Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the Role of Conceptual Schemas in Information Systems Development

  • Conference paper
Reliable Software Technologies - Ada-Europe 2004 (Ada-Europe 2004)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 3063))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

In the literature, the role of Conceptual Schemas (CS) and conceptual modelling in Information Systems (IS) development is not well established. On the other hand, there is some confusion over the relationships between CSs and similar concepts such as domain model, domain knowledge, functional specifications and ontologies. This paper tries to shed light on these issues. We show that a CS is the knowledge needed by an IS to perform its functions. We then analyse the possible roles of CSs in the IS architecture, which range from specification to explicit software component. We also show the role of CSs in the context of the recent OMG’s MDA. The paper focuses on ISs, but most of the conclusions may apply to the general field of software.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. ANSI/X3/SPARC. Interim Report from the Study Group on Database Management Systems. FDT Bulletin of the ACM 7(2) (1975)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., Lassila, O.: The Semantic Web. Scientific American (May 2001)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Brachman, R.J., Levesque, H.J. (eds.): Readings in Knowledge Representation. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (1985)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. Bubenko Jr., J.A.: Information Modeling in the Context of System Development. In: Proc. IFIP 1980, pp. 395–411. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ceri, S., Fraternali, P.: Designing Database Applications with Objects and Rules. The IDEA Methodology, p. 579. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1997)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  6. Chandrasekaran, B., Josephson, J.R., Benjamins, V.R.: What Are Ontologies, and Why Do We Need Them? IEEE Intelligent Systems, 20–26 (January/February 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Daniels, J.: Modeling with a Sense of Purpose. IEEE Software, 8–10 (January/February 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Evans, E.: Domain-Driven Design. Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Business Software. Addison-Wesley, Reading (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gruber, T.R.: Toward Principles for the Design of Ontologies Used for Knowledge Sharing. In: Guarino, N., Poli, R. (eds.) International Workshop on Formal Ontology, Padova, Italy (August 1993)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Gunter, C.A., Gunter, E.L., Jackson, M., Zave, P.: A Reference Model for Requirements and Specifications. IEEE Software, 37–43 (May/June 2000)

    Google Scholar 

  11. ISO/TC97/SC5/WG3 Concepts and Terminology for the Conceptual Schema and the Information Base, Van Griethuysen, J.J. (ed.) (March 1982)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Jackson, M.: System Development, p. 418. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1983)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  13. Jackson, M.: The meaning of requirements. Annals of Software Engineering 3, 5–21 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Jackson, M., Zave, P.: Deriving Specifications from Requirements: an Example. In: Proc. ICSE 1995, pp. 15–24. IEEE Computer Soc. Press, Los Alamitos (1995)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Jacobson, I., Booch, G., Rumbaugh, J.: The Unified Software Development Process, p. 463. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jardine, D.A.: Concepts and Terminology for the Conceptual Schema and the Information Base. Computers & Standards 3, 3–17 (1984)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Johnson, J., Henderson, A.: Conceptual Models: Begin by designing what to design. Interactions, 25–32 (January-February 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kleppe, A., Warmer, J.: Bast, W. MDA Explained. The Model Driven Architecture: Practice and Promise, p. 170. Addison-Wesley, Reading (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kowalski, R.: Algorithm = Logic + Control. Comm. ACM 22(7), 424–436 (1979)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  20. Letbridge, T.C., Singer, J., Forward, A.: How Software Engineers Use Documentation: The State of the Practice. IEEE Software, 35–39 (November/December 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Loucopoulos, P.: Conceptual Modeling. In: [22], pp. 1–26

    Google Scholar 

  22. Loucopoulos, P., Zicari, R. (eds.): Conceptual Modeling, Databases and CASE: An Integrated View of Information Systems Development. Wiley, Chichester (1992)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  23. Martin, R.C.: Agile Software Development, p. 529. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Mylopoulos, J.: The Role of Knowledge Representation in the Development of Specifications. In: Proc IFIP 1986, pp. 317–319. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Mylopoulos, J.: Conceptual Modeling and Telos. In: [22], pp. 49–68

    Google Scholar 

  26. Olivé, A.: An Introduction to Conceptual Modeling of Information Systems. In: Piattini, M., Díaz, O. (eds.) Advanced Database Technology and Design, pp. 25–57. Artech House, Norwood (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Olivé, A.: Integrity Constraints Definition in Object-Oriented Conceptual Modeling Languages. In: Song, I.-Y., Liddle, S.W., Ling, T.-W., Scheuermann, P. (eds.) ER 2003. LNCS, vol. 2813, pp. 349–362. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. OMG. Model Driven Architecture (MDA). Document number ormsc/2001-07-01 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  29. OMG. OCL:Object Constraint Language 2.0. OMG Document ad/2003-01-07 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  30. OMG. UML 2.0 Superstructure Specification. Doc ptc/03-08-02 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Rugaber, S.: The use of domain knowledge in program understanding. Annals of Software Engineering 9, 143–192 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Russell, S., Norvig, P.: Artificial Intelligence, p. 932. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1995)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  33. Selic, B.: The Pragmatics of Model-Driven Development. IEE Software, 19–25 ( September/October 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Sommerville, I., Sawyer, P.: Requirements Engineering, p. 391. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (1997)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  35. Sowa, J.F.: Knowledge Representation. Logical, Philosophical and Computational Foundations, p. 594. Brooks/Cole, Monterey (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Thayer, R.H., Thayer, M.C.: Glossary. In: Standards, Guidelines, and Examples on System and Software Requirements Engineering, pp. 501–572. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Tryfona, N., Jensen, C.S.: Using Abstractions for Spatio-Temporal Conceptual Modeling. In: Proceedings of the 2000 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, pp. 313–322 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Vieille, L.: From Data Independence to Knowledge Independence: An on-going Story. In: Proc. of the 24th VLDB Conf., New York, pp. 650–654 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  39. W3C. OWL Web Ontology Language Guide, http://www.w3.org/TR/2003/CR-owlguide-20030818/

  40. Wieringa, R.J.: Design Methods for Reactive Systems, p. 457. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (2003)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Llenguatges i Sistemes Informàtics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Jordi Girona 1-3, 08034, Barcelona (Catalonia)

    Antoni Olivé

Authors
  1. Antoni Olivé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, The University of the Balearic Islands, Carretera de Valldemossa km 7.5, 07122, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

    Albert Llamosí

  2. School of Computer and Communication Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Alfred Strohmeier

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Olivé, A. (2004). On the Role of Conceptual Schemas in Information Systems Development. In: Llamosí, A., Strohmeier, A. (eds) Reliable Software Technologies - Ada-Europe 2004. Ada-Europe 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3063. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24841-5_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-24841-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-22011-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-24841-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation