Linking GIS and water resources management models: an object-oriented method

Many challenges are associated with the integration of geographic information systems (GISs) with models in specific applications. One of them is adapting models to the environment of GISs. Unique aspects of water resource management problems require a special approach to development of GIS data structures. Expanded development of GIS applications for handling water resources management analysis can be assisted by use of an object oriented approach. In this paper, we model a river basin water allocation problem as a collection of spatial and thematic objects. A conceptual GIS data model is formulated to integrate the physical and logical components of the modeling problem into an operational framework, based on which, extended GIS functions are developed to implement a tight linkage between the GIS and the water resources management model. Through the object-oriented approach, data, models and users interfaces are integrated in the GIS environment, creating great flexibility for modeling and analysis. The concept and methodology described in this paper is also applicable to connecting GIS with models in other fields that have a spatial dimension and hence to which GIS can provide a powerful additional component of the modeler’s tool kit.     

Object-Oriented Design Structures in Web Application Models

In this paper, we discuss different object-oriented design structures that should be used in the process of building Web applications. We base our discussion on the OOHDM approach for defining a Web application model, in particular, the separation of the navigational model from the conceptual model. We focus on the systematic application of different design patterns (such as Observer and Decorator) for decoupling different aspects of a Web model. We briefly discuss some specific patterns that may appear in this kind of applications and we introduce additional concepts such as Web frameworks as a conceptual approach to maximize design reuse in Web applications.     

Automated code generation of dynamic specializations: an approach based on design patterns and formal techniques

In this work, we present an automatic code generation process from conceptual models. This process incorporates the use of design patterns in OO-Method, an automated software production method, which is built on a formal object-oriented model called OASIS. Our approach defines a precise mapping between conceptual patterns, design patterns and their implementation. Design patterns make the code generation process easy because they provide methodological guidance to go from the problem space to the solution space. In order to understand these ideas, we introduce a complete code generation process for conceptual models that have dynamic specialization relationships. This proposal can be incorporated into CASE tools, making the automation of the software production process feasible.     

Propositional Logic Constraint Patterns and Their Use in UML-Based Conceptual Modeling and Analysis

An important conceptual modeling activity in the development of database, object-oriented and agent-oriented systems is the capture and expression of domain constraints governing underlying data and object states. UML is increasingly used for capturing conceptual models, as it supports conceptual modeling of arbitrary domains, and has extensible notation allowing capture of invariant constraints both in the class diagram notation and in the separately denoted OCL syntax. However, a need exists for increased formalism in constraint capture that does not sacrifice ease of use for the analyst. In this paper, we codify a set of invariant patterns formalized for capturing a rich category of propositional constraints on class diagrams. We use tools of Boolean logic to set out the distinction between these patterns, applying them in modeling by way of example. We use graph notation to systematically uncover constraints hidden in the diagrams. We present data collected from applications across different domains, supporting the importance of "pattern-finding" for n-variable propositional constraints using general graph theoretic methods. This approach enriches UML-based conceptual modeling for greater completeness, consistency, and correctness by formalizing the syntax and semantics of these constraint patterns, which has not been done in a comprehensive manner before now     

基于Geodatabase的面向对象时空数据模型

针对时空数据模型与时态地理信息系统研究中存在的几类问题,提出了一种通用的面向对象时空数据模型GOO—STDM。该模型从时空对象的基本属性和行为出发,运用面向对象方法,将地学对象封装为空间、专题、时间的整体,满足地学对象的what／where／when语义,具有良好的扩展性。在GOO-STDM基础上,利用Geodatabase模型,采用定制ArcGIS的方法,实现了支持双时态语义的原型TGIS系统,既能满足时空表达的需要,又继承了ArcGIS系统的功能。     

Design dysphasia and the pattern maintenance cycle

Software developers utilize design methods that enable them to manipulate conceptual structures that correlate to programming language features. However, programming languages and the programming paradigms they embody co-evolve over time. Within industrial and academic circles, for example, object-oriented programming has evolved and effectively replaced imperative programming. More recently, many object-oriented languages have assimilated features from other programming paradigms, evolving into multiparadigm languages we refer to as ‘object-oriented plus–plus’ or OO++. This language evolution may weaken the interface between design and implementation, introducing what we call ‘design dysphasia’—a partial disability in the use of a programming language because of incongruous design methods. Software design patterns capture elements of reusable design within a specific context. When the programming languages that are part of pattern context evolve, patterns must adapt to the language change or they may reinforce design dysphasia in the practitioner. We assert that the current ‘capture/recapture’ pattern maintenance model is suboptimal for adapting patterns to language evolution and propose a new ‘capture/modify/recapture’ maintenance cycle as a more effective approach. We then suggest a concrete ‘modify’ phase for current patterns to be adapted to object-oriented based multiparadigm language trends. We present an OO++ Iterator pattern as an example throughout.     

A dynamic data model for mobile GIS

A fast response time is a major objective for Mobile Geographic Information System (GIS) applications. This study provides a solution for improving the performance of response time by a dynamic data model. A conceptual dynamic data model is proposed, which covers (a) “position” information of selected geographic objects relevant to the GIS user's interest within his current location, (b) the selected attribute information in which the mobile GIS user is interested. In this approach, first, the attribute information is selected through a validating process making use of the temporal and attribute filters. Second, a specially designed dynamic database is employed to enable the implementation of the conceptual dynamic data model. This dynamic database is continually updated in accordance with the spatial, temporal and attribute constraints specified for the conceptual model. This design of a dynamic data model increases the availability of spatial data to mobile GIS users by providing up to date accurate information relevant to the area of interest, in a limited communication bandwidth. Third, an experimental study has been conducted and the results demonstrate that by using a dynamic database the response time can be reduced to one-third of that of a conventional database. The response time performance can be further improved as the size of the database is increased.     

Supporting User-Defined Granularities in a Spatiotemporal Conceptual Model

Granularities are integral to spatial and temporal data. A large number of applications require storage of facts along with their temporal and spatial context, which needs to be expressed in terms of appropriate granularities. For many real-world applications, a single granularity in the database is insufficient. In order to support any type of spatial or temporal reasoning, the semantics related to granularities needs to be embedded in the database. Specifying granularities related to facts is an important part of conceptual database design because under-specifying the granularity can restrict an application, affect the relative ordering of events and impact the topological relationships. Closely related to granularities is indeterminacy, i.e., an occurrence time or location associated with a fact that is not known exactly. In this paper, we present an ontology for spatial granularities that is a natural analog of temporal granularities. We propose an upward-compatible, annotation-based spatiotemporal conceptual model that can comprehensively capture the semantics related to spatial and temporal granularities, and indeterminacy without requiring new spatiotemporal constructs. We specify the formal semantics of this spatiotemporal conceptual model via translation to a conventional conceptual model. To underscore the practical focus of our approach, we describe an on-going case study. We apply our approach to a hydrogeologic application at the United States Geologic Survey and demonstrate that our proposed granularity-based spatiotemporal conceptual model is straightforward to use and is comprehensive.     

Developing secure data warehouses with a UML extension

Data Warehouses (DWs), Multidimensional (MD) Databases, and On-Line Analytical Processing Applications are used as a very powerful mechanism for discovering crucial business information. Considering the extreme importance of the information managed by these kinds of applications, it is essential to specify security measures from the early stages of the DW design in the MD modeling process, and enforce them. In the past years, some proposals for representing main MD modeling properties at the conceptual level have been stated. Nevertheless, none of these proposals considers security issues as an important element in its model, so they do not allow us to specify confidentiality constraints to be enforced by the applications that will use these MD models. In this paper, we will discuss the specific confidentiality problems regarding DWs as well as present an extension of the Unified Modeling Language for specifying security constraints in the conceptual MD modeling, thereby allowing us to design secure DWs. One key advantage of our approach is that we accomplish the conceptual modeling of secure DWs independently of the target platform where the DW has to be implemented, allowing the implementation of the corresponding DWs on any secure commercial database management system. Finally, we will present a case study to show how a conceptual model designed with our approach can be directly implemented on top of Oracle 10g.     

应用设计模式的映射层框架的设计与实现

随着对象技术的发展，设计可复用的面象对象软件变得更加重要。目前的许多应用软件与传统的关系型数据库联系在一起。如何建立对象和数据库的映射成了一个需要解决的问题。描述了一个运用了多种设计模式的可重用映射框架，介绍了其设计思想和体系结构，并对系统的各部分功能进行了分析，还就一些具体的实际问题提出了解决方案。     

基于对象级的高分辨率遥感影像分类研究

依据高分辨率遥感影像的特点,结合深圳市QUICKBIRD数据提出一种基于多尺度分割的对象级遥感分类方法。文中首先利用分形网络演化法(FNEA)进行多尺度图像分割,获取对地表实体更具代表性的图像对象,然后利用对象所包含的光谱、空间特征来确定地物识别中可能要用到的各种特征参数,最后通过构建语义结构实现了研究区地物的逐级分层分类。研究结果表明,本文所采取的方法比传统方法在分类精度上有了明显的提高,为高分辨率遥感影像的信息提取提供了新的技术途径。     

GIS中地图符号设计系统的设计与实现

为了研制国产ＧＩＳ软件－－Ｇｅｏｓｔａｒ地图符号设计子系统。采用面向对象的方法,对符号分类组织,图象类设计、符号库结构、符号设计软件及空间信息符号化动态库等进行了设计与软件开发,所的研制的软件成功地对国家标准系列地图图式进行了设计,可满足实际生产的需要,介绍了符号设计子系统设计与开发过程中面向对象方法的应用与技术问题,研究表明,采用面向对象的方法来开发地图符号设计软件,技术思路正确,所开发的软件具有良好的封装性,便于维护和扩充。     

Conceptual design of fuzzy object-oriented databases using extended entity-relationship model

Entity-relationship–extended entity-relationship models play a crucial role in the conceptual design of relational databases as well as object-oriented databases. Recently, several approaches have been proposed to enhance object-oriented databases (OODBs) using fuzzy set theory. In this paper, we introduce a fuzzy extended entity-relationship model to cope with imperfect as well as complex objects in the real world at a conceptual level. In particular, we provide the formal approach to mapping a fuzzy extended entity-relationship model to a fuzzy object-oriented database schema. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

An integrated temporal data model incorporating time series concept

Most temporal data models have concentrated on describing temporal data based on versioning of objects, tuples or attributes. The concept of time series, which is often needed in temporal applications, does not fit well within these models. The goal of this paper is to propose a generalized temporal database model that integrates the modeling of both version-based and time-series based temporal data into a single conceptual framework. The concept of calendar is also integrated into our proposed model. We also discuss how a conceptual Extended-ER design in our model can be mapped to an object-oriented or relational database implementation.     

A logical theory of interfaces and objects

This paper motivates and describes a logic-based approach to specifying and reasoning about interfaces and objects that focuses on separation of concerns issues. The approach is based on the abstract design view (ADV), a software design model for object-oriented systems. The model was originally introduced to characterize, in an informal and practical setting, a clear separation between objects, which we called abstract design objects and their interfaces (ADVs). The objects capture the basic concern, while the interfaces capture special concerns such as user interface, control, timing, and distribution. First, we analyze the ADV design model in order to precisely characterize the interfaces, their associated objects, and the relationship between them. Then, we present one possible approach to formalizing interfaces, objects, and the "views-a" relationship. The central mathematical tools used for this purpose are temporal logic and some tools from the category theory. The formal approach is illustrated by examples that show how the interface and related objects and the views-a relationship can be used in object-oriented specifications. We also show how the theory enables the designer to perform relevant analysis activities while modeling with separation of concerns in mind. The theory can be used to derive dynamic and structural properties of the interface objects and the views-a relationship. In particular, we can use the theory to derive global properties of interfaces that capture special concerns from the local properties of their related objects     

Bridging objects and relations: a mediator for an OO front-end to RDBMSs

An object-oriented paradigm is established as the leading approach for developing non-traditional applications, such as GIS or multimedia systems. On the other hand, relational databases have dominated the area of data processing in the past decade. These two trends motivate the research on integrating OO applications with relational databases. This paper presents our approach to the symbiosis of the OO and relational data models, which is built into GinisNT, a scalable OO GIS framework based on an OO-to-relational mapping algorithm. The mapping algorithm transforms classes and objects into relations and tuples, and vice versa, instantiates objects from relational databases. The methodology presented here is extremely efficient, as has been proved by a number of applications developed in GinisNT, and is at the same time cost efficient, as it builds upon existing platforms.     

Mining multiple-level spatial association rules for objects with a broad boundary

Spatial data mining, i.e., mining knowledge from large amounts of spatial data, is a demanding field since huge amounts of spatial data have been collected in various applications, ranging from remote sensing to geographical information systems (GIS), computer cartography, environmental assessment and planning. The collected data far exceeds people's ability to analyze it. Thus, new and efficient methods are needed to discover knowledge from large spatial databases. Most of the spatial data mining methods do not take into account the uncertainty of spatial information. In our work we use objects with broad boundaries, the concept that absorbs all the uncertainty by which spatial data is commonly affected and allows computations in the presence of uncertainty without rough simplifications of the reality. The topological relations between objects with a broad boundary can be organized into a three-level concept hierarchy. We developed and implemented a method for an efficient determination of such topological relations. Based on the hierarchy of topological relations we present a method for mining spatial association rules for objects with uncertainty. The progressive refinement approach is used for the optimization of the mining process.     

Using NNF to transform conceptual data models to object-oriented database designs

More work is needed on devising practical, but theoretically well-founded procedures for doing object-oriented database (OODB) design [17]. Design procedures should also be flexible enough to take into account various application characteristics (such as whether objects are very large or are read-only). In this paper, we present and discuss an OODB design procedure that addresses these problems. The procedure is practical in the sense that it is based on a common family of conceptual models and in the sense that it does not expect users to supply esoteric, difficult-to-discover, and hard-to-understand constraints (such as multivalued dependencies), nor does it make hard-to-check and easy-to-overlook assumptions (such as the universal relation scheme assumption). At the same time, the procedure is well-founded and formal, being based on NNF (Nested Normal Form [21]), a new theoretical result that characterizes properties of interest in designing complex objects. It is also adaptable to various applications characteristics.     

Partial Similarity of Objects,or How to Compare a Centaur to a Horse

Similarity is one of the most important abstract concepts in human perception of the world. In computer vision, numerous applications deal with comparing objects observed in a scene with some a priori known patterns. Often, it happens that while two objects are not similar, they have large similar parts, that is, they are partially similar. Here, we present a novel approach to quantify partial similarity using the notion of Pareto optimality. We exemplify our approach on the problems of recognizing non-rigid geometric objects, images, and analyzing text sequences.