Full Lifecycle Methodologies for Agent-Oriented Systems - The Extended OPEN Process Framework

The OPEN Process Framework (OPF) is a componentized OO development methodology underpinned by a full metamodel. Instances of each element of the metamodel are stored in a repository. Individual selections are then made in order to create a personalized process for software development. Originally a development methodology targetted at object technology, the OPF has been recently extended to support agent-oriented information systems. Here, we describe that extension by means of an extended case study. We find that although much work has to be done to deal with ‘autonomous’ components, the scope of the OPEN Process Framework is adequate to absorb this new work. Furthermore, there has been no need to perturb the existing Framework in accommodating these new ideas. Agent-oriented and Object-oriented Methodologies Agents are beginning to enter the mainstream of software engineering [1], emerging from the research laboratory into commercial utilization. While intelligent agents have emerged from artificial intelligence research [2], agent-oriented methodologies have a closer relationship to object technology and to object-oriented methodologies. Current methodology research [3-5] is focussed on different ways to capitalize on this synergistic merger between knowledge engineering techniques [6] and object technology for the full lifecycle methodological support for the development of object-oriented information systems. This synergy is underpinned by the recent proposals in [7] for extensions to the OMG’s Unified Modeling Language [8,9] in order that that modelling language may be considered applicable for agent modelling. While the Gaia methodology [4] focusses on the design aspects, the extensions made to the OPEN methodological approach [10,11] focusses on full lifecycle issues by underpinning the methodology with a componentized metamodel. In this paper, we take the proposals made in [5] and scrutinize them in a detailed case study environment.

[1]  Brian Henderson-Sellers,et al.  The OPEN process specification , 1997 .

[2]  John K. Debenham,et al.  Designing Agent-Based Process Systems-Extending the OPEN Process Framework , 2003 .

[3]  Jörg P. Müller,et al.  The Design of Intelligent Agents , 1996, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[4]  Nicholas R. Jennings,et al.  Pitfalls of agent-oriented development , 1998, AGENTS '98.

[5]  Nicholas R. Jennings,et al.  The Gaia Methodology for Agent-Oriented Analysis and Design , 2000, Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.

[6]  Brian Henderson-Sellers,et al.  The OPEN toolbox of techniques , 1998 .

[7]  Donald Firesmith,et al.  The OPEN process framework , 2001 .

[8]  Bernhard Bauer,et al.  Extending UML for agents , 2000 .

[9]  Frédéric Koriche.  Approximate Reasoning about Combined Knowledge , 1997, ATAL.

[10]  Anand S. Rao,et al.  BDI Agents: From Theory to Practice , 1995, ICMAS.

[11]  Gerhard Weikum,et al.  From Centralized Workflow Specification to Distributed Workflow Execution , 1998, Journal of Intelligent Information Systems.

[12]  Michael Wooldridge,et al.  Agent-Oriented Software Engineering: The State of the Art , 2009, AOSE.

[13]  Jürgen Lind,et al.  Iterative Software Engineering for Multiagent Systems: The MASSIVE Method , 2001 .

[14]  Brian Henderson-Sellers,et al.  The open process framework : an introduction , 2002 .

[15]  K Booth,et al.  Agent for change. , 1995, Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain) : 1987).

[16]  Holger Knublauch,et al.  Capture and Dissemination of Experience about the Construction of Engineering Processes , 2000, CAiSE.

[17]  A. Roadmapof.  A Roadmap of Agent Research and Development , 1995 .

[18]  Nicholas R. Jennings,et al.  Applied Artificial Intelligence: An International Journal , 2022 .

[19]  J. Debenham.  Supporting Strategic Process , 2000 .

[20]  Michael Wooldridge,et al.  Agent-based software engineering , 1997, IEE Proc. Softw. Eng..