An industrial case study on variability handling in large enterprise software systems

ContextEnterprise software systems (e.g., enterprise resource planning software) are often deployed in different contexts (e.g., different organizations or different business units or branches of one organization). However, even though organizations, business units or branches have the same or similar business goals, they may differ in how they achieve these goals. Thus, many enterprise software systems are subject to variability and adapted depending on the context in which they are used.ObjectiveOur goal is to provide a snapshot of variability in large scale enterprise software systems. We aim at understanding the types of variability that occur in large industrial enterprise software systems. Furthermore, we aim at identifying how variability is handled in such systems.MethodWe performed an exploratory case study in two large software organizations, involving two large enterprise software systems. Data were collected through interviews and document analysis. Data were analyzed following a grounded theory approach.ResultsWe identified seven types of variability (e.g., functionality, infrastructure) and eight mechanisms to handle variability (e.g., add-ons, code switches).ConclusionsWe provide generic types for classifying variability in enterprise software systems, and reusable mechanisms for handling such variability. Some variability types and handling mechanisms for enterprise software systems found in the real world extend existing concepts and theories. Others confirm findings from previous research literature on variability in software in general and are therefore not specific to enterprise software systems. Our findings also offer a theoretical foundation for describing variability handling in practice. Future work needs to provide more evaluations of the theoretical foundations, and refine variability handling mechanisms into more detailed practices.     

Utilizing sensor data to model students’ creativity in a digital environment

While creativity is essential for developing students’ broad expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields, many students struggle with various aspects of being creative. Digital technologies have the unique opportunity to support the creative process by (1) recognizing elements of students’ creativity, such as when creativity is lacking (modeling step), and (2) providing tailored scaffolding based on that information (intervention step). However, to date little work exists on either of these aspects. Here, we focus on the modeling step. Specifically, we explore the utility of various sensing devices, including an eye tracker, a skin conductance bracelet, and an EEG sensor, for modeling creativity during an educational activity, namely geometry proof generation. We found reliable differences in sensor features characterizing low vs. high creativity students. We then applied machine learning to build classifiers that achieved good accuracy in distinguishing these two student groups, providing evidence that sensor features are valuable for modeling creativity.     

Isolation of antimicrobial agent from the marine algae Cystoseira hakodatensis

Cystoseira hakodatensis is an unutilised brown algae belonging to family Sargassaceae. A crude methanol extract from the algae showed inhibitory effects on the growths of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus licheniformis. To isolate the major antimicrobial agent, a sequential active‐guided isolation procedure was applied: liquid–liquid extraction, column chromatography and bio‐autography. A marked antimicrobial agent (active α) was isolated in hydrophobic fraction and was determined to phenolics without carbohydrates and proteins by phytochemical test. Regarding the antimicrobial potential, the isolated active α showed better inhibitory effects against B. cereus and B. licheniformis at 2 and 4 times of lower concentrations (62.5 and 31.3 μg mL^?1) in comparison with epigallocatechin gallate. These results showed that C. hakodatensis is a potential source of antimicrobial agent capable of preventing the growth of the two bacteria.     

Biologically Inspired Design of Context-Aware Smart Products

The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and cyber–physical systems (CPSs) has paved the way for the increasing popularity of smart products. Context-awareness is an important facet of product smartness. Unlike artifacts, various bio-systems are naturally characterized by their extraordinary context-awareness. Biologically inspired design (BID) is one of the most commonly employed design strategies. However, few studies have examined the BID of context-aware smart products to date. This paper presents a structured design framework to support the BID of context-aware smart products. The meaning of context-awareness is defined from the perspective of product design. The framework is developed based on the theoretical foundations of the situated function–behavior–structure ontology. A structured design process is prescribed to leverage various biological inspirations in order to support different conceptual design activities, such as problem formulation, structure reformulation, behavior reformulation, and function reformulation. Some existing design methods and emerging design tools are incorporated into the framework. A case study is presented to showcase how this framework can be followed to redesign a robot vacuum cleaner and make it more context-aware.     

运动会新闻发布系统的设计与实现

针对运动会比赛期间随时需要方便、快捷、高效地更新大量新闻的需求 ,研制和开发一套运动会新闻发布系统。利用微软最新推出的asp .net动态网页开发工具 ,采用web分布式三层设计模型设计实现了一套操作简单、功能完善、具有通用性的运动会新闻发布系统     

指纹考勤管理软件的研究与实现

针对企、事业单位原有的考勤系统，如打卡钟、磁卡、IC卡等考勤方式存在代打卡、卡丢失等不足和缺陷的实际，结合指纹识别技术，建立一套考勤、薪资、人事管理于一体的软件系统。给出了系统的体系结构和功能实现，能使企业考勤管理更加简便快捷、客观公正。并提出了进一步的发展方向和展望。     

动力环境集中监控系统可靠性的提高

为实现电源设备乃至通信机房的少人或无人值守和集中维护,必须建立一套完善的电信局动力环境集中监控系统。文中结合番禺区电信局的实际,讨论了提高系统运行可靠性的几点措施,包括硬件方面与软件方面的手段,关键在于加强系统的运行管理。     

基于多相滤波器的信道化接收机及其应用研究

本文主要研究了应用多相滤波技术的信道化接收机建模问题。在给定信道频谱划分方案下,推导了基于多相 滤波器的信道化接收机数学模型。并由此模型设计了一个四信道模拟系统。最后用仿真实验结果验证了模型的正确性。     

浅谈计算软件的开发

软件开发重要的是 :确定编程语言 ,代码设计 ,程序设计 ,软件试验 ,人员培训等步骤     

基于TMS320VC5410的最小系统设计

TMS320VC5410是TI公司生产的一款定点数字信号处理(DSP)芯片。基于DSP的最小系统是以其简洁的硬件结构来实现DSP的一般功能,广泛应用于工业生产、教学、科研、电子设计等领域。主要介绍了基于TMS320VC5410的最小系统硬件电路设计方案,阐述了重要电路部分的抗干扰设计和软件调试过程中应注意的若干问题。最后提出了简单易行的软件调试方法以及部分程序代码。