A software developer explores a software system by asking and answering a series of questions. To answer these questions, a developer may need to consult various sources providing information about the program, such as the static relationships expressed directly in the source code, the run-time behaviour of a program recorded in a dynamic trace, or evolution history as recorded in a source management system. Despite the support afforded by software exploration tools, developers often struggle to find the necessary information to answer their questions and may even become disoriented, where they feel mentally lost and are uncertain of what they were trying to accomplish. This dissertation advances a thesis that a developer's questions, which we refer to as conceptual queries, can be better supported through a model to represent and compose different sources of information about a program. The basis of this model is the sphere, which serves as a simple abstraction of a source of information about a program. Many of the software exploration tools used by a developer can be represented as a sphere. Spheres can be composed in a principled fashion such that information from a sphere may replace or supplement information from a different sphere. Using our sphere model, for example, a developer can use dynamic runtime information from an execution trace to replace information from the static source code to see what actually occurred. We have implemented this model in a configurable tool, called Ferret. We have used the facilities provided by the model to implement 36 conceptual queries identified from the literature, blogs, and our own experience, and to support the integration of four different sources of program information. Establishing correspondences between similar elements from different spheres allows a query to bridge across different spheres in addition to allowing a tool's user interface to drive queries from other sources of information. Through this effort we show that sphere model broadens the set of possible conceptual queries answerable by software exploration tools. Through a small diary study and a controlled experiment, both involving professional software developers, we found the developers used the conceptual queries that were available to them and reported finding Ferret useful.

A software developer explores a software system by asking and answering a series of questions. To answer these questions, a developer may need to consult various sources providing information about the program, such as the static relationships expressed directly in the source code, the run-time behaviour of a program recorded in a dynamic trace, or evolution history as recorded in a source management system. Despite the support afforded by software exploration tools, developers often struggle to find the necessary information to answer their questions and may even become disoriented, where they feel mentally lost and are uncertain of what they were trying to accomplish. This dissertation advances a thesis that a developer's questions, which we refer to as conceptual queries, can be better supported through a model to represent and compose different sources of information about a program. The basis of this model is the sphere, which serves as a simple abstraction of a source of information about a program. Many of the software exploration tools used by a developer can be represented as a sphere. Spheres can be composed in a principled fashion such that information from a sphere may replace or supplement information from a different sphere. Using our sphere model, for example, a developer can use dynamic runtime information from an execution trace to replace information from the static source code to see what actually occurred. We have implemented this model in a configurable tool, called Ferret. We have used the facilities provided by the model to implement 36 conceptual queries identified from the literature, blogs, and our own experience, and to support the integration of four different sources of program information. Establishing correspondences between similar elements from different spheres allows a query to bridge across different spheres in addition to allowing a tool's user interface to drive queries from other sources of information. Through this effort we show that sphere model broadens the set of possible conceptual queries answerable by software exploration tools. Through a small diary study and a controlled experiment, both involving professional software developers, we found the developers used the conceptual queries that were available to them and reported finding Ferret useful.

A software developer explores a software system by asking and answering a series of questions. To answer these questions, a developer may need to consult various sources providing information about the program, such as the static relationships expressed directly in the source code, the run-time behaviour of a program recorded in a dynamic trace, or evolution history as recorded in a source management system. Despite the support afforded by software exploration tools, developers often struggle to find the necessary information to answer their questions and may even become disoriented, where they feel mentally lost and are uncertain of what they were trying to accomplish. This dissertation advances a thesis that a developer's questions, which we refer to as conceptual queries, can be better supported through a model to represent and compose different sources of information about a program. The basis of this model is the sphere, which serves as a simple abstraction of a source of information about a program. Many of the software exploration tools used by a developer can be represented as a sphere. Spheres can be composed in a principled fashion such that information from a sphere may replace or supplement information from a different sphere. Using our sphere model, for example, a developer can use dynamic runtime information from an execution trace to replace information from the static source code to see what actually occurred. We have implemented this model in a configurable tool, called Ferret. We have used the facilities provided by the model to implement 36 conceptual queries identified from the literature, blogs, and our own experience, and to support the integration of four different sources of program information. Establishing correspondences between similar elements from different spheres allows a query to bridge across different spheres in addition to allowing a tool's user interface to drive queries from other sources of information. Through this effort we show that sphere model broadens the set of possible conceptual queries answerable by software exploration tools. Through a small diary study and a controlled experiment, both involving professional software developers, we found the developers used the conceptual queries that were available to them and reported finding Ferret useful. / Science, Faculty of / Computer Science, Department of / Graduate

Knowledge is an increasingly important asset for organizational competition. In order to manage organizational knowledge effectively, document management is the first step. Therefore, how to manage organizational documents is an issue of interest to many enterprises. In order to manage documents effectively on the computer, it is necessary to understand the content of these documents, which needs a clear description of the included concepts. Ontology is a method for describing concepts and their relations and the metadata of factual data to help users understand the knowledge in a document. Ontology can also be a bridge for knowledge exchange between the user and the computer. Therefore, the construction of ontology is important for knowledge and document management. This research proposes a method for the construction of event ontology, which can be used to construct the ontology of an event. The method includes text pre-processing and event ontology construction. Test pre-processing module includes POS tagger, word filter, and term analysis. Event ontology module provides a friendly editing environment for the user to build the concepts and attributes of an event to provide the ontology of ¡§who,¡¨ ¡§what,¡¨ ¡§where,¡¨ and ¡§what object.¡¨ To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, a prototype system for ontology construction is built. The Alexander Poison Event was used as an example to demonstrate the value of the prototype system.

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This thesis describes a software tool used to study the biomechanics of elbow extension. The tool is an integrated computer program for data processing and graphing, and is used in the development of an EMG driven muscle model for dynamic ballistic muscle movement. The software is designed to manipulate data from a series of isometric and dynamic elbow extension experiments. Inputs include recordings from a torque sensor, load cell, and potentiometer as well as EMG from triceps and biceps muscles. Calculations are made to determine the effect of gravity, the Moment of Inertia, as well as the force-EMG, force-length and force-velocity relationships. Additionally, fatigue tests and postactivation potentials are analyzed. Modeling parameters are derived from isometric controls and verified by applying them to data from dynamic experiments. The principal design requirements for this software tool were adaptability, user control, and data processing protocol verification. The majority of data processing parameters can be controlled and adjusted by the user. Care was taken during software coding so that it would be easy to modify each step of the protocol and if necessary, add additional processing. Data is displayed on interactive graphs to provide control feedback to the user. / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

PSATool is a checklist-based, web-based application for assessing the physical security of Intermediate Distribution Frameworks. IDFs, or wiring closets, are an integral if often neglected component of information security. Earlier work by Timbs (2013) identified 52 IDF-related security requirements based on federal and international standards for physical security. PSATool refines Timbs’ prototype application for IDF assessment, extending it with support for mobile-device-based data entry. PSATool was used to assess 25 IDFs at a regional university, a college and a manufacturing corporation, with an average of 9 minutes per assessment. Network managers and assessors involved in the assessments characterized PSATool as suitable for creating assessments, usable by IT department personnel, and accurate, in terms of its characterizations of IDF status.

The present Master thesis was written during an internship at Deutsche Post DHL Solutions& Innovations, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL. The main purpose was to make a patent portfolio benchmark for the previously identified business competitors of the DPDHL group. The research questions aimed to find out how relevant the patent portfolio analysis is for comparing competitors and whether or not the results can be matched with other types of rankings. The benchmark was made using the PatentSight software tool. PatentSight allows the patent portfolio analysis of individual companies as well as groups of companies (competitors). The software tool is based on a new approach to benchmark patent portfolios called Patent Asset Index. This approach uses several indicators to measure the patent portfolios strengths. The indicators are based on relatively widely used measures of patent analysis such as the number of citations that a patent has received. However, these measures are further adjusted by the PatentSight indicators in order to prevent false results due to the difference in patents’ ages, for instance. The results of the patent portfolio benchmark and their comparison with other rankings have confirmed previous research findings that the patent portfolio analysis is a useful tool which can remove uncertainties and provide new perspectives but cannot be used as single indicator of the competitors’ strength.

Knowledge is an increasingly important asset for organizational competition, and knowledge management becomes the most important issue for an organization. Building knowledge ontology is a good solution to increase knowledge reusability. Ontology explicitly defines concepts and their relationships, which can facilitate user understanding and further analysis. Based on previous research (Wu, 2006; Chuang, 2006), this research proposes a refined method for the construction of event ontology. The method includes text pre-processing, event ontology construction, and event ontology presentation. The text pre-processing module includes POS tagger, word filter, and term analysis. Based on the concept of sub-event, we can build a 3-level architecture of event ontology that includes sub-events, events, and topics in the event ontology construction module. Event ontology construction module developed in the project provides a friendly editing environment for the user to edit the concepts and attributes of an event that may cover ¡§who,¡¨ ¡§what,¡¨ ¡§where,¡¨ and ¡§what object.¡¨ In the event ontology presentation module, event episode may be illustrated by event frames, flow charts, and Gantt charts. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, a prototype system has been built. The Alexander Poison Event was used as an example to demonstrate the value of the prototype system.

This thesis is a reapproachment of diverse design concepts, brought to bear upon the computer system engineering problem of identification and control of highly constrained multiprocessing (HCM) computer machines. It contributes to the area of meta/general systems methodology, and brings a new insight into the design formalisms, and results afforded by bringing together various design concepts that can be used for the construction of highly constrained computer system architectures. A unique point of view is taken by assuming the process of identification and control of HCM computer systems to be the process generated by the Activity Structures Methodology (ASM). The research in ASM has emerged from the Neuroscience research, aiming at providing the techniques for combining the diverse knowledge sources that capture the 'deep knowledge' of this application field in an effective formal and computer representable form. To apply the ASM design guidelines in the realm of the distributed computer system design, we provide new design definitions for the identification and control of such machines in terms of realisations. These realisation definitions characterise the various classes of the identification and control problem. The classes covered consist of: 1. the identification of the designer activities, 2. the identification and control of the machine's distributed structures of behaviour, 3. the identification and control of the conversational environment activities (i.e. the randomised/ adaptive activities and interactions of both the user and the machine environments), 4. the identification and control of the substrata needed for the realisation of the machine, and 5. the identification of the admissible design data, both user-oriented and machineoriented, that can force the conversational environment to act in a self-regulating manner. All extent results are considered in this context, allowing the development of both necessary conditions for machine identification in terms of their distributed behaviours as well as the substrata structures of the unknown machine and sufficient conditions in terms of experiments on the unknown machine to achieve the self-regulation behaviour. We provide a detailed description of the design and implementation of the support software tool which can be used for aiding the process of constructing effective, HCM computer systems, based on various classes of identification and control. The design data of a highly constrained system, the NUKE, are used to verify the tool logic as well as the various identification and control procedures. Possible extensions as well as future work implied by the results are considered.