A framework for linking Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) and Jackson System Development (JSD)

Abstract. This paper describes a proposed framework for linking soft systems methodology (SSM), a problem structuring technique for use in messy, ill-defined problem situations, with Jackson System Development (JSD), an information system development methodology which has object-oriented characteristics. The approach taken has been to embed the modelling phase of JSD within SSM after the conceptual modelling stage, but before the debate on desirable and feasible change. The JSD modelling phase is carried out at a conceptual rather than a real world level. The framework comprises of a series of steps which enable JSD entity structure diagrams to be derived to a large extent from the activities in an SSM conceptual model. A data model may then be built up by exploding the activities in the conceptual model or by using 'conceptual hows' to identify more entities and actions. One of the main benefits expected to arise from the use of such a framework is an improved user requirement definition, which is important to successful systems implementation. The difficulties in actually achieving a link relate to the methodological and philosophical differences between SSM and JSD.     

JSD and the design of user interface software

Systems analysis and design methods (SADMs), such as Jackson system development (JSD), have been proposed as a means of improving software quality. This is contrasted with the role of improving software usability proposed for human factors (HF). The paper argues the need for an explicit user interface specification stage in system development to ensure the usability of proposed systems. It is suggested that JSD supplemented by the specialist knowledge of HF can support such a specification stage. For HF and JSD to be successfully integrated, contributions from both need to be appropriately timed and structured. A model of the system development process that incorporates HF contributions is proposed. A means by which the HF contributions, in the form of a user interface specification, can be integrated with the JSD specification is developed and illustrated through examples.     

3M: a user modelling interface of an expert system for X-ray topographic image interpretation

This paper discusses user modelling techniques and presents the design and implementation of the 3M user modelling interface of INTEREX. INTEREX is an expert system for X-ray topographic image interpretation which assists its users in identifying and analysing a number of defects that can occur in high-quality crystals. 3M consists of a monitor, a model and a modifier. It is used to adapt the consultation route and the explanations provided by INTEREX to three categories of users. It demonstrates the use-of an implicit, individual, dynamic and long-term user model to enable an expert system to accommodate users with different levels of expertise.     

从面向功能到面向对象模型的转换策略研究

有不少软件公司在软件开发过程中同时使用了面向功能的和面向对象的技术,例如在开发某一系统时,在采用了面向功能的分析模式后又使用了面向对象的设计方法,因此找到一种方法来实现从一种模式向另一种模式的转换是相当有必要的.提出了一种灵活可行的从面向功能的分析模型到面向对象的设计模型的转换策略.     

Implementing a user interface management system for existing applications using an object-oriented database tool

Numerous engineering application systems have been developed over the past twenty years, and many of these applications will continue to be used for many years to come. Examples of such applications include CAD Systems, finite-element analysis packages and inspection systems. Because many of these applications were developed before graphical workstations became available, they often have simple command-line user interfaces. Thus, there is a need for a graphical user interface management system (UIMS) that can be used to build point-and-click style interfaces for these existing engineering applications. In this paper we describe such a UIMS, and discuss its implementation using an object-oriented database tool. This UIMS allows users to create and modify user interfaces by editing graphical representations of the interfaces, thus eliminating the need to write code to build or modify an interface. The UIMS is implemented using an object-oriented database tool to take advantage of the data manipulation and storage management capabilities it provides. This approach reduces both the quantity and complexity of the code needed to implement the UIMS. It also allowed the UIMS to be implemented in a minimal amount of time.     

Integrating specification of human-computer interface with Jackson system development

Procedures for integrating task analysis and design of the human-computer interface (HCl) with a structured system development method, Jackson system development (JSD), are described. Process structure diagrams (PSDs), the major modelling notation of JSD, described tasks, and task specifications were evaluated for cognitive complexity. Task complexity analysis helped allocation and design of human tasks and to produce computer task support specifications. The cognitive dimension of task analysis highlighted the need for task support actions, especially information display support for working memory. Dialogue specification for a direct manipulation interface design was based on the JSD entity/event model from which the interaction metaphor, screen design, and permissible manipulations were derived. Further PSDs were constructed to specify interface object management processes. Preliminary evaluation of the method was carried out using JSD analysts. Results showed the method proved easy to learn even for non-HCl specialists.     

面向对象技术在电力系统仿真建模中的应用

电力系统现存的大部分仿真软件基本上使用的是面向功能或面向结构图方法开发的 ,由于这两种方法本身的局限性 ,对这些软件的功能增强和维护非常困难。为了克服这种困难 ,文中描述了采用面向对象方法在电力系统数字仿真建模中的应用 ,将面向对象程序设计方法中的突出优点 ,如封装性、继承性和多态性应用在电力系统仿真中。通过应用面向对象设计方法 ,使设计出的软件尽可能直接地描述现实世界 ,构造出模块化的、可重用的、维护性好的软件。     

工程数据库管理系统EDBMS的设计与实现

本文从数据管理和工程应用两个方面介绍了一个直接与图形接口管理环境(GIME)、几何造型系统GEMS、交互绘图系统GIS等相联接的面向工程应用的数据库管理系统EDBMS的设计与实现,并讨论了适合于工程应用的系统数据模型、用户接口及其与图形处理系统之间的接口问题.     

Minimalist User Modelling in a Complex Commercial Software System

While user modelling has produced many research-based systems, comparatively little progress has been made in the development of user modelling components for commercial software systems. The development of minimalist user modelling components which are simplified to provide just enough assistance to a user through a pragmatic adaptive user interface is seen by many as an important step toward this goal. This paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a minimalist user modelling component for the Tax and Investment Management Strategizer (TIMS), a complex commercial software system for financial management. This user modelling component manages several levels of adaptations designed to assist novice users in dealing with the complexity of this software package. Important issues and considerations for the development of user modelling components for commercial software systems and the evaluation of such systems in commercial settings are also discussed.     

Integration of object-oriented programming languages and database systems in KOPERNIK

KOPERNIK is an object-oriented database system, that allows uniform specification of database requests and application programs. The user interface is based on Smalltalk, and the object-oriented data model is represented in terms of classes and messages. Techniques are discussed for implementing such a model on top of an underlying relational database system. Those parts of application programs that cannot be translated into a relational language are handled by a Smalltalk processor. The semantics of the database requests is defined in terms of a meta-model and meta-messages, using an object-oriented approach. Hence we derive rules for translation of database requests into SQL queries over a binary relational view, introduced as an intermediate level between the underlying database and our conceptual view.     

面向对象的用户接口管理系统NDUIMS的设计与实现

本文介绍的ＮＤＵＩＭＳ是为转炉炼钢控制专家系统设计的一个面向对象的用户接口子系统，它提供了完整的用户界面支持和从应用模块到设备的接口，其窗口管理机制和窗口构件构造简捷，易于扩充，底层图形设备接口支撑面广，设备独立性强，具有灵活，高效，便于移植等特点，可作为一个实用的用户接口嵌入到不同的应用系统中使用。     

Object-oriented specification of user interfaces

This paper presents an object-oriented approach for the specification of graphical user interfaces. Specification starts with the analysis of the end user's operations. The user interface is then designed on the basis of this analysis. Operation analysis is followed by structure and component specification which presents the dialogue structure of the application and the contents of each dialogue. Visualization produces the final screen layouts, and task specification documents the usage of the user interface for the purpose of creating user's guides. The method presented in this paper makes it easier for a designer to take the end user's needs into account. Still, it does not automatically guarantee good quality user interfaces. The top-down nature of the method allows the designer to concentrate on the most important aspects of the user interface and split the design procedure into manageable pieces. Also, the visibility of the process allows the designer to communicate with other people while specifying the user interface. This paper connects the method with the object-oriented specification of entire applications. It briefly explains the connections with object-oriented analysis and design, and demonstrates how to implement the specified user interface in an object oriented fashion. The approach presented in this paper is being applied in the development of a large network management system with about two million lines of C++ code running in the XII environment. Still, the method does not require the specification being implemented with any specific windowing system. The only requirement is that the user interface is based on graphical elements, such as dialogues, push-buttons and text fields.     

User modelling for adaptive computer systems: a survey of recent developments

User modelling is becoming an important sub-area of Artificial Intelligence with both theoretical and practical consequences. The theoretical foundations of user modelling are to be found in key areas of AI, such as knowledge representation and plan recognition, while its practical applications impinge on the construction of intelligent user interfaces and adaptive systems. This paper provides a survey of current work in user modelling. The paper begins by distinguishing between AI approaches, which are the subject of this survey, and those of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and then considers the major issues in user modelling such as: types of user modelling system, the sorts of information modelled, how the information is acquired, represented and used. The paper concludes by examining some of the more problematic aspects of user modelling as well as indicating areas for future research.     

A graphical database interface

A graphical database interface suitable for casual, naive users is described. It provides the user with a logical model of the database; this model typically being an abstraction of the actual database structure, and with an easy means of specifying a query through the use of a pointing device. The interface is a front-end processor and is logically separate from the database management system, it is thus possible to use it with any system.     

A visual tool for user-interface development

VITUID is a visual tool for user interface development. It aims to help user-interface designers, who may be non-programmers, to specify and create interactive, graphical user interfaces through graphical interaction. VITUID lets designers specify the user command set and the human-computer dialogs by building a tree and specifying the behavior of each dialog via a dialog-control word, adopting the object-oriented approach. The main strategy of VITUID is to separate a user interface into an application-dependent part and an application-independent part and then let the designer specify only the application-dependent part.     

Implementing interactive applications in C++

This paper presents an object-oriented approach for the implementation of interactive systems. This approach applies the model-view-controller (MVC) paradigm, which is modified for the C++ environment. The modified paradigm is called MVC++. In this approach the design of interactive applications starts by constructing an object model that represents the key concepts of the problem domain. This object model does not contain any user interface elements. According to the MVC++ approach, the object model is called the model part of the application. Only after the model part has been created, is the user interface designed. A collection of user interface classes is called the view. The classes that connect the model and the view form the controller, which is designed to communicate with both the model and the view. The approach presented in this paper provides a number of benefits. Advantages of the original MVC approach are obtained in a standard C++ environment, the structure of applications becomes clear and stable, and reusability as well as readability of the classes increases. Reusability is achieved by employing a mechanism called ‘abstract partners’. The approach presented in this paper is being applied in the development of a large network management system with over one million lines of C++ code running in the XII environment.     

A Formal Definition of the Chimera Object-Oriented Data Model

In this paper we formalize the object-oriented data model of the Chimera language. This language supports all the common features of object-oriented data models such as object identity, complex objects and user-defined operations, classes, inheritance. Constraints may be defined by means of deductive rules, used also to specify derived attributes. In addition, class attributes, operations, and constraints that collectively apply to classes are supported.The main contribution of our work is to define a complete formal model for an object-oriented data model, and to address on a formal basis several issues deriving from the introduction of rules into an object-oriented data model.     

The um toolkit for cooperative user modelling

This paper gives an overview of the um toolkit: the philosophy underlying its design, examples of its use and discussion of the way it deals with some major issues in creating user modelling shells. The um toolkit has been developed to provide support for a variety of cooperative agents. An important element of its cooperativeness is due to its capacity to give users an understanding of their own user models. This paper describes two substantial but very different uses of the toolkit. The first involves a collection of coaching systems that help users learn more about their text editor. Experimental results suggest that the user model is associated with users learning more. The second is a movie advisor that uses a range of tools to construct and refine the user model and to filter a database of movies. Both these systems are built from combining tools in um. The paper describes several of the tools for constructing and refining user models. In addition it describes the user-model viewing tools and the way that these help users ensure their user models are correct. The paper also discusses the two central themes of the um work, the application of a tools approach to the design of a user modelling toolkit and the implications of making the user model accessible to its owner, the person modelled.     

Multi-paradigm query interface to an object-oriented database

The object-oriented paradigm has a number of widely recognised strengths when applied to data management, but the increased complexity of actual systems compared with their relational predecessors often means that such databases are less readily accessible to nonprogrammers than relational systems. A number of proposals have been made for textual, form-based and graph-based query interfaces to object-oriented databases, but it is clear that a single approach cannot be considered to be the best, given the wide range of potential user groups, application domains and tasks. The paper presents a query interface to an object-oriented database which supports alternative user-level query paradigms in a fully integrated environment, thereby enabling different categories of user to select a preferred interface paradigm from a list of options. Furthermore, the interface enables users to examine queries written in one query interface using any of the other interface paradigms, which is useful for sharing queries in the multi-paradigm context, and for helping users familiar with one approach to learn another. The system has been prototyped using the ADAM object-oriented database system, and an experimental comparison of different interaction modes has been conducted.