The use of electronic mail (email) has evolved from sending simple messages to task delegation and management. Most mail clients, however, have not kept up with the evolution and as a result have limited task management features available. On the other hand, while issue tracking systems offer useful task management functionality, they are not as widespread as emails and also have a few drawbacks. This thesis reports on the exploration of the integration of the ubiquitous nature of email with the task management features of issue-tracking systems. We explore this using simple ad-hoc as well as semi-automated tasks. With these two working together, tasks can be delegated from email clients without needing to switch between the two environments. It brings some of the benefits of issue tracking systems closer to our email users.The system is developed using Microsoft VisuaI Studio.NET. with the code written in C#. The eXtreme Programming (XP) methodology was used during the development of the proof-of-concept prototype that demonstrates the integration of the two environments, as we were faced at first with vague requirements bound to change, as we better understood the problem domain through our development. XP allowed us to skip an extended and comprehensive initial design process and incrementally develop the system, making refinements and extensions as we encountered the need for them. This alleviated the need to make upfront decisions that were based on minimal knowledge of what to expect during development. This thesis describes the implementation of the prototype and the decisions made with each step taken towards developing an email-based issue tracking system. With the two environments working together, we can now easily track issues from our email clients without needing to switch to another system. / KMBT_363 / Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in

Open source products such as software development tools and server applications are gaining popularity among expert users. There is however a notable lag in adoption of desktop open source software among ordinary users especially in Africa. A number of critical factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions have been suggested as the determinants of Information and Communication Technologies adoption in general. This study deemed it important to establish if the above factors are the determinants of desktop open source software adoption in Africa. The study aimed to establish the Open Source Software adoption levels among university students in Kenya as well as the factors affecting Open Source Software adoption in this population. The author further aimed to assess the applicability of popular technology acceptance models in the adoption of the software in the population under study. The study employed literature review, quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study also used both descriptive and explanatory research designs in answering the research questions. The Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was used as a theoretical framework because it has synthesised all its major predecessors and accommodated all the predecessors constructs. The other reason The Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was used is because the model was developed specifically for predicting voluntary technology adoption. This study established that the adoption of Free Open Source Software products in Kenya is very low and existing literature revealed that this is also the case in other developing countries. The study concluded that the factors affecting adoption of desktop Open Source Software by Kenyan university students are usability, user training, Open Source Software compatibility, social influence, prior experience, social economic status, job market demands, proprietary software piracy culture and patent and copyright laws. Hence the study suggested that the existing technology adoption models are not appropriate in predicting technology adoption in an Africa setup. The study proposed and validated an appropriate model that fits in this context. / School of Computing / D.Phil. (Information Systems)

Computing / (M.Sc. (Information Systems))

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-08-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:54:31Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 pinto_arf_me_bauru.pdf: 842026 bytes, checksum: a4f4aaae530792c3da6a1f51debb3300 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / As desordens e incertezas provocadas no decorrer do tempo, face à dinâmica das mudanças e a complexidade dos sistemas que abrangem as organizações, acarretam diversas situações em que os gestores necessitam encontrar soluções das quais seja possível extrair a maximização do resultado empresarial. Logo, o desenvolvimento de ferramentas que possam em dado momento apresentar, de forma ágil, um número mínimo de opções necessárias para investigar a incerteza é uma tarefa necessária em ambientes de negócios. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo a busca por uma solução para o problema do Sequenciamento Ótimo de Faturamento (SOF). A perspectiva adotada para a solução do SOF é o desenvolvimento de um software que automatize o processo de atribuição dos produtos aos pedidos em carteira, denominado como processo de picking. O trabalho emprega a Computação Evolucionária como método de adaptação ao problema e utiliza a técnica dos Algoritmos Genéticos (AG) na formulação do modelo de busca de soluções. A concepção do software dar-se-á pela interconexão de um conjunto de dados estáticos que contempla o estoque disponível para venda em um período pré-determinado de tempo t e a carteira de pedidos solicitados em diferentes datas. A representação binária é utilizada para formular a programação das estruturas heurísticas de possíveis soluções e o Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) do Microsoft Office Excel é empregado como ferramenta computacional para a implementação do modelo proposto. A programação considera as restrições e os parâmetros de decisão de forma que maximização do faturamento seja o resultado otimizado do problema. A implantação do software gera um módulo que automatiza o processo de picking e apresenta resultados otimizados para o SOF, o que... / The disorders and uncertainties caused in the course of time, given the dynamics of change and systems complexity which include organizations, result in several situations in which managers need to find solutions which can extract the maximization of the enrrepreneurial outcome. Therefore, the development of tools that can, at a given time and in an agile way, present a minimum number of options necessary to investigate the uncertainties is a necessary task in business environments. This dissertations aims to search for a solution to the Optimal Sequencing Billing (OSB) problem. The perspective adopted for the solution of the OSB is the development of a software that automates the process of assining products to backlog, named as picking process. The work employs the Evouluationary Computation as a method of adaptation to the problem and uses the technique of Genetic Algorithms (GA) in the formulation of the searching solutions model. The software design will come to be through the inerconnection of a set of static data which includes the stock available for sale at a predetermined period of time t and a backlog request on different dates. The binary representation is used to formulate the scheduling heristics structures of possible solutions and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in Microsoft Office Excel is a software tool used for the implementation of the proposed model. The program considers the constraints and decision parameters so that maximizing the billing is the result of optimized problem. The implementation of the softaware generates a module that automates the picking process and presents optimized results for the OSB, which provides agility and improves the decision making for billing. It was... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

This thesis describes a theoretical study and an industrial application in the area of formal systems development, verification and formal testing using the specification language CSP-CASL. The latter is a comprehensive specification language which allows to describe systems in a combined algebraic / process algebraic notation. To this end it integrates the process algebra CSP and the algebraic specification language CASL. In this thesis we propose various formal development notions for CSP-CASL capable of capturing informal vertical and horizontal software development which we typically find in industrial applications. We provide proof techniques for such development notions and verification methodologies to prove interesting properties of reactive systems. We also propose a theoretical framework for formal testing from CSP-CASL specifications. Here, we present a conformance relation between a physical system and a CSP-C ASL specification. In particular we study the relationship between CSP-CASL development notions and the implemented system. The proposed theoretical notions of formal system development, property verification and formal testing for CSP-CASL, have been successfully applied to two industrial application: an electronic payment system called EP2 and the starting system of the BR725 Rolls- Royce jet engine control software.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Information Systems in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / Event management is a very competitive field; therefore, event managers must work hard to distinguish themselves from other event management companies. One way of doing this is by using event management software to provide a holistic service which allows for better efficiency in the workplace. Technology is constantly changing; therefore it is imperative to keep abreast of trends in technology in order to improve one’s business and services. As an event manager, one should also consider what it takes in order to organise a successful event. The internationally accredited Event Management Body of Knowledge (EMBOK) has identified several areas that are crucial for an event manager to constantly control and manage in order to create an exceptional event, and these domain areas encompass a set of guidelines to ensure successful event projects. However, one should determine if the software is able to assist event managers with all the necessary features and functions required to organise a successful event as per the outline from EMBOK. The research aimed to analyse the software in terms of its capabilities and compare it to the EMBOK guidelines. The aim of the study was to further identify whether the software is able to complete all the tasks outlined by EMBOK and if not, what else would be needed to fill the gaps. The research also reviewed what impact the software has on events, that is, how it assists or improves tasks conducted or how it does not assist or becomes problematic in accomplishing the various phases and tasks. Qualitative research was selected as the appropriate method in order to gain an understanding of the events managers’ point of view with regards to the software. The research required detailed descriptions and narratives of the software as well as the experiences and opinions of the user. For this reason it was determined that qualitative research would best suit the needs of the research. In order to get detailed answers a semi-structured in-depth interview guide was used and the answers transcribed in order to analyse and get results. The software was selected based on its international usability and because of its use by South African government departments such as the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The Cape Town-based individuals from the software’s client list were contacted and selected to participate in the study. The research was conducted with five representatives with previous experience of the software in the events industry in Cape Town. The interview guides were compiled with Likert-scale questions and open-ended questions. The questions were carefully compiled to link the functionality of the software and the criteria as identified by EMBOK. The answers were recorded and transcribed to analyse and determine the opinions of the representatives on the functionality and comprehensiveness of the software to be used for event management. The interviews established that the move towards technology is preferable as it creates efficiency in the workplace. The software assists in alleviating the workload of event managers; however, the interviews also indicated that the software does not always fulfil the requirements for all the tasks. Several tasks required the use of combinations of software; in some instances, the manager preferred to do the task manually. It was concluded that the software does not provide the level of flexibility required in event management, which is a vital criterion, owing to the field’s changing nature.

Esta pesquisa propõe um método que aplica a Teoria de Projeto Axiomático (PA) ao processo de desenvolvimento de software que se orientam por regras. Nesse âmbito, salienta-se que não foi encontrada na literatura, durante os esforços de pesquisa deste trabalho, a aplicação da Teoria de Projeto Axiomático a sistemas orientados a Regras. Entretanto, a Teoria de Projeto Axiomático já sim foi foco de pesquisa e aplicação no processo de desenvolvimento de software orientado a objeto, servindo de inspiração ao presente trabalho. Dito isso, este trabalho propõe o método Projeto Axiomático aplicado ao Paradigma Orientado a Notificações e ao Paradigma Orientado a Regras (PA-PON-POR) desde que as regras sigam o modelo de estruturação dado pelo PON. O método PA-PON-POR propõe a decomposição funcional de requisitos do sistema em quatro níveis que são: Casos de Uso, Subcasos de Uso Independentes de Características Técnicas, Subcasos de Uso Dependentes de Características Técnicas e Serviços Técnicos. Além disso, o método PA-PON-POR aplica o Axioma da Independência do PA em cada um dos quatro níveis de decomposição por meio das matrizes de projeto e métricas de cálculo da reangularidade e semangularidade do próprio PA. As matrizes de projeto ainda auxiliam na identificação das Premissas exclusivas, elementos esses importantes quando um sistema PON-POR possui Regras que possuem Ações que instigam a geração de fatos conflitantes. O Axioma da Informação do Projeto Axiomático também é aplicado em cada nível de decomposição avaliando as soluções de projeto quanto a sua quantidade de informação. Ainda, o método PA-PON-POR apresenta um conjunto de métricas especificas para avaliação da qualidade estrutural da composição de Regras do sistema, fornecendo critérios para tomada de decisão sobre a qualidade do projeto especificado. Além disso, o método PA-PON-POR é passível de aplicação simultânea com o método existente de projeto de software baseado em desenvolvimento de aplicações PON-POR chamado de Desenvolvimento Orientado a Notificações e Orientado a Regras (DON-DOR), auxiliando na obtenção e validação de artefatos do mesmo. O método PA-PON-POR foi aplicado no desenvolvimento de dois softwares, o primeiro software refere-se um simulador de portão eletrônico e o segundo software refere-se a um sistema de vendas. Em ambas as aplicações, o método PA-PON-POR demonstrou ser eficiente no que se propõe, auxiliando no processo de criação de Regras e de sistemas PON-POR com alguma garantia de qualidade. / This research proposes a method to apply the Axiomatic Design Theory (ADT) in the Rule-oriented software development process. In this context, it was not found in the literature, by the efforts of this work research, the application of ADT in Rule-oriented software development. However, the ADT was focus on research in Object-Oriented software development in a previous work, which was used as inspiration in this current research work. This current research proposes the method Axiomatic Design for Notification-Oriented Paradigm and Rule-Oriented Paradigm (AD-NOP-ROP) since the rules follow the NOP structural model. This method proposes a functional decomposition of system requirements in four levels which are: Use Cases, Use Subcases that are Technical Feature Independent, Use Subcases that are Technical Feature Dependent, and Technical Service . Furthermore, the method AD-NOP-ROP applies the ADT Independence Axiom in each one of the decomposition levels by means of design matrixes and metrics which calculates reangularity and semangularity from ADT. The design matrixes still aids in the identification of Exclusive Premises, which are important elements of NOP-ROP systems with Rules whose Actions instigate the creation of conflicting facts. The Information Axiom from ADT is also applied in each decomposition level in order to evaluate design solutions in terms of its amount of information. Still, the method AD-NOP-ROP presents a set of metrics which are specific for evaluation of structural quality of Rule composition, thereby providing criteria for decision making with respect to design quality. Besides, the method AD-NOP-ROP can be used in a simultaneous way with the existent method used for software design based on NOP-ROP application development, so called Notification-Oriented and Rule-Oriented Application Development (NO-RO-AD), in order to assist in the achievement and validation of artifacts. The method AD-NOP-ROP was applied during the development of two software systems, the first one refers to an Electronic Gate and the second one refers to a Sales System. In both applications the method displayed efficiency in its purposes, assisting in the Rule creation process and also in the creation of NOP-ROP software with some quality assurance.

Este trabalho apresenta um novo hardware coprocessador para acelerar aplicações desenvolvidas utilizando-se o Paradigma Orientado a Notificações (PON), cuja essência se constitui em uma nova forma de influência causal baseada na colaboração pontual entre entidades granulares e notificantes. Uma aplicação PON apresenta as vantagens da programação baseada em eventos e da programação declarativa, possibilitando um desenvolvimento de alto nível, auxiliando o reuso de código e reduzindo o processamento desnecessário existente das aplicações desenvolvidas com os paradigmas atuais. Como uma aplicação PON é composta de uma cadeia de pequenas entidades computacionais, comunicando-se somente quando necessário, é um bom candidato a implementação direta em hardware. Para investigar este pressuposto, criou-se um coprocessador capaz de executar aplicações PON existentes. O coprocessador foi desenvolvido utilizando-se linguagem VHDL e testado em FPGAs, mostrando um decréscimo de 96% do número de ciclos de clock utilizados por um programa se comparado a implementação puramente em software da mesma aplicação, considerando uma dada materialização em um framework em PON. / This work presents a new hardware coprocessor to accelerate applications developed using the Notification-Oriented Paradigm (NOP). A NOP application has the advantages of both event-based programming and declarative programming, enabling higher level software development, improving code reuse, and reducing the number of unnecessary computations. Because a NOP application is composed of a network of small computational entities communicating only when needed, it is a good candidate for a direct hardware implementation. In order to investigate this assumption, a coprocessor that is able to run existing NOP applications was created. The coprocessor was developed in VHDL and tested in FPGAs, providing a decrease of 96% in the number of clock cycles compared to a purely software implementation.

Este trabalho propõe a utilização da técnica de computação evolucionária conhecida como algoritmos genéticos (AGs) na predição da estrutura de proteínas para o modelo 2D HP. A metodologia tem como principal proposta a utilização uma função de fitness melhorada, que utiliza o conceito de raio de giração. Operadores genéticos especiais foram desenvolvidos e acrescentados aos comumente usados em AG, além de novas estratégias utilizadas para auxiliar o algoritmo no processo de busca de conformações de proteínas. Estas modificações levaram ao desenvolvimento de um sistema de software com diversos recursos gráficos e apresentação de relatórios dos resultados, denominado GANDALF PRED. Uma certa quantidade de experimentos foi realizada com o objetivo de avaliar a influência parâmetros do AG no resultado obtido. Foram realizados dois conjuntos de testes para avaliar a metodologia proposta. O primeiro utilizou 9 seqüências de resíduos, manualmente definidas, cujos máximos de ligações são conhecidos e comprimento variando de 20 a 85 resíduos. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com duas outras implementações encontradas na literatura. No segundo, 7 proteínas com características globulares foram escolhidas do PDB e traduzidas para o modelo HP. Seus comprimentos variam de 288 a 842 resíduos. Seus resultados foram apresentados e discutidos, já que nenhuma comparação pôde ser realizada. Para ambos os casos de teste, as conformações encontradas podem ser consideradas bons dobramentos. / This work suggests the use of an evolutionary computation technique known as genetic algorithms (GAs) for predicting protein structures in the 2D HP model. The methodology has the main proposal the use of an enhanced fitness function, which makes use of the radius of gyration concept. Special genetic operators were developed and added to those commonly used in GAs, besides new strategies to aid the algorithm in the search of protein conformations. These changes led to the development of a user-friendly software system, with several graphical resources and result reports, named GANDALF PRED. A certain amount of experiments were done with the objective of evaluating the influence of GA parameters in the result obtained. Two test cases were set to evaluate the proposed methodology. The first used 9 manually defined chains whose maximum number of hydrophobic non-local bonds is known a priori and length varying from 20 to 85 residues. The results were compared to two other implementations available in the literature. In the second, 7 proteins with globular traits were taken from PDB and translated to the HP model. Their lengths vary from 288 to 842 residues. The results were presented and discussed, since no comparison could be done. For both test cases, the conformations found can be considered good folds.

A rotatividade de pessoal é um dos principais desafios para muitas empresas de desenvolvimento de software. Neste trabalho é apresentado um estudo para identificar as principais causas e efeitos da rotatividade de pessoal entre profissionais de empresas brasileiras de desenvolvimento de software. As estratégias empregadas para minimizar a rotatividade de pessoal e seus efeitos também foram investigadas. A metodologia de levantamento, também conhecida como survey, foi utilizada para obter informações dos profissionais de desenvolvimento de software. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio da técnica de questionário com questões em escala Likert de cinco pontos e questões de múltipla escolha. O Coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach foi aplicado para verificar a confiabilidade das respostas. A análise dos dados de 67 foi realizada por meio de estatística descritiva e estatística inferencial. Os resultados indicaram que o estilo gerencial inadequado, expectativa pessoal não alcançada na empresa, falta de reconhecimento profissional e falta de comprometimento organizacional influenciam a decisão dos profissionais de sair da empresa. Esses fatores podem contribuir decisivamente nas taxas de rotatividade de pessoal. Os resultados também indicaram outros aspectos, relacionados a recursos humanos, que são importantes para a intenção de rotatividade. A empresa deve se preocupar com fatores que podem motivar a permanência do funcionário, como comunicação, plano de carreira, ambiente de trabalho, promoção por desempenho e treinamento periódico. / Employee turnover is one of the major challenges for many software development companies. This work presents a study to identify the main causes and effects of employee turnover among professionals of Brazilian software development companies. Strategies applied to minimize employee turnover and its effects were also investigated. A survey methodology was used to collect data from software development professionals. Data collection was performed using the technique of questionnaire with closed questions using five-point Likert scale and multiple choice questions. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was applied to check the reliability of the answers. The analysis of data from 67 respondents was conducted through descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The results indicate that inappropriate management style, personal expectation not achieved within the company, lack of professional recognition, and lack of organizational involvement influences the decision of professionals to leave the company. These factors can contribute decisively in rates of employee turnover. The results also indicate other aspects, related to the employee, which are important for turnover intention. The company must be concerned with factors that can motivate the employee to stay with the company, such as communication, career plan, work environment, promotion for performance, and periodic training.