Modeling Motion

The research proposes a model for the representation and storage of motion data that enables the communication, storage, and analysis of patterns of motion, as with spoken and written languages. The basic problem is the lack of a machine-readable motion alphabet. We thus set out to define the elemental components and building blocks of motion, coming up with what we call the motion byte as the basis for a motion language that has words, phrases, and sentences. The binary-based model we develop, which is significantly different from the common “key frames” approach, is also a method of storing motion data. Comparison with a standard motion system, based on key frames, indicates a significant advantage for our binary model.

An Attempt to Establish a Correspondence between Development Methods and Problem Domains

Most development methods need to be adapted before they can be used in a specific development project. This is because each method can be applied to a series of paradigmatic problems, but, as a problem moves further away from the ideal, the effectiveness of each method gradually decreases. Although development method adaptation has been a recurrent theme in the literature, no work has been published that proposes any sort of criterion or metric that can be used to assess the fitness of any one method to a particular problem. Therefore, in this chapter, we propose a new approach that can be used to calculate the fitness of methods to particular problems.

Federated Process Framework for Transparent Process Monitoring in Business Process Outsourcing

Process information sharing is a beneficial tool through which a company can monitor and control its outsourced business process transparently, as if the outsourced business process is performed locally. However, autonomy and agility of insourcing companies providing outsourcing services have placed limitations in the development of process information sharing, which the previous research has not satisfactorily addressed. This chapter proposes a federated process framework and its system architecture that provide a conceptual design for effective implementation of process information sharing supporting the autonomy and agility of the insourcing companies. First, in terms of autonomy, the federated process framework supports a flexible sharing policy to control the amount of shared data so that the framework can be applied to a wide variety of practical situations, from loosely-coupled cases to tightly-coupled cases. Second, in terms of agility, the system architecture based on the federated process framework supports the entire life cycle of business process outsourcing by allowing sufficient adaptability to the changes of business environments. We develop the framework using an object-oriented database and Extensible Markup Language to accommodate all the constructs and their interactions within object-oriented message exchange model in a distributed computing environment.

Regression Test Selection for Database Applications

Database applications features such as Structured Query Language programming, exception handling, integrity constraints, and table triggers pose difficulties for maintenance activities, especially for regression testing that follows modifying database applications. In this chapter, we address these difficulties and propose a two-phase regression testing methodology. In phase 1, we explore control flow and data flow analysis issues of database applications. Then, we propose an impact analysis technique that is based on dependencies that exist among the components of database applications. This analysis leads to selecting test cases from the initial test suite for regression testing the modified application. In phase 2, we propose two algorithms for reducing the number of regression test cases. The Graph Walk algorithm walks through the control flow graph of database modules and selects a safe set of test cases to retest. The Call Graph Firewall algorithm uses a firewall for the inter-procedural level. Our experience with this regression testing methodology shows that the impact analysis technique is adequate for selecting regression tests and that phase 2 techniques can be used for further reduction in the number of these tests.

An Evaluation Framework for Component-Based and Service-Oriented System Development Methodologies

Components-Based Development (CBD) and Web Services (WS) nowadays are prominent paradigms for implementing and deploying advanced distributed information systems. They have been proposed as the ways to support effective business/IT alignment and produce high quality and flexible software solutions that fulfill business goals within short time-to-market. However, current achievements in these areas at the level of methodology are much behind the technology ones. CBD methods proposed so far lack a comprehensive support for component and service concepts throughout the development process. By treating components as packages of implementation artifacts during software deployment or as larger-grained business objects during analysis and design, these methods are not well equipped for modeling loosely coupled coarse-grained components that offer business meaningful services organized in a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). This chapter presents an evaluation framework that highlights the extent to which a particular method is component-based and service-oriented. The CBD method sample is selected and evaluated using the framework’s concepts and requirements. Based on the evaluation, the method improvements are proposed in order to provide consistent, systematic, and integrated CBD and WS methodology support throughout the lifecycle.

Revisiting Workflow Modeling with Statecharts

In this chapter, we model business workflows using Harel’s statecharts. We demonstrate that mapping to statecharts allows one to systematically identify potential workflow problems. Moreover, it also allows one to investigate specific properties inherent in actual business workflows. Our research focuses on three desirable properties of active database systems — termination, confluence, and observable determinism. As a theoretical lens for termination and confluence, we develop algorithms linking desirable active database system properties to workflow management systems problems. Preliminary validation of our algorithms is accomplished by mapping business workflows from a case study. Our research thus generates preliminary theory by developing a systematic method for identifying workflow problems.

Toward an Extended Framework for Human Factors Research on Data Modeling

This study reviews and synthesizes over 15 years of research on human factors issues in conceptual data modeling. In addition to analyzing the variables used in earlier studies and summarizing the results of this stream of research, we propose a new framework to help with future efforts in this area. We also identify several key areas for future research and highlight the importance of building a strong theoretical foundation and using it to guide future empirical studies. It is our hope that this chapter allows both scholars and practitioners to utilize the results of existing research better and encourages continued work on conceptual data modeling.

Online Analytical Mining for Web Access Patterns

The WWW and its associated distributed information services provide rich world-wide online information services, where objects are linked together to facilitate interactive access. Users seeking information from the Internet traverse from one object via links to another. It is important to analyze user access patterns, which helps improve web page design by providing an efficient access between highly correlated objects, and also assists in better marketing decisions by placing advertisements in frequently visited documents. We need to study the user surfing behavior through examining the web access log, browsing frequency of web pages and computing the average duration of visitors. This chapter offers an architecture to store the derived web user access paths in a data warehouse, and facilitates its view maintainability by use of metadata. The system will update the user access paths pattern with the data warehouse by the data operation functions in the metadata. Whenever a new user access path occurs, the view maintainability is triggered by a constraint class in the metadata. The data warehouse can be analyzed on the frequent pattern tree of user access paths on the web site within a period and duration. The result is an online analytical mining path traversal pattern. Performance studies have been done to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the system with the following contributions: an architecture of online analytical mining using frame model metadata, a methodology of implementing the online analytical mining, and the resultant cluster of web pages frequently visited by users for marketing use.

Normalization of Relations with Nulls in Candidate Keys

This chapter discusses normalization of relations when the candidate keys of a relation have missing information represented by nulls. The chapter shows that problems and confusion can arise in normalizing relations with nulls in candidate keys. Candidate keys with missing information commonly are found in relations that represent information on two entities with a one-to-one relationship between them. The current definition of Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) is ineffective in identifying poor designs in such relations that may have insertion/deletion anomalies. Domain Key Normal Form (DKNF) also suffers from the same problem. It is shown that the above problem can be corrected by incorporating the concept of entity integrity rule into the definitions of BCNF and DKNF. This chapter also shows that incorporating the entity integrity rule into the definition of either a relation or a candidate key does not provide a satisfactory solution to the problem.

Fuzzy Aggregations and Fuzzy Specializations in Eindhoven Fuzzy EER Model

Some approaches about fuzzy ER/EER model have been published recently. Few of these works study how to relax constraints and other aspects expressed in the model. In this chapter our aim is to relax some semantic aspects which have not been studied in previous works and to extend the EER model with fuzzy capabilities. We use fuzzy quantifiers and fuzzy degrees which have been widely studied in the context of fuzzy sets and fuzzy query systems for databases. We will also examine the representation of these new features in an EER model and their practical repercussions. The studied extensions are: fuzzy aggregations and fuzzy aspects on specializations, such as fuzzy degrees, fuzzy completeness constraint, fuzzy cardinality constraint on overlapping specializations, fuzzy disjointed or overlapping constraints, fuzzy attribute defined specializations, fuzzy constraints in union types or categories and fuzzy constraints in shared subclasses (or intersection types). All these fuzzy extensions have a new meaning and offer greater expressiveness in conceptual design.