Denna studie ämnar att bidra till kunskap till skapandet av en regelmotor för hanteringen av verksamhetsregler ur ett systemutvecklarperspektiv. Studien har utförts hos företaget Mobilaris som själva har identiferat ett potentiellt behov av verktyg för att på bättre sätt hantera verksamhetsregler. Innan studien påbörjades, så utfördes en förstudie då regelmotor som skulle nyttjas valdes ut. Studien har genom en designstudie där en regelmotor iterativt har utvecklats för att passa systemet Planning & Scheduling™. Datainsamlingen är gjort genom enkäter och semistrukturerade intervjuer som föregåtts av en presentation av artefakten. Enkäterna har följt en kvantitativ modell som kallas System Usability Scale. De semistrukturerade intervjuerna har sedan analyserats med hjälp av en innehållsanalys för att kunna identifera behoven och göra artefakten bättre. Resultatet av studien är riktlinjer som med fördel kan användas när man implementerar en regelmotor för ett resursplanneringssystem. Studien har identiferat nio teoretiska koncept varav åtta har kunnat bekräftas utifrån empirin. Det har också identiferats fyra nya designprinciper som anses göra regelmotorn bättre. / This study aims to contribute knowledge to the creation of a rule engine for the management of business rules from a system developer perspective. The study was conducted at a company called Mobilaris, which has identifed a potential need for tool to better manage business rules in one of their systems. Before the study began, a pilot study was carried out to select the rule engine that where going to be used in the study. The study has through a design science study where a rule engine has iteratively developed to fit the system Planning & Scheduling™. The data collection is done through surveys and semi-structured interviews that are preceded by a presentation of the artifact. The surveys follow a model called the System Usability Scale. The semi-structured interviews was then analyzed using a content analysis to be able to identify needs to make the artifact better. The results of the studies are guidelines that can be benefcial when implementing a rule engine for a resource planning system. The study has identifed nine theoretical concepts, of which eight have been confrmed based on empirical evidence. Four new design principles have also been identifed that are considered to make the rule engine better.

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Le monde des affaires d’aujourd’hui est très dynamique, donc les organisations doivent rapidement adapter leurs politiques commerciales afin de suivre les évolutions du marché. Ces ajustements doivent être propagés à la logique métier présente dans les systèmes d’informations des organisations, qui sont souvent des applications héritées non conçues pour représenter et opérationnaliser la logique métier indépendamment des aspects techniques du langage de programmation utilisé. Par conséquent, la logique métier intégrée au sein du système doit être identifiée et comprise avant d’être modifiée. Malheureusement, ces activités ralentissent la mise à jour du système vers de nouvelles exigences établies dans les politiques de l’organisation et menacent la cohérence des activités commerciales de celle-ci. Afin de simplifier ces activités, nous offrons une approche basée sur les modèles pour extraire et représenter la logique métier, exprimée comme un ensemble de règles de gestion, à partir des parties comportementales et structurelles des systèmes d’information. Nous mettons en œuvre cette approche pour les systèmes écrits en Java et COBOL ainsi que pour les systèmes de gestion de bases de données relationnelles. L’approche proposée est basée sur l’Ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles, qui fournit une solution générique et modulaire adaptable à différents langages en offrant une représentation abstraite et homogène du système. / Today’s business world is very dynamic and organizations have to quickly adjust their internal policies to follow the market changes. Such adjustments must be propagated to the business logic embedded in the organization’s information systems, that are often legacy applications not designed to represent and operationalize the business logic independently from the technical aspects of the programming language employed. Consequently, the business logic buried in the system must be discovered and understood before being modified. Unfortunately, such activities slow down the modification of the system to new requirements settled in the organization policies and threaten the consistency and coherency of the organization business. In order to simplify these activities, we provide amodel-based approach to extract and represent the business logic, expressed as a set of business rules, from the behavioral and structural parts of information systems. We implement such approach for Java, COBOL and relational database management systems. The proposed approach is based on Model Driven Engineering,that provides a generic and modular solution adaptable to different languages by offering an abstract and homogeneous representation of the system.

Cette thèse porte sur la transformation automatique et sémantique de règles métiers en des règles formelles. Ces règles métiers sont originellement rédigées sous la forme de textes en langage naturel, de tableaux et d'images. L'objectif est de mettre à la disposition des experts métiers, un ensemble de services leur permettant d'élaborer des corpus de règles métiers formelles. Le domaine de la Construction est le champ d'application de ces travaux. Disposer d'une version formelle et exécutable de ces règles métiers servira à effectuer des contrôles de conformité automatique sur les maquettes numériques des projets de construction en cours de conception.Pour cela, nous avons mis à disposition des experts métiers les deux principales contributions de cette thèse. La première est la mise sur pied d'un langage naturel contrôlé, dénommé RAINS. Il permet aux experts métiers de réécrire les règles métiers sous la forme de règles formelles. Les règles RAINS se composent de termes du vocabulaire métier et de mots réservés tels que les fonctions de comparaisons, les marques de négation et de quantification universelle et les littéraux. Chaque règle RAINS a une sémantique formelle unique qui s'appuie sur les standards du web sémantique. La seconde contribution majeure est un service de formalisation des règles métiers. Ce service implémente une approche de formalisation proposée dans le cadre de cette thèse et dénommée FORSA. Ce service propose des versions RAINS des règles métiers en langage naturel qui lui sont soumises. FORSA fait appel à des outils du traitement automatique du langage naturel et à des heuristiques. Pour évaluer FORSA, nous avons mis sur pied un benchmark adapté à la tâche de formalisation des règles métiers. Les données de ce benchmark sont issues de normes du domaine de la Construction / This thesis focuses on automatic and semantic transformation of business rules into formal rules. These business rules are originally drafted in the form of natural language text, tables and images. Our goal is to provide to business experts a set of services allowing them to develop corpora of formal business rules. We carry out this work in the field of building engineering construction. Having formal and executable versions of the business rules enables to perform automatic compliance checking of digital mock-ups of construction projects under design.For this we made available to business experts, the two main contributions of this thesis. The first is the development of a controlled natural language, called RAINS. It allows business experts to rewrite business rules in the form of formal rules. A RAINS rule consists of terms of the business vocabulary and reserved words such as comparison predicates, negation and universal quantification markers and literals. Each RAINS rule has a unique formal semantics which is based on the standards of the Semantic Web. The second major contribution is a service for formalization of business rules. This service implements a formalized approach proposed in this thesis and called FORSA. This service offers RAINS versions of natural language business rules submitted to it. FORSA uses natural language processing tools and heuristics. To evaluate FORSA, we have set up a benchmark adapted to the formalization of business rules task. The dataset from this benchmark are from norms in the field of Construction

Šiuo metu vis daugiau įmonių nori apibrėžti organizacijose vykstančius veiklos procesus (toliau VP) atvaizduojant juos grafiškai, tačiau VP modeliuojantis analitikas ne visuomet nustato visus procese esančius apribojimus. Kadangi šių apribojimų jis negali peržiūrėti ir jų patvirtinti sumodeliuotame VP modelyje, padidėja rizika atsirasti neatitikimams ir klaidoms. Tai gali sutrikdyti organizacijos veiklą. Vadovaudamasis pateiktais VP modeliais kiekvienas dalyvis žino, kokia yra jo pozicija organizacijoje bei kokios jam deleguotos atsakomybės. Todėl ir yra svarbu, kad nubraižyti VP modeliai atitiktų realius organizacijos procesus. Taip pat svarbu išlaikyti informacijos vieningumą, modeliuojant kitus veiklos aspektus bei aiškumą bendradarbiaujant organizacijoje. Dėl šių priežasčių reikalingas veiklos žodynas (toliau VŽ), apibrėžiantis organizacijoje naudojamus pagrindinius terminus, faktus ir sinonimus, bei veiklos taisyklės (toliau VT), apibrėžiančios visus apribojimus organizacijoje. Dėl VP pokyčių ir didelės apimties, VŽ ir VT sudarymui turi būti naudojamas automatinis VŽ formavimo ir VT sudarymo metodas, kurio pagalba verslo atstovas sutaupo laiko ir užtikrina jo atitikimą realiai vykstantiems VP. Metodo realizacijai analizuojami VP modeliavimo (BPMN2, UML, Workflow) ir VŽ bei VT (SBVR, SRML ir PRR) formavimo standartai, įvertinant suprantamumą vartotojams, informacijos pateikimą, bei kitas funkcijas (pavyzdžiui, modelių transformavimas į vykdomąjį kodą, XML failo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / There are many organizations that want to represent their business processes (BP) using modeling notations, such as BPMN, UML and Workflow but usually the analyst cannot identify all necessary constraints of BP. Therefore responsibilities for the representatives of the organization cannot be correctly specified which leads to poor quality of work. In order to avoid such problems business process diagrams (BPD) must meet the real world processes. The research area of thesis covers various BP and business rules (BR) modeling notations, the intersection of BP and BR (the relevance and formation of BP and BR, applicability and integration of BR, the extraction of BR and business vocabulary (BV) from BPD). The main issue is the automated extraction of BV and BR from BPD which is used not only to compare business model to real organization processes but also it is useful to have BV in organization for more effective collaboration. The main tasks to solve the identified issue are the analysis of BP with their constraints, analysis of the structures of BR and their applicability in BP, the analysis of structures of BR in BP and finally the formation of the algorithm for the automated result’s extraction, creation and evaluation of prototype. The analysis of existing methods revealed that there is no such method that allows user to form BP and BR effectively integrating all necessary aspects. BPMN and SBVR standards are chosen as main knowledge resources because of their ability to... [to full text]

Programinio kodo generavimo iš veiklos taisyklių modelių sritis iki šiol yra menkai ištirta ir tai neigiamai veikia veiklos taisyklių koncepcijos plėtrą. Nagrinėjama kodo generavimo iš grafinių IS (informacinių sistemų) reikalavimus atspindinčių modelių problema. Pristatomas modifikuotu Roso metodu grindžiamo veiklos taisyklių modeliavimo IS projektavimo stadijoje metodo tyrimas, siekiant sukurti adekvačią programinio kodo generavimo iš taisyklių diagramų metodiką. / One of the reasons for a relatively slow growth of the business rules approach could be the lack of developments in the field of program code generation from the business rules models. During this work methods for code generation from IS requirements models are analysed. The focus is placed on a modified Ross method based rules modelling method aiming to create an adequate code generation methodology.

Informacijos sistemų (IS) kūrimo procesas turi gan nusistovėjusią struktūrą, tačiau ji neužtikrina aukštos kuriamų sistemų kokybės ir optimalaus atitikimo vartotojų poreikiams. Paprastai IS kūrimas susideda iš šių etapų: reikalavimų surinkimo, analizės ir specifikavimo, projektavimo, realizavimo, testavimo, diegimo ir sistemos palaikymo. Būtent išsamus ir teisingas reikalavimų specifikacijos sudarymas užtikrina tolimesnę projekto sėkmę. Tai inicijuoja naujų metodų kūrimą, kurie akcentuoja veiklos taisyklių (VT) koncepciją. Pagal šią koncepciją IS kūrimo metu taisyklės atskiriamos nuo kitų sistemą sudarančių objektų, taip sukuriant prielaidas tikslesniam reikalavimų fiksavimui. Šio darbo tikslas išnagrinėti KTU Informacijos sistemų katedroje sukurtą veiklos taisyklėmis grindžiamos reikalavimų specifikacijos sudarymo metodą ir pagerinti tiriamo metodo pritaikomumą sistemos projektavimo stadijoje. Pagal minėtą metodą, baigus reikalavimų specifikavimo procesą, visi surinkti ir struktūrizuoti reikalavimai fiksuojami saugykloje. Analizuojant šiuos duomenis siekiama turimus reikalavimus transformuoti į UML kalbos diagramas. / Information system (IS) development process has a relatively consistent structure, although it does not guarantee that all user requirements are represented correctly in the final system. Typically IS development consists of the following phases: requirements capture, analysis and specification, design, development, testing, installation and system support. The complete and correct requirement specification facilitates the further success of the project, therefore it is extremely important. This simple fact is one of the reasons why new approaches, such as those based on the business rules (BR) concept, keep on emerging. According to the BR concept, the business rules are separated from other system constitutive objects, thus creating an environment for a more accurate requirement capture. The main goal of this work was to examine the business rules based requirements specification method developed at KTU Department of Information system and come up with the ways of how to use the specified requirements during the system design phase. The decision was made to create the requirements-to-UML diagrams transformation methodology, which is presented in this document. The methodology was evaluated using a partial prototype implementation showing it can be applied in practice.

A preocupação da engenharia de software esteve por muito tempo relacionada a aspectos da funcionalidade do sistema, ou seja, com \"o que\" e \"como\" fazer e não com o \"por que\" fazer. Tais aspectos, envolvidos nos processos existentes, buscam a definição das propriedades desejadas, em lugar de observarem a informação de uma forma mais ampla, começando com as necessidades do próprio negócio, ou dos objetivos dos sistemas nele embutidos. As técnicas de análise estruturadas, diagrama de fluxo de dados e modelagem entidade e relacionamento modelam importantes conceitos para o desenvolvimento de sistemas, mas não buscam por soluções alternativas inovadoras aos problemas da organização. É comum encontrar situações onde o sistema não satisfaz às reais necessidades do negócio, embora esteja tecnicamente correto. O entendimento dos aspectos sociais, organizacionais, técnicos, jurídicos e econômicos é essencial para a realização de um bom trabalho de engenharia de requisitos. Nesse sentido, a modelagem organizacional facilita a compreensão do ambiente empresarial e é reconhecida como uma atividade valiosa pela engenharia de requisitos. O modelo organizacional representa o \"mundo\" onde se aplicam as regras do negócio. O entendimento das regras do negócio é muito importante para a organização ser flexível em um ambiente de crescente competitividade. Com a necessidade de se ter a modelagem dos aspectos relativos à organização para que o sistema atenda as suas reais necessidades, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar o processo de desenvolvimento de software buscando conhecer técnicas ou métodos que atendem aos requisitos organizacionais, enfatizando o uso de regras do negócio com a finalidade de obter a especificação de requisitos. / The software engineering\'s focus were for a long time related to system\'s functionality aspects, or with \"what\" and \"how\" to do, and not with \"why\" to do. Those aspects in the existents process are looking for the definition of the desired proprieties instead observe the information in a more large aspect, beginning with the business needs itself or the systems goals inserted in it. The structure analysis techniques, flux data diagram, and relationship and entity modeling form important concepts for systems development but do not search for innovating alternatives solutions for organization\'s problems. It is very common to find situations were the system does not satisfy the real business needs, thought it is technically correct. The comprehension of social, organizational, technical, juridical and economics aspects are essential for a good realization of requirements in engineering work. In that way the enterprise modeling makes the business environment comprehension easier and is recognized as a value activity by the requirements engineering. The enterprise model represents the \"world\" where the business rules are applied. The comprehension of the business rules is very important so the organization can be flexible in a growing competitive environment. With the necessity to have a modeling of the relative aspects to the organization so the system can accomplish the real needs, this present research has the objective to investigate a software development process trying to find techniques or methods that answer the enterprise\'s requirement, emphasizing the use of business rules to obtain the specifics requirements.

The purpose of this project was to create a requirement repository using a methodology, which is being developed in the department of Information Systems of Kaunas University of Technology. The implementation would raise the methodology to the higher level enabling its use in practice. Using the implementation one could either prove or disprove the main idea behind the methodology - the simplification of the stakeholder-analyst dialogue during the IS requirements specification. For that, the experiment was conducted. The purpose of the experiment was to specify requirements for the real-world IS using implemented requirement repository, and compare the results to other similar software.

Darbe nagrinėjama programų sistemų palaikymo ir vystymo problema. Nustatyta, jog sąnaudos šiose programų sistemos gyvavimo ciklo fazėse siekia iki 80% visų sąnaudų, skiriamų programų sistemai kurti. Pagrindinis šio reiškinio veiksnys yra nuolatinis poreikis pritaikyti sistemų funkcionalumą prie besikeičiančių verslo reikalavimų, o tokios užduotys apima didžiąją dalį visų palaikymo veiklų. Nagrinėti tyrimai parodė, kad programų sistemose įgyvendintai verslo logikai suprasti sugaištama 40–60% pakeitimams atliki skirto laiko, kadangi atsakingi už sistemų palaikymą žmonės paprastai nėra jų projektuotai, todėl turi dėti dideles pastangas, kad išsiaiškintų sistemos veikimo principus. Be to, pakeitimai, atliekami palaikymo metu, yra retai dokumentuojami (ar net nedokumentuojami visai), o supratimas įgytas įgyvendinant pakeitimus lieka individualių programuotojų galvose. Tuo tarpu kiti tyrimai atskleidė, jog paprastai tik trečdalis programų sistemos kodo įgyvendina verslo logiką, o kita dalis yra skirta platformos ir infrastruktūros funkcijoms įgyvendinti. Iš to darytina išvada, jog išgaunant dalykinės srities žinias bei išlaikant atsekamumą tarp jų ir jas įgyvendinančio programinio kodo, galima sumažinti sistemų palaikymo ir vystymo kaštus. Todėl pagrindinis šio darbo tikslas yra patobulinti verslo žinių išgavimo ir vaizdavimo procesą, pasiūlant metodą ir palaikančias priemones, kurios palengvintų egzistuojančių programų sistemų suvokimą. Darbas susideda iš įvado, 4 dalių, bendrųjų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The dissertation addresses the problem of software maintenance and evolution. It identifies that spending within these software lifecycle phases may account for up to 80% of software’s total lifecycle cost, whereas the inability to adopt software quickly and reliably to meet ever-changing business requirements may lead to business opportunities being lost. The main reason of this phenomenon is the fact that the most of maintenance effort is devoted to understanding the software to be modified. On the other hand, related studies show that less than one-third of software source code contains business logic implemented within it, while the remaining part is intended for platform or infrastructure relevant activities. It follows that if the most of changes in software are made due to the need to adopt its functionality to changed business requirements, then facilitating software comprehension with automated business knowledge extraction methods may significantly reduce the cost of software maintenance and evolution. Therefore the main goal of this thesis is to improve business knowledge extraction process by proposing a method and supporting tool framework that would facilitate comprehension of existing software systems. The dissertation consists of the following parts: Introduction, 4 chapters, General Conclusions, References, and 6 Annexes. Chapter 1 presents a systematic literature review of related studies in order to summarize the state-of-the art in this research field... [to full text]