In this paper, we explore the notion of change in systems and software engineering, emphasizing its philosophical elucidation. Generally, it has been claimed that change is so pervasive in systems that it almost defeats description and analysis. In this article, we analyze change using the conceptual modeling technique called a thinging machine (TM), which reflects change in terms of the actions of creating, processing, releasing, transferring, and receiving things. We illustrated change in TM modeling with an example of a system s reconfiguration of business product handling designed using business process modeling notation (BPMN). Then we analyze the notion of change and compare its various definitions in philosophy. Specifically, we examine Zeno s paradox that involves how to account for change and continuity together in moving things. The problem is that we cannot assert that an arrow is actually moving when it has been shot from a bow because the arrow needs to be at a certain place at each point in time, which by definition cannot contain any duration at all. In our analysis of this problem, we convert the arrow trajectory into space units called thimacs. In the TM generic actions, two types of change are identified: state and progression (PROCESS) changes. Therefore, when an arrow flows to a TM machine that represents a trajectory space unit, it is rejected, causing it to bounce away to the outside. That is, the arrow is transferred, arrives, and is transferred back; therefore, the arrow is never accepted into a thimac in the trajectory at any moment. The result of such analysis seems to introduce a logical explanation for the notion of movement discussed in Zeno s puzzles.
The increasing importance of such fields as embedded systems, pervasive computing, and hybrid systems control is increasing attention to the time-dependent aspects of system modeling. In this paper, we focus on modeling conceptual time. Conceptual time is time represented in conceptual modeling, where the notion of time does not always play a major role. Time modeling in computing is far from exhibiting a unified and comprehensive framework, and is often handled in an ad hoc manner. This paper contributes to the establishment of a broader understanding of time in conceptual modeling based on a…
A control model is typically classified into three forms: conceptual, mathematical and simulation (computer). This paper analyzes a conceptual modeling application with respect to an inventory management system. Today, most organizations utilize computer systems for inventory control that provide protection when interruptions or breakdowns occur within work processes. Modeling the inventory processes is an active area of research that utilizes many diagrammatic techniques, including data flow diagrams, Universal Modeling Language (UML) diagrams and Integration DEFinition (IDEF). We claim that …
Models are fundamentally crucial to many scientific fields, including software engineering, systems engineering, enterprise modeling, and business modeling. This paper focuses on diagrammatic conceptual modeling, as opposed to mathematical or computational models, wherein a conceptual model is a translation of reality processes into an abstract mechanism that has similar structure and parallel events of the external processes. Although various modeling approaches exist, including UML (Unified Modeling Language) in software engineering and its dialect, SysML (System Modeling Language), in syste…
In software engineering, conceptual modeling focuses on creating representations of the world that are as faithful and rich as possible, with the aim of guiding the development of software systems. In contrast, in the computing realm, the notion of ontology has been characterized as being closely related to conceptual modeling and is often viewed as a specification of a conceptualization. Accordingly, conceptual modeling and ontology engineering now address the same problem of representing the world in a suitable fashion. A high-level ontology provides a means to describe concepts and their in…
In previous works, we proposed a one-category (entitled thimac) conceptual model called a thinging machine (TM), which integrates staticity (e.g., objects) and dynamism (e.g., events) without losing valuable aspects of diagrammatic intuition in conceptual modeling. We proposed applying TM to conceptual modeling in software engineering (e.g., on or above the level of UML as a conceptual modeling language). In this paper, to show such an application in software engineering, we first present a complete high-level description of a library service system to demonstrate the TM s applicability. Furth…
An important factor in guaranteeing the quality of a system is developing a conceptual model that reflects the knowledge about its domain as well as knowledge about the functions it has to perform. In software engineering, conceptual modeling has gained importance as a discipline that offers languages, methods, and methodologies to address the complexity of software development. The key to understanding such complexity is using tools such as diagrams at various levels of representation. A conceptual model must include all relevant static and behavioral aspects of its domain. In UML, the static…
Modeling in software engineering includes constructing static, dynamic, and behavioral representations. In describing system behavior, actions and states are two of the most commonly used concepts. In this paper, we focus on the notion of action. It generally held that the meaning of the concept of action is not that easy to grasp. According to some researchers, many existing systems do involve the notion of action, but in an obscure way. In Unified Modeling Language (UML), an action is a single atomic step within an activity, i.e., it is not further decomposed within the activity. Activity re…
In computer science, models are made explicit to provide formality and a precise understanding of small, contingent universes (e.g., an organization), as constructed from stakeholder requirements. Conceptual modeling is a fundamental discipline in this context whose main concerns are identifying, analyzing and describing the critical concepts of a universe of discourse. In the information systems field, one of the reasons why projects fail is an inability to capture requirements in a way that can be technically used to configure a system. This problem of requirements specification is considere…
In this paper, we concentrate on object-related analysis in the field of general ontology of reality as related to software engineering (e.g., UML classes). Such a venture is similar to many studies in which researchers have enhanced modeling through ontological analysis of the underlying paradigm of UML models. We attempt to develop a conceptual model that consists of a foundation of things that is supplemented with a second level of designated objects. According to some researchers, the problem of the difference between things and objects is one of the most decisive issues for the conception…
This paper is about conceptual modeling of aggregates in software engineering. An aggregate is a cluster of domain objects that can be treated as a single unit. In UML, an aggregation is a type of association in which objects are configured together to form a more complex object. It has been described as one of the biggest betes noires in modeling. In spite of its widespread use, aggregation seems a troublesome concept. It is sometimes treated as part-of; however, the part-of relation is only one of many possible aggregation mechanisms and is itself problematical, partly because of its diverse…
Procurement refers to a process resulting in delivery of goods or services within a set time period. The process includes aspects of purchasing, specifications to be met, and solicitation notifications as in the case of Request For Proposals (RFPs). Typically such an RFP is described in a verbal ad hoc fashion, in English, with tables and graphs, resulting in imprecise specifications of requirements. It has been proposed that BPMN diagrams be used to specify requirements to be included in RFP. This paper is a merger of three topics: (i) Procurement development with a focus on operational speci…
Conceptual models rely on structural information to describe relationships among UML classes; among these, the whole-part (WP) relationship plays a fundamental role. This paper explores and analyzes the WP semantics at large with a focus on its software engineering use. The WP relationship has often been treated as a first-class modeling construct in object-oriented analysis, a subject of keen interest and it is considered important for UML modeling. From the scientific and philosophical aspects, a theory of parts forming a whole is a complex issue, loaded with controversies that are widely di…
Basic abstraction principles are reached through ontology, which was traditionally conceived as a depiction of the world itself. Ontology is also described using conceptual modeling (CM) that defines fundamental concepts of reality. CM is one of the central activities in computer science, especially as it is mainly used in software engineering as an intermediate artifact for system construction. To achieve such a goal, we propose Stoic CM (SCM) as a description of what a system must do functionally with minimal ambiguity. As a case study, we apply SCM to investigate the ontology of BPMN (busin…
German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)（德国人工智能研究中心（DFKI））；Saarland University（萨尔大学）；J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University（佐治亚州立大学J·麦克·罗宾逊商学院）
Both conceptual modeling and machine learning have long been recognized as important areas of research. With the increasing emphasis on digitizing and processing large amounts of data for business and other applications, it would be helpful to consider how these areas of research can complement each other. To understand how they can be paired, we provide an overview of machine learning foundations and development cycle. We then examine how conceptual modeling can be applied to machine learning and propose a framework for incorporating conceptual modeling into data science projects. The framewo…
Conceptual modeling (CM) applies abstraction to reduce the complexity of a system under study (e.g., an excerpt of reality). As a result of the conceptual modeling process a human interpretable, formalized representation (i.e., a conceptual model) is derived which enables understanding and communication among humans, and processing by machines. Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms are also applied to complex realities (regularly represented by vast amounts of data) to identify patterns or to classify entities in the data. Aside from the commonalities of both approaches, a significant differ…
This paper has a dual character, combining a philosophical ontological exploration with a conceptual modeling approach in systems and software engineering. Such duality is already practiced in software engineering, in which the current dominant modeling thesis is object orientation. This work embraces an anti-thesis that centers solely on the process rather than emphasizing the object. The approach is called occurrence-only modeling, in which an occurrence means an event or process where a process is defined as an orchestrated net of events that form a semantical whole. In contrast to object o…
This paper examines the concept of change in conceptual modeling. Change is inherent in the nature of things and has increasingly become a focus of much interest and investigation. Change can be modeled as a transition between two states of a finite state machine (FSM). This change represents an exploratory starting point in this paper. Accordingly, a sample FSM that models a car s transmission system is re-expressed in terms of a new modeling methodology called thinging machine (TM) modeling. Recasting the car-transmission model involves developing (1) an S model that captures the static aspe…
Conceptual modeling is a strongly interdisciplinary field of research. Although numerous proposals for axiomatic foundations of the main ideas of the field exist, there is still a lack of understanding main concepts such as system, process, event, data, and many more. Against the background of the tremendously gaining importance of digital phenomena, we argue that axiomatic foundations are needed for our discipline. Besides the general call, we provide a particular case study using HERAKLIT. This modeling infrastructure encompasses the architecture, statics, and dynamics of computer-integrated…
TU Wien（维也纳工业大学）；Open Universiteit（开放大学）；Ghent University（根特大学）
In conceptual modeling (CM), humans apply abstraction to represent excerpts of reality for means of understanding and communication, and processing by machines. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is applied to vast amounts of data to automatically identify patterns or classify entities. While CM produces comprehensible and explicit knowledge representations, the outcome of AI algorithms often lacks these qualities while being able to extract knowledge from large and unstructured representations. Recently, a trend toward intertwining CM and AI emerged. This systematic mapping study shows how this int…
Modeling languages in software engineering (e.g., UML) evolved from software systems modeling where denotational and operational kinds of semantics are the traditional subjects of research and practice. According to some authors, although a large portion of the static semantics (e.g., UML) seems to have reached a consensus, the dynamic semantics of activities, interactions, and state machines poses a major challenge. Central to semantics is the relationship between a sentence and the (actual) world. Carefully examining semantics-related issues in the modeling languages field to avoid problems …
Object orientation has become the predominant paradigm for conceptual modeling (e.g., UML), where the notions of class and object form the primitive building blocks of thought. Classes act as templates for objects that have attributes and methods (actions). The modeled systems are not even necessarily software systems: They can be human and artificial systems of many different kinds (e.g., teaching and learning systems). The UML class diagram is described as a central component of model-driven software development. It is the most common diagram in object-oriented models and used to model the s…
According to the software engineering community, the acknowledgement is growing that a theory of software development is needed to integrate the currently myriad popular methodologies, some of which are based on opposing perspectives. Conceptual modeling (CM) can contribute to such a theory. CM defines fundamental concepts to create representations of reality to achieve ontologically sound software behavior that is characterized by truthfulness to reality and conceptual clarity. In this context, CM is founded on theories about the world that serve to represent a given domain. Ontologies have m…
In software system design, one of the purposes of diagrammatic modeling is to explain something (e.g., data tables) to others. Very often, syntax of diagrams is specified while the intended meaning of diagrammatic constructs remains intuitive and approximate. Conceptual modeling has been developed to capture concepts and their interactions with each other in the intended domain and to represent structural and behavioral features of the modeled system. This paper is a venture into diagrammatic approaches to the semantics of modeling notations, with a focus on data and graph semantics. The first…
This study introduces another application of software engineering tools, conceptual modeling, which can be applied to other fields of research. One way to strengthen the relationship between software engineering and other fields is to develop a good way to perform conceptual modeling that is capable of addressing the peculiarities of these fields of study. This study concentrates on humanities and social sciences, which are usually considered softer and further away from abstractions and (abstract) machines. Specifically, we focus on conceptual modeling as a software engineering tool (e.g., UM…
We present a different approach to developing a concept of time for specifying temporality in the conceptual modeling of software and database systems. In the database field, various proposals and products address temporal data. The difficulty with most of the current approaches to modeling temporality is that they represent and record time as just another type of data (e.g., values of a bank balance or amounts of money), instead of appreciating that time and its values are unique, in comparison to typical data attributes. Time is an engulfing phenomenon that lifts a system s entire model from…
This paper describes the use of the Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model (LCIM) as a framework for conceptual modeling and its descriptive and prescriptive uses. LCIM is applied to show its potential and shortcomings in the current simulation interoperability approaches, in particular the High Level Architecture (HLA) and Base Object Models (BOM). It emphasizes the need to apply rigorous engineering methods and principles and replace ad-hoc approaches.
This paper is an exploration of the ontological foundations of conceptual modeling that addresses the concept of events and related notions. Development models that convey how things change over space and time demand continued attention in systems and software engineering. In this context, foundational matters in modeling systems include the definition of an event, the types of events, and the kinds of relationships that can be recognized among events. Although a broad spectrum of research of such issues exists in various fields of study, events have extensive applicability in computing (e.g.,…
Difficulties arise when conceptual modeling lacks ontological clarity and rigorous definitions, which is especially the case in the relationship construct. Evidence shows that use of relationships is often problematic when it comes to communicating the form of meaning of an application domain. Research on this topic is important because relationships are central to a number of approaches and commonly used by practitioners. In this paper, we study the notion of relation or relationship in the context of conceptual modeling. Specifically, we focus on the notion of relationship used in the entity…
A conceptual model is used to support development and design within the area of systems and software modeling. The notion of validation refers to representing a domain in a model accurately and generating results using an executable model. In UML specifications, validation verifies the correctness of UML diagrams against any constraints and rules defined within the model. Currently, significant research has been conducted on generating test sets to validate that UML diagrams conform to requirements. UML activity diagrams are a specific focus of such efforts. An activity diagram is a flexible i…
In the systems and software modeling field, a conceptual model involves modeling with concepts to support development and design. An example of a conceptual model is a description developed using the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML uses a model multiplicity formulation approach, wherein a number of models are used to represent alternative views. By contrast, a model singularity approach uses only a single integrated model. Each of these styles of modeling has its strengths and weaknesses. This paper introduces a partial solution to the issue of multiplicity vs. singularity in modeling by …
Data modeling is a process of developing a model to design and develop a data system that supports an organization s various business processes. A conceptual data model represents a technology-independent specification of structure of data to be stored within a database. The model aims at providing richer expressiveness and incorporating a set of semantics to (a) support the design, control, and integrity parts of the data stored in data management structures and (b) coordinate viewing of connections and ideas on a database. The described structure of the data is often represented in an entity…
This paper has proposed a Graph - semantic based conceptual model for semi-structured database system, called GOOSSDM, to conceptualize the different facets of such system in object oriented paradigm. The model defines a set of graph based formal constructs, variety of relationship types with participation constraints and rich set of graphical notations to specify the conceptual level design of semi-structured database system. The proposed design approach facilitates modeling of irregular, heterogeneous, hierarchical and non-hierarchical semi-structured data at the conceptual level. Moreover, …
The Entity-Relationship (ER) model is widely used for creating ER schemas for modeling application domains in the field of Information Systems development. However, when an ER schema is transformed to a Relational Database Schema (RDS), some important information on the ER schema may not be represented meaningfully on the RDS. This causes a loss of information during the transformation process. Although, several previous researches have proposed solutions to remedy the situation, the problem still exists. Thus, in this on-going research, we wish to improve the proposed solutions and maximize i…
This paper aims to contribute to further understanding of dynamism (the dynamic behavior of system models) in the mathematical and conceptual modeling of systems. This study is conducted in the context of the claim that software engineering lacks underpinning scientific theories, both for the software it produces and the processes by which it does so. The research literature proposes that information theory can provide such a benefit for software engineering. We explore the dynamism expressive power of conceptual modeling as a software engineering tool that can represent physical systems in th…
This paper analyzes the notion of causality in a conceptual model, mainly as applied in software engineering. Conceptual system modeling can be considered a three-level process that begins with building a static structural description to develop a dynamic model that will identify events used to specify the chronology of events. In this context, the model involves a representation of a portion of reality, based on ontology of different kinds of things and their basic relations to each other. Relations are defined in terms of their participating entities. This paper concerns relations between ev…
In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in both practical and research applications of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to the literature, there is a need in this area to develop a more refined model of UAV system architecture, in other words, a conceptual model that defines the system s structure and behavior. The existing models mostly are fractional and do not account for the entire important dynamic attributes. Progress in this area could reduce ambiguity and increase reliability in the design of such systems. This paper aims to advance the modeling of UAV system arch…
Constructing a conceptual model as an abstract representation of a portion of the real world involves capturing the (1) static (things/objects and trajectories of flow), (2) the dynamic (event identification), and (3) the behavior (e.g., acceptable chronology of events) of the modeled system. This paper focuses on examining the behavior notion in modeling and current works in the behavior space to illustrate that the problem of behavior and its related concepts in modeling lacks a clear-cut systematic basis. The purpose is to advance the understanding of system behavior to avoid ambiguity-rela…
Modeling is a key activity in conceptual design and system design. Through collaborative modeling, end-users, stakeholders, experts, and entrepreneurs are able to create a shared understanding of a system representation. While the Unified Modeling Language (UML) is one of the major conceptual modeling languages in object-oriented software engineering, more and more concerns arise from the modeling quality of UML and its tool support. Among them, the limitation of the two-dimensional presentation of its notations and lack of natural collaborative modeling tools are reported to be significant. I…
Conceptual modeling is an essential tool in many fields of study, including security specification in information technology systems. As a model, it restricts access to resources and identifies possible threats to the system. We claim that current modeling languages (e.g., Unified Modeling Language, Business Process Model and Notation) lack the notion of genericity, which refers to a limited set of elementary processes. This paper proposes five generic processes for modeling the structural behavior of a system: creating, releasing, transferring, receiving, and processing. The paper demonstrate…
