Knowledge and software modeling using UML

Ontology can be considered as a comprehensive knowledge model which enables the developer to practice knowledge, instead of code, reuse. In the development of knowledge-based systems, different modeling languages are employed at different stages of the development process. By using a common modeling language for the knowledge and software models, knowledge instead of software reuse can be achieved. We illustrate the process by first presenting an ontology developed for an industrial domain and then investigate Unified Modeling Language (UML) as an ontology modeling tool. Since any model expressed in UML can be translated into a software model, the transition from the knowledge model to system implementation is better supported with the proposed approach. The industrial domain of selecting a remediation technique for petroleum contaminated sites is adopted for the illustration case study.