by Wong, Shing-hung Lewis. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references. / Acknowledgements / Abstract / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1-1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1-1 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Technology Advancement --- p.1-1 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Lack of Multiprocessor Standards --- p.1-1 / Chapter 1.1.3 --- Demand for Greater Processing Power --- p.1-3 / Chapter 1.1.4 --- Parallel Computing --- p.1-3 / Chapter 1.1.5 --- Research Support --- p.1-4 / Chapter 1.2 --- Related works --- p.1-4 / Chapter 1.3 --- "Expectations : OS dependent, but hardware independent" --- p.1-8 / Chapter 1.4 --- Summary --- p.1-8 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Overall Design --- p.2-1 / Chapter 2.1 --- An Overview --- p.2-1 / Chapter 2.2 --- Common models --- p.2-3 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- The Master-Slave model --- p.2-3 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Floating Executives Using Giant Locks --- p.2-4 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Multithreaded Kernels (or Homogeneous Model) --- p.2-6 / Chapter 2.3 --- My model --- p.2-7 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Multitaskers and my Object Scheduler --- p.2-8 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Lower Layer: Object Scheduler & Message-box Handler --- p.2-10 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- "Upper Layer: ""C++*"" Language" --- p.2-12 / Chapter 2.4 --- Summary --- p.2-15 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Design & Implementation Details --- p.3-1 / Chapter 3.1 --- Design Considerations --- p.3-1 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Possible Scheduling Policies --- p.3-1 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Interface to UNIX® OS --- p.3-5 / Chapter 3.2 --- Design and Implementation Details --- p.3-9 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Lower Layer: Object Scheduler & Message-box Handler --- p.3-10 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- "Upper Layer: ""C++*""Language" --- p.3-17 / Chapter 3.3 --- Summary --- p.3-23 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Simulation Results --- p.4-1 / Chapter 4.1 --- Execution of an application --- p.4-1 / Chapter 4.2 --- Design Simulation --- p.4-2 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Simulation Experiment Design --- p.4-3 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Simulation Results --- p.4-4 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Discussion --- p.4-6 / Chapter 4.3 --- Summary --- p.4-7 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Sample Applications --- p.5-1 / Chapter 5.1 --- A Distributed Object-Oriented Visualization Package --- p.5-1 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Design Objectives --- p.5-1 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- Design Methodology --- p.5-2 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- Class Hierarchy Relation --- p.5-2 / Chapter 5.1.4 --- Object Hierarchy (Contain) Relation --- p.5-4 / Chapter 5.1.5 --- Class Specifications --- p.5-5 / Chapter 5.1.6 --- Parallel Algorithms --- p.5-7 / Chapter 5.1.7 --- Speed Up of Distributed Approach --- p.5-17 / Chapter 5.1.8 --- Grain Size Considerations --- p.5-19 / Chapter 5.1.9 --- Performance Evaluation --- p.5-19 / Chapter 5.2 --- Fractal Evaluation --- p.5-28 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Unit Machine --- p.5-29 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Speed Up --- p.5-29 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Grain Size Considerations --- p.5-33 / Chapter 5.5 --- Summary --- p.5-35 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.6-1 / Reference --- p.R-1 / "Appendix 1 User guide of ""C++*""" --- p.A-1 / Chapter 1 --- System Requirements --- p.A-1 / Chapter 2) --- Installation --- p.A-1 / Chapter 3) --- Usage --- p.A-1 / Chapter 4) --- Programming Interfaces --- p.A-2 / Chapter 5) --- Limitation --- p.A-2 / "Appendix 2 Coding of class "" Parallel""" --- p.A-4 / "Appendix 3 A Simple Sample Application of "" C++*""" --- p.A-17

by Lam Siu Hong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references. / Chapter Chapter1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Software Development Crisis of User Interface --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Objectives and Scope of Interests --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- Overview of the Thesis --- p.2 / Chapter Chapter2 --- Background and Problems --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1 --- Categories of User Interfaces --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2 --- Trends of User Interfaces --- p.6 / Chapter 2.3 --- Some other Desirable Features and Problems of UI Development --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Separating UI from Application --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3.1.1 --- Benefits of Separable UIs and Applications --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3.1.2 --- Requirements of Complete Separation --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Instant Continuous Feedback --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3.2.1 --- Problems of Linguistic Model on World Model Type UIs --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Undo and Recovery --- p.15 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Iterative Design through Rapid Protyping --- p.16 / Chapter Chapter3 --- An Object-Oriented Model for Model World User Interfaces Development --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1 --- Features of UIs to be supported by the Model --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- A Linkage Model for Separating UI from Application --- p.19 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Communication Messages Modeled using an Object Oriented Approach --- p.20 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- A Sample Message --- p.22 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Linkage in a Distributed Heterogenous Environment --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Comparing the Linkage Model with the Application Interface Model in Seeheim's UI Model --- p.25 / Chapter 3.3 --- An Object-Oriented Model for Supporting Multiple Feedbacks and Multi-thread dialogue --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- An Overview of the Model --- p.27 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Objects on the Lexical Layer --- p.28 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- Roles of Presentation Objects --- p.29 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Syntactic Objects --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3.5 --- Interaction Objects --- p.32 / Chapter 3.3.6 --- Interaction between objetcs and Linkage Component --- p.33 / Chapter 3.3.7 --- Multiple U-tubes Ladder for Supporting Multiple Feedbacks --- p.33 / Chapter 3.3.8 --- Recovery through a Generic UNDO stack --- p.35 / Chapter 3.3.9 --- Dialogue Control in an Object --- p.37 / Chapter 3.3.10 --- Interactive Objects --- p.39 / Chapter 3.3.11 --- An Architecture for Supporting Multi-thread Dialogue --- p.40 / Chapter 3.4 --- Basic Object Structure --- p.42 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- An Event Model for Dialogue Control --- p.43 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Maintain Consistency through ε-rules --- p.45 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- An Example of an Inner Object Specification --- p.47 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Pre and Post Condition of Action --- p.49 / Chapter 3.4.5 --- Automatic Message Routing --- p.49 / Chapter 3.5 --- Systematic Approach to UI Specification --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter4 --- User Interface Framework Design --- p.52 / Chapter 4.1 --- A Framework for UI Development --- p.52 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Abstract Base Class for Each Object Type --- p.54 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- A Kernel for Message Routing --- p.60 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Interaction Knowledge Base --- p.63 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- A Dynamic View of UI Objects --- p.64 / Chapter 4.1.5 --- Switch Box Mechanism for Dialogue Switching --- p.66 / Chapter 4.1.6 --- Software IC Construction --- p.68 / Chapter 4.2 --- Summaries of Object-Object UI Model and UI Framework --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- A New Approach to User Interface Development 、 --- p.70 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Feautures of UI Development provided by the Object-Object UI Model and UI Framework --- p.71 / Chapter Chapter5 --- Implementation --- p.73 / Chapter 5.1 --- Implementation of Framework in Microsoft Window Environment --- p.73 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Implementation of automatic message routing through dynamic binding --- p.73 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- A generic message structure --- p.75 / Chapter 5.1.3 --- A meta class for object communication --- p.76 / Chapter 5.1.4 --- Software component of UI framework in Microsoft Window environment --- p.76 / Chapter 5.2 --- A Simple Stock Market Decision Support System (SSMDSS) --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- UI Specification --- p.81 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- UI features supported by SSMDSS --- p.87 / Chapter Chapter6 --- Results --- p.89 / Chapter 6.1 --- Facts discovered --- p.89 / Chapter 6.1.1 --- Asynchronous and synchronous communication among objects --- p.89 / Chapter 6.1.2 --- Flexibility of the C+ + language --- p.90 / Chapter 6.2 --- Technical Problems Encountered --- p.91 / Chapter 6.2.1 --- Problems from Implementation Platform --- p.91 / Chapter 6.2.2 --- Problems due to Object Decomposition in an Interactive Object in SSMDSS --- p.92 / Chapter 6.3 --- Objectives accomplished by the Object-Oriented UI Model indicated by SSMDSS --- p.93 / Chapter Chapter7 --- Conclusion --- p.95 / Chapter 7.1 --- Thesis Summary --- p.95 / Chapter 7.2 --- Merits and Demerit of the Object-Oriented UI Model --- p.96 / Chapter 7.3 --- Cost of the Object-Oriented UI Model --- p.96 / Chapter 7.4 --- Future work --- p.97 / Appendix / Chapter A1 --- An Alogrithm for Converting Transition Network Diagram to Event Response Language --- p.A1 / Chapter A2 --- An Object-Oriented Software Development --- p.A4 / Chapter A2.1 --- Traditional Non Object-Oriented Software Development --- p.A4 / Chapter A2.2 --- An Object-Oriented Software Development --- p.A6 / Chapter A3 --- Vienna Development Method (VDM) --- p.A8 / Chapter A3.1 --- An Overview of VDM --- p.A8 / Chapter A3.2 --- Apply VDM to Object-Oriented UI model --- p.A10 / Chapter A4 --- Glossaries and Terms --- p.A12 / Reference

by Chan Wai Kwong Samual. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong. / Bibliography: leaves R. 1-6. / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / ABSTRACT / TABLE OF CONTENTS / Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- OVERVIEWS --- p.1.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.1.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Image Understanding and Artificial Intelligence --- p.1.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Object-Oriented Programming and Artificial Intelligence --- p.1.6 / Chapter 1.4 --- Related Works --- p.1.8 / Chapter 1.5 --- Discussions and Outlines --- p.1.9 / Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS --- p.2.1 / Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.2.1 / Chapter 2.2 --- Traditional Software Systems --- p.2.1 / Chapter 2.3 --- Object-Oriented Software Systems --- p.2.2 / Chapter 2.4 --- Characteristics of an Object-Oriented Systems --- p.2.4 / Chapter 2.5 --- Knowledge Representation in Image Recognition --- p.2.9 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Rule-Based System --- p.2.10 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Structured Objects --- p.2.12 / Chapter 2.5.3 --- Object-Oriented Knowledge Management --- p.2.13 / Chapter 2.5.4 --- Object-Oriented Expert System Building Tools --- p.2.14 / Chapter 2.6 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.2.16 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- SYSTEM DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE --- p.3.1 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.3.1 / Chapter 3.2 --- Inheritance and Recognition --- p.3.2 / Chapter 3.3 --- System Design --- p.3.9 / Chapter 3.4 --- System Architecture --- p.3.11 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- The Low Level Vision Kernel --- p.3.14 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- The High Level Vision Kernel --- p.3.15 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- User Consultation Kernel --- p.3.17 / Chapter 3.5 --- Structure of the Image Object Model --- p.3.17 / Chapter 3.5.1 --- Image Object Model in Object-Oriented Form --- p.3.19 / Chapter 3.5.2 --- Image Objects Hierarchy --- p.3.23 / Chapter 3.6 --- Reasoning in OOI --- p.3.26 / Chapter 3.7 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.3.27 / Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- CONTROL AND STRATEGIES --- p.4.1 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.4.1 / Chapter 4.2 --- Consultation Class Objects --- p.4.4 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Audience --- p.4.5 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Intrinsic Hypothesis (IH_object) --- p.4.5 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Priority Table (PT_object) --- p.4.6 / Chapter 4.3 --- Operation Objects --- p.4.7 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Scheme Scheduler (SS一object) --- p.4.7 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Task Scheduler (TS_object) --- p.4.7 / Chapter 4.4 --- Taxonomy of Image Objects in OOI --- p.4.8 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Object Template --- p.4.8 / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Attributes --- p.4.9 / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Tasks and Life Cycles --- p.4.9 / Chapter 4.4.4 --- Object Security --- p.4.10 / Chapter 4.5 --- Message Passing --- p.4.11 / Chapter 4.6 --- Strategies --- p.4.12 / Chapter 4.6.1 --- The Bottom-Up Approach --- p.4.15 / Chapter 4.6.2 --- The Top-Down Approach --- p.4.18 / Chapter 4.7 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.4.19 / Chapter CHAPTER 5. --- IMAGE PROCESSING ALGORITHMS --- p.5.1 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.5.1 / Chapter 5.2 --- Image Enhancement --- p.5.2 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Spatial Filtering --- p.5.2 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Feature Enhancement --- p.5.5 / Chapter 5.3 --- Pixel Classification --- p.5-7 / Chapter 5.4 --- Edge Detection Methods --- p.5.9 / Chapter 5.4.1 --- Local Gradient Operators --- p.5.9 / Chapter 5.4.2 --- Zero Crossing Method --- p.5.12 / Chapter 5.5 --- Regional Approaches in Segmentation --- p.5.13 / Chapter 5.5.1 --- Multi-level Threshold Method --- p.5.13 / Chapter 5.5.2 --- Region Growing --- p.5.15 / Chapter 5.6 --- Image Processing Techniques in Medical Domain --- p.5.17 / Chapter 5.7 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.5.18 / Chapter CHAPTER 6. --- PICTORIAL DATA MANAGEMENT IN OOI --- p.6.1 / Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.6.1 / Chapter 6.2 --- Description of Basic Properties --- p.6.1 / Chapter 6.3 --- Description of Relations --- p.6.7 / Chapter 6.3.1 --- Relational Database of Pictorial Data --- p.6.7 / Chapter 6.3.2 --- Relational Graphs and Relational Databases --- p.6.10 / Chapter 6.4 --- Access Functions in Image Objects --- p.6.14 / Chapter 6.4.1 --- Basic Access Functions --- p.6.14 / Chapter 6.4.2 --- User Accessible Functions in Objects --- p.6.15 / Chapter 6.5 --- Image Functions --- p.6.16 / Chapter 6.5.1 --- Unary Image operations --- p.6.16 / Chapter 6.5.2 --- Binary Relation Operations --- p.6.19 / Chapter 6.5.3 --- Update Operations --- p.6.20 / Chapter 6.6 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.6.21 / Chapter CHAPTER 7. --- KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT --- p.7.1 / Chapter 7.1 --- Introduction --- p.7.1 / Chapter 7.2 --- Knowledge in A Domain Knowledge Base --- p.7.1 / Chapter 7.2.1 --- Structure of Rules --- p.7.2 / Chapter 7.2.2 --- Hypothesis Generation --- p.7.6 / Chapter 7.2.3 --- Inference Engine --- p.7.8 / Chapter 7.3 --- Model Based Reasoning in OOI --- p.7.9 / Chapter 7.3.1 --- Merging and Labelling --- p.7.9 / Chapter 7.3.2 --- Vision Model --- p.7.11 / Chapter 7.4 --- Fuzzy Reasoning --- p.7.12 / Chapter 7.5 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.7.15 / Chapter CHAPTER 8. --- KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION AND USER INTERFACES --- p.8.1 / Chapter 8.1 --- Introduction --- p.8.1 / Chapter 8.2 --- Knowledge Acquisition Subsystem --- p.8.3 / Chapter 8.2.1 --- Rule Management Module --- p.8.3 / Chapter 8.2.2 --- Attribute Management Module --- p.8.4 / Chapter 8.2.3 --- Model Management Module --- p.8.8 / Chapter 8.2.4 --- Methods of Knowledge Encoding and Acquisition --- p.8.9 / Chapter 8.3 --- User Interface in OOI --- p.8.11 / Chapter 8.3.1 --- Screen Layout --- p.8.13 / Chapter 8.3.2 --- Menus and Options --- p.8.15 / Chapter 8.4 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.8.20 / Chapter CHAPTER 9. --- IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS --- p.9.1 / Chapter 9.1 --- Introduction --- p.9.1 / Chapter 9.2 --- Using Expanded Memory --- p.9.2 / Chapter 9.3 --- ESCUM --- p.9.3 / Chapter 9.3.1 --- General Description --- p.9.3 / Chapter 9.3.2 --- Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (CIN) --- p.9.4 / Chapter 9.3.3 --- Development of ESCUM --- p.9.5 / Chapter 9.4 --- Results --- p.9.12 / Chapter 9.5 --- Concluding Remarks --- p.9.13 / Chapter CHAPTER 10. --- CONCLUSION --- p.10.1 / Chapter 10.1 --- Summary --- p.10.1 / Chapter 10.2 --- Areas of Future Work --- p.10.5 / Chapter APPENDIX A. --- Rule Base of ESCUM --- p.A1 / Chapter APPENDIX B. --- Glossary for Objected-Oriented Programming --- p.B1 / REFERENCES --- p.R1

Ma Chak Kei. / Thesis submitted in: July 2002. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-101). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.II / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.VI / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.VII / LIST OF TABLES --- p.XI / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.XIII / Chapter CHAPTER 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Addressing and Manipulating XML Data --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- The Structured-Element Object Model (SEOM) --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Relate Research --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Contribution --- p.5 / Chapter 1.5 --- Thesis Overview --- p.6 / Chapter CHAPTER 2. --- BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGIES --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Overview of XML --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1.1. --- XML Basic Syntax --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2. --- Namespaces in XML --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Overview of XML Schema --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2.1. --- W3C XML Schema --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- ", Schema Alternatives" --- p.13 / Chapter 2.3 --- Overview of XPath --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4 --- Overview of DOM --- p.15 / Chapter CHAPTER 3. --- OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURED-ELEMENT OBJECT MODEL (SEOM) --- p.18 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2 --- Objectives --- p.20 / Chapter 3.3 --- General Concepts in SEOM --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3.1. --- Data Representation --- p.21 / Chapter 3.3.2. --- Data Binding --- p.24 / Chapter 3.3.3. --- Data Access --- p.25 / Chapter CHAPTER 4. --- SEOM DOCUMENT MODELING --- p.27 / Chapter 4.1 --- Data Modeling --- p.27 / Chapter 4.1.1. --- Simple XML Data Model --- p.28 / Chapter 4.1.2. --- SEOM Data Model --- p.32 / Chapter 4.2 --- Schema Modeling --- p.41 / Chapter 4.2.1. --- SEOM Schema --- p.42 / Chapter 4.2.2. --- Creating a Schema --- p.46 / Chapter CHAPTER 5. --- SEOM DOCUMENT PROCESSING --- p.51 / Chapter 5.1 --- SEOM Document Processing --- p.51 / Chapter 5.2 --- The Classes --- p.51 / Chapter 5.2.1. --- SEOM Document Class --- p.52 / Chapter 5.2.2. --- A bstract SElement Class --- p.55 / Chapter 5.2.3. --- Generic SElement Class --- p.56 / Chapter 5.2.4. --- Implementation SElement Classes --- p.57 / Chapter 5.3 --- XML Parsing and Data Binding --- p.59 / Chapter 5.3.1. --- Parsing Process --- p.60 / Chapter 5.4 --- Querying --- p.62 / Chapter 5.4.1. --- Query Wrapper and Result Wrapper --- p.62 / Chapter 5.4.2. --- Embedding in XPath --- p.68 / Chapter CHAPTER 6. --- AN WEB-BASED SEOM DOCUMENT QUERY SYSTEM --- p.71 / Chapter 6.1 --- Web-based SEOM Document Query System --- p.71 / Chapter 6.2 --- Client-Server Architecture --- p.71 / Chapter 6.3 --- The Server --- p.74 / Chapter 6.3.1. --- Data Loading --- p.74 / Chapter 6.3.2. --- Implemented SElement - R-Tree --- p.74 / Chapter 6.3.3. --- Network Interface --- p.80 / Chapter 6.4 --- Client Side --- p.82 / Chapter 6.4.1. --- The Interface --- p.82 / Chapter 6.4.2. --- Programmatic Controls --- p.85 / Chapter CHAPTER 7. --- EVALUATION --- p.88 / Chapter 7.1 --- Experiment with Synthetic Data --- p.88 / Chapter 7.2 --- Qualitative Comparison --- p.90 / Chapter 7.3 --- Advantages --- p.91 / Chapter 7.4 --- Disadvantages --- p.92 / Chapter 7.5 --- Means of Enhancement --- p.93 / Chapter CHAPTER 8. --- CONCLUSION --- p.94 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.97

The PEREAM system is a software engineering environment that supports the design and implementation of object-oriented software components. Software development in the system is accomplished by the continuous evolution of a concept from an early specification to a final implementation. PEREAM supports the ability to incrementally specify software components. It provides for the reusing, browsing, and editing of the software components at any stage of their development history. Concepts in the PEREAM system are modeled with a uniform data structure. The development of the software components is maintained in a graph structure. The concepts are manipulated using the Smalltalk-80 Class Browser or the PEREAM GRAPHICAL EDITOR. This thesis describes the concepts and design behind the PEREAM system and the PEREAM MODELING TECHNIQUE. It also discusses the design and implementation of a graphical editor for the PEREAM environment which manipulates the software components graphically.

Most of today's information systems are quite complex and often involve multi-user resource-sharing. In such a system, authorization policies are needed to ensure that the information flows in the desired way and to prevent illegal access to the system resource. Overall, authorization policies provide the ability to limit and control accesses to systems, applications and information. These policies need to be updated to capture the changing requirements of applications, systems and users. These updatings are implemented through the transformation of authorization policies. In this thesis, the author proposes a logic based formal approach to specifying authorization policies and to reason about the transformation and sequence of transformations of authorization policies and its application in object oriented databases. The author defines the structure of the policy transformation and employs model-based semantics to perform the transformation under the principle of minimum change. The language is modified to consider a sequence of authorization policy transformations. It handles more complex transformations and solves certain problems. The language is able to represent incomplete information, default authorizations and allows denials to be expressed explicitly. The proposed language is used to specify a variety of well known access control policies such as static separation of duty, dynamic separation of duty and Chinese wall security policy. The authorization formalization is also applied to object oriented databases. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Declarative visual programming languages (VPLs), including spreadsheets, make up a large portion of both research and commercial VPLs. Spreadsheets in particular enjoy a wide audience, including end users. Unfortunately, spreadsheets and most other declarative VPLs still suffer from some of the problems that have been solved in other languages, such as ad-hoc (cut-and-paste) reuse of code which has been remedied in object-oriented languages, for example, through the code-reuse mechanism of inheritance. We believe spreadsheets and other declarative VPLs can benefit from the addition of an inheritance-like mechanism for fine-grained code reuse. This dissertation first examines the opportunities for supporting reuse inherent in declarative VPLs, and then introduces similarity inheritance and describes a prototype of this model in the research spreadsheet language Forms/3. Similarity inheritance is very flexible, allowing multiple granularities of code sharing and even mutual inheritance; it includes explicit representations of inherited code and all sharing relationships, and it subsumes the current spreadsheet mechanisms for formula propagation, providing a gradual migration from simple formula reuse to more sophisticated uses of inheritance among objects. Since the inheritance model separates inheritance from types, we investigate what notion of types is appropriate to support reuse of functions on different types (operation polymorphism). Because it is important to us that immediate feedback, which is characteristic of many VPLs, be preserved, including feedback with respect to type errors, we introduce a model of types suitable for static type inference in the presence of operation polymorphism with similarity inheritance. / Graduation date: 1999

The application field for static analysis of Java programs is getting broader, ranging from compiler optimizations (like dynamic dispatch elimination) to security issues. Many of those analyses include type analyses. We propose a `generic' framework, which improves on previous type analyses by introducing structural information. Moreover, structural information allows us to easily extend the framework to perform many different kinds of analyses. The framework is based on the abstract interpretation methodology. It is composed of a standard semantics, a family of abstract domains, an abstract semantics based on these domains and a post-fixpoint algorithm to compute the abstract semantics. The analysis is limited to a representative subset of Java, without concurrency. A complete prototype of the framework allows us to illustrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the approach (for moderately sized programs).

A public domain code "Object Oriented Finite element analysis for materials science" (OOF) has been extended to include tools for analysis of viscoelastic materials. Utility of these tools has been discussed along with possible applications in this publication. Added features in OOF include means to quantitatively analyze the spatiotemporal response of a composite polymeric material in dynamic as well as in static deformation conditions. These coupled with the existing features of OOF, in particular, the complete analysis of mechanical characteristics of materials provide a comprehensive tool for the studies of time dependent behavior of variety of materials including polymeric solid composites, polymer nanocomposites, polymer blends, block copolymers, and so on. The viscoelastic module draws its strength from the underlying OOF architecture to provide a macroscopic evaluation of mechanical properties using microstructural details. An application of this module for deformation analysis is the characterization of mechanical behavior a polymer nanocomposites. The deformation behaviour of polymer composite depends on the combined characteristic relaxation times of its constituents as well as its microstructural details. Results of analysis are expected to provide better insight into the role of microstructure as well as the role of interphase on the average mechanical / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Object-oriented programming languages all involve the notions of class and object. We extend the notion of class so that any Boolean combination of classes is also a class. Boolean classes allow greater precision and conciseness in naming the class of objects governed by a particular method. A class can be viewed as a predicate which is either true or false of any given object. Unlike predicates however classes have an inheritance hierarchy which is known at compile time. Boolean classes extend the notion of class, making classes more like predicates, while preserving the compile time computable inheritance hierarchy.