3,458 papers · page 170 of 173
We present the design of a new rule-based process engine that generalizes previous systems to support process enforcement, automation, guidance, monitoring, delegation, planning, simulation, instrumentation and potentially other applications. Our approach is fully knowledge-based…
This paper describes the Software Technology Risk Advisor (STRA), a knowledge-based software engineering tool that provides assistance in identifying and managing software technology risks. The STRA contains a knowledge base of software product and process needs, satisfying capab…
In this paper, we discuss the use of knowledge structure, called the decision space, for the evolution of formal specifications. Because evolution is a particularly intense form of reuse, what we say will also impact on reusability. We demonstrate our approach using a formal spec…
Knowledge-based software engineering (KBSE) languages should be as expressive as possible and should allow the reflection in executable programs of their non-executable specification origins. REFINE is the KBSE language for the Software Refinery metaprogramming environment. REFIN…
Presents the results of an experiment at applying knowledge-based software engineering technology to hardware/software co-design. The Reacto verification system, developed by the Kestrel Institute, was used to create a high-level, formal-based interface to VHDL which can effectiv…
The ARIES Simulation Component (ASC) is a tool for the validation of behaviors described by an evolving specification which may be incomplete, inconsistent, and/or ambiguous. ASC does this by the formalization of an analyst's focus, the introduction of approximations to abstract …
We have been studying a model of software specification reuse which begins with the retrieval of relevant specification components, and then successively adapts and composes these components to construct a desired complete specification. The focus of the paper is on the compositi…
Discusses a novel method called 'active browsing' which increases the speed and accuracy with which a user may browse libraries for reusable software. Information inferred solely from the user's normal actions is employed by the system to locate software items relevant to the use…
An implementation of bounded obligations is demonstrated. Bounded obligations facilitate the expression of requirements such as 'a user must return a book on or before its due date'. The implementation translates a simple, declarative form of a bounded obligation into the equival…
Validation of reactive systems, such as telephone switching systems and traffic controllers, is made unusually difficult by the fact that such systems must perform heterogeneous behaviors robustly in complex, dynamic environments. This renders them unusually difficult to specify …
The paper describes a family of tools called Binders that support the elaboration of generic designs. Rather than taking the approach of building new languages and environments, a Binder is designed to inter-operate with existing languages and tools. Binders support grammatical e…
The authors describe the formal environment at Kesteral for synthesizing programs. The authors show that straightforward formalization, persistently applied at all levels of system description and system derivation, produces a scalable architecture for a synthesis environment. Th…
Evaluation of software can be complex and difficult. There are many tasks performed during the software life-cycle which attempt to answer a range of key concerns. A lack of visibility and understanding of the software products, of the processes used for development, and of the r…
The automatic generation of project management reports for software engineering projects puts special demands on the knowledge representation of software engineering environments (SEEs). This knowledge can best be represented as a process model, and must include a rich type hiera…
Describes a knowledge-based retrieval mechanism for a hybrid software design system that promotes the reuse of design schemas and design cases. The retrieval relies on domain-specific knowledge whenever this is available; otherwise, it uses analogy to determine the degree of clos…
To be cost-effective and reliable, future expert systems must solve the knowledge base maintenance problem. We propose a maintenance assistant that allows domain experts to maintain knowledge bases by modifying documentations provided with the expert systems. Documentations are s…
Text analysis systems that handle large amounts of free-form narrative text are beginning to use natural language processing algorithms, employing linguistic-based techniques to deduce meaning. Existing natural language/text processing (NL/TP) systems often serve similar purposes…
The paper presents an integrated approach to articulate software process plans that fail. Articulation repairs a plan when a diagnosed failure occurs and reschedules changes that ensure the plan's continuation. In implementing articulation, we combine diagnosis, replanning, and r…
There are four fundamental aspects of use and reuse in building systems from components: conceptualization, retrieval, selection and correct use. The most important barrier to use and reuse, initially at least, is that of conceptualization. The Inscape Environment is a specificat…
There exist a wide variety of techniques for performing empirical studies which researchers in human-computer interaction have adapted from fields of cognitive psychology, sociology and anthropology. An analysis of several of these techniques is presented through an approach that…