The dissertation is currently undergoing the review process and is not yet publicly available. As a result, it cannot be accessed by the general public at this time. However, individuals who are interested in obtaining the unpublished version may reach out for further information. Please note that access to the dissertation under these circumstances is subject to specific conditions and requirements, which can be discussed upon contacting the relevant authorities or individuals involved.
Electronic Resources
The electronic resources (Appendix A) of the dissertation can be obtained upon request via email. Interested people can reach out via email to request the unpublished version, and upon verification, the electronic resources will be provided. Please note that access to the dissertation in this manner is subject to certain conditions and restrictions. It is important to mention that in the future, once the review process is complete, the dissertation will likely become more openly available to the public under the same persistent URL: purl.org/nsgo4cm/electronic-resources.
Abstract
In software engineering, conceptual modelling is a technique for describing a problem domain related to a software system. Although its primary purpose is to promote human understanding and communication, conceptual models can be (re)used to generate the desired software systems or their fragments. Normalized Systems (NS) describe how to create enterprise software systems by utilising code generation for evolvability and sustainability. It uses modelling of the so-called Elements – building blocks ensuring evolvability. This dissertation thesis designs a solution to transform conceptual models into Normalized Systems (and vice versa) while maintaining mutual consistency. The Gateway Ontology designed on the basis of RDF technologies provides means to define the mappings between arbitrary conceptual modelling languages and Normalized Systems. It supports different types of modelling and enables semantic integration between various models. The thesis also covers the design and implementation of transformation execution that allows one to transform models of selected modelling languages. The overall solution considers evolvability on multiple levels – adopting changes in tools, models, metamodels, and mappings. According to the Design Science Research methodology, the research artefacts were refined and evaluated in design cycle iterations while confronted with the knowledge base and the NS environment. As part of the evaluation, we demonstrate several use cases with different conceptual models, their integration, and transformation into NS.
In particular, the main contributions of the dissertation thesis are as follows:
- the design of model-to-model transformation based on RDF/OWL,
- the evolvable transformation between NS elements and RDF/OWL,
- ontologies for conceptual modelling using RDF,
- the SPARQL query generation method for RDF transformations,
- the framework for transformations between NS and conceptual models.
Keywords: Normalized Systems, Ontology Engineering, Model-Driven Development, Semantic Integration, Model Transformation, Metamodelling