Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Model-driven user interface development'

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
No mundo globalizado e competitivo, a sobrevivência de uma organização está relacionada a atrair e, principalmente, manter clientes (consumidores) através da prestação de serviços de qualidade. Atualmente, a forma mais usual de comunicação direta entre as organizações e seus (possíveis) clientes é através de aplicações baseadas na Web. Entre as vantagens deste tipo de aplicação estão a disponibilidade em tempo integral (24/7/365) e a facilidade de acesso, tendo em vista que o requisito inicial é apenas um computador com acesso à Internet. No contexto da disciplina de Engenharia de Software, as aplicações Web possuem características específicas que as diferem de aplicações tradicionais, especialmente no que se refere à interação com os usuários, e que devem ser consideradas adequadamente no processo de desenvolvimento. Entretanto, os processos de software tradicionais são dirigidos à funcionalidade e a parte do sistema responsável pela interação com os usuários é tratada com menor ênfase usualmente apenas na etapa de Implementação, ocasionando deficiências no produto e insatisfação dos usuários quanto ao uso do sistema. Neste cenário, este trabalho apresenta o método WE4UIV (Web Engineering User Interaction View), dirigido a modelos e baseado em componentes, cujo propósito é tratar os aspectos relacionados à visão de interação com os usuários de aplicações Web, nos níveis de análise e projeto, de modo a fornecer subsídios para orientar a etapa de Implementação. Além disso, visando acelerar e tornar menos manual a etapa de Implementação, este trabalho também apresenta uma ferramenta integrada a um ambiente de desenvolvimento para geração de código fonte a partir de artefatos de projeto descritos em UML. A abordagem apresentada neste trabalho pressupõe melhorias quantitativas no processo de desenvolvimento da visão de interação com os usuários, especificamente redução do tempo da etapa de Implementação e do índice de trabalho adicional causado por solicitações de mudança. A abordagem proposta é validada através de um processo de experimentação no contexto de um projeto real de desenvolvimento de software

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Cada vez mais se evidencia uma maior escassez de recursos e uma disputa por espaços físicos, em decorrência da crescente e demasiada concentração populacional nas grandes cidades. Nesse âmbito, surge a necessidade de soluções que vão de encontro à iniciativa de “Cidades Inteligentes" (Smart Cities). Essas soluções buscam centralizar o monitoramento e controle, para auxiliar no apoio à tomada de decisão. No entanto, essas fontes de TICs formam estruturas complexas e geram um grande volume de dados, que apresentam enormes desafios e oportunidades. Uma das principais ferramentas tecnológicas utilizadas nesse contexto é o Complex Event Processing (CEP), o qual pode ser considerado uma boa solução, para lidar com o aumento da disponibilidade de grandes volumes de dados, em tempo real. CEPs realizam captação de eventos de maneira simplificada, utilizando linguagem de expressão, para definir e executar regras de processamento. No entanto, apesar da eficiência comprovada dessas ferramentas, o fato das regras serem expressas em baixo nível, torna o seu uso exclusivo para usuários especialistas, dificultando a criação de soluções. Com intuito de diminuir a complexidade das ferramentas de CEP, em algumas soluções, tem-se utilizado uma abordagem de modelos Model-Driven Development (MDD), a fim de se produzir uma camada de abstração, que possibilite criar regras, sem que necessariamente seja um usuário especialista em linguagem de CEP. No entanto, muitas dessas soluções acabam tornando-se mais complexas no seu manuseio do que o uso convencional da linguagem de baixo nível. Este trabalho tem por objetivo a construção de uma Graphic User Interface (GUI) para criação de regras de CEP, utilizando MDD, a fim de tornar o desenvolvimento mais intuitivo, através de um modelo adaptado as necessidades do usuário não especialista.
Nowadays is Increasingly evident a greater resources scarcity and competition for physical space, in result of growing up and large population concentration into large cities. In this context, comes up the necessity of solutions that are in compliance with initiative of smart cities. Those solutions seek concentrate monitoring and control, for help to make decisions. Although, this sources of information technology and communications (ITCs) forming complex structures and generates a huge quantity of data that represents biggest challenges and opportunities. One of the main technological tools used in this context is the Complex Event Processing (CEP), which may be considered a good solution to deal with increase of the availability and large volume of data, in real time. The CEPs realizes captation of events in a simple way, using expressive languages, to define and execute processing rules. Although the efficient use of this tools, the fact of the rules being expressed in low level, becomes your use exclusive for specialists, difficulting the creation of solutions. With the aim of reduce the complexity of the CEPs tools, solutions has used an approach of models Model-Driven Development (MDD), in order to produce an abstraction layer, that allows to create rules, without necessarily being a specialist in CEP languages. however, many this tools become more complex than the conventional low level language approach. This work aims to build a Graphic User Interface (GUI) for the creation of CEP rules, using MDD, in order to a more intuitive development, across of the adapted model how necessities of the non specialist users.

Managing large software development projects and delivering them on time and within budget has proven to be a difficult task. The Dynamics Model of Software Project Management, has been designed to support the management of the software development process. The current interface to the model, however, is not suited to the inexperienced user. The objective of this thesis is to enhance the usability and acceptance of the Dynamics Model of Software Project Management. The design of the user interface accomplished in this thesis is an attempt to provide the maximum benefit of the model to the user by simplifying the process of using, viewing, and storing results from the model. This allows the user to focus his or her attention on design considerations and interpreting model experiments. Specifically the accomplishments of this thesis include the development of a menu system which provides a logical format for accessing the Dynamics model and the creation of a Dynex model interface to aid in variable manipulation. Keywords: Theses; Computer architecture

The main goal of this research is to facilitate end-user and expert developer collaboration in the creation of a web application. This research created a reverse engineering toolset and integrated it with Click (Component-based Lightweight Internet-application Construction Kit), an end-user web development tool. The toolset generates artifacts to facilitate collaboration between end-users and expert web developers when the end-users need to go beyond the limited capabilities of Click. By supporting smooth transition of workflow to expert web developers, we can help them in implementing advanced functionality in end-user developed web applications. The four artifacts generated include a sitemap, text documentation, a task model, and a canonical representation of the user interface. The sitemap is automatically generated to support the workflow of web developers. The text documentation of a web application is generated to document data representation and business logic. A task model, expressed using ConcurTaskTrees notation, covers the whole interaction specified by the end-user. A presentation and dialog model, represented in User Interface Markup Language (UIML), describe the user interface in a declarative language. The task model and UIML representation are created to support development of multi-platform user interfaces from an end-user web application. A formative evaluation of the usability of these models and representations with experienced web developers revealed that these representations were useful and easy to understand.
Master of Science

När användare bestämmer sig för att utveckla gränssnitt till sina system sker detta via någon form av verktyg. Vi måste avgöra vilken utvecklingsmetodik som ska användas och hur vi kan tillföra mer funktionalitet för att systemet inte ska bli föråldrat. För att svara på detta bryter vi upp arbetet i två delar. I första delen undersöker vi vilken programmeringsmetodik som lämpar sig bäst för gränssnittsutveckling genom en undersökning i två delar. I andra delen ser vi över vilka lösningar som existerar för att implementera ny funktionalitet till ett verktyg för att sedan presentera en egen lösning.
When the user decides to develop an interface for their system, this is done with a software development tool of some kind. We need to determine which development methodology is to be used and how we can add more functionality to the system so it won't become outdated. To tackle this problem we break up the work in two parts. In the first part, we examine which programming methodology is best suited for interface development through a survey that is divided in two parts. In the second part, we look at what solutions exists for implementing new functionality to a tool and we present our solution.

The growth of the e-commerce industry has been nothing less than remarkable, changing the way people live, the way companies conduct business, and the way software engineers design. However, this environment still faces many challenges before it becomes a mainstay of the economy. One of those challenges is the usability of the ecommerce Web sites. In particular, the virtual characteristics of the Web are incapable of providing consumers physical contact with the products. Web site designers create ways to overcome the physical barrier with the features on their Web sites. These features are guided by the principles and techniques developed by the discipline of Usability Engineering, as well as the studied and proven preferences of online shoppers. This research study developed a model consisting of features and user-interface design principles that promote product interaction, including an index for measuring product interaction. The model was validated through usability evaluations of existing online shopping sites. The results of which showed that online shopping sites with higher levels of product interaction were more successful. However, there was evidence suggesting that online businesses may be able to do more to promote e-commerce. The results of the usability evaluations clearly showed several weak areas in Web design, causing usability problems and lost opportunities. Computer technology, in the form of a Web page, has the ability to simulate the sense of touch and feel of tangible products if used correctly. This research study concluded that Web pages and Web page design have not mastered this craft and still have a long way to go before this environment truly re-creates the atmosphere of a traditional store.

Diese Diplomarbeit behandelt das Themengebiet der automatischen Erzeugung von grafischen Benutzeroberflächen (GUIs) im Kontext von Webservices. Es geht dabei konkret um einen Editor, mit dem Hinweise zur Generierung von Dialogen erstellt werden können. Diese Hinweise sollen dann von den dialogerzeugenden Anwendungen einbezogen werden, um eine dynamische Interaktion mit Webservices durch beliebige Nutzer ohne dienstspezifische Software zu ermöglichen. Die Arbeit führt in die aktuellen Techniken zur GUI-Generierung ein und stellt Transformationsprinzipien vor, die eine Generierung ausgehend von einem formalen Datenmodell ermöglichen. Dabei müssen mangelnde Modellparameter in Beschreibungen von Webservices manuell ausgeglichen werden (WSGUI-Konzepte). Diese Zielstellung führt zum Entwurf des WSGUI-Editors. Die anschließende Implementierung berücksichtigt darüber hinaus Integrationsaspekte wie die Publizierung von WSGUI-Hinweisen, Einbindung von GUI-Übersetzungen und eine Vorschau auf die zu generierenden Dialoge. Abgeschlossen wird die Arbeit mit einer Bewertung des Editors, aber auch einer Reihe von Vorschlägen zur Vereinfachung ähnlich gelagerter zukünftiger Projekte im Umfeld von Webservices.

Rapid developments in vehicle technology, such as in-car systems, have provided opportunities to encourage drivers to drive in a more fuel-efficient and safe manner. This thesis focused on the design, development and evaluation of a new in-car system to improve eco-safe driving, with the aim of reducing the impact of motorised vehicles on both human health and the environment. This multidisciplinary research contributes to enhancing our understanding of the requirements of drivers in relation to in-car systems and provides a foundation for the future design and development of innovative and accepted in-car systems to improve fuel efficiency and road safety.

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Building and maintaining a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for Enterprise Information Systems usually requires much Software Engineering staff time and effort. This paper describes a model-driven approach to create dynamically and manage these GUIs. In this approach, the Software Engineer designs conceptual models of the information system using object-oriented meta-models. A set of predefined mapping rules is applied to automatically transform and refine the conceptual models in order to generate, in runtime, the look and feel of the GUI, without source code creation. This improves the software usability, assuring consistency and homogeneity of the GUI, increases the productivity of the software engineering staff and simplifies maintenance. In our experiments we have observed an average productivity fifteen times higher than traditional methods of GUI development.
Construir e manter uma Interface Gráfica com Usuário (GUI) para Sistemas de Informação (SI) demanda muito tempo e esforço da equipe de Engenharia de Software. Esta dissertação descreve uma abordagem dirigida por modelos para criar dinamicamente e gerenciar essas interfaces. Nessa abordagem, o Engenheiro de Software projeta um modelo conceitual do sistema de informação usando um meta-modelo orientado a objetos. Um conjunto de regras de mapeamento predefinidas é aplicado para refinar e transformar o modelo conceitual do SI, gerando, em tempo de execução, a sua interface gráfica, com aparência e comportamentos específicos. Esse mecanismo melhora a usabilidade do software, assegurando consistência e homogeneidade das GUIs, aumenta a produtividade da equipe de Engenharia de Software e simplifica a manutenção do SI. Nos experimentos realizados foi observada uma média de produtividade quinze vezes maior do que os métodos tradicionais no desenvolvimento de GUIs.

Diese Diplomarbeit behandelt das Themengebiet der automatischen Erzeugung von grafischen Benutzeroberflächen (GUIs) im Kontext von Webservices. Es geht dabei konkret um einen Editor, mit dem Hinweise zur Generierung von Dialogen erstellt werden können. Diese Hinweise sollen dann von den dialogerzeugenden Anwendungen einbezogen werden, um eine dynamische Interaktion mit Webservices durch beliebige Nutzer ohne dienstspezifische Software zu ermöglichen. Die Arbeit führt in die aktuellen Techniken zur GUI-Generierung ein und stellt Transformationsprinzipien vor, die eine Generierung ausgehend von einem formalen Datenmodell ermöglichen. Dabei müssen mangelnde Modellparameter in Beschreibungen von Webservices manuell ausgeglichen werden (WSGUI-Konzepte). Diese Zielstellung führt zum Entwurf des WSGUI-Editors. Die anschließende Implementierung berücksichtigt darüber hinaus Integrationsaspekte wie die Publizierung von WSGUI-Hinweisen, Einbindung von GUI-Übersetzungen und eine Vorschau auf die zu generierenden Dialoge. Abgeschlossen wird die Arbeit mit einer Bewertung des Editors, aber auch einer Reihe von Vorschlägen zur Vereinfachung ähnlich gelagerter zukünftiger Projekte im Umfeld von Webservices.

The growing demand for UI test automation has triggered the development of many tools. Researchers and developers have been continuously working to further improvise the existing approaches. If we look at GUI test evolution we can observe a clear progress from manual testing towards complete automation. Numerous approaches have been made to automate the GUI testing process. Record and playback tools, key-word driven methodologies, event flow exploration strategies, model based approaches are continuously evolving with higher level of automation. Similarly, new ideas and strategies to make these tests efficient are also emerging. Optimization of this resource consuming activity is another very important aspect in this area.  Dependencies between different tests can create deadlock scenarios, while running larger test suites. A concept of Ordered Test Suite can be used to cope with such dependencies. Following the Model Driven Architecture initiative by Object Management Group, a new global trend of Model Driven Engineering is creating a big sensation in the field of model based software development. Using the same principle, studies have also been made to automatically generate tests from models. Behavioral models can be made using the model driven approaches and these models can be analyzed to generate tests automatically. This master thesis addresses different approaches made for Graphical User Interface test automation, some optimization issues and solutions, a case study done at a software company to automate User Interface testing and a model driven approach for automatic test case generation.

One important phase in software development process is to create a design model of the system which follows all the architectural rules. Often the architectural rules are defined by the system architect and the system model is designed by the system designer. The architect defines the rules in a text file where no standard or pattern is followed. Therefore, there is always the risk of violating the architectural rules by the designer. So manual reviews on the system model should be done by the architect to ensure the system model is valid.In order to remove this manual checking which can be erroneous and time consuming ArCon (Architecture Conformance Checker) was developed by Combitech AB. ArCon is a tool which lets the architect define the architectural rules in the format of UML (Unified Modeling Language) models where the elements of the model have different meaning than the standard UML. ArCon can read this model and extract architectural rules from it and check the system model against those rules and then print all the rule violations.ArCon is an open source tool i.e. free for everyone to download and use. Currently, it supports Papyrus as the UML modeling tool. Papyrus is integrated to Eclipse platform and is a general purpose modeling tool. It supports users with all types of UML diagrams and elements.The idea for this thesis work was to implement a new feature for ArCon in order to facilitate the design process for system designers. The feature should provide the system designers only those types of elements which they are permitted to add to a specific fraction of the system model. The list of permitted element types should be extracted from the architecture model where all the architectural rules are defined in advance. This new support in ArCon was named Domain Specific Modeling (DSM) support.To evaluate the effect of DSM support on the system designers performance a few test sessions, called usability tests, were performed. The participants in the test sessions were a representative sample of software designers. After analyzing the data collected from the test sessions, the pros and cons of the new support were discovered. Furthermore, a few new ideas for enhancing DSM support were generated.

En Interaction Homme-Machine, la qualité est une utopie : malgré toutes les précautions prises en conception, il existe toujours des utilisateurs et des situations d'usage pour lesquels l'Interface Homme-Machine (IHM) est imparfaite. Cette thèse explore l'auto-explication des IHM pour améliorer la qualité perçue par les utilisateurs. L'approche s'inscrit dans une Ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles. Elle consiste à embarquer à l'exécution les modèles de conception pour dynamiquement augmenter l'IHM d'un ensemble de questions et de réponses. Les questions peuvent être relatives à l'utilisation de l'IHM (par exemple, "A quoi sert ce bouton ?", "Pourquoi telle action n'est pas possible ?) et à sa justification (par exemple, "Pourquoi les items ne sont-ils pas rangés par ordre alphabétique ?"). Cette thèse propose une infrastructure logicielle UsiExplain basée sur les méta-modèles UsiXML. L'évaluation sur un cas d'étude d'achat de voitures montre que l'approche est pertinente pour les questions d'utilisation de l'IHM. Elle ouvre des perspectives en justification de conception
In Human-Computer Interaction, quality is an utopia. Despite all the design efforts, there are always uses and situations for which the user interface is not perfect. This thesis investigates self-explanatory user interfaces for improving the quality perceived by end users. The approach follows the principles of model-driven engineering. It consists in keeping the design models at runtime so that to dynamically enrich the user interface with a set of possible questions and answers. The questions are related to usage (for instance, "What's the purpose of this button?", "Why is this action not possible"?) as well as to design rationale (for instance, "Why are the items not alphabetically ordered?"). This thesis proposes a software infrastructure UsiExplain based on the UsiXML metamodels. An evaluation conducted on a case study related to a car shopping webiste confirms that the approach is relevant especially for usage questions. Design rationale will be further explored in the future.STAR

The research reported and discussed in this thesis represents a novel approach to define custom gestures and to include gesture-based interaction in user interfaces of the software systems with the aim of help to solve the problems found in the related literature about the development of gesture-based user interfaces. The research is conducted according to Design Science methodology that is based on the design and investigation of artefacts in a context. In this thesis, the new artefact is the model-driven method to include gesture-based interaction in user interfaces. This methodology considers two cycles: the main cycle is an engineering cycle where we design a model-driven method to include interaction based on gestures. The second cycle is the research cycle, we define two research cycles: the first research cycle corresponds to the validation of the proposed method with an empirical evaluation and the second cycle corresponds to the technical action research to validate the method in an industrial context. Additionally, Design Science provides us the clues on how to conduct the research, be rigorous, and put in practice scientific rules. Besides Design Science has been a key issue for organising our research, we acknowledge the application of this framework since it has helps us to report clearly our findings. The thesis presents a theoretical framework introducing concepts related with the research performed, followed by a state of the art where we know about the related work in three areas: Human-computer Interaction, Model-driven paradigm in Human-Computer Interaction and Empirical Software Engineering. The design and implementation of gestUI is presented following the Model-driven Paradigm and the Model-View-Controller design pattern. Then, we performed two evaluations of gestUI: (i) an empirical evaluation based on ISO 25062-2006 to evaluate usability considering effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Satisfaction is measured with perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and intention of use, and (ii) a technical action research to evaluate user experience and usability. We use Model Evaluation Method, User Experience Questionnaire and Microsoft Reaction cards as guides to perform the aforementioned evaluations. The contributions of our thesis, limitations of the tool support and the approach are discussed and further work are presented.
La investigación reportada y discutida en esta tesis representa un método nuevo para definir gestos personalizados y para incluir interacción basada en gestos en interfaces de usuario de sistemas software con el objetivo de ayudar a resolver los problemas encontrados en la literatura relacionada respecto al desarrollo de interfaces basadas en gestos de usuarios. Este trabajo de investigación ha sido realizado de acuerdo a la metodología Ciencia del Diseño, que está basada en el diseño e investigación de artefactos en un contexto. En esta tesis, el nuevo artefacto es el método dirigido por modelos para incluir interacción basada en gestos en interfaces de usuario. Esta metodología considera dos ciclos: el ciclo principal, denominado ciclo de ingeniería, donde se ha diseñado un método dirigido por modelos para incluir interacción basada en gestos. El segundo ciclo es el ciclo de investigación, donde se definen dos ciclos de este tipo. El primero corresponde a la validación del método propuesto con una evaluación empírica y el segundo ciclo corresponde a un Technical Action Research para validar el método en un contexto industrial. Adicionalmente, Ciencia del Diseño provee las claves sobre como conducir la investigación, sobre cómo ser riguroso y poner en práctica reglas científicas. Además, Ciencia del Diseño ha sido un recurso clave para organizar la investigación realizada en esta tesis. Nosotros reconocemos la aplicación de este marco de trabajo puesto que nos ayuda a reportar claramente nuestros hallazgos. Esta tesis presenta un marco teórico introduciendo conceptos relacionados con la investigación realizada, seguido por un estado del arte donde conocemos acerca del trabajo relacionado en tres áreas: Interacción Humano-Ordenador, paradigma dirigido por modelos en Interacción Humano-Ordenador e Ingeniería de Software Empírica. El diseño e implementación de gestUI es presentado siguiendo el paradigma dirigido por modelos y el patrón de diseño Modelo-Vista-Controlador. Luego, nosotros hemos realizado dos evaluaciones de gestUI: (i) una evaluación empírica basada en ISO 25062-2006 para evaluar la usabilidad considerando efectividad, eficiencia y satisfacción. Satisfacción es medida por medio de la facilidad de uso percibida, utilidad percibida e intención de uso; y, (ii) un Technical Action Research para evaluar la experiencia del usuario y la usabilidad. Nosotros hemos usado Model Evaluation Method, User Experience Questionnaire y Microsoft Reaction Cards como guías para realizar las evaluaciones antes mencionadas. Las contribuciones de nuestra tesis, limitaciones del método y de la herramienta de soporte, así como el trabajo futuro son discutidas y presentadas.
La investigació reportada i discutida en aquesta tesi representa un mètode per definir gests personalitzats i per incloure interacció basada en gests en interfícies d'usuari de sistemes de programari. L'objectiu és ajudar a resoldre els problemes trobats en la literatura relacionada al desenvolupament d'interfícies basades en gests d'usuaris. Aquest treball d'investigació ha sigut realitzat d'acord a la metodologia Ciència del Diseny, que està basada en el disseny i investigació d'artefactes en un context. En aquesta tesi, el nou artefacte és el mètode dirigit per models per incloure interacció basada en gests en interfícies d'usuari. Aquesta metodologia es considerada en dos cicles: el cicle principal, denominat cicle d'enginyeria, on es dissenya un mètode dirigit per models per incloure interacció basada en gestos. El segon cicle és el cicle de la investigació, on es defineixen dos cicles d'aquest tipus. El primer es correspon a la validació del mètode proposat amb una avaluació empírica i el segon cicle es correspon a un Technical Action Research per validar el mètode en un context industrial. Addicionalment, Ciència del Disseny proveeix les claus sobre com conduir la investigació, sobre com ser rigorós i ficar en pràctica regles científiques. A més a més, Ciència del Disseny ha sigut un recurs clau per organitzar la investigació realitzada en aquesta tesi. Nosaltres reconeixem l'aplicació d'aquest marc de treball donat que ens ajuda a reportar clarament les nostres troballes. Aquesta tesi presenta un marc teòric introduint conceptes relacionats amb la investigació realitzada, seguit per un estat del art on coneixem a prop el treball realitzat en tres àrees: Interacció Humà-Ordinador, paradigma dirigit per models en la Interacció Humà-Ordinador i Enginyeria del Programari Empírica. El disseny i implementació de gestUI es presenta mitjançant el paradigma dirigit per models i el patró de disseny Model-Vista-Controlador. Després, nosaltres hem realitzat dos avaluacions de gestUI: (i) una avaluació empírica basada en ISO 25062-2006 per avaluar la usabilitat considerant efectivitat, eficiència i satisfacció. Satisfacció es mesura mitjançant la facilitat d'ús percebuda, utilitat percebuda i intenció d'ús; (ii) un Technical Action Research per avaluar l'experiència del usuari i la usabilitat. Nosaltres hem usat Model Evaluation Method, User Experience Questionnaire i Microsoft Reaction Cards com guies per realitzar les avaluacions mencionades. Les contribucions de la nostra tesi, limitacions del mètode i de la ferramenta de suport així com el treball futur són discutides i presentades.
Parra González, LO. (2017). gestUI: a model-driven method for including gesture-based interaction in user interfaces [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/89090
TESIS

[EN] Domain-specific languages (DSLs) are considered to be a powerful tool for enhancing the efficiency of software developers and bring software development closer to end-users from complex domains. However, the successful development of a DSL for a complex domain is a challenge from the technical point of view and because end-user acceptance is key. Despite this fact, the relevant role of end-users during DSL development has traditionally been neglected. Normally, end-users participate at the beginning to communicate their preferences but they do not participate again until the DSL is completely implemented. As a consequence, if the language to develop reaches a complex domain, the chances that errors appear in the DSL are higher and solving them could involve large modifications that could have been avoided. As a solution, in this PhD thesis, we propose an agile, model-driven method to involve end-users in DSL development. This thesis researches if the combination of best practices from the model-driven development (MDD) discipline and best practices from agile methods is a suitable approach to involve end-users in the DSL development process. In order to validate the proposal, we have selected a highly complex domain such as the genetic analysis domain and we have collaborated with geneticists from three organizations. The proposed method has been used to involve these geneticists in the development of a DSL for the creation of genetic analysis pipelines. Simultaneously, we have carried out an empirical experiment to validate whether end-users and developers were satisfied with the proposal.
[ES] Los lenguajes específicos de dominio (DSLs) son una herramienta muy potente para mejorar la eficiencia de los desarrolladores de software, así como para acercar el desarrollo software a usuarios sin conocimientos informáticos. Sin embargo, su principal problema es que desarrollar un DSL es complejo; no sólo desde el punto de vista técnico, sino especialmente porque la aceptación de dicho lenguaje por parte de los usuarios finales es clave. A pesar de este hecho, los métodos tradicionales de desarrollo de DSLs no enfatizan el importante rol de los usuarios finales durante el desarrollo. Normalmente, los usuarios participan al inicio para comunicar sus preferencias, pero no vuelven a participar hasta que el DSL está completamente desarrollado. Si el lenguaje a desarrollar aborda un dominio complejo, la posibilidad de que existan errores en el DSL es mayor, y su solución podría conllevar a modificaciones de gran calibre que podrían haberse evitado. Como solución, en esta tesis proponemos un método de desarrollo de DSLs, ágil, y dirigido por modelos que involucra a los usuarios finales. Esta tesis investiga si la combinación de buenas prácticas del desarrollo dirigido por modelos (MDD) y de buenas prácticas de métodos ágiles es adecuada para involucrar a los usuarios finales en el desarrollo de DSLs. Para validar la idoneidad de la propuesta, se ha seleccionado un dominio complejo como el de los análisis genéticos y se ha colaborado con un conjunto de genetistas procedentes de tres organizaciones. El método propuesto se ha utilizado para involucrar a dichos genetistas en el desarrollo de un DSL para la creación de pipelines para el análisis genético. Conjuntamente, se ha llevado a cabo un experimento empírico para validar si los usuarios finales y los desarrolladores están satisfechos con la propuesta de la presente tesis. En resumen, las contribuciones principales de esta tesis doctoral son el diseño e implementación de un método innovador, ágil y dirigido por modelos para involucrar a los usuarios finales en el desarrollo de DSLs, así como la validación de dicha propuesta en un entorno industrial en un desarrollo real de un DSL.
[CAT] Els llenguatges específics de domini (DSLs) son una ferramenta molt potent per a millorar l'eficiència dels desenvolupadors de programari, així com per a apropar el desenvolupament de programari a usuaris sense coneixements informàtics. El problema es que desenvolupar un DSL es complex, no sols des del punt de vista tècnic, sinó especialment perquè l'acceptació de dit llenguatge per part dels usuaris finals es clau. Malgrat aquest fet, els mètodes tradicionals de desenvolupament de DSLs no emfatitzen l'important rol dels usuaris finals durant el desenvolupament. Normalment, els usuaris participen a l'inici per a comunicar les seues preferències, però no tornen a participar fins que el DSL està completament desenvolupat. Si el llenguatge a desenvolupar aborda un domini complex, la possibilitat de que hi hagen errors en el DSL es major i solucionar-los podria implicar modificacions de gran calibre que podrien haver-se evitat. Com a solució, en aquesta tesis proposem un mètode de desenvolupament de DSLs, àgil i dirigit per models que involucra als usuaris finals. Aquesta tesis investiga si la combinació de bones pràctiques del desenvolupament dirigit per models (MDD) i de bones pràctiques de mètodes àgils es adequada per a involucrar els usuaris finals en el desenvolupament de DSLs. Per a validar la idoneïtat de la proposta, s'ha seleccionat un domini complex com el dels anàlisis genètics i s'ha col·laborat amb un conjunt de genetistes procedents de tres organitzacions. El mètode s'ha utilitzat per a involucrar a dits genetistes en el desenvolupament d'un DSL per a la creació de pipelines per al anàlisis genètic. Al mateix temps, s'ha dut a terme un experiment empíric per a validar si tant els usuaris finals com els desenvolupadors estan satisfets amb la proposta de la present tesis. En resum, les contribucions principals d'aquesta tesis doctoral son el disseny i implementació d'un mètode innovador, àgil i dirigit per models per a involucrar als usuaris finals en el desenvolupament de DSLs, així com la validació de la proposta en un entorn industrial amb un desenvolupament real d'un DSL.
Villanueva Del Pozo, MJ. (2016). An agile model-driven method for involving end-users in DSL development [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/60156
TESIS

Even though there are many software development and project management methodologies available, research and practice both show that IT software development projects still fail, and that the quality of software products does not always meet customers' expectations. There might be multiple causes for such failures, but some of these reasons can be seen to influence or create others. Therefore, the larger the project is, the higher its risk of failure, especially if the teams involved work remotely (distributed and outsourced). This increase in project complexity is considered the motivation for this paper. Similarly, there are other factors that can result in a project's failure and customers' dissatisfaction regarding software quality. All such factors identified by research conducted by organizations specializing in this area are analyzed in order to identify a common root of IT project failures. Once the root causes of these failures have been identified and analyzed, the goal of the Interface based software development methodology is to solve them. The solution offered by an Interface based software development methodology is to improve understanding of software requirements and to describe these requirements with interfaces in an object-oriented way. Interface based software development will support and drive development towards service-oriented architecture (SOA) and component-based development (CBD). The goal of interface based software development is to increase software testability and maintainability and to make it more easily feasible to execute various software development processes in parallel.

[EN] Model-Driven Development (MDD) promotes models as the cornerstone in the software development process, thereby displacing source code as the development process's main feature. Although this model-centric schema claims advantages over traditional software development (e.g., the code could be automatically generated from the models), it does not have the level of adoption that has been expected. The literature review reveals a broad agreement in the fact that end-users may develop and adapt systems themselves but the complexity in modeling standards and the lack of modeling skills prevents their active involvement in modeling tasks of existing MDD processes. To overcome this, end-users should be provided with different modeling languages that use concepts, which fit their particular skills, context and needs. This challenge is the main goal of this thesis, which is addressed by combining the End-user Development and the Model-Driven Development fields. This work starts with the involvement of end-users into the modeling tasks using a tool-supported visual modeling language that allows end-users to select and customize system features of pervasive systems using closer concepts for them. Afterwards, this thesis shows the necessity of enriching existing MDD processes for supporting the development of a new generation of software systems (e.g., smart health) that require expertise in a variety of domains. Consequently, different types of users (e.g., scientists, engineers and end-users) must actively participate in the description of model fragments that depend on their expertise using a different modeling language. Thus, users are able to collaborate to obtain a unified system description. At this point, it becomes necessary to provide mechanisms that transforms models fragments from one modeling language to another, delimits which model fragments are described by a different user, and integrates those model fragments. To provide this, the presented approach encompasses variability management in a novel way to enable collaborative modeling by supporting both the selection of model fragments of the system that may be described using a different modeling language, and the integration of those model fragments once they are described. Furthermore, interoperability mechanisms bridge two different modeling languages in a non-intrusive way with the structure of models by transforming the description of gaps. Thus, our proposal could enrich models of existing MDD processes with model fragments that have been described using a different modeling language, which could make users feel confident to adopt models for describing domain-specific content and could help to adopt MDD processes. The proposal has been validated in three case studies from different levels of complexity and domains: smart home systems, web information systems, and biomechanical protocols. The results have proven the applicability and feasibility of our approach to actively involve different types of users (end- users with software professionals, domain experts with software development experts, and doctors with biomedical engineers, respectively) in model descriptions of existing MDD processes using a different modeling language.
[ES] En el Desarrollo de Software Dirigido por Modelos (DSDM) los modelos son la piedra angular del proceso de desarrollo de software, desplazando así al código fuente como artefacto principal. Aunque este enfoque centrado en modelos ofrece ventajas sobre el desarrollo de software tradicional (por ejemplo, la generación de código de forma automática a partir de los modelos) no tiene el nivel de adopción esperado. La literatura científica revela un amplio acuerdo en el hecho de que los usuarios finales puedan ellos mismos desarrollar y adaptar los sistemas pero la complejidad de los estándares de modelado y la carencia de habilidades de modelado impide su participación activa en procesos DSDM existentes. Para lograrlo, los usuarios finales deben disponer de lenguajes de modelado diferentes con conceptos adaptados a sus habilidades, contexto y necesidades. Este desafío es el objetivo principal de esta tesis que se aborda combinando las ideas del desarrollo orientado al usuario final y el DSDM. Este trabajo comienza involucrando usuarios finales en tareas de modelado con una herramienta que les proporciona un lenguaje de modelado visual para seleccionar y personalizar características de un sistema pervasivo utilizando conceptos familiares para ellos. Después, esta tesis motiva la necesidad de enriquecer procesos de DSDM existentes para soportar el desarrollo de una nueva generación de sistemas software (por ejemplo, salud inteligente) que requieren conocimientos especializados en una variedad de dominios. Consecuentemente, diferentes tipos de usuarios (por ejemplo, científicos, ingenieros y usuarios finales) deben participar activamente en la descripción de fragmentos de modelos que dependen de su experiencia utilizando un lenguaje de modelado diferente. De este modo, los usuarios pueden colaborar para obtener una descripción del sistema unificada. En este punto, es necesario proporcionar mecanismos que transformen e integren los fragmentos de un lenguaje de modelado a otro y delimiten qué fragmentos se describen por un usuario diferente. Para proporcionar esto, la propuesta presentada utiliza la gestión de variabilidad de forma novedosa para permitir modelado colaborativo seleccionando fragmentos de un modelo del sistema que pueden ser descritos utilizando un lenguaje de modelado diferente y, la integración de esos fragmentos una vez que hayan sido descritos. Además, la propuesta utiliza mecanismos de interoperabilidad para conectar dos lenguajes de modelado diferentes transformando la descripción de los fragmentos de una manera no invasiva con su estructura. Por tanto, nuestra propuesta puede enriquecer los modelos de procesos DSDM existentes con fragmentos de modelos que han sido descritos con un lenguaje diferente y esto, podría hacer que los usuarios se sientan seguros al adoptar modelos para describir contenido de dominio específico y podría ayudar a adoptar procesos DSDM. La propuesta ha sido validada en tres casos de estudio con diferentes niveles de complejidad y dominios: sistemas para el hogar inteligente, sistemas de información web y protocolos biomecánicos. Los resultados han demostrado la aplicabilidad y viabilidad de nuestra propuesta para involucrar diferentes tipos de usuarios (usuarios finales con profesionales de software, expertos en el dominio con expertos en desarrollo de software y, médicos con ingenieros biomédicos, respectivamente) en descripciones de modelos de procesos DSDM existentes utilizando un lenguaje de modelado diferente.
[CAT] En el Desenvolupament de Programari Dirigit per Models (DPDM) els models són la pedra angular del procés de desenvolupament de programari, desplaçant així al codi font com a artefacte principal. Encara que aquest enfocament centrat en models ofereix avantatges sobre el desenvolupament de programari tradicional (per exemple, la generació de codi de forma automàtica a partir dels models) no té el nivell d'adopció esperat. La literatura científica revela un ampli acord en el fet que els usuaris finals puguen ells mateixos desenvolupar i adaptar els sistemes però la complexitat dels estàndards de modelatge i la falta d'habilitats de modelatge impedeix la seua participació activa en processos DPDM existents. Per a aconseguir-ho, els usuaris finals han de disposar de llenguatges de modelatge diferents amb conceptes adaptats a les seues habilitats, context i necessitats. Aquest desafiament és l'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi que s'aborda combinant les idees del desenvolupament orientat a l'usuari final i el DPDM. Aquest treball comença involucrant usuaris finals en tasques de modelatge amb una eina que els proporciona un llenguatge de modelatge visual que permet als usuaris finals seleccionar i personalitzar característiques d'un sistema pervasiu utilitzant conceptes familiars per a ells. Després, aquesta tesi motiva la necessitat d'enriquir processos de DPDM existents per a suportar el desenvolupament d'una nova generació de sistemes programari (per exemple, salut intel¿ligent) que requereixen coneixements especialitzats en una varietat de dominis. Conseqüentment, diferents tipus d'usuaris (per exemple, científics, enginyers i usuaris finals) han de participar activament en la descripció de fragments de models que depenen de la seua experiència utilitzant un llenguatge de modelatge diferent. D'aquesta manera, els usuaris poden col¿laborar per a obtenir una descripció del sistema unificada. En aquest punt, és necessari proporcionar mecanismes que transformen i integren els fragments d'un llenguatge de modelatge a un altre i delimiten quins fragments es descriuen per un usuari diferent. Per a proporcionar açò, la proposta presentada utilitza la gestió de variabilitat de forma nova per a permetre modelatge col.laboratiu seleccionant fragments d'un model del sistema que poden ser descrits utilitzant un llenguatge de modelatge diferent i, la integració d'aqueixos fragments una vegada que hagen sigut descrits. A més, la proposta utilitza mecanismes d'interoperabilitat per a connectar dos llenguatges de modelatge diferents transformant la descripció dels fragments d'una manera no invasiva amb la seua estructura. Per tant, la nostra proposta pot enriquir els models de processos DPDM existents amb fragments de models que han sigut descrits amb un llenguatge diferent i açò, podria fer que els usuaris se senten segurs en adoptar models per a descriure contingut de domini específic i podria ajudar a adoptar processos DPDM. La proposta ha sigut validada en tres casos d'estudi amb diferents nivells de complexitat i dominis: sistemes per a la llar intel¿ligent, sistemes d'informació web i protocols biomecànics. Els resultats han demostrat l'aplicabilitat i viabilitat de la nostra proposta per a involucrar diferents tipus d'usuaris (usuaris finals amb professionals de programari, experts en el domini amb experts en desenvolupament de programari i, metges amb enginyers biomèdics, respectivament) en descripcions de models de processos DPDM existents utilitzant un llenguatge de modelatge diferent.
Pérez Pérez, MF. (2015). Achieving non-intrusive interoperability between models for involving users in modeling tasks [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/58429
TESIS

This dissertation focuses on the investigation and development of an effective prosthetic training and rehabilitation platform with the use of virtual reality to facilitate an effective process to return amputees to the highest level of independence and functioning possible. It has been reported that approximately 10 million people live with a limb loss worldwide, with around 30% being an upper-extremity amputee. The sudden loss of a hand or arm causes the loss of fine, coordinated movements, reduced joint range of motion (ROM), proprioceptive feedback and aesthetic appearance, all which can be improved with the use of a prosthesis and proper training. Current literature has shown prosthetic devices to provide limited function to users in a variety of areas including hand operation, functionality and usability, all which could be improved with proper rehabilitation and training. It has been exhibited that a large percentage of amputees abandon or reject prosthesis use mostly due to limited function and lack of training or knowledge of the device. It has been reported that untrained amputees will adjust their body in an awkward or compensatory body motion rather than repositioning a joint position while performing a task with a prosthetic device. This causes misuse and improper function that has been shown to lead to significant injuries. An effective prosthetic training and rehabilitation regime would be advantageous in returning the patient to the highest level of independence and functioning possible, with proper use of their prosthetic device. A successful training and rehabilitation program would allow an amputee to improve their ability to perform with optimal motion and use all prosthetic control capabilities. This dissertation describes the development of a stick figure model of the user’s motion in real-time and a character avatar animating the individualized optimal goal motions. The real-time model directly corresponds to the user’s motion, with the option to have the character avatar simultaneously animating an optimal goal motion for the user to follow. These were implemented into the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) system (Motek Medical, Amsterdam, Netherlands) to provide real-time visual feedback to the users while performing specified training and rehabilitating tasks. A ten camera Vicon (Oxford, UK) optical motion captured system was used with the CAREN system capabilities to track body and upper extremity prosthetic segments during range of motion (ROM), activities of daily living (ADL), and return to duty (RTD) tasks, with and without the use of the virtual reality visual feedback. Data was collected on five able-bodied subjects and five subjects with a unilateral transradial amputation using their personal prosthetic device. Through investigation and development, a preferred and effective way to display the visualization of the real-time and optimal models were revealed. Testing the subjects with and without the virtual reality visualization, exhibited the effectiveness of providing visual feedback. Results showed subject’s to have improved positing, movement symmetry, joint range of motion, motivation, and overall an improved performance of the series of tasks tested. With the integration of the optimal model visualization, real-time visual feedback, and additional CAREN system capabilities, upper-extremity training and rehabilitation techniques were shown to enhance with the use of virtual reality, through improved task performance, and functional advances. The results of this dissertation introduce an alternative means for clinicians to consider for effectively rehabilitating and training upper-limb amputees. Findings of this dissertation sought to provide useful guidelines and recommendation to aid in the development of a small-scale adaptable option for rehabilitation practitioners and at home use. The techniques investigated in this study could also be applicable for lower-limb amputee, post-stroke, traumatic brain injury, poly-trauma, and other patients with physically limiting disabilities. The techniques investigated in this study are expected to aid in the development of training and rehabilitation procedures for a variety of patient populations, to enhance the effectiveness and assist in improving the overall quality of life of others.

The work of this thesis was focused on the development of high-performance algorithms for a new generation of molecular descriptors, with many advantages with respect to its predecessors, suitable for diverse applications in the field of drug design, as well as its implementation in commercial grade scientific software (Pentacle). As a first step, we developed a new algorithm (AMANDA) for discretizing molecular interaction fields which allows extracting from them the most interesting regions in an efficient way. This algorithm was incorporated into a new generation of alignmentindependent molecular descriptors, named GRIND-2. The computing speed and efficiency of the new algorithm allow the application of these descriptors in virtual screening. In addition, we developed a new alignment-independent encoding algorithm (CLACC) producing quantitative structure-activity relationship models which have better predictive ability and are easier to interpret than those obtained with other methods.
El trabajo que se presenta en esta tesis se ha centrado en el desarrollo de algoritmos de altas prestaciones para la obtención de una nueva generación de descriptores moleculares, con numerosas ventajas con respecto a sus predecesores, adecuados para diversas aplicaciones en el área del diseño de fármacos, y en su implementación en un programa científico de calidad comercial (Pentacle). Inicialmente se desarrolló un nuevo algoritmo de discretización de campos de interacción molecular (AMANDA) que permite extraer eficientemente las regiones de máximo interés. Este algoritmo fue incorporado en una nueva generación de descriptores moleculares independientes del alineamiento, denominados GRIND-2. La rapidez y eficiencia del nuevo algoritmo permitieron aplicar estos descriptores en cribados virtuales. Por último, se puso a punto un nuevo algoritmo de codificación independiente de alineamiento (CLACC) que permite obtener modelos cuantitativos de relación estructura-actividad con mejor capacidad predictiva y mucho más fáciles de interpretar que los obtenidos con otros métodos.

In the present study, an air-liquid interface culture system was optimised for the use of bovine airway epithelial cells. This culture system has been adopted for other species, where a pseudostratified epithelium comprising multiple cell types and resembling the in vivo environment is produced. Several aspects of the epithelial culture process were optimised, including (i) the cell harvesting process and the expansion of cells in submerged culture, (ii) the substrate material used for air-liquid interface culture, the effects of collagen-coating of the substrate, and the substrate porosity, (iii) the oxygen tension (iv) growth factor (retinoic acid and epidermal growth factor) concentration used during culture and (v) the anatomical region of the respiratory tract from which the epithelial cells were harvested. The optimisation of the aforementioned conditions resulted in the production of an in vitro respiratory tract model that was more than 40% ciliated, pseudostratified with a layer of P63-expressing basal cells and capable of mucus and CC10 (Clara cell secretory protein) production. Thus, an in vitro model of the bovine respiratory tract was established to determine the host-pathogen interactions of M. haemolytica with the respiratory epithelium. A rigorous proteomic characterisation was carried out on the outer membrane of M. haemolytica. The Sarkosyl insoluble fractions of seven M. haemolytica and one M. glucosida isolates, representing a range of serotypes and host species, were prepared in triplicate. Tryptic digests of each sample were prepared using gel-based and gel-free proteomic digests before analysis by LC-MS/MS. Data was searched against the NCBI Uniprot database using MSCOT (Matrix Science). Assembly of the data revealed that a total of 83 unique outer membrane proteins were distributed amongst the eight Mannheimia spp. isolates. Fifty seven of the 83 OMPs were identified using both gel-free and gel-based methodologies with a further 18 and eight identified with a single methodology alone. Several proteins were identified in an isolate specific manner; two OMPs exhibited a strong pattern of serotype-specific identification. The YadA-like trimeric autotransporter was identified with full reproducibility in A2 serotype strains yet not in strains of different serotype. Conversely, the lipoprotein, plpD was identified in at least two replicates of all isolates except those of serotype A2 where it was not identified at all. The air-liquid interface culture system was used to study the adherence and colonisation of Mannheimia haemolytica to the bovine respiratory tract. In a pilot study, pathogenic bovine and ovine isolates M. haemolytica isolates were studied with bovine and ovine air-liquid interface airway epithelial cells. Bovine and ovine M. haemolytica isolates were found to adhere to the epithelial cells, six hours post-infection in the case of an ovine isolate and 24 hours in the case of a bovine isolate. Bovine isolates of M. haemolytica were predominantly found to invade and adhere to the sub-apical regions of the epithelium with relatively few bacteria found on the apical face. Adherence to the sub-apical epithelium represents the first description of M. haemoyltica causing invasive disease. Microscopic evidence of outer membrane vesicle production and exopolymeric material were also noted for one of the ovine isolates during infection. Following optimisation of the bovine air-liquid interface culture system, an experiment was conducted that examined the ability of M. haemolytica to adhere and colonise air-liquid interface cultures with epithelial cells derived from different anatomical regions of the respiratory tract. Cells derived from the nasopharynx, the mid-trachea and the secondary/tertiary bronchi were differentiated at ALI and infected with pathogenic and non-pathogenic bovine isolates of M. haemolytica. The non-pathogenic M. haemolytica isolate was found to adhere and colonise the nasopharyngeal derived cells better than either the bronchial or tracheal derived cells. Conversely, the pathogenic M. haemolytica isolate was found to have significantly greater adherence to the bronchial derived epithelial cultures and significantly higher adherence (P > 0.0001) than the non-pathogenic isolate. The pathogenic M. haemolytica isolate was also found to colonise the nasopharyngeal-derived epithelial culture albeit with lower frequency than was observed for the bronchial-derived epithelial cells. The results presented herein demonstrate the development of a novel in vitro tool for studying the infection process of respiratory pathogens. The use of this tool to study the infection properties of M. haemolytica in combination with characterisation of the outer membrane proteome provides new insight into the process of colonisation and highlights the protein machinery that likely contributes to the process.

Data masses on the World Wide Web can hardly be managed by humans or machines. One option is the formal description and linking of data sources using Semantic Web and Linked Data technologies. Ontologies written in standardised languages foster the sharing and linking of data as they provide a means to formally define concepts and relations between these concepts. A second option is visualisation. The visual representation allows humans to perceive information more directly, using the highly developed visual sense. Relatively few efforts have been made on combining both options, although the formality and rich semantics of ontological data make it an ideal candidate for visualisation. Advanced visualisation design systems support the visualisation of tabular, typically statistical data. However, visualisations of ontological data still have to be created manually, since automated solutions are often limited to generic lists or node-link diagrams. Also, the semantics of ontological data are not exploited for guiding users through visualisation tasks. Finally, once a good visualisation setting has been created, it cannot easily be reused and shared. Trying to tackle these problems, we had to answer how to define composable and shareable mappings from ontological data to visual means and how to guide the visual mapping of ontological data. We present an approach that allows for the guided visualisation of ontological data, the creation of effective graphics and the reuse of visualisation settings. Instead of generic graphics, we aim at tailor-made graphics, produced using the whole palette of visual means in a flexible, bottom-up approach. It not only allows for visualising ontologies, but uses ontologies to guide users when visualising data and to drive the visualisation process at various places: First, as a rich source of information on data characteristics, second, as a means to formally describe the vocabulary for building abstract graphics, and third, as a knowledge base of facts on visualisation. This is why we call our approach ontology-driven. We suggest generating an Abstract Visual Model (AVM) to represent and »synthesise« a graphic following a role-based approach, inspired by the one used by J. v. Engelhardt for the analysis of graphics. It consists of graphic objects and relations formalised in the Visualisation Ontology (VISO). A mappings model, based on the declarative RDFS/OWL Visualisation Language (RVL), determines a set of transformations from the domain data to the AVM. RVL allows for composable visual mappings that can be shared and reused across platforms. To guide the user, for example, we discourage the construction of mappings that are suboptimal according to an effectiveness ranking formalised in the fact base and suggest more effective mappings instead. The guidance process is flexible, since it is based on exchangeable rules. VISO, RVL and the AVM are additional contributions of this thesis. Further, we initially analysed the state of the art in visualisation and RDF-presentation comparing 10 approaches by 29 criteria. Our approach is unique because it combines ontology-driven guidance with composable visual mappings. Finally, we compare three prototypes covering the essential parts of our approach to show its feasibility. We show how the mapping process can be supported by tools displaying warning messages for non-optimal visual mappings, e.g., by considering relation characteristics such as »symmetry«. In a constructive evaluation, we challenge both the RVL language and the latest prototype trying to regenerate sketches of graphics we created manually during analysis. We demonstrate how graphics can be varied and complex mappings can be composed from simple ones. Two thirds of the sketches can be almost or completely specified and half of them can be almost or completely implemented
Datenmassen im World Wide Web können kaum von Menschen oder Maschinen erfasst werden. Eine Option ist die formale Beschreibung und Verknüpfung von Datenquellen mit Semantic-Web- und Linked-Data-Technologien. Ontologien, in standardisierten Sprachen geschrieben, befördern das Teilen und Verknüpfen von Daten, da sie ein Mittel zur formalen Definition von Konzepten und Beziehungen zwischen diesen Konzepten darstellen. Eine zweite Option ist die Visualisierung. Die visuelle Repräsentation ermöglicht es dem Menschen, Informationen direkter wahrzunehmen, indem er seinen hochentwickelten Sehsinn verwendet. Relativ wenige Anstrengungen wurden unternommen, um beide Optionen zu kombinieren, obwohl die Formalität und die reichhaltige Semantik ontologische Daten zu einem idealen Kandidaten für die Visualisierung machen. Visualisierungsdesignsysteme unterstützen Nutzer bei der Visualisierung von tabellarischen, typischerweise statistischen Daten. Visualisierungen ontologischer Daten jedoch müssen noch manuell erstellt werden, da automatisierte Lösungen häufig auf generische Listendarstellungen oder Knoten-Kanten-Diagramme beschränkt sind. Auch die Semantik der ontologischen Daten wird nicht ausgenutzt, um Benutzer durch Visualisierungsaufgaben zu führen. Einmal erstellte Visualisierungseinstellungen können nicht einfach wiederverwendet und geteilt werden. Um diese Probleme zu lösen, mussten wir eine Antwort darauf finden, wie die Definition komponierbarer und wiederverwendbarer Abbildungen von ontologischen Daten auf visuelle Mittel geschehen könnte und wie Nutzer bei dieser Abbildung geführt werden könnten. Wir stellen einen Ansatz vor, der die geführte Visualisierung von ontologischen Daten, die Erstellung effektiver Grafiken und die Wiederverwendung von Visualisierungseinstellungen ermöglicht. Statt auf generische Grafiken zielt der Ansatz auf maßgeschneiderte Grafiken ab, die mit der gesamten Palette visueller Mittel in einem flexiblen Bottom-Up-Ansatz erstellt werden. Er erlaubt nicht nur die Visualisierung von Ontologien, sondern verwendet auch Ontologien, um Benutzer bei der Visualisierung von Daten zu führen und den Visualisierungsprozess an verschiedenen Stellen zu steuern: Erstens als eine reichhaltige Informationsquelle zu Datencharakteristiken, zweitens als Mittel zur formalen Beschreibung des Vokabulars für den Aufbau von abstrakten Grafiken und drittens als Wissensbasis von Visualisierungsfakten. Deshalb nennen wir unseren Ansatz ontologie-getrieben. Wir schlagen vor, ein Abstract Visual Model (AVM) zu generieren, um eine Grafik rollenbasiert zu synthetisieren, angelehnt an einen Ansatz der von J. v. Engelhardt verwendet wird, um Grafiken zu analysieren. Das AVM besteht aus grafischen Objekten und Relationen, die in der Visualisation Ontology (VISO) formalisiert sind. Ein Mapping-Modell, das auf der deklarativen RDFS/OWL Visualisation Language (RVL) basiert, bestimmt eine Menge von Transformationen von den Quelldaten zum AVM. RVL ermöglicht zusammensetzbare »Mappings«, visuelle Abbildungen, die über Plattformen hinweg geteilt und wiederverwendet werden können. Um den Benutzer zu führen, bewerten wir Mappings anhand eines in der Faktenbasis formalisierten Effektivitätsrankings und schlagen ggf. effektivere Mappings vor. Der Beratungsprozess ist flexibel, da er auf austauschbaren Regeln basiert. VISO, RVL und das AVM sind weitere Beiträge dieser Arbeit. Darüber hinaus analysieren wir zunächst den Stand der Technik in der Visualisierung und RDF-Präsentation, indem wir 10 Ansätze nach 29 Kriterien vergleichen. Unser Ansatz ist einzigartig, da er eine ontologie-getriebene Nutzerführung mit komponierbaren visuellen Mappings vereint. Schließlich vergleichen wir drei Prototypen, welche die wesentlichen Teile unseres Ansatzes umsetzen, um seine Machbarkeit zu zeigen. Wir zeigen, wie der Mapping-Prozess durch Tools unterstützt werden kann, die Warnmeldungen für nicht optimale visuelle Abbildungen anzeigen, z. B. durch Berücksichtigung von Charakteristiken der Relationen wie »Symmetrie«. In einer konstruktiven Evaluation fordern wir sowohl die RVL-Sprache als auch den neuesten Prototyp heraus, indem wir versuchen Skizzen von Grafiken umzusetzen, die wir während der Analyse manuell erstellt haben. Wir zeigen, wie Grafiken variiert werden können und komplexe Mappings aus einfachen zusammengesetzt werden können. Zwei Drittel der Skizzen können fast vollständig oder vollständig spezifiziert werden und die Hälfte kann fast vollständig oder vollständig umgesetzt werden

The Tibetan Plateau with an extent of about 2,5 million square kilometers at an average altitude higher than 4,700 meters has a significant impact on the Asian monsoon and regulates with its snow and ice reserves the upstream headwaters of seven major south-east Asian rivers. Upon the water supply of these rivers depend over 1,4 billion people, the agriculture, the economics, and the entire ecosystem in this region. As the increasing number of floods and droughts show, these seasonal water reserves however are likely to be influenced by climate change, with negative effects for the downstream water supply and subsequently the food security. The international cooperation project CEOP-AEGIS – funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Program – aims as a result to improve the knowledge of the hydrology and meteorology of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau to further understand its role in climate, monsoon and increasing extreme meteorological events. Within the framework of this project, a large variety of earth observation datasets from remote sensing products, model outputs and in-situ ground station measurements are collected and evaluated. Any foreground products of CEOP-AEGIS will have to be made available to the scientific community by an online data repository which is a contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The back-end of the CEOP-AEGIS Data Portal relies on a Dapper OPeNDAP web server that serves data stored in the NetCDF file format to a DChart client front-end as web-based user interface. Data from project partners are heterogeneous in its content, and also in its type of storage and metadata description. However NetCDF project output data and metadata has to be standardized and must follow international conventions to achieve a high level of interoperability. Out of these needs, the capabilities of NetCDF, OPeNDAP, Dapper and DChart were profoundly evaluated in order to take correct decisions for implementing a suitable and interoperable NetCDF data model for CEOP-AEGIS data that allows a maximum of compatibility and functionality to OPeNDAP and Dapper / DChart as well. This NetCDF implementation is part of a newly developed upstream data interface that converts and aggregates heterogeneous input data of project partners to standardized NetCDF datasets, so that they can be feed via OPeNDAP to the CEOP-AEGIS Data Portal based on the Dapper / DChart technology. A particular focus in the design of this data interface was set to an intermediate data and metadata representation that easily allows to modify its elements with the scope of achieving standardized NetCDF files in a simple way. Considering the extensive variety and amount of data within this project, it was essential to properly design a data interface that converts heterogeneous input data of project partners to standardized and aggregated NetCDF output files in order to ensure maximum compatibility and functionality within the CEOP-AEGIS Data Portal and subsequently interoperability within the scientific community
Das Hochplateau von Tibet mit einer Ausdehnung von 2.5 Millionen Quadratkilometer und einer durchschnittlichen Höhe von über 4 700 Meter beeinflusst wesentlich den asiatischen Monsun und reguliert mit seinen Schnee- und Eisreserven den Wasserhaushalt der Oberläufe der sieben wichtigsten Flüsse Südostasiens. Von diesem Wasserzufluss leben 1.4 Milliarden Menschen und hängt neben dem Ackerbau und der Wirtschaft das gesamte Ökosystem in dieser Gegend ab. Wie die zunehmende Zahl an Dürren und Überschwemmungen zeigt, sind diese jahreszeitlich beeinflussten Wasserreserven allen Anscheins nach vom Klimawandel betroffen, mit negativen Auswirkungen für die flussabwärts liegenden Stromgebiete und demzufolge die dortige Nahrungsmittelsicherheit. Das internationale Kooperationsprojekt CEOP-AEGIS – finanziert von der Europäischen Kommission unter dem Siebten Rahmenprogramm – hat sich deshalb zum Ziel gesetzt, die Hydrologie und Meteorologie dieses Hochplateaus weiter zu erforschen, um daraus seine Rolle in Bezug auf das Klima, den Monsun und den zunehmenden extremen Wetterereignissen tiefgreifender verstehen zu können. Im Rahmen dieses Projektes werden verschiedenartigste Erdbeobachtungsdaten von Fernerkundungssystemen, numerischen Simulationen und Bodenstationsmessungen gesammelt und ausgewertet. Sämtliche Endprodukte des CEOP-AEGIS Projektes werden der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft auf Grundlage einer über das Internet erreichbaren Datenbank zugänglich gemacht, welche eine Zuarbeit zur Initiative GEOSS (Global Earth Observing System of Systems) ist. Hintergründig basiert das CEOP-AEGIS Datenportal auf einem Dapper OPeNDAP Internetserver, welcher die im NetCDF Dateiformat gespeicherten Daten der vordergründigen internetbasierten DChart Benutzerschnittstelle auf Grundlage des OPeNDAP Protokolls bereit stellt. Eingangsdaten von Partnern dieses Projektes sind heterogen nicht nur in Bezug ihres Dateninhalts, sondern auch in Anbetracht ihrer Datenhaltung und Metadatenbeschreibung. Die Daten- und Metadatenhaltung der im NetCDF Dateiformat gespeicherten Endprodukte dieses Projektes müssen jedoch auf einer standardisierten Basis internationalen Konventionen folgen, damit ein hoher Grad an Interoperabilität erreicht werden kann. In Anbetracht dieser Qualitätsanforderungen wurden die technischen Möglichkeiten von NetCDF, OPeNDAP, Dapper und DChart in dieser Diplomarbeit gründlich untersucht, damit auf Grundlage dieser Erkenntnisse eine korrekte Entscheidung bezüglich der Implementierung eines für CEOP-AEGIS Daten passenden und interoperablen NetCDF Datenmodels abgeleitet werden kann, das eine maximale Kompatibilität und Funktionalität mit OPeNDAP und Dapper / DChart sicher stellen soll. Diese NetCDF Implementierung ist Bestandteil einer neu entwickelten Datenschnittstelle, welche heterogene Daten von Projektpartnern in standardisierte NetCDF Datensätze konvertiert und aggregiert, sodass diese mittels OPeNDAP dem auf der Dapper / DChart Technologie basierendem Datenportal von CEOP-AEGIS zugeführt werden können. Einen besonderen Schwerpunkt bei der Entwicklung dieser Datenschnittstelle wurde auf eine intermediäre Daten- und Metadatenhaltung gelegt, welche mit der Zielsetzung von geringem Arbeitsaufwand die Modifizierung ihrer Elemente und somit die Erzeugung von standardisierten NetCDF Dateien auf eine einfache Art und Weise erlaubt. In Anbetracht der beträchtlichen und verschiedenartigsten Geodaten dieses Projektes war es schlussendlich wesentlich, eine hochwertige Datenschnittstelle zur Überführung heterogener Eingangsdaten von Projektpartnern in standardisierte und aggregierte NetCDF Ausgansdateien zu entwickeln, um damit eine maximale Kompatibilität und Funktionalität mit dem CEOP-AEGIS Datenportal und daraus folgend ein hohes Maß an Interoperabilität innerhalb der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft erzielen zu können

Les systèmes d'information d'entreprise actuels s'articulent autour d'applications centrales lourdes, qui ne fournissent pas l'agilité nécessaire pour survivre dans un environnement économique hautement concurrentiel. De nombreux acteurs (unités commerciales, individus, équipes et communautés) doivent introduire leurs propres applications pour pallier à ces limitations, avec pour résultat un système d'information fragmenté, incohérent et impossible à gouverner. Cette étude propose un paradigme d'architecture d'entreprise alternatif, qui s'appuie sur une décomposition plus fine du système d'information et une distribution différente des responsabilités. Il permet à tout acteur de contribuer au système d'information en introduisant des fragments, privés ou partagés avec d'autres acteurs, qui peuvent ensuite être composés pour former des applications dédiées à un profil. Les récents mécanismes de l'informatique sociale sont proposés pour gérer les volumes potentiels importants de fragments émergeant de la communauté d'employés. L'objectif des systèmes d'informations sociaux est à la fois d'améliorer la cohérence et la gouvernabilité du système d'information de l'entreprise et d'exploiter l'intelligence et l'énergie collective de l'entreprise à des fins d'agilité métier maximale.

This diploma thesis describes how to create or convert traditional Java programs to desktop-like rich internet applications with the Google Web Toolkit. The Google Web Toolkit is an open source development environment, which translates Java code to browser and device independent HTML and JavaScript. Most of the GWT framework parts, including the Java to JavaScript compiler as well as important security issues of websites will be introduced. The famous Agricola board game will be implemented in the Model-View-Presenter pattern to show that complex user interfaces can be created with the Google Web Toolkit. The Google Web Toolkit framework will be compared with the JavaServer Faces one to find out which toolkit is the right one for the next web project
Diese Diplomarbeit beschreibt die Erzeugung desktopähnlicher Anwendungen mit dem Google Web Toolkit und die Umwandlung klassischer Java-Programme in diese. Das Google Web Toolkit ist eine Open-Source-Entwicklungsumgebung, die Java-Code in browserunabhängiges als auch in geräteübergreifendes HTML und JavaScript übersetzt. Vorgestellt wird der Großteil des GWT Frameworks inklusive des Java zu JavaScript-Compilers sowie wichtige Sicherheitsaspekte von Internetseiten. Um zu zeigen, dass auch komplizierte graphische Oberflächen mit dem Google Web Toolkit erzeugt werden können, wird das bekannte Brettspiel Agricola mittels Model-View-Presenter Designmuster implementiert. Zur Ermittlung der richtigen Technologie für das nächste Webprojekt findet ein Vergleich zwischen dem Google Web Toolkit und JavaServer Faces statt

Le point de départ de cette thèse a pour origine les difficultés constatées dans la communauté EIAH pour concevoir des applications éducatives exploitant des informations géographiques. A terme, il s'agit de proposer une nouvelle plateforme susceptible de rendre possible et opérationnel la conception d'applications Web géographiques portées par des utilisateurs non-informaticiens de façon autonome. La proposition scientifique est basée sur un processus de conception piloté par les contenus et par les interactions. Il est opérationnalisé dans une plateforme nommée WINDMash offrant aux concepteurs un environnement visuel de spécification et d'évaluation des interactions. Nous proposons un modèle unifié sous-jacent de description des applications Web géographiques comportant trois facettes qui permettent de représenter les contenus géographiques manipulés, de les afficher sur une interface graphique et de décrire le comportement de l’application (scénario d’interaction) à l'aide d'un langage visuel dont le formalisme graphique est inspiré du diagramme de séquence UML. En utilisant des techniques d'Ingénierie Dirigée par les Modèles, la plateforme WINDMash permet de générer automatiquement le code de l'application finale sur la base des instances de trois facettes du modèle unifié. La plateforme WINDMash utilise pour cela l’API WIND (Web INteraction Design) que nous avons programmée. Les concepteurs peuvent ainsi prototyper rapidement des applications Web géographiques correspondant à leurs besoins
The starting point of this thesis is to deal with the difficulties encountered in the TEL community for designing educational applications exploiting geographic information. Ultimately, it is to provide a new framework allowing for the operational design of geographic Web applications for experts in the domain (and particularly for teachers). The scientific proposal is based on a design process driven by contents and interaction. It is operationalized on a framework called WINDMash offering designers a visual environment for simply specifying and immediately evaluating interactions. The unified model for describing geographic Web applications has three parts: one for representing geographic contents, one for displaying them on a graphical user interface (GUI) and one for describing the behaviour of the application using a visual language whose graphical formalism is based on the UML diagram sequence. Using Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) techniques, the WINDMash framework can automatically generate the code of the final application based on the instances of three parts of the unified model. The WINDMash framework used for this the WIND API (Web INteraction Design) that we programmed. Designers can thus rapidly prototype geographic Web applications corresponding to their needs

Plusieurs évolutions sont constatées dans la recherche en biologie. Tout d’abord, les études menées reposent souvent sur des approches expérimentales quantitatives. L’analyse et l’interprétation des résultats requièrent l’utilisation de l’informatique et des statistiques. Également, en complément des études centrées sur des objets biologiques isolés, les technologies expérimentales haut débit permettent l’étude des systèmes (caractérisation des composants du système ainsi que des interactions entre ces composants). De très grandes quantités de données sont disponibles dans les bases de données publiques, librement réutilisables pour de nouvelles problématiques. Enfin, les données utiles pour les recherches en biologie sont très hétérogènes (données numériques, de textes, images, séquences biologiques, etc.) et conservées sur des supports d’information également très hétérogènes (papiers ou numériques). Ainsi « l’analyse de données » s’est petit à petit imposée comme une problématique de recherche à part entière et en seulement une dizaine d’années, le domaine de la « Bioinformatique » s’est en conséquence totalement réinventé. Disposer d’une grande quantité de données pour répondre à un questionnement biologique n’est souvent pas le défi principal. La vraie difficulté est la capacité des chercheurs à convertir les données en information, puis en connaissance. Dans ce contexte, plusieurs problématiques de recherche en biologie ont été abordées lors de cette thèse. La première concerne l’étude de l’homéostasie du fer chez la levure pathogène Candida glabrata. La seconde concerne l’étude systématique des modifications post-traductionnelles des protéines chez la levure pathogène Candida albicans. Pour ces deux projets, des données « omiques » ont été exploitées : transcriptomiques et protéomiques. Des outils bioinformatiques et des outils d’analyses ont été implémentés en parallèle conduisant à l’émergence de nouvelles hypothèses de recherche en biologie. Une attention particulière et constante a aussi été portée sur les problématiques de reproductibilité et de partage des résultats avec la communauté scientifique
Biological research is changing. First, studies are often based on quantitative experimental approaches. The analysis and the interpretation of the obtained results thus need computer science and statistics. Also, together with studies focused on isolated biological objects, high throughput experimental technologies allow to capture the functioning of biological systems (identification of components as well as the interactions between them). Very large amounts of data are also available in public databases, freely reusable to solve new open questions. Finally, the data in biological research are heterogeneous (digital data, texts, images, biological sequences, etc.) and stored on multiple supports (paper or digital). Thus, "data analysis" has gradually emerged as a key research issue, and in only ten years, the field of "Bioinformatics" has been significantly changed. Having a large amount of data to answer a biological question is often not the main challenge. The real challenge is the ability of researchers to convert the data into information and then into knowledge. In this context, several biological research projects were addressed in this thesis. The first concerns the study of iron homeostasis in the pathogenic yeast Candida glabrata. The second concerns the systematic investigation of post-translational modifications of proteins in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. In these two projects, omics data were used: transcriptomics and proteomics. Appropriate bioinformatics and analysis tools were developed, leading to the emergence of new research hypotheses. Particular and constant attention has also been paid to the question of data reproducibility and sharing of results with the scientific community

This thesis addresses issues related to the automatic generation of user interfaces, in order to identify methods to effectively support the constant evolution of processes and, at the same time, to put the emphasis on fundamental concepts for the user such as usability, plasticity, adaptability and multi-modality. The proposed methodology foresees the definition of a set of four meta-models for the design of the various aspects of both the UI and the application development processes, with the definition of the different users involved in the different steps and the indication of the models produced at the end of each step of the process; said methodology is synthesized in a specific framework covering both the design and runtime phases of multimodal adaptive UIs and application life cycles, thus embracing a more holistic model-driven approach foreseeing the integration of methods for the automatic generation of user interfaces with the tools used for business process management. In particular the framework envisions: a Domain Model, to represent all the concepts characterizing each application domain; a Process Model, to represent the tasks fulfilling the application requirements; an Abstract User Interface Model, automatically generated from the two previously introduced models and describing any possible user interface generated for the specific use case; a Concrete User Interface Model, automatically generated from the abstract model and describing the family of concrete user interfaces for a specific use case once a particular target technology has been chosen.

Having millions of mobile applications from Google Play and Apple's App store, the smartphone is becoming a necessity in our life. People could access a wide variety of services by using the mobile application, between which user interfaces (UIs) work as an important proxy.A well-designed UI makes an application easy, practical, and efficient to use. However, due to the rapid application iteration speed and the shortage of UI designers, developers are required to design the UIs and implement them in a short time.As a result, they may be unaware of or compromise some important factors related to usability and accessibility during the process of developing user interfaces of mobile applications.Therefore, efficient and useful tools are needed to enhance the efficiency of the development of user interfaces. In this thesis, I proposed three techniques to improve the efficiency of designing and developing user interfaces through semantic and data-driven analyses. First, I proposed a UI design search engine to help designers or developers quickly create trendy and practical UI designs by exposing them to UI designs in real applications. I collected a large-scale UI design dataset by automatically exploring UIs from top-downloaded Android applications, and designed an image autoencoder-based UI design engine to enable finer-grained UI design search. Second, during the process of understanding the real UIs implementation, I found that existing applications have a severe accessibility issue of lacking labels for image-based buttons. Such an issue will hinder the blind users to access the key functionalities on UIs. As blind users need to rely on screen readers to read content on UIs, it requires the developers to set up appropriate labels for image-based buttons.Therefore, I proposed LabelDroid, which aims to automatically generate labels (i.e., the content description) of image-based buttons while developers implement UIs. Finally, as the above techniques all require the view hierarchical information, which contains the bounds and type of contained elements, to achieve the goal, it is essential to generalize these techniques to a broader scope. For example, UIs in the design-sharing platforms do not have any metadata about the elements. To do this, I conducted the first large-scale empirical study on evaluating existing object detection methods of detecting elements in UIs. By understanding the unique characteristics of UI elements and UIs, I proposed a hybrid method to boost the accuracy and precision of detecting elements on user interfaces. Such a fundamental method can be beneficial to many downstream applications, such as UI design search, UI code generation, and UI testing. In conclusion, I proposed three techniques to enhance the efficiency of designing and developing the user interfaces on mobile applications through semantic and data-driven analyses. Such methods could easily generalize to a broader scope, such as user interfaces of desktop apps and websites.I expect my proposed techniques and the understanding of user interfaces can facilitate the following research.

碩士
國立中央大學
水文與海洋科學研究所
99
The BIOGEOCHEM numerical model (Yeh and Fang, 2002; Fang et al., 2003) was developed with FORTRAN for simulating reaction-based geochemical and biochemical processes with mixed equilibrium and kinetic reactions in batch systems. A complete suite of reactions including aqueous complexation, adsorption/desorption, ion-exchange, redox, precipitation/dissolution, acid-base reactions, and microbial mediated reactions were embodied in this unique modeling tool. Any reaction can be treated as fast/equilibrium or slow/kinetic reaction. An equilibrium reaction is modeled with an implicit finite rate governed by a mass action equilibrium equation or by a user-specified algebraic equation. A kinetic reaction is modeled with an explicit finite rate with an elementary rate, microbial mediated enzymatic kinetics, or a user-specified rate equation. None of the existing models has encompassed this wide array of scopes. To ease the input/output learning curve using the unique feature of BIOGEOCHEM, an interactive graphic user interface was developed with the Microsoft Visual Studio and .Net tools. Several user-friendly features, such as pop-up help windows, typo warning messages, and on-screen input hints, were implemented, which are robust. All input data can be real-time viewed and automated to conform with the input file format of BIOGEOCHEM. A post-processor for graphic visualizations of simulated results was also embedded for immediate demonstrations. By following data input windows step by step, errorless BIOGEOCHEM input files can be created even if users have little prior experiences in FORTRAN. With this user-friendly interface, the time effort to conduct simulations with BIOGEOCHEM can be greatly reduced.

Business processes describe a set of tasks for accomplishing business objectives of an organization. Business applications automate business processes to improve the productivity of business users. Nowadays, the business environment changes fast due to rapid market growth and technological innovations. Business processes are continuously updated to reflect new business initiatives. Business applications are frequently evolved to add features to meet new requirements and fix defects. Quite often, business processes and business applications evolve independently without direct reference to each other. Over time, it becomes more and more challenging to maintain the consistency between a business application and the corresponding business processes. Moreover, the existing development approaches rely on software developers’ craftsmanship to design and implement business applications. Such a development paradigm is inefficient and leads to inconsistency between business processes and business applications. To facilitate the alignment between business applications and business processes, we present an approach that automatically generates software architecture and code skeletons of business applications from business processes. We identify architectural components from business processes by analyzing dependencies among tasks. To verify the achievement of quality requirements, we extend a set of existing product metrics to automatically evaluate the quality of the generated software architecture designs. Eventually, we apply refactoring strategies, such as software architectural styles or design patterns, to optimize the generated software architecture designs and resolve identified quality problems. Moreover, we also present an approach to automatically refine software architecture to design models and code skeletons of business applications. The effectiveness of our proposed approach is illustrated through case studies.
Thesis (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2011-01-30 00:06:34.77

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Technology, Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2012.
This thesis reports on original exploratory study that is aimed at contributing towards understanding of factors that influence Africa users support for alternative object metaphors for user interface icons. One of the great impediments for efficient utilization of information systems is the existing gap between system designs that typically follow western cues for crafting user interfaces and actual users who use those systems within their diverse cultural frames. The problem remains important because of the wider penetration of information systems, which serve as modern technology tools to improve service provisioning worldwide. In order to overcome the problem of optimum utilization of information systems, previous studies have proposed culturally adaptive user interfaces. The basic principle behind culture adaptive interfaces is to develop intelligent user interfaces that can automatically adapt to user contexts. However, the challenges with the new proposals for adaptive user interfaces are how to best model information about users, how to access the cultural background of individual users and empirically examine the effects of culture on user interface preferences. In order to properly contribute to solving these problems, an exploratory study was conducted to empirically establish African rural users support for alternative village object metaphors, examine effects of culture on user support and investigate response characteristic among culturally diverse user groups. The synthesis of bodystorming and cultural probes methodology was applied to engage the participation of African rural users in the study. Technology support model was developed to measure user knowledge, comprehension, skills, performance and support for alternative African village metaphors as interface icons. The partial least square analytic modelling technique and finite mixture path segmentation model were used to test a set of research hypotheses and detect heterogeneity in 71 respondent data generated. Experimental results of this study show that human cognitive factors of technology knowledge, comprehension and performance influence African users support for alternative village object metaphors as interface icons. However, skill factor is not found to influence user support for alternative African village object metaphors. The factor of culture is found to moderate the effects of comprehension on user support and effects of user performance on user support. This study also identifies three segments of African users that result in heterogeneity within the inner path model.

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia Informática
Testing graphic user interfaces (GUI) involves, mainly, lengthy and expensive processes involving user testing. Finding simpler and easier alternatives to use than these processes becomes an exciting proposal. This project presents an alternative to existing processes through the use of Model-based Testing - MBT. The MBT technique takes advantage of models that describe the correct operation of the system (for this project task models). The use of MBT may thus become a new approach to testing GUI's, since the implemented GUI is tested against the model that specifies it the correct behavior. All inconsistencies found during the tests will be treated as potential errors that must be corrected. This report describes the development of a prototype for an environment able to generate and execute test cases applying MBT to GUI's.
A realização de testes a interfaces gráficas (GUI) envolve, maioritariamente, processos morosos e dispendiosos. Encontrar alternativas mais simples e fáceis de utilizar do que estes processos torna-se uma proposta aliciante. Este projeto apresenta uma solução alternativa aos processos já existentes através da utilização de casos de teste baseados em modelos (Modelbased Testing - MBT). Esta técnica tira partido de modelos que descrevem o correto funcionamento do sistema (no caso particular do projecto modelos de tarefas). A utilização do MBT pode assim transformarse numa nova abordagem aos testes realizados sobre GUI’s, uma vez que a GUI implementada será testada contra o modelo especificado que contém o funcionamento correto desta. As incoerências encontradas nos testes apontam para potenciais erros que deverão ser corrigidos. Este relatório descreve o desenvolvimento de um protótipo para um ambiente capaz de gerar, mutar e executar casos de teste para GUI’s aplicando o MBT.
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-020554.
FEDER funds through the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade- COMPETE.
The work of the author was also supported by a grant with reference PTDC/EIAEIA/119479/2010_UMINHO.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of subjective culture on the usability of computerized systems. The results of the experiment did not provide sufficient evidence to conclude that any of the tested cultural dimensions affected the usability of the product. Analysis of the results indicated that the differences in scores could have been attributable to variables other than those tested and controlled for. This indicated a need to build a more detailed conceptual model of usability before empirical research of this nature can be effectively conducted. Consequently, further work needed to be done to identify the variables that influence usability, and the strategies for controlling for these variables under experimental conditions. Through a literature investigation, the validity of some of the proposed variables was established, and some additional variables were identified. The valid variables were then incorporated into a conceptual model of usability for use in future research endeavors.
Information systems
M. Sc.

Data masses on the World Wide Web can hardly be managed by humans or machines. One option is the formal description and linking of data sources using Semantic Web and Linked Data technologies. Ontologies written in standardised languages foster the sharing and linking of data as they provide a means to formally define concepts and relations between these concepts. A second option is visualisation. The visual representation allows humans to perceive information more directly, using the highly developed visual sense. Relatively few efforts have been made on combining both options, although the formality and rich semantics of ontological data make it an ideal candidate for visualisation. Advanced visualisation design systems support the visualisation of tabular, typically statistical data. However, visualisations of ontological data still have to be created manually, since automated solutions are often limited to generic lists or node-link diagrams. Also, the semantics of ontological data are not exploited for guiding users through visualisation tasks. Finally, once a good visualisation setting has been created, it cannot easily be reused and shared. Trying to tackle these problems, we had to answer how to define composable and shareable mappings from ontological data to visual means and how to guide the visual mapping of ontological data. We present an approach that allows for the guided visualisation of ontological data, the creation of effective graphics and the reuse of visualisation settings. Instead of generic graphics, we aim at tailor-made graphics, produced using the whole palette of visual means in a flexible, bottom-up approach. It not only allows for visualising ontologies, but uses ontologies to guide users when visualising data and to drive the visualisation process at various places: First, as a rich source of information on data characteristics, second, as a means to formally describe the vocabulary for building abstract graphics, and third, as a knowledge base of facts on visualisation. This is why we call our approach ontology-driven. We suggest generating an Abstract Visual Model (AVM) to represent and »synthesise« a graphic following a role-based approach, inspired by the one used by J. v. Engelhardt for the analysis of graphics. It consists of graphic objects and relations formalised in the Visualisation Ontology (VISO). A mappings model, based on the declarative RDFS/OWL Visualisation Language (RVL), determines a set of transformations from the domain data to the AVM. RVL allows for composable visual mappings that can be shared and reused across platforms. To guide the user, for example, we discourage the construction of mappings that are suboptimal according to an effectiveness ranking formalised in the fact base and suggest more effective mappings instead. The guidance process is flexible, since it is based on exchangeable rules. VISO, RVL and the AVM are additional contributions of this thesis. Further, we initially analysed the state of the art in visualisation and RDF-presentation comparing 10 approaches by 29 criteria. Our approach is unique because it combines ontology-driven guidance with composable visual mappings. Finally, we compare three prototypes covering the essential parts of our approach to show its feasibility. We show how the mapping process can be supported by tools displaying warning messages for non-optimal visual mappings, e.g., by considering relation characteristics such as »symmetry«. In a constructive evaluation, we challenge both the RVL language and the latest prototype trying to regenerate sketches of graphics we created manually during analysis. We demonstrate how graphics can be varied and complex mappings can be composed from simple ones. Two thirds of the sketches can be almost or completely specified and half of them can be almost or completely implemented.:Legend and Overview of Prefixes xiii 1 Introduction 1 2 Background 11 2.1 Visualisation 11 2.1.1 What is Visualisation? 11 2.1.2 What are the Benefits of Visualisation? 12 2.1.3 Visualisation Related Terms Used in this Thesis 12 2.1.4 Visualisation Models and Architectural Patterns 12 2.1.5 Visualisation Design Systems 14 2.1.6 What is the Difference between Visual Mapping and Styling? 14 2.1.7 Lessons Learned from Style Sheet Languages 15 2.2 Data 16 2.2.1 Data – Information – Knowledge 17 2.2.2 Structured Data 17 2.2.3 Ontologies in Computer Science 19 2.2.4 The Semantic Web and its Languages 19 2.2.5 Linked Data and Open Data 20 2.2.6 The Metamodelling Technological Space 21 2.2.7 SPIN 21 2.3 Guidance 22 2.3.1 Guidance in Visualisation 22 3 Problem Analysis 23 3.1 Problems of Ontology Visualisation Approaches 24 3.2 Research Questions 25 3.3 Set up of the Case Studies 25 3.3.1 Case Studies in the Life Sciences Domain 26 3.3.2 Case Studies in the Publishing Domain 26 3.3.3 Case Studies in the Software Technology Domain 27 3.4 Analysis of the Case Studies’ Ontologies 27 3.5 Manual Sketching of Graphics 29 3.6 Analysis of the Graphics for Typical Visualisation Cases 29 3.7 Requirements 33 3.7.1 Requirements for Visualisation and Interaction 34 3.7.2 Requirements for Data Awareness 34 3.7.3 Requirements for Reuse and Composition 34 3.7.4 Requirements for Variability 35 3.7.5 Requirements for Tooling Support and Guidance 35 3.7.6 Optional Features and Limitations 36 4 Analysis of the State of the Art 37 4.1 Related Visualisation Approaches 38 4.1.1 Short Overview of the Approaches 38 4.1.2 Detailed Comparison by Criteria 46 4.1.3 Conclusion – What Is Still Missing? 60 4.2 Visualisation Languages 62 4.2.1 Short Overview of the Compared Languages 62 4.2.2 Detailed Comparison by Language Criteria 66 4.2.3 Conclusion – What Is Still Missing? 71 4.3 RDF Presentation Languages 72 4.3.1 Short Overview of the Compared Languages 72 4.3.2 Detailed Comparison by Language Criteria 76 4.3.3 Additional Criteria for RDF Display Languages 87 4.3.4 Conclusion – What Is Still Missing? 89 4.4 Model-Driven Interfaces 90 4.4.1 Metamodel-Driven Interfaces 90 4.4.2 Ontology-Driven Interfaces 92 4.4.3 Combined Usage of the Metamodelling and Ontology Technological Space 94 5 A Visualisation Ontology – VISO 97 5.1 Methodology Used for Ontology Creation 100 5.2 Requirements for a Visualisation Ontology 100 5.3 Existing Approaches to Modelling in the Field of Visualisation 101 5.3.1 Terminologies and Taxonomies 101 5.3.2 Existing Visualisation Ontologies 102 5.3.3 Other Visualisation Models and Approaches to Formalisation 103 5.3.4 Summary 103 5.4 Technical Aspects of VISO 103 5.5 VISO/graphic Module – Graphic Vocabulary 104 5.5.1 Graphic Representations and Graphic Objects 105 5.5.2 Graphic Relations and Syntactic Structures 107 5.6 VISO/data Module – Characterising Data 110 5.6.1 Data Structure and Characteristics of Relations 110 5.6.2 The Scale of Measurement and Units 112 5.6.3 Properties for Characterising Data Variables in Statistical Data 113 5.7 VISO/facts Module – Facts for Vis. Constraints and Rules 115 5.7.1 Expressiveness of Graphic Relations 116 5.7.2 Effectiveness Ranking of Graphic Relations 118 5.7.3 Rules for Composing Graphics 119 5.7.4 Other Rules to Consider for Visual Mapping 124 5.7.5 Providing Named Value Collections 124 5.7.6 Existing Approaches to the Formalisation of Visualisation Knowledge . . 126 5.7.7 The VISO/facts/empiric Example Knowledge Base 126 5.8 Other VISO Modules 126 5.9 Conclusions and Future Work 127 5.10 Further Use Cases for VISO 127 5.11 VISO on the Web – Sharing the Vocabulary to Build a Community 128 6 A VISO-Based Abstract Visual Model – AVM 129 6.1 Graphical Notation Used in this Chapter 129 6.2 Elementary Graphic Objects and Graphic Attributes 131 6.3 N-Ary Relations 131 6.4 Binary Relations 131 6.5 Composition of Graphic Objects Using Roles 132 6.6 Composition of Graphic Relations Using Roles 132 6.7 Composition of Visual Mappings Using the AVM 135 6.8 Tracing 135 6.9 Is it Worth Having an Abstract Visual Model? 135 6.10 Discussion of Fresnel as a Related Language 137 6.11 Related Work 139 6.12 Limitations 139 6.13 Conclusions 140 7 A Language for RDFS/OWL Visualisation – RVL 141 7.1 Language Requirements 142 7.2 Main RVL Constructs 145 7.2.1 Mapping 145 7.2.2 Property Mapping 146 7.2.3 Identity Mapping 146 7.2.4 Value Mapping 147 7.2.5 Inheriting RVL Settings 147 7.2.6 Resource Mapping 148 7.2.7 Simplifications 149 7.3 Calculating Value Mappings 150 7.4 Defining Scale of Measurement 153 7.4.1 Determining the Scale of Measurement 154 7.5 Addressing Values in Value Mappings 156 7.5.1 Determining the Set of Addressed Source Values 156 7.5.2 Determining the Set of Addressed Target Values 157 7.6 Overlapping Value Mappings 158 7.7 Default Value Mapping 158 7.8 Default Labelling 159 7.9 Defining Interaction 159 7.10 Mapping Composition and Submappings 160 7.11 A Schema Language for RVL 160 7.11.1 Concrete Examples of the RVL Schema 163 7.12 Conclusions and Future Work 166 8 The OGVIC Approach 169 8.1 Ontology-Driven, Guided Editing of Visual Mappings 172 8.1.1 Classification of Constraints 172 8.1.2 Levels of Guidance 173 8.1.3 Implementing Constraint-Based Guidance 173 8.2 Support of Explicit and Composable Visual Mappings 177 8.2.1 Mapping Composition Cases 178 8.2.2 Selecting a Context 180 8.2.3 Using the Same Graphic Relation Multiple Times 181 8.3 Prototype P1 (TopBraid-Composer-based) 182 8.4 Prototype P2 (OntoWiki-based) 184 8.5 Prototype P3 (Java Implementation of RVL) 187 8.6 Lessons Learned from Prototypes & Future Work 190 8.6.1 Checking RVL Constraints and Visualisation Rules 190 8.6.2 A User Interface for Editing RVL Mappings 190 8.6.3 Graph Transformations with SPIN and SPARQL 1.1 Update 192 8.6.4 Selection and Filtering of Data 193 8.6.5 Interactivity and Incremental Processing 193 8.6.6 Rendering the Final Platform-Specific Code 196 9 Application 197 9.1 Coverage of Case Study Sketches and Necessary Features 198 9.2 Coverage of Visualisation Cases 201 9.3 Coverage of Requirements 205 9.4 Full Example 206 10 Conclusions 211 10.1 Contributions 211 10.2 Constructive Evaluation 212 10.3 Research Questions 213 10.4 Transfer to Other Models and Constraint Languages 213 10.5 Limitations 214 10.6 Future Work 214 Appendices 217 A Case Study Sketches 219 B VISO – Comparison of Visualisation Literature 229 C RVL 231 D RVL Example Mappings and Application 233 D.1 Listings of RVL Example Mappings as Required by Prototype P3 233 D.2 Features Required for Implementing all Sketches 235 D.3 JSON Format for Processing the AVM with D3 – Hierarchical Variant 238 Bibliography 238 List of Figures 251 List of Tables 254 List of Listings 257
Datenmassen im World Wide Web können kaum von Menschen oder Maschinen erfasst werden. Eine Option ist die formale Beschreibung und Verknüpfung von Datenquellen mit Semantic-Web- und Linked-Data-Technologien. Ontologien, in standardisierten Sprachen geschrieben, befördern das Teilen und Verknüpfen von Daten, da sie ein Mittel zur formalen Definition von Konzepten und Beziehungen zwischen diesen Konzepten darstellen. Eine zweite Option ist die Visualisierung. Die visuelle Repräsentation ermöglicht es dem Menschen, Informationen direkter wahrzunehmen, indem er seinen hochentwickelten Sehsinn verwendet. Relativ wenige Anstrengungen wurden unternommen, um beide Optionen zu kombinieren, obwohl die Formalität und die reichhaltige Semantik ontologische Daten zu einem idealen Kandidaten für die Visualisierung machen. Visualisierungsdesignsysteme unterstützen Nutzer bei der Visualisierung von tabellarischen, typischerweise statistischen Daten. Visualisierungen ontologischer Daten jedoch müssen noch manuell erstellt werden, da automatisierte Lösungen häufig auf generische Listendarstellungen oder Knoten-Kanten-Diagramme beschränkt sind. Auch die Semantik der ontologischen Daten wird nicht ausgenutzt, um Benutzer durch Visualisierungsaufgaben zu führen. Einmal erstellte Visualisierungseinstellungen können nicht einfach wiederverwendet und geteilt werden. Um diese Probleme zu lösen, mussten wir eine Antwort darauf finden, wie die Definition komponierbarer und wiederverwendbarer Abbildungen von ontologischen Daten auf visuelle Mittel geschehen könnte und wie Nutzer bei dieser Abbildung geführt werden könnten. Wir stellen einen Ansatz vor, der die geführte Visualisierung von ontologischen Daten, die Erstellung effektiver Grafiken und die Wiederverwendung von Visualisierungseinstellungen ermöglicht. Statt auf generische Grafiken zielt der Ansatz auf maßgeschneiderte Grafiken ab, die mit der gesamten Palette visueller Mittel in einem flexiblen Bottom-Up-Ansatz erstellt werden. Er erlaubt nicht nur die Visualisierung von Ontologien, sondern verwendet auch Ontologien, um Benutzer bei der Visualisierung von Daten zu führen und den Visualisierungsprozess an verschiedenen Stellen zu steuern: Erstens als eine reichhaltige Informationsquelle zu Datencharakteristiken, zweitens als Mittel zur formalen Beschreibung des Vokabulars für den Aufbau von abstrakten Grafiken und drittens als Wissensbasis von Visualisierungsfakten. Deshalb nennen wir unseren Ansatz ontologie-getrieben. Wir schlagen vor, ein Abstract Visual Model (AVM) zu generieren, um eine Grafik rollenbasiert zu synthetisieren, angelehnt an einen Ansatz der von J. v. Engelhardt verwendet wird, um Grafiken zu analysieren. Das AVM besteht aus grafischen Objekten und Relationen, die in der Visualisation Ontology (VISO) formalisiert sind. Ein Mapping-Modell, das auf der deklarativen RDFS/OWL Visualisation Language (RVL) basiert, bestimmt eine Menge von Transformationen von den Quelldaten zum AVM. RVL ermöglicht zusammensetzbare »Mappings«, visuelle Abbildungen, die über Plattformen hinweg geteilt und wiederverwendet werden können. Um den Benutzer zu führen, bewerten wir Mappings anhand eines in der Faktenbasis formalisierten Effektivitätsrankings und schlagen ggf. effektivere Mappings vor. Der Beratungsprozess ist flexibel, da er auf austauschbaren Regeln basiert. VISO, RVL und das AVM sind weitere Beiträge dieser Arbeit. Darüber hinaus analysieren wir zunächst den Stand der Technik in der Visualisierung und RDF-Präsentation, indem wir 10 Ansätze nach 29 Kriterien vergleichen. Unser Ansatz ist einzigartig, da er eine ontologie-getriebene Nutzerführung mit komponierbaren visuellen Mappings vereint. Schließlich vergleichen wir drei Prototypen, welche die wesentlichen Teile unseres Ansatzes umsetzen, um seine Machbarkeit zu zeigen. Wir zeigen, wie der Mapping-Prozess durch Tools unterstützt werden kann, die Warnmeldungen für nicht optimale visuelle Abbildungen anzeigen, z. B. durch Berücksichtigung von Charakteristiken der Relationen wie »Symmetrie«. In einer konstruktiven Evaluation fordern wir sowohl die RVL-Sprache als auch den neuesten Prototyp heraus, indem wir versuchen Skizzen von Grafiken umzusetzen, die wir während der Analyse manuell erstellt haben. Wir zeigen, wie Grafiken variiert werden können und komplexe Mappings aus einfachen zusammengesetzt werden können. Zwei Drittel der Skizzen können fast vollständig oder vollständig spezifiziert werden und die Hälfte kann fast vollständig oder vollständig umgesetzt werden.:Legend and Overview of Prefixes xiii 1 Introduction 1 2 Background 11 2.1 Visualisation 11 2.1.1 What is Visualisation? 11 2.1.2 What are the Benefits of Visualisation? 12 2.1.3 Visualisation Related Terms Used in this Thesis 12 2.1.4 Visualisation Models and Architectural Patterns 12 2.1.5 Visualisation Design Systems 14 2.1.6 What is the Difference between Visual Mapping and Styling? 14 2.1.7 Lessons Learned from Style Sheet Languages 15 2.2 Data 16 2.2.1 Data – Information – Knowledge 17 2.2.2 Structured Data 17 2.2.3 Ontologies in Computer Science 19 2.2.4 The Semantic Web and its Languages 19 2.2.5 Linked Data and Open Data 20 2.2.6 The Metamodelling Technological Space 21 2.2.7 SPIN 21 2.3 Guidance 22 2.3.1 Guidance in Visualisation 22 3 Problem Analysis 23 3.1 Problems of Ontology Visualisation Approaches 24 3.2 Research Questions 25 3.3 Set up of the Case Studies 25 3.3.1 Case Studies in the Life Sciences Domain 26 3.3.2 Case Studies in the Publishing Domain 26 3.3.3 Case Studies in the Software Technology Domain 27 3.4 Analysis of the Case Studies’ Ontologies 27 3.5 Manual Sketching of Graphics 29 3.6 Analysis of the Graphics for Typical Visualisation Cases 29 3.7 Requirements 33 3.7.1 Requirements for Visualisation and Interaction 34 3.7.2 Requirements for Data Awareness 34 3.7.3 Requirements for Reuse and Composition 34 3.7.4 Requirements for Variability 35 3.7.5 Requirements for Tooling Support and Guidance 35 3.7.6 Optional Features and Limitations 36 4 Analysis of the State of the Art 37 4.1 Related Visualisation Approaches 38 4.1.1 Short Overview of the Approaches 38 4.1.2 Detailed Comparison by Criteria 46 4.1.3 Conclusion – What Is Still Missing? 60 4.2 Visualisation Languages 62 4.2.1 Short Overview of the Compared Languages 62 4.2.2 Detailed Comparison by Language Criteria 66 4.2.3 Conclusion – What Is Still Missing? 71 4.3 RDF Presentation Languages 72 4.3.1 Short Overview of the Compared Languages 72 4.3.2 Detailed Comparison by Language Criteria 76 4.3.3 Additional Criteria for RDF Display Languages 87 4.3.4 Conclusion – What Is Still Missing? 89 4.4 Model-Driven Interfaces 90 4.4.1 Metamodel-Driven Interfaces 90 4.4.2 Ontology-Driven Interfaces 92 4.4.3 Combined Usage of the Metamodelling and Ontology Technological Space 94 5 A Visualisation Ontology – VISO 97 5.1 Methodology Used for Ontology Creation 100 5.2 Requirements for a Visualisation Ontology 100 5.3 Existing Approaches to Modelling in the Field of Visualisation 101 5.3.1 Terminologies and Taxonomies 101 5.3.2 Existing Visualisation Ontologies 102 5.3.3 Other Visualisation Models and Approaches to Formalisation 103 5.3.4 Summary 103 5.4 Technical Aspects of VISO 103 5.5 VISO/graphic Module – Graphic Vocabulary 104 5.5.1 Graphic Representations and Graphic Objects 105 5.5.2 Graphic Relations and Syntactic Structures 107 5.6 VISO/data Module – Characterising Data 110 5.6.1 Data Structure and Characteristics of Relations 110 5.6.2 The Scale of Measurement and Units 112 5.6.3 Properties for Characterising Data Variables in Statistical Data 113 5.7 VISO/facts Module – Facts for Vis. Constraints and Rules 115 5.7.1 Expressiveness of Graphic Relations 116 5.7.2 Effectiveness Ranking of Graphic Relations 118 5.7.3 Rules for Composing Graphics 119 5.7.4 Other Rules to Consider for Visual Mapping 124 5.7.5 Providing Named Value Collections 124 5.7.6 Existing Approaches to the Formalisation of Visualisation Knowledge . . 126 5.7.7 The VISO/facts/empiric Example Knowledge Base 126 5.8 Other VISO Modules 126 5.9 Conclusions and Future Work 127 5.10 Further Use Cases for VISO 127 5.11 VISO on the Web – Sharing the Vocabulary to Build a Community 128 6 A VISO-Based Abstract Visual Model – AVM 129 6.1 Graphical Notation Used in this Chapter 129 6.2 Elementary Graphic Objects and Graphic Attributes 131 6.3 N-Ary Relations 131 6.4 Binary Relations 131 6.5 Composition of Graphic Objects Using Roles 132 6.6 Composition of Graphic Relations Using Roles 132 6.7 Composition of Visual Mappings Using the AVM 135 6.8 Tracing 135 6.9 Is it Worth Having an Abstract Visual Model? 135 6.10 Discussion of Fresnel as a Related Language 137 6.11 Related Work 139 6.12 Limitations 139 6.13 Conclusions 140 7 A Language for RDFS/OWL Visualisation – RVL 141 7.1 Language Requirements 142 7.2 Main RVL Constructs 145 7.2.1 Mapping 145 7.2.2 Property Mapping 146 7.2.3 Identity Mapping 146 7.2.4 Value Mapping 147 7.2.5 Inheriting RVL Settings 147 7.2.6 Resource Mapping 148 7.2.7 Simplifications 149 7.3 Calculating Value Mappings 150 7.4 Defining Scale of Measurement 153 7.4.1 Determining the Scale of Measurement 154 7.5 Addressing Values in Value Mappings 156 7.5.1 Determining the Set of Addressed Source Values 156 7.5.2 Determining the Set of Addressed Target Values 157 7.6 Overlapping Value Mappings 158 7.7 Default Value Mapping 158 7.8 Default Labelling 159 7.9 Defining Interaction 159 7.10 Mapping Composition and Submappings 160 7.11 A Schema Language for RVL 160 7.11.1 Concrete Examples of the RVL Schema 163 7.12 Conclusions and Future Work 166 8 The OGVIC Approach 169 8.1 Ontology-Driven, Guided Editing of Visual Mappings 172 8.1.1 Classification of Constraints 172 8.1.2 Levels of Guidance 173 8.1.3 Implementing Constraint-Based Guidance 173 8.2 Support of Explicit and Composable Visual Mappings 177 8.2.1 Mapping Composition Cases 178 8.2.2 Selecting a Context 180 8.2.3 Using the Same Graphic Relation Multiple Times 181 8.3 Prototype P1 (TopBraid-Composer-based) 182 8.4 Prototype P2 (OntoWiki-based) 184 8.5 Prototype P3 (Java Implementation of RVL) 187 8.6 Lessons Learned from Prototypes & Future Work 190 8.6.1 Checking RVL Constraints and Visualisation Rules 190 8.6.2 A User Interface for Editing RVL Mappings 190 8.6.3 Graph Transformations with SPIN and SPARQL 1.1 Update 192 8.6.4 Selection and Filtering of Data 193 8.6.5 Interactivity and Incremental Processing 193 8.6.6 Rendering the Final Platform-Specific Code 196 9 Application 197 9.1 Coverage of Case Study Sketches and Necessary Features 198 9.2 Coverage of Visualisation Cases 201 9.3 Coverage of Requirements 205 9.4 Full Example 206 10 Conclusions 211 10.1 Contributions 211 10.2 Constructive Evaluation 212 10.3 Research Questions 213 10.4 Transfer to Other Models and Constraint Languages 213 10.5 Limitations 214 10.6 Future Work 214 Appendices 217 A Case Study Sketches 219 B VISO – Comparison of Visualisation Literature 229 C RVL 231 D RVL Example Mappings and Application 233 D.1 Listings of RVL Example Mappings as Required by Prototype P3 233 D.2 Features Required for Implementing all Sketches 235 D.3 JSON Format for Processing the AVM with D3 – Hierarchical Variant 238 Bibliography 238 List of Figures 251 List of Tables 254 List of Listings 257