SQA-Mashup: A mashup framework for continuous integration

ContextContinuous Integration (CI) has become an established best practice of modern software development. Its philosophy of regularly integrating the changes of individual developers with the master code base saves the entire development team from descending into Integration Hell, a term coined in the field of extreme programming. In practice, CI is supported by automated tools to cope with this repeated integration of source code through automated builds and testing. One of the main problems, however, is that relevant information about the quality and health of a software system is both scattered across those tools and across multiple views.ObjectiveThis paper introduces a quality awareness framework for CI-data and its conceptional model used for the data integration and visualization. The framework called SQA-Mashup makes use of the service-based mashup paradigm and integrates information from the entire CI-toolchain into a single service.MethodThe research approach followed in our work consists out of (i) a conceptional model for data integration and visualization, (ii) a prototypical framework implementation based on tool requirements derived from literature, and (iii) a controlled user study to evaluate its usefulness.ResultsThe results of the controlled user study showed that SQA-Mashup’s single point of access allows users to answer questions regarding the state of a system more quickly (57%) and accurately (21.6%) than with standalone CI-tools.ConclusionsThe SQA-Mashup framework can serve as one-stop shop for software quality data monitoring in a software development project. It enables easy access to CI-data which otherwise is not integrated but scattered across multiple CI-tools. Our dynamic visualization approach allows for a tailoring of integrated CI-data according to information needs of different stakeholders such as developers or testers.     

A generic interoperability testing framework and a systematic development process for automated interoperability testing

Interoperability is a prerequisite to allow users to access systems implemented by different vendors seamlessly. A good baseline to achieve interoperability is the implementation of a common set of standards. However, this is often not sufficient as different implementations of a standard are not necessarily interoperable. Therefore, different implementations of systems need to be assessed for interoperability by applying interoperability testing. In this article, we present a generic framework that enables automated interoperability testing with message checks, which assess the compliance of messages exchanged between systems. The goal of this framework is the provision of a basic functionality of interoperability test entities, the definition of a generic interoperability test environment, and guidelines for the specification of automated interoperability tests. The framework also considers aspects related to interoperability testing including verdicts, automation, and limitations of the system under test. Through the application of the framework, interoperability of systems can be assessed, systems can be validated, and standards can be improved. In addition, we present a systematic development process for automated interoperability tests to formalize the development and specification of an interoperability test system. We also consider aspects and critical issues, which are important for the development of a complete interoperability test system. The framework and the process are language and system technology independent. We present their application in a case study that includes interoperability tests for the Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) using the Testing and Test Control Notation Version 3 (TTCN-3).     

A multi-strategy knowledge interoperability framework for heterogeneous learning objects

This paper presents a knowledge exchange framework that can leverage the interoperability among semantically heterogeneous learning objects. With the release of various e-Learning standards, learning contents and digital courses are easy to achieve cross-platform sharing, exchanging, and even reorganizing. However, knowledge sharing in semantic level is still a challenge due to that the learning materials can be presented in any form, such as audios, videos, web pages, and even flash files. The proposed knowledge exchange framework allows users to share their learning materials (also called “learning objects”) in semantic level automatically. This framework contains two methodologies: the first is a semantic mapping between knowledge bases (i.e. ontologies) which have essentially similar concepts, and the second is an ontology-based classification algorithm for sharable learning objects. The proposed algorithm adopts the IMS DRI standard and classifies the sharable learning objects from heterogeneous repositories into a local knowledge base by their inner meaning instead of keyword matching. Significance of this research lies in the semantic inferring rules for ontology mapping and learning objects classification as well as the full automatic processing and self-optimizing capability. Focused on digital learning materials and contrasted to other traditional technologies, the proposed approach has experimentally demonstrated significantly improvement in performance.     

Agile test framework for business-to-business interoperability

Business-to-business (B2B) applications are tested routinely for conformance and interoperability against a set of data exchange standards before deployment. However, the existence of many data exchange standards, planned utilizations, deployment environments, and testing scenarios makes it difficult to develop reusable testing tools. To address this challenge, we propose the Agile Test Framework (ATF), which consists of a test case design and test execution model. Test case is defined at two levels: abstract and executable. The abstract level addresses issues related to human understanding and the executable level addresses issues related to machine processing. The test execution model addresses issues related to both reusability and plug-compatibility. The ATF allows the test engineer to generate test cases for a variety of standards and scenarios. Thus, it increases reusability, extensibility, and efficiency compared to other test frameworks.     

A combinatory framework of Web 2.0 mashup tools,OWL-S and UDDI

The increasing number of Web 2.0 applications, such as wikis or social networking sites, indicates a movement to large-scale collaborative and social Web activities. Users can share information, add value to Web applications by using them or aggregate data from different sources creating Web applications (mashups) using specialized tools (mashup tools). However, Web 2.0 is not a new technology, but it rather embraces a new philosophy, treating the Internet as a platform. Several issues related to the Semantic Web vision, such as interoperability or machine understandable data semantics, are not tackled by Web 2.0. In this paper, we present our effort to combine semantic Web services (SWS) discovery frameworks, UDDI repositories and existing mashup tools in order to enhance the procedure of developing mashups with semantic mashup discovery capabilities. Towards this end, we introduce a social-oriented extension of OWL-S advertisements, their mapping algorithm on UDDI repositories and a semantic mashup discovery algorithm. Finally, we elaborate on the way our framework has been realized using the Yahoo Pipes mashup tool.     

Proposing a context-aware enterprise mashup readiness assessment framework

Web mashups have received a lot of attention recently as more enterprises are engaged in enterprise 2.0 initiatives. So far, there is insufficient research on the adoption and diffusion of Web mashups in an enterprise context. In this paper, we discussed the benefits and issues associated with enterprise mashups. We proposed a context-aware enterprise mashup readiness assessment framework to help enterprise managers and decision makers determine their needs and readiness for enterprise mashups. A case study was conducted to verify the usefulness of the proposed framework. The results show that our work can be used to guide enterprises with their decision making for the adoption of enterprise mashups and thus contribute to the development of a rigorous strategy for enterprise mashup adoption, development and diffusion.     

A bio-inspired privacy-preserving framework for healthcare systems

The Journal of Supercomputing - Wireless computing has revolutionized our life with the technological advancement from the traditional networking into a new epoch for communication in ad hoc...     

An evaluation and selection framework for interoperability standards

There is a wide range of standards available for the integration and interoperability of applications and information systems, both on domain-specific and domain-neutral levels. The evaluation and selection of interoperability standards are necessary in the application development and integration projects, when there is a need to assess the usefulness of existing models or to find open solutions. In addition, standards have to be evaluated when recommendations are made for a given domain or when their quality is examined. The evaluation of the scope and other aspects of interoperability standards is usually performed against project-specific requirements, but generic frameworks can be used for supporting the evaluation. In this article, we present a conceptual framework which has been developed for the systematic evaluation of interoperability standards. We also present an overview of a process for the evaluation of interoperability standards. We illustrate the use of these models with practical experience and examples.     

SMashQ: spatial mashup framework for k-NN queries in time-dependent road networks

The k-nearest-neighbor (k-NN) query is one of the most popular spatial query types for location-based services (LBS). In this paper, we focus on k-NN queries in time-dependent road networks, where the travel time between two locations may vary significantly at different time of the day. In practice, it is costly for a LBS provider to collect real-time traffic data from vehicles or roadside sensors to compute the best route from a user to a spatial object of interest in terms of the travel time. Thus, we design SMashQ, a server-side spatial mashup framework that enables a database server to efficiently evaluate k-NN queries using the route information and travel time accessed from an external Web mapping service, e.g., Microsoft Bing Maps. Due to the expensive cost and limitations of retrieving such external information, we propose three shared execution optimizations for SMashQ, namely, object grouping, direction sharing, and user grouping, to reduce the number of external Web mapping requests and provide highly accurate query answers. We evaluate SMashQ using Microsoft Bing Maps, a real road network, real data sets, and a synthetic data set. Experimental results show that SMashQ is efficient and capable of producing highly accurate query answers.     

Feature-based ontological framework for semantic interoperability in product development

An essential requirement in integrating tasks in product development is to have a seamless exchange of product information through the entire product lifecycle. A key challenge in the integration is the exchange of shape semantics in terms of understandable labels and representations. A unified taxonomy is proposed to represent, classify, and extract shape features. This taxonomy is built using the Domain-Independent Form Feature (DIFF) model as the representation of features. All the shape features in a product model are classified under three main classes, namely, volumetric features, deformation features and free-form surface features. Shape feature ontology is developed using the unified taxonomy, which brings the shape features under a single reasoning framework. One-to-many reasoning framework is presented for mapping semantically equivalent information (label and representation) of the feature to be exchanged to target applications, and the reconstruction of the shape model automatically in that target application. An algorithm has been developed to extract the semantics of shape features and construct the model in the target application. The algorithm developed has been tested for shape models taken from literature and test cases are selected based on variations of topology and geometry. Results of exchanging product information are presented and discussed. Finally, the limitations of the proposed method for exchanging product information are explained.     

A semantic interoperability framework for software as a service systems in cloud computing environments

In cloud computing environments in software as a service (SaaS) level, interoperability refers to the ability of SaaS systems on one cloud provider to communicate with SaaS systems on another cloud provider. One of the most important barriers to the adoption of SaaS systems in cloud computing environments is interoperability. A common tactic for enabling interoperability is the use of an interoperability framework or model. During the past few years, in cloud SaaS level, various interoperability frameworks and models have been developed to provide interoperability between systems. The syntactic interoperability of SaaS systems have already been intensively researched. However, not enough consideration has been given to semantic interoperability issues. Achieving semantic interoperability is a challenge within the world of SaaS in cloud computing environments. Therefore, a semantic interoperability framework for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments is needed. We develop a semantic interoperability framework for cloud SaaS systems. The capabilities and value of service oriented architecture for semantic interoperability within cloud SaaS systems have been studied and demonstrated. This paper is accomplished through a number of steps (research methodology). It begins with a study on related works in the literature. Then, problem statement and research objectives are explained. In the next step, semantic interoperability requirements for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments that are needed to support are analyzed. The details of the proposed semantic interoperability framework for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments are presented. It includes the design of the proposed semantic interoperability framework. Finally, the evaluation methods of the semantic interoperability framework are elaborated. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed semantic interoperability framework for SaaS systems in cloud computing environments, extensive experimentation and statistical analysis have been performed. The experiments and statistical analysis specify that the proposed semantic interoperability framework for cloud SaaS systems is able to establish semantic interoperability between cloud SaaS systems in a more efficient way. It is concluded that using the proposed framework, there is a significant improvement in the effectiveness of semantic interoperability of SaaS systems in cloud computing environments.     

基于多厂制造执行系统异构数据集成架构的研究

针对MES在多厂环境下,各系统采用不同数据库管理系统所形成的异构现象,提出一个有弹性、可适应异构环境的多厂数据集成架构(MPDIF).数据集成过程中使用了数据集成代理、工厂代理与数据提取代理三个软件代理解决数据异构问题,并整合各工厂MES的信息,达到多厂生产活动监视和追踪的特性.     

A subjective framework for seat comfort based on a heuristic multi criteria decision making technique and anthropometry

Consumer expectations for automobile seat comfort continue to rise. With this said, it is evident that the current automobile seat comfort development process, which is only sporadically successful, needs to change. In this context, there has been growing recognition of the need for establishing theoretical and methodological automobile seat comfort. On the other hand, seat producer need to know the costumer’s required comfort to produce based on their interests. The current research methodologies apply qualitative approaches due to anthropometric specifications. The most significant weakness of these approaches is the inexact extracted inferences. Despite the qualitative nature of the consumer’s preferences there are some methods to transform the qualitative parameters into numerical value which could help seat producer to improve or enhance their products. Nonetheless this approach would help the automobile manufacturer to provide their seats from the best producer regarding to the consumers idea. In this paper, a heuristic multi criteria decision making technique is applied to make consumers preferences in the numeric value. This Technique is combination of Analytical Hierarchy Procedure (AHP), Entropy method, and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). A case study is conducted to illustrate the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic approach.     

A subjective framework for seat comfort based on a heuristic multi criteria decision making technique and anthropometry

Consumer expectations for automobile seat comfort continue to rise. With this said, it is evident that the current automobile seat comfort development process, which is only sporadically successful, needs to change. In this context, there has been growing recognition of the need for establishing theoretical and methodological automobile seat comfort. On the other hand, seat producer need to know the costumer’s required comfort to produce based on their interests. The current research methodologies apply qualitative approaches due to anthropometric specifications. The most significant weakness of these approaches is the inexact extracted inferences. Despite the qualitative nature of the consumer’s preferences there are some methods to transform the qualitative parameters into numerical value which could help seat producer to improve or enhance their products. Nonetheless this approach would help the automobile manufacturer to provide their seats from the best producer regarding to the consumers idea. In this paper, a heuristic multi criteria decision making technique is applied to make consumers preferences in the numeric value. This Technique is combination of Analytical Hierarchy Procedure (AHP), Entropy method, and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). A case study is conducted to illustrate the applicability and the effectiveness of the proposed heuristic approach.     

A multi level image steganography methodology based on adaptive PMS and block based pixel swapping

The practice of information exchange through global media like internet extensively entails a security concern. This paper consists of a proposed approach that braces the security concern in the realm of image steganography. The adaptive technique of the Power Modulus Scrambling (PMS) has been preliminarily used so as to disturb the normal pixel orientation of the original carrier. A second layer of encryption is enforced with the implementation of the Block Based Pixel Swapping technique. These steps ensure a two tier secured shield. Next, the embedding procedure is facilitated depending on a comparative key based permutation combination methodology. This approach caters the need of security during communication. The proposed approach is evaluated with respect to substantial performance metrics. The commendable results obtained shows that the foothold of imperceptibility is well maintained.

     

A scalable and self-adapting notification framework for healthcare information systems

There has been a great interest in publish/subscribe systems in recent years. This interest, coupled with the pervasiveness of light-weight electronic devices, such as cellular phones and personal digital assistants, has opened a new arena in publish/subscribe networks. Currently, many broker overlay networks are static and rarely change in structure. Often, a network overlay structure is predefined or manually modified. This paper presents a dynamic broker network for disseminating critical lab and patient information in a Healthcare information system. The reported work builds upon previous network optimization research on ad hoc publish/subscribe networks. The underlying framework utilizes user-defined cost functions to satisfy quality of service constraints. In essence, the broker network optimization problem is reduced to an incremental search problem to generate low cost network configurations. Certain reliability issues are also addressed by providing a scheduling algorithm to selectively retransmit information and handle broker connectivity failures.     

基于J2EE多层架构的Web开发框架研究

在经典的J2EE四层体系结构的基础上增加数据持久层,提出了基于J2EE五层体系结构的Web开发框架;分析了基于Struts框架的J2EE架构中实现对象持久性的局限性,从中分离出对象持久层,并将Hibernate这个面向对象的轻量级对象持久性技术集成到该架构中;应用DAO设计模式在业务逻辑层与持久层之间设计了多源数据访问组件,抽象和封装了对不同数据源的数据访问操作,实现对不同类型、结构、环境、用法的异构数据库的统一访问。     

基于本体的文档互操作度量模型

为客观、自动化地评价各种文档在不同情况下实际达到的互操作能力,提出利用本体技术建立文档互操作性度量模型。在准确、形式化地描述文档概念及其关联的基础上,综合考虑各种影响互操作性的度量因素,通过度量函数对不同文档系统间的互操作性进行计算,通过量化的结果为互操作性测评提供客观依据。基于本体的形式化描述,实现了一个面向办公文档领域的原型系统以自动化地进行文档互操作性度量,验证了度量模型构建方法的有效性和模型的实用性。     

一种用于多目标组合优化的三阶段混合蛙跳框架

提出一种用于求解多目标组合优化问题的3阶段混合蛙跳框架.该框架采用阶段化、模块化的设计思想,将种群的进化过程分为快速收敛、探索扩展、极值挖掘3个阶段.在快速收敛阶段,迅速定位Pareto前沿,使整个群体快速地聚集在前沿附近;在探索扩展阶段,进一步提升解的精度并让种群均匀地分布在前沿上;在极值挖掘阶段,搜寻各目标上的边界...