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A semantically-enhanced object-oriented case tool for enterprise modeling

University of British Columbia

This thesis is motivated by the desire to build a semantically-enhanced Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tool that systems analysts would find useful in helping them build object-oriented enterprise models. The tool would incorporate the unique ability to evaluate candidate models against a set of predefined semantic rules. The rules are those of the Object-Oriented Enterprise Modeling (OOEM) method proposed by Wand and Woo (1993). A survey of current CASE Tools, three of which are reviewed in this thesis, consistently reveal an absence of a built-in semantic integrity checking utility built for or around the tools. The tools were indeed very powerful but were only able to detect syntactic violations in a model. This thesis takes the view that it is possible, and indeed important for a CASE tool to assist users in building and checking for semantically consistent object-oriented enterprise models. The chapters in this thesis describe a range of activity - from theory strengthening to empirical testing - all with the singular objective of discovering if analysts would in fact find such a tool useful. The empirical study revealed that analysts do welcome a CASE tool with semantic checking capability. However, much remains to be done to provide a user interface that would, among other things, assist analysts in structuring their thoughts and ideas on the computer. Work also remains to be done on improving the diagnostic utility's user interface.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-03-19

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/6254

Business Administration

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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