Ontological Analysis of KAOS Using Separation of Reference

Goal modelling is emerging as a central requirements engineering (RE) technique. Unfortunately, current goal-oriented languages are not interoperable with one another or with modelling languages that address other modelling perspectives. This is a problem because the emerging generation of modeldriven information systems are likely to depend on coordinated use of several modelling languages to represent different perspectives on the enterprise and its proposed information system. The paper applies a structured approach to describe a well-known goal-oriented language, KAOS, by mapping it onto a philosophically grounded ontology. The structured approach facilitates language interoperability because, when other languages are described using the same approach, they become mapped onto the same ontology. The approach thereby provides an intermediate language for comparison, consistency checking, update reflection, view synchronisation and, eventually, model-to-model translation both between goal-oriented languages and between different languages.

[1]  Theodoros Tzouramanis.  Benchmarking and Data Generation in Moving Objects Databases , 2005, Encyclopedia of Database Technologies and Applications.

[2]  Gil Regev,et al.  A Systemic Paradigm for Early IT System Requirements Based on Regulation Principles: The Lightswitch Approach , 2003 .

[3]  Douglas B. Bock,et al.  Accuracy in Modeling with Extended Entity Relationship and Object Oriented Data Models , 1993 .

[4]  E. Dubois,et al.  From early to late formal requirements: a process-control case study , 1998, Proceedings Ninth International Workshop on Software Specification and Design.

[5]  Brian Henderson-Sellers,et al.  A Unified Modelling Language without referential redundancy , 2005, Data Knowl. Eng..

[6]  Fausto Giunchiglia,et al.  Tropos: An Agent-Oriented Software Development Methodology , 2004, Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.

[7]  Brian Henderson-Sellers,et al.  A Template for Defining Enterprise Modeling Constructs , 2004, J. Database Manag..

[8]  Annie I. Antón,et al.  Goal Decomposition and Scenario Analysis in Business Process Reengineering , 1994, CAiSE.

[9]  Brian Henderson-Sellers,et al.  Template-Based Definition of Information Systems and Enterprise Modelling Constructs , 2005 .

[10]  Eric S. K. Yu,et al.  Towards modelling and reasoning support for early-phase requirements engineering , 1997, Proceedings of ISRE '97: 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering.

[11]  Terry Halpin,et al.  Selected Readings on Database Technologies and Applications , 2008 .

[12]  John Krogstie,et al.  Evaluating UML using a generic quality framework , 2003 .

[13]  Evangelia Kavakli,et al.  Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering: A Unifying Framework , 2002, Requirements Engineering.

[14]  Patrick Heymans,et al.  A Template-based Analysis of GRL , 2005 .

[15]  Annie I. Antón,et al.  Goal-based requirements analysis , 1996, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Requirements Engineering.

[16]  Axel van Lamsweerde,et al.  Elaborating security requirements by construction of intentional anti-models , 2004, Proceedings. 26th International Conference on Software Engineering.

[17]  Axel van Lamsweerde,et al.  Inferring Declarative Requirements Specifications from Operational Scenarios , 1998, IEEE Trans. Software Eng..

[18]  Emmanuel Letier.  Reasoning about Agents in Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering , 2002 .

[19]  Michael Rosemann,et al.  Business Systems Analysis With Ontologies , 2005 .

[20]  A. V. Lamsweerde,et al.  Deriving tabular event-based specifications from goal-oriented requirements models , 2003, Proceedings. 11th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, 2003..

[21]  Ron Weber,et al.  On the ontological expressiveness of information systems analysis and design grammars , 1993, Inf. Syst. J..

[22]  Philip Calvert,et al.  Encyclopedia of Database Technologies and Applications , 2005 .

[23]  Anthony Finkelstein,et al.  A UML profile to support requirements engineering with KAOS , 2002 .

[24]  Ron Weber,et al.  On the deep structure of information systems , 1995, Inf. Syst. J..

[25]  Alain Wegmann,et al.  Where do goals come from: the underlying principles of goal-oriented requirements engineering , 2005, 13th IEEE International Conference on Requirements Engineering (RE'05).

[26]  Pericles Loucopoulos,et al.  Goal Modeling in Requirements Engineering: Analysis and Critique of Current Methods , 2005, Information Modeling Methods and Methodologies.

[27]  Lin Liu,et al.  Designing information systems in social context: a goal and scenario modelling approach , 2004, Inf. Syst..