Conceptual User Interface Patterns for Object-Oriented Conceptual Models

Specification of user interfaces is not a trivial task and even less if we consider this specification as just an accessory of the conceptual model and not as an important component of it. Conventional object-oriented methods focus on the specification of static and dynamic properties of systems, and few or any techniques are offered to specify the semantic attached to presentation features. In this paper, a set of conceptual user interface patterns is introduced in order to specify essential user interfaces properties. These patterns are identified on the presentation properties of elements of the object-oriented model (attributes, services, arguments, etc.) and extends the information repository collected in the conceptual modeling step preserving the homogeneity of the model. This work was applied to an UML-based object-oriented method for OO software production – OO-Method. Following this approach, and applying a translation process on the extended conceptual model, a complete software product in the target environment can automatically be obtained including the specified user interface. These ideas are implemented in a CASE tool supporting OO-Method and applied to real-world problems in the context of a R&D project between the Valencia University of Technology and Consoft S.A. in Spain.