the analysis-and-design stage by comparisons.

Software Engineering, IEEE …, 1991

In conventional information systems development, consistency between requirements specifications and design is achieved by manual checking. This work is a step toward improving consistency by applying the transformational paradigm to the specification and design phases. Requirements are expressed in the ADISSA notation, using the ADISSA method, a transaction-oriented refinement of Structured Systems Analysis. The control part of a transaction is transformed into a formal specification, the FSM transaction, by applying a set of rules. The design stage is realized by an algorithm which decomposes the FSM transaction into simpler transactions and implements them with a hierarchical set of finite-state machines. Consistency between the formal specification and the result of the design is achieved by proving that the latter has the same behavior as the former.

1995

A set of CASE tools is described for developing formal requirements specifications expressed in the SCR (Software Cost Reduction) tabular notation. The tools include an editor for building the specifications, a consistency checker for testing the specifications for consistency with a formal requirements model, a simulator for symbolically executing the specifications, and a verifier for checking that the specifications satisfy selected application properties. As background, the SCR method for specifying requirements is reviewed and a formal requirements model is introduced. Examples are presented to illustrate the tools

Information engineering as defined is comprehensive across the entire design and development process, from the conceptualization of an idea to its final realization and maintenance as a working application. This includes those steps and the necessary individuals for determining the viability and commercialization of a product via techniques such as in-house discussions, market surveys, and cost and feasibility studies. For our purposes, assume that these actions have already occurred and that a 'go-ahead' has been given to develop a product, either for a customer or a perceived target audience. Once this go-ahead has been given, the next, and some argue, most critical aspect of the information engineering process involves what is typically called the requirements definition or specification of the application. The specification embodies all of the required features and characteristics of an application. As shown in Figure 3.1, it is a document of many parts and pages. As a document, it must

STORM, presented in this paper, is a UML-based software engineering tool designed for the purpose of automating as much of the requirements specification phase as possible. The main idea of the STORM approach is to combine adequate requirements writing with robust use case modelling in order to expedite the process leading up to the actual design of the software. This paper presents a description of our approach to software requirements specification as well as an overview of STORM's design concepts, organizing principles, and modes of operation. Also included are examples of the tool's use, a comparison between STORM and similar CASE tools, and a discussion of needed features for software environments that support text aspects of requirements and use case modelling.

The software project development normally starts with customer's requirements. The customers will collect the requirements from the end users of the organization, and prepares a document called the SRS. Unified modeling language (UML) designed to provide a standard way to visualize the design of an information system. Apart from other internal lacunae of (UML) itself, the main reasons for low success rate are due to the non-availability of a correct and complete methodology for abstraction of the view elements for the design of an information system. This paper abstracts the view elements from Software Requirement Specification (SRS) for any information System in the form of Classes, Object of the Classes, Actors its interfaces their characterizing attributes, and these abstractions are further refined using good database design principles and the use of data flow diagrams (DFDs).

… , Languages, and Tools …, 1995

In requirements engineering domain modeling with formal speci cations is integrated with informal and pre-formal approaches for the construction of a formal requirements speci cation of the \functional" properties of the required system. The speci cations are used in the modeling and analysis parts of the requirement process and provide means for validation, including early prototyping and theorem-proving. An evolutionary process model is proposed for system design and program development, whereby the correctness of all development steps is checked by suitable veri cation tools. The model centers around a development graph which consists of units, e.g. formal speci cations, proofs, and programs, and relations between these units. There are three kinds of relations: syntactic relations, semantic relations, and modi cations. In each development step units are either created, transformed, or modi ed.