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This dissertation investigates current trends concerning exceptions. Exceptions influence the reliability of software systems. In order to develop software systems that are most robust, thus delivering higher availability at a lower development and operating cost, the occurence of exceptions needs to be reduced and the effects of the exceptions controlled. In order to do this, issues such as detection, identification, classification, propagation, handling, language implementation, software testing and reporting of exceptions must be attended to. Although some of these areas are well researched there are remaining problems. The quest is to establish if a unified exception-handling framework is possible and viable, which can address the issues and problems throughout the software development life cycle, and if so, the requirements for such a framework. / Computing / M.Sc. (Information Systems)

Formal methods have been shown to be beneficial in increasing the quality of, and confidence in software systems. Despite the advantages of using formal methods in software development, the uptake in the commercial industry has been limited where the use of informal and semi-formal notations is favoured. To bridge the gap between the ease-of-use of semi-formal notation and correctness of formal methods, a number of approaches to the formalisation of informal and semi-formal notation have been researched and documented. Two of these approaches are discussed in this dissertation using a medium-sized case study to demonstrate the approaches. It was shown that each approach offered results that differed in terms of levels of abstraction, requisite knowledge of the formal target specification language and potential for automation. / Information Science / M.Sc.(Information Systems)

Este trabalho apresenta um meta-modelo conceitual de dados para ser usado como ferramenta concetual para a construção de modelos de dados, obedecendo a determinados padrões. Ele é baseado em um metamodelo que permite a instanciação de modelos de dados. Para isso, identificaram-se as abstrações de dados fundamentais utilizadas em modelos de dados em geral: as abstrações de classificação, de associação e de generalização, e a partir delas foi construído um metamodelo que permite a representação de outros modelos de dados. O metamodelo modela os construtores semânticos de um determinado modelo de dados definindo diversas parametrizações das abstrações utilizadas nesse modelo, possivelmente em múltiplas ocorrêncas da mesma abstração num mesmo modelo. Considera-se uma ocorrência de parametrização como a identificação das restrições que envolvem uma abstração e a atribuição de valores a essas restrições, delimitando as possibilidades de cada restrição. Com esse conceito foi estabelecido um arcabouço conceitual que define uma estrutura precisa para cada construtor do metamodelo. A parametrização foi exemplificada pela aplicação ao Modelo Entidade-Relacionamento original, e na construção de um modelo orientado a objetos concebido para atender a necessidades bem especificadas, definidas a priori (atender às necessidades de aplicações de projeto e engenharia e aplicações científicas) que é denominado Modelo SIRIUS. / A set of conceptual constructions was developed to be used as a \"conceptual tool\" aiming the representation or construction of other data models. The result is a Data Meta-Model, which can be used as a reference standard for the construction of other data models. The Meta-model is based on the identification of the fundamental data abstractions used in the existing data models. It is shown that the fundamental abstractions are the classification, the association and the generalization ones. The Meta-model permits the definition of the semantic constructors of each data model the parameterization of the fundamental abstractions used in each constructor of the model. An abstraction is parameterized by collecting its set of restrictions and by setting each restriction with a particular value. Therefore, the same abstraction can generate several distinct abstraction instances. In the same way, several abstraction instances of distinct fundamental abstractions can be associated to build each each semantic constructor of the target data model. This process is exemplified using two case studies. First, it is used to represent the Entity-Relationship Model. Thereafter, it is used to construct a new data model, aiming at supporting the requirements of computer-aided engineering design and of scientific applications. The new data model is named SIRIUS, and incorporates the fundamental abstractions instantiated into semantic constructors tailored to the needs of those domains.

This thesis discusses PRIMM which stands for Parallel Remote Interactive Management Model. PRIMM is a framework for object oriented applications that relies on grid computing. It works as an interface between the remote applications and the parallel computing system. The thesis shows the capabilities that could be achieved from PRIMM architecture.

The purpose of the project is to provide the Department of Computer Science at California State University, San Bernardino with a software project management tool that will help companies in their software development. ReMoTe (Recursively Estimating Multi-Threaded Observation Technology Enterprise) will assist software engineering teams with defining their scheduled delivery dates, life-cycle definitions, team hierarchy, and communication. Using the object-oriented approach, ReMoTe can support any software life cycle model. ReMoTe can help manage and control the software process over the Web. It also allows people to manage software artifacts using database systems such as mySQL, Microsoft Access, or Oracle.

The application of higher-order PDA-based flow analyses to object-oriented languages enables comprehensive and precise characterization of program behavior, while retaining practicality with efficiency. We implement one such flow analysis which we've named OOCFA2. While over the years many advancements in flow analysis have been made, they have almost exclusively been with respect to functional languages, often modeled with the calculus. Object-oriented semantics--while also able to be modeled in a functional setting--provide certain structural guarantees and common idioms which we believe are valuable to reason over in a first-class manner. By tailoring modern, advanced flow analyses to object-oriented semantics, we believe it is possible to achieve greater precision and efficiency than could be had using a functional modeling. This, in turn, reflects upon the possible classes of higher-level analyses using the underlying flow analysis: the more powerful, efficient, and flexible the flow analysis, the more classes of higher-level analyses--e.g., security analyses--can be practically expressed. The growing trend is that smartphone and mobile-device (e.g., tablet) users are integrating these devices into their lives, in more frequent and more personal ways. Accordingly, the primary application and proof-of-concept for this work is the analysis of the Android operating system's permissions-based security system vis--vis potentially malicious applications. It is implemented atop OOCFA2. The use of a such a powerful higher-order flow analysis allows one to apply its knowledge to create a wide variety of powerful and practical security-analysis "front-ends"--not only the permissions-checking analysis in this work, but also, e.g., information-flow analyses. OOCFA2 is the first PDA-based higher-order flow analysis in an object-oriented setting. We empirically evaluate its accuracy and performance to prove its practical viability. We also evaluate the proof-of-concept security analysis' accuracy as directly related to OOCFA2; this shows promising results for the potential of building security-oriented "front-ends" atop OOCFA2.

Video database applications call for flexible and powerful modeling and querying facilities, which require an integration or interaction between database and knowledge base technologies. It is also necessary for many real life video database applications to incorporate uncertainty, which naturally occurs due to the complex and subjective semantic content of video data. In this thesis study, firstly, a fuzzy conceptual data model is introduced to represent the semantic content of video data. UML (Unified Modeling Language) is utilized and extended to represent uncertain information along with video specific properties at the conceptual level. Secondly, an intelligent fuzzy object-oriented database framework is presented for video database applications. The introduced fuzzy conceptual model is mapped to the presented framework, which is an adaptation of the previously proposed IFOOD architecture. The framework provides modeling and querying of complex and rich semantic content and knowledge of video data including uncertainty. Moreover, it allows (fuzzy) semantic, temporal, (fuzzy) spatial, hierarchical, regional and trajectory queries, based on the video data model. We think that the presented conceptual data model and framework can be adapted to any application domain related to video databases.

This study examined how a multimedia-based cognitive tool (MCT) facilitates novices' conceptual understanding of object-oriented programming (OOP). The tool used in this study was CSNüb, a game template created in Adobe Flash. The MCT design framework guided CSNüb's design. The MCT design framework was synthesized from literature on constructivist, multimedia, and motivation learning theories and computer-based cognitive tool design principles. Students worked with CSNüb to develop a simple role-playing game (RPG). Through clinical interviews and process tracing methods, it was found that CSNüb affected novice computer science students' conceptual understanding of OOP through five cognitive processes and factors: cognitive disequilibrium evoked through multimedia-based feedback, exploring for resources that scaffold understanding, changing the level of awareness of the "bigger picture" and ability for higher-level thinking, and consistent refinement of solutions and mental models within the problem space. The five cognitive processes and factors were found to be the result of three levels of interaction with CSNüb. At the Tool Level, students received conflicting information, generally through multimedia-based feedback from the CSNüb, which placed students in states of disequilibrium. At the Interaction Level, students interacted with the CSNüb to resolve their disequilibrium through exploring resources within the tool and refining their solution. They were able to experiment and test out their understanding on OOP. At the Cognitive Level, students used the resources as cognitive scaffolds found through exploration, which in turn, increased the degree of awareness and influenced the level at which they understood the object-oriented system. The five cognitive processes and factors through the three levels of interaction were formed into one model--the MCT Interaction Model (MCTIM)--as a general explanation for how MCTs, such as CSNüb, affects novice students' conceptual understanding. / text

This dissertation investigates current trends concerning exceptions. Exceptions influence the reliability of software systems. In order to develop software systems that are most robust, thus delivering higher availability at a lower development and operating cost, the occurence of exceptions needs to be reduced and the effects of the exceptions controlled. In order to do this, issues such as detection, identification, classification, propagation, handling, language implementation, software testing and reporting of exceptions must be attended to. Although some of these areas are well researched there are remaining problems. The quest is to establish if a unified exception-handling framework is possible and viable, which can address the issues and problems throughout the software development life cycle, and if so, the requirements for such a framework. / Computing / M.Sc. (Information Systems)