Published in the Proceedings of the Peirce Workshop (1995)
Presentation Definition Language Using Conceptual Graphs Olivier Gerbé, Mario Perron DMR Group Inc. 1200 McGill College Avenue Montreal ,Quebec, Canada H3B 4G7 Tel: (514) 877-3301 Fax: (514) 877-0423 e-mail:
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Abstract. Information Technology (IT) is among the most important factors of change in the 1990s and is now playing a leadership role in bringing about changes. In this context, mastering the evolution and management of IT is a challenge. Meeting this challenge requires methods, processes, software tools and training programs, as well as a systematic, overall and consistent approach. This is precisely the direction, the set of solutions, that The IT MacroscopeTM project is working on. Several products such as guides, tools, lecture materials, self-learning courses, reference texts, templates, videos, etc. are being developed in the course of The IT Macroscope project. The products of The IT Macroscope project will be stored in a repository whose data structure and functionality will allow for easy consultation, adaptation to the particular needs of an organization, and evolution at acceptable levels of cost. This repository is intended to fulfill the needs of those who design and maintain methods, those who design training, and those who manage and promote Macroscope products. We chose conceptual graphs to represent all the knowledge required for the repository. These graphs are used to represent methodology reference, learning and promotional materials. Using conceptual graphs is becoming a natural way to represent knowledge about methodologies. It is very important to be able to store information but it is more important to be able to retrieve and display this information. The best way to retrieve information in conceptual graphs is certainly to use conceptual graphs, and if we use CG to store and retrieve information why shouldn’t we use CG to display it? This paper presents the Presentation Definition Language we have defined and implemented.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The competitive environment of the 1990s is compelling organizations to seek greater effectiveness to manage the evolution of the way they do things. New business
opportunities, the constant need to optimize operating procedures, technological innovation and profitability requirements are among the factors currently forcing organizations to reexamine their structures and business practices. Information Technology (IT) is among the most important factors of change in the 1990s; and IT is now playing a leadership role in bringing about changes [Caston93]. In this context, mastering the evolution and management of IT is a challenge. Meeting this challenge requires methods, processes, software tools and training programs, as well as a systematic, overall and consistent approach. This is precisely the direction, the set of solutions, that The IT MacroscopeTM project is working on [DMR93]. It is developing methodologies that address the four primary questions affecting the global competitiveness and growth of organizations: How can we use IT to increase competitiveness and innovation in both the service and product sectors? How can we organize and manage IT investments? How can we implement information system solutions both practically and effectively? How can we ensure IT investments are profitable? To deal with IT-related issues, DMR, the prime contractor of The IT Macroscope, has developed a reference framework. The elements of the answers to the four questions are grouped into four domains of knowledge and expertise: Strategic IT planning: Strategy Domain Organizing IT-enabled solutions: Architecture domain Effective delivery of solutions: Delivery domain Realizing gains and benefits: Benefits domain. Several products such as guides, tools, lecture materials, self-learning courses, reference texts, templates, videos, etc. are being developed in the course of The IT Macroscope project. The products of The IT Macroscope project are stored in a methodology repository whose data structure and functionality will allow for easy consultation, adaptation to the particular needs of an organization, and evolution at acceptable levels of cost. We chose conceptual graphs as the knowledge representation formalism for the repository. Conceptual graphs are well adapted to represent knowledge and effectively respond to the need for storage functionality in the repository. Knowledge representation cannot be disconnected from the retrieval and display functions. The conceptual graphs community has not paid as much attention to these two functions. This paper presents the Presentation Definition Language we defined and implemented for The IT Macroscope methodology repository. This language integrates retrieve and display commands; it is fully integrated with the knowledge representation formalism since it too has been defined using conceptual graphs. The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents The IT Macroscope methodology repository; Section 3 details the Presentation Definition Language; this language is illustrated with the help of an example in Section 4; Section 5 is the conclusion and presents our future work.
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2.
METHODOLOGY REPOSITORY
The methodology repository plays a fundamental role in The IT Macroscope. It stores, retrieves and displays all the knowledge produced by the experts in the IT domain.
2.1.
Metamodel
The first step we took was to design the metamodel for the repository. We identified three main subjects: knowledge structure, presentation structure, operational structure. Knowledge structure, presentation structure and operational structure are declared and specified using conceptual graphs. The three structures are compiled in a large repository. Knowledge conceptual graphs are pure data and remain static. Presentation structure and operational structure are dynamic; their conceptual graphs are executable. Knowledge structure The knowledge structure is essentially the metamodel of a methodology. A methodology is a set of interrelated deliverables, methods, activities, events, rules and techniques. The complete description of the knowledge structure includes more than one hundred conceptual graphs. Presentation structure The presentation structure defines how the concepts of the knowledge structure are retrieved and displayed. The complete description of the presentation structure includes more than three hundred conceptual graphs. Operational structure Operational concepts are used to represent the dynamics of methods as well as the operations provided by repository tools themselves.
2.2.
Architecture
The following diagram illustrates the architecture of the methodology repository. Conceptual graphs defining knowledge structure, presentation structure and operational structure are compiled in the knowledge base, followed by the instance graphs describing a methodology. The generator executes presentation structure that generates views or HTML files. "----- section label view ------" USER_VIEW>SECTION_LABEL_VIEW. [SECTION_LABEL_VIEW:¤](PART)[SELECTOR:[£:$]SECTION_LABEL_VIEW. [SECTION_LABEL_VIEW:¤]"----- main view ---------------" (PART)OONCEPT_VIEW. (SHOWS)->[SELECTOR:[£:$][SELECTOR:[£:$][STYLE:HEADER_CONCEPT], (PART)[EVENT:?s2] ]
A MULTIPLE SELECTOR refers to a query graph that specifies a query with possibly more than one question mark. The execution of the query returns a collection of tuples of concepts. Each concept corresponds respectively to each question mark. The set may be empty if no tuple matches with the query. 3.1.4. Context Selector When a query is executed, the search is done by default in the Universe. The Universe is the set of all graphs that are not referents of any concept. Graphs that are referents of a concept are not in the Universe. For example, in Figure 2, the conceptual graph [DELIVERABLE:231][SELECTOR:*] “----- coordinate attributes -------” (XLEFTABS)
