"Change is inevitable even for persistent information. Effectively managing change of persistent information, which includes the specification, execution and the maintenance of any derived information, is critical and must be addressed by all database systems. Today, for every data model there exists a well-defined set of change primitives that can alter both the structure (the schema) and the data. Several proposals also exist for incrementally propagating a primitive change to any derived information (or view). However, existing support is lacking in two ways. First, change primitives as presented in literature are very limiting in terms of their capabilities allowing users to simply add or remove schema elements. More complex types of changes such the merging or splitting of schema elements are not supported in a principled manner. Second, algorithms for maintaining derived information often do not account for the potential heterogeneity between the source and the target. The goal of this dissertation is to provide solutions that address these two key issues. The first part of this dissertation addresses the challenge of expressing a rich complex set of changes. We propose the SERF (Schema Evolution through an Extensible, Re-usable and Flexible) framework that allows users to perform a wide range of complex user-defined schema transformations. Our approach combines existing schema evolution primitives using OQL (object query language) as the glue logic. Within the context of this work, we look at the different domains in which SERF can be applied, including web site management. To further enrich our framework, we also investigate the optimization and verification of SERF transformations. The second part of this dissertation addresses the problem of maintaining views in the face of source changes when the source and the view are not in the same data model. With today's increasing heterogeneity in information structure, it is critical that maintenance of views addresses the data model boundaries. However, view definitions that go across data models are limited to hard-coded algorithms, thereby making it difficult to develop general maintenance algorithms. We provide a two-step solution for this problem. We have developed a cross algebra, that defines views such that there is no restriction that forces the view and the source data models to be the same. We then define update propagation algorithms that can propagate changes from source to target irrespective of the exact translation and the data models. We validate our ideas by applying them to translation and change propagation between the XML and relational data models."

Engenharia Dirigida por Modelos, ou Model Driven Engineering (MDE), é uma abordagem para desenvolvimento de software a partir de modelos. Código-fonte ou artefatos executáveis são gerados de forma automática, total ou parcialmente, a partir de transformações descritas por funções de mapeamento. Com isso, obtém-se as vantagens de desenvolver software em nível de abstração maior em relação às linguagens de programação tradicionais e da possibilidade de gerar implementações do mesmo sistema para diversas plataformas a partir do mesmo modelo. Uma das áreas de pesquisa da MDE é a formalização de teorias e conceitos relacionados a essa abordagem, tais como modelos, metamodelos, relação de conformidade, operações sobre metamodelos, etc. Embora existam na literatura propostas de formalização, observam-se lacunas e falta de consenso geral, o que leva autores a introduzir suas próprias definições quando desejam apresentar desenvolvimentos ou deduções, as quais nem sempre se encaixam entre si. Alguns autores consideram que, enquanto uma completa formalização de conceitos e relações da MDE não for estabelecida, seus potenciais podem não ser plenamente atingidos. A partir de estudos de proposições existentes na literatura, identificação de lacunas e necessidades, este trabalho apresenta uma proposta de arcabouço teórico para MDE, baseada nas teorias de conjuntos e linguagens, e em lógica de primeira ordem. Conceitos e operações relacionados à MDE são definidos sobre uma base comum e, a partir dela, algumas formulações originais são desenvolvidas, tais como a função de mesclagem de metamodelos e uma definição de modelos executáveis, que podem servir como base para a construção de motores de execução de modelos, consolidando e ampliando o conhecimento da área teórica da MDE. Do ponto de vista de aplicabilidade prática, a proposta é validada por meio de uma ferramenta de prova de conceito, criada também como parte desta pesquisa, e pela apresentação de exemplos de aplicações. / Model Driven Engineering (MDE) is a software development approach in which models are essential artifacts to build software systems. Source code or executable artifacts are automatically generated, completely or partially, by transformations described by mapping functions. Two main advantages can be obtained: software development in a higher level of abstraction than that of traditional programming languages and the possibility of generating implementations of the same system for multiple platforms from the same source model. One of the research fields of MDE is the formalization of theories and concepts related to this approach, such as models, metamodels, conformity relationship, operations over metamodels, etc. Although there are proposals of formalization in the literature, some gaps and a lack of general consensus can be identified, which leads some authors to introduce their own definitions when they want to present their work. These definitions not always fit to each other. Some authors claim that unless a complete formalization of MDE concepts and relations is given, the potentials of this approach may not be fully unfolded. Starting from studies on existing proposals, gaps and requirements, this work proposes a theoretical framework for MDE based on the set theory, language theory and first order logic. Concepts and operations related to MDE are defined over a common basis and some original formulations are developed, such as the metamodel merging function and definitions about executable models, which can be used as a foundation to build model execution engines, consolidating and expanding the theoretical field of MDE. From the applicability point of view, the proposal is validated by a proof-of-concept tool, created as part of this research, and by examples of applications.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T14:57:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-lucas-provensi.pdf: 5576607 bytes, checksum: 06104d3cf6798c4eddf94b82f7e2be4f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-06 / The distributed computing environment today is characterized by increasing diversity, the dynamism and increasingly complex applications. Applications for this type of environment they need autonomy to conduct management activities such as installation, configuration and maintenance, with the aim of decreasing the cost and effort involved in such activities. In mobile environments, for example, applications need to adapt due to changes in the environment (available bandwidth, signal level, etc..), Which can affect the quality of service offered to users. This paper presents a proposal for self-adaptation based on the architecture of Meta-ORB reflective middleware. The fluffy main purpose is to provide support to self-adaptation for applications that have requirements of service quality. In this paper, the concept of adaptation policies was introduced in the meta-model middleware, allowing the developer to define both the model of adaptive behavior as their applications using the same modeling language. This unified model is available at run time, being used by a mechanism of self-adaptation to the embedded middleware. The proposed architecture was implemented in a prototype called MetaORB.NET, employed in a case study to evaluate the use of architecture in the development of self-adaptive applications / O ambiente de computação distribuída atual é caracterizado pela crescente heterogeneidade, pelo dinamismo e por aplicações cada vez mais complexas. Aplicações para esse tipo de ambiente precisam de autonomia para realizar atividades de gerenciamento, tais como instalação, configuração e manutenção, com o propósito de diminuir o custo e o esforço envolvidos em tais atividades. Em ambientes móveis, por exemplo, as aplicações precisam se adaptar em função de mudanças no ambiente (largura de banda disponível, nível do sinal, etc.), que podem afetar a qualidade do serviço oferecida aos usuários. Este trabalho apresenta uma proposta para auto-adaptação baseada na arquitetura de middleware reflexivo Meta-ORB. O fofo principal da proposta é prover suporte à auto-adaptação para aplicações que apresentam requisitos de qualidade de serviço. Neste trabalho, o conceito de políticas de adaptação foi introduzido no meta-modelo do middleware, permitindo que o desenvolvedor defina tanto o modelo das aplicações quanto seu comportamento adaptativo usando a mesma linguagem de modelagem. Esse modelo unificado fica disponível em tempo de execução, sendo usado por um mecanismo de auto-adaptação incorporado ao middleware. A arquitetura proposta foi implementada em um protótipo chamado MetaORB.NET, empregado em um estudo de caso para avaliar o uso da arquitetura no desenvolvimento de aplicações auto-adaptativas.

Die Arbeit adressiert insgesamt drei Forschungsschwerpunkte. Der erste Schwerpunkt setzt sich mit zu entwickelnden BPMN-Erweiterungen auseinander und stellt deren methodische Implikationen im Rahmen der bestehenden Sprachstandards dar. Dies umfasst zum einen ganz konkrete Spracherweiterungen wie z. B. BPMN4CP, eine BPMN-Erweiterung zur multi-perspektivischen Modellierung von klinischen Behandlungspfaden. Zum anderen betrifft dieser Teil auch modellierungsmethodische Konsequenzen, um parallel sowohl die zugrunde liegende Sprache (d. h. das BPMN-Metamodell) als auch die Methode zur Erweiterungsentwicklung zu verbessern und somit den festgestellten Unzulänglichkeiten zu begegnen. Der zweite Schwerpunkt adressiert die Untersuchung von sprachunabhängigen Fragen der Erweiterbarkeit, welche sich entweder während der Bearbeitung des ersten Teils ergeben haben oder aus dessen Ergebnissen induktiv geschlossen wurden. Der Forschungsschwerpunkt fokussiert dabei insbesondere eine Konsolidierung bestehender Terminologien, die Beschreibung generisch anwendbarer Erweiterungsmechanismen sowie die nutzerorientierte Analyse eines potentiellen Erweiterungsbedarfs. Dieser Teil bereitet somit die Entwicklung einer generischen Erweiterungsmethode grundlegend vor. Hierzu zählt auch die fundamentale Auseinandersetzung mit Unternehmensmodellierungssprachen generell, da nur eine ganzheitliche, widerspruchsfreie und integrierte Sprachdefinition Erweiterungen überhaupt ermöglichen und gelingen lassen kann. Dies betrifft beispielsweise die Spezifikation der intendierten Semantik einer Sprache.

Resources Events Agents (REA) ontology is a profound business modeling ontology that was developed to define the architecture of accounting information systems. Nevertheless, REA did not manage to get the same attention as other business modeling ontologies. One reason of such abandon is the absence of a meaningful visual notation for the ontology, which has resulted in an abstruse ontology to non-academic audience. Another reason for this abandon is the fact that REA does not have a standard formal representation. This has resulted in a humble amount of researches which have focused on defining meta-models of the ontology while neglecting the wider purpose of REA-based information systems development. Consequently, the ontology was deviated away from its original purpose, and rather used in business schools. To solve the aforementioned issues, this research presents a Model Driven Development (MDD) technique in the form of a REA-based Domain Specific Visual Language (DSVL) that is implemented within a modeling and code generation editor. This effort was taken in order to answer the question of “How would a REA-DSVL based tool make the REA ontology implementable in the domain of information systems development?” In order to answer the research question, a design science methodology (DSRM) was implemented as the structure of this research. The DSRM was chosen because this research aims to develop three main artifacts. These are; a meta-model of REA, a visual notation of REA, and a REA-DSVL-based modeling and code generation tool. The first phase of the DSRM was to identify the problems which were mentioned earlier, followed by the requirements identification phase which drew the outline of the; meta-model, the visual notation, and the tool. After that, the development phase was conducted in order to develop the aforementioned artifacts. The editor was then demonstrated using a case study of a local company in Stockholm-Sweden. Finally, the resulted artifacts were evaluated based on the collected requirements and the results from the case study. Based on the analyses of the artifacts and the case study, this research was concluded with the result that a REA-based DSVL tool can help in boosting the planning and analysis phases of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This is achieved by automating some of the conventional software planning and design tasks, which would lead to more accurate systems’ designs; thus, minimizing the time of the planning and design phases. And it can be achieved by abstracting the direct logic of REA through providing functionalities that help users from different backgrounds (academic and professional) to embrace a business modeling editor rather than an ontology; thus, attracting a wider users base for implementing REA.

This study presents mathematical surrogate models, derived from finite element kinematic response data, to predict car crash-induced occupant head and neck injury risk for a broad range of impact velocities (10 – 45 mph), impact locations, and angles of impact (-45° to 45°). The development of these models allowed for wide-scale injury prediction while significantly reducing the overall required number of impact test cases. From these, increases in both the impact velocity and the impact’s locational proximity to the occupant were determined to result in the greatest head and neck injury risks. Additionally, strong interactions between the impact orientation variables (location and angle) produced significant changes in the head injury risk, while the neck injury risk was relatively insensitive to these interactions; likely due to the uniaxiality of the current standard neck injury risk metrics. Overall, this methodology showed potential for future applications in wide-scale injury prediction or vehicular design optimization.

Ce travail de thèse porte sur l'étude des systèmes complexes par une démarche de modélisation et simulation (M&S). La plupart des questionnements sur ces systèmes nécessitent de prendre en compte plusieurs points de vue simultanément. Il faut alors considérer des phénomènes évoluant à des échelles (temporelles et spatiales) et des niveaux de résolutions (de microscopique à macroscopique) différents. De plus, l'expertise nécessaire pour décrire le système vient en général de plusieurs domaines scientifiques. Les défis sont alors de concilier ces points de vues hétérogènes, et d'intégrer l'existant de chaque domaine (formalismes et logiciels de simulation) tout en restant dans le cadre rigoureux de la démarche de M&S. Pour répondre à ces défis, nous mobilisons à la fois des notions de modélisation multi-niveau (intégration de représentations micro/macro), de modélisation hybride (intégration de formalismes discrets/continus), de simulation parallèle, et d'ingénierie logicielle (interopérabilité logiciel, et ingénierie dirigée par les modèles). Nous nous inscrivons dans la continuité des travaux de M&S existants autour de l'approche AA4MM et du formalisme DEVS. Nous étudions en effet dans cette thèse en quoi ces approches sont complémentaires et permettent, une fois combinées dans une démarche d'Ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles (IDM), de répondre aux défis de la M&S des systèmes complexes. Notre contribution est double. Nous proposons d'une part les spécifications opérationnelles de l'intergiciel de co-simulation MECSYCO permettant de simuler en parallèle un modèle de manière rigoureuse et complètement décentralisée. D'autre part, nous proposons une approche d'IDM permettant de décrire de manière non-ambiguë des modèles, puis de systématiser leur implémentation dans MECSYCO. Nous évaluons les propriétés de notre approche à travers plusieurs preuves de concept portant sur la M&S du trafic autoroutier et sur la résolution numérique d'un système d'équations différentielles / This thesis is focused on the study of complex systems through a modeling and simulation (M&S) process. Most questions about such systems requiere to take simultaneously account of several points of view. Phenomena evolving at different (temporal and spatial) scales and at different levels of resolution (from micro to macro) have to be considered. Moreover, several expert skills belonging to different scientific fields are needed. The challenges are then to reconcile these heterogeneous points of view, and to integrate each domain tools (formalisms and simulation software) within the rigorous framework of the M&S process. In order to solve these issues, we mobilise notions from multi-level modeling, hybrid modeling, parallel simulation and software engineering. Regarding these fields, we study the complementarity of the AA4MM approach and the DEVS formalism into the scope of the model-driven engineering (MDE) approach. Our contribution is twofold. We propose the operational specifications of the MECSYCO co-simulation middleware enabling the parallel simulation of complex systems models in a rigorous and decentralized way. We also define an MDE approach enabling the non-ambiguous description of complex systems models and their automatic implementation in MECSYCO. We show the properties of our approach with several proofs of concept

The thesis deals with the modeling of the Component Based Software (CBS) systems in the UML language and with extension of the UML language with using of meta-modeling techniques and with using of the UML Prodile technology. Thesis also deals with Component Based Development (CBD). The main part of this study deals with specifying of methodology for creating of UML Prodiles and with demonstration of this methodology on selected Component System meta-model by creating the profile including the OCL constraints and description of problems with creating of the prodile. Thesis also describes support of the UML Profile technology in existing UML CASE tools. For demonstration purposes thesis contains the case study with example which uses in this work created UML Profile. Profile is created in accordance with specification of UML version 2.3 and OCL in version 2.2. Demonstration is performed and profile itself is created using IBM Rational Software Architect version 8.0.2.

Experimentieren in der vorliegenden Arbeit bedeutet, Experimente auf der Basis von computerbasierten Modellen durchzuführen, wobei diese Modelle Struktur, Verhalten und Umgebung eines Systems abstrahiert beschreiben. Aus verschiedenen Gründen untersucht man stellvertretend für das System ein Modell dieses Systems. Systematisches Experimentieren bei Variation der Modelleingabeparameterbelegung führt in der Regel zu sehr vielen, potentiell lang andauernden Experimenten, die geplant, dokumentiert, automatisiert ausgeführt, überwacht und ausgewertet werden müssen. Häufig besteht dabei das Problem, dass dem Experimentator (der üblicherweise kein Informatiker ist) adäquate Ausdrucksmittel fehlen, um seine Experimentier-Prozesse formal zu beschreiben, so dass sie von einem Computersystem automatisiert ausgeführt werden können. Dabei müssen Verständlichkeit, Nachnutzbarkeit und Reproduzierbarkeit gewahrt werden. Der neue Ansatz besteht darin, generelle Experimentier-Workflow-Konzepte als Spezialisierung von Scientific-Workflows zu identifizieren und diese als eine metamodellbasierte Domain-Specific-Language (DSL) zu formalisieren, die hier als Experimentation-Language (ExpL) bezeichnet wird. ExpL beinhaltet allgemeine Workflow-Konzepte und erlaubt das Modellieren von Experimentier-Workflows auf einer frameworkunabhängigen, konzeptuellen Ebene. Dadurch werden die Nachnutzbarkeit und das Publizieren von Experimentier-Workflows nicht mehr durch die Gebundenheit an ein spezielles Framework behindert. ExpL wird immer in einer konkreten Experimentierdomäne benutzt, die spezifische Anforderungen an Konfigurations- und Auswertemethoden aufweist. Um mit dieser Domänenspezifik umzugehen, wird in dieser Arbeit gezeigt, diese beiden Aspekte separat in zwei weiteren, abhängigen Domain-Specific-Languages (DSLs) zu behandeln: für Konfiguration und Auswertung. / Experimentation in my work means performing experiments based on computer-based models, which describe system structure and behaviour abstractly. Instead of the system itself models of the system will be explored due to several reasons. Systematic experimentation using model input parameter variation assignments leads to lots of possibly long-running experiments that must be planned, documented, automated executed, monitored and evaluated. The problem is, that experimenters (who are usually not computer scientists) miss the proper means of expressions (e. g., to express variations of parameter assignments) to describe experimentation processes formally in a way, that allows their automatic execution by a computer system while preserving reproducibility, re-usability and comprehension. My approach is to identify general experimentation workflow concepts as a specialization of a scientific workflow and formalize them as a meta-model-based domain-specific language (DSL) that I call experimentation language (ExpL). experimentation language (ExpL) includes general workflow concepts like control flow and the composition of activities, and some new declarative language elements. It allows modeling of experimentation workflows on a framework-independent, conceptional level. Hence, re-using and sharing the experimentation workflow with other scientists is not limited to a particular framework anymore. ExpL is always being used in a specific experimentation domain that has certain specifics in configuration and evaluation methods. Addressing this, I propose to separate the concerns and use two other, dependent domain-specific languages (DSLs) additionally for configuration and evaluation.

L'évolution rapide des besoins dus entre autres à l'innovation technique, la concurrence ou la réglementation conduit souvent à décrire le cadre d'étude des systèmes d'information dans des modèles conceptuels, pour faciliter l'évolution du fonctionnement des systèmes. La mise au point de ces modèles s'effectue en plusieurs phase au cours desquelles collaborent plusieurs équipes de nature différente, chaque intervenant apportant sa perception du système à construire en se limitant à la partie de son domaine de spécialisation. Il faut alors concilier les différentes perceptions. L'objectif essentiel de la thèse est de concevoir les mécanismes permettant d'une part d'obtenir le modèle factorisant les concepts communs à plusieurs modèles et, d'autre part, de proposer aux concepteurs une méthodologie de suivi de l'évolution de la factorisation. Pour réaliser la factorisation, nous avons mis en œuvre l'Analyse Formelle de Concepts et l'Analyse Relationnelle de Concepts (ARC) qui sont des méthodes d'analyse de données basées sur la théorie des treillis. Dans un ensemble d'entités décrites par des caractéristiques, les deux méthodes extraient des concepts formels qui associent un ensemble maximal d'entités à un ensemble maximal de caractéristiques partagées. Ces concepts formels sont structurés dans un ordre partiel de spécialisation qui les munit d'une structure de treillis. L'ARC permet de compléter la description des entités par des relations entre entités. La première contribution de la thèse est une méthode d'analyse de l'évolution de la factorisation d'un modèle basée sur l'AFC et l'ARC. Cette méthode s'appuie la capacité de l'AFC et de l'ARC à faire émerger au sein d'un modèle des abstractions thématiques de niveau supérieur, améliorant ainsi la sémantique des modèles. Nous montrons que ces méthodes peuvent aussi être employées pour suivre l'évolution du processus d'analyse avec des acteurs. Nous introduisons des métriques sur les éléments de modélisation et sur les treillis de concepts qui servent de base à l'élaboration de recommandations. Nous effectuons une expérimentation dans laquelle nous étudions l'évolution des 15 versions du modèle de classes du système d'information SIE-Pesticides. La seconde contribution de la thèse est une étude approfondie du comportement de l'ARC sur des modèles UML. Nous montrons l'influence de la structure des modèles sur différentes variables étudiées (comme les temps d'exécution et la mémoire occupée) au travers de plusieurs expérimentations sur les 15 versions du modèle SIE-Pesticides. Pour cela, nous étudions plusieurs configurations (choix d'éléments et de relations dans le méta-modèle) et plusieurs paramètres (choix d'utiliser les éléments non nommés, choix d'utiliser la navigabilité). Des métriques sont introduites pour guider le concepteur dans le pilotage du processus de factorisation et des recommandations sur les configurations et paramétrages à privilégier sont faites. La dernière contribution est une approche de factorisation inter-modèles afin de regrouper au sein d'un modèle l'ensemble des concepts communs à différents modèles sources conçus par différents experts. Outre le regroupement des concepts communs, cette analyse produit de nouvelles abstractions généralisant des concepts thématiques existants. Nous appliquons notre approche sur les 15 versions du modèle du SIE-Pesticides. L'ensemble de ces travaux s'inscrit dans un cadre de recherche dont l'objectif est de factoriser des concepts thématiques au sein d'un même modèle et de contrôler par des métriques la profusion de concepts produits par l'AFC et surtout par l'ARC. / The rapidly changing needs among other things due to technical innovation, competition and regulation often leads to describe the context for the study of conceptual models in information systems to facilitate the evolution of operating systems. The development of these models is carried out in several phases during which several working teams of different nature, providing each participant's perception of the system to be built is limited to the part of his area of specialization. It must then reconcile the different perceptions.The main objective of the thesis is to design mechanisms to obtain a share of the model factoring concepts common to several models and, secondly, to provide designers with a methodology for monitoring the evolution of factorization.To perform the factorization, we have implemented the Formal Concept Analysis and Relational Concepts Analysis (RCA), which are methods of analysis based on the theory of lattice data. In a set of entities described by features, both methods extract formal concepts that combine a maximum of entities to a maximum set of shared characteristics together. These formal concepts are structured in a partial order of specialization that provides with a lattice structure.The CRA can complement the description of the entities by relationships between entities.The first contribution of the thesis is a textbf {method a model for analyzing the evolution of the factorization based on the FCA and the RCA}. This method builds the capacity of the AFC and the CRA to emerge in a model of thematic abstractions higher level, improving semantic models. We show that these methods can also be used to monitor the analytical process with stakeholders. We introduce metrics on the design elements and the concept lattices which are the basis for the development of recommendations. We conduct an experiment in which we study the evolution of the 15 versions of the model class of information-Pesticides EIS system.The second contribution of this thesis is a textbf {depth study of the behavior of the RCA on UML models.} We show the influence of model structure on different variables studied (such as execution time and memory used) through several experiments on 15 versions of the EIS-Pesticides model. For this, we study several configurations (choice of elements and relations in the meta-model) and several parameters (choice of using unnamed elements, choice of using airworthiness). Metrics are introduced to guide the designer in managing the process of factoring and recommendations on the preferred configurations and settings are made.The last contribution is a textbf {approach to inter-model factorization} to group in a model all the concepts common to different source models designed by different experts. In addition to the consolidation of common concepts, this analysis produces new abstractions generalizing existing thematic concepts. We apply our approach on 15 versions of the model EIS-Pesticides.All this work is part of a research framework which aims to factor thematic concepts within a model and control metrics by the profusion of concepts produced by the FCA and especially by RCA.