Class Identification in Business Information Systems

1Francesco Capozza, 2Sergio deCesare , 3Maria Carmina di Canillo,

1,3Univeristy of Bari, Department of Statistical Sciences, Via Camillo, Rosalba, 53 - 70124 Bari

2South Bank University, School of Computing, Information Systems and Maths, 103 Borough Road,

London, SE1 0AA

Email: 1 capozza@dss.uniba.it; 2 decesasa@sbu.ac.uk;3 dicanillo@dss.uniba.it;

ABSTRACT

Many object-oriented methodologies have been proposed and presented as being suitable even for the analysis and design of business information systems (BIS). However, these methodologies lack in providing guidelines for the identification of the sequence with which subsystems and classes should be analysed. When modelling complex BIS, composed of many interrelated and interacting subsystems and objects, it would be opportune to define guidelines for determining the sequence with which classes are studied within an iterative and incremental analysis process. The objectives of such an approach are to handle complexity step by step, increase the quality of the final model, and augment efficiency and productivity.

This research study faces the issue of managing complexity in BIS analysis and proposes an object-oriented analysis process based on a preliminary decomposition of the BIS in different types of submodels and subsystems. The basic assumption of the process proposed in this paper is that the dynamic behavioural model, which defines states, transitions, and object interactions, is the most critical part of a BIS. The iterative and incremental process begins by analysing the most dynamic class (central class) and proceeds by identifying other classes which will be analysed one at a time on the basis of their class type and degree of coupling with other classes already analysed. The process proposed has been applied to analyse a case study of a transport enterprise BIS.

KEY WORDS: Business information systems, object-orientation, analysis process, submodel, subsystem, coupling, class type.

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