arXiv subjects

Sabah Al-Fedaghi

Publications and source records attributed to Sabah Al-Fedaghi.

85 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Tracking Systems as Thinging Machine: A Case Study of a Service Company

Object tracking systems play important roles in tracking moving objects and overcoming problems such as safety, security and other location-related applications. Problems arise from the difficulties in creating a well-defined and understandable description of tracking systems. Nowadays, describing such processes results in fragmental representation that most of the time leads to difficulties creating documentation. Additionally, once learned by assigned personnel, repeated tasks result in them continuing on autopilot in a way that often degrades their effectiveness. This paper proposes the modeling of tracking systems in terms of a new diagrammatic methodology to produce engineering-like schemata. The resultant diagrams can be used in documentation, explanation, communication, education and control.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2018

Thinging vs Objectfying in Software Engineering

In this paper, we propose the use of a modeling methodology based on the notion of thing, with a focus on the current stage of research being on the analysis phase of software system modeling. The object-oriented approach, which takes the object as a central concept, provides the opportunity to explore applying thinging to the reconceptualization of objects. Several object-oriented examples are recast in terms of thing-oriented modeling. The results indicate a positive development that leads to several possible options: (1) supplementing the object orientation (OO) paradigm with additional notations, and (2) promoting a further understanding of some aspect of the OO paradigm. The possibility of developing a new approach in modeling based on thinging also exists.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2018

Thinging Ethics for Software Engineers

Ethical systems are usually described as principles for distinguishing right from wrong and forming beliefs about proper conduct. Ethical topics are complex, with excessively verbose accounts of mental models and intensely ingrained philosophical assumptions. From practical experience, in teaching ethics for software engineering students, an explanation of ethics alone often cannot provide insights of behavior and thought for students. Additionally, it seems that there has been no exploration into the development of a conceptual presentation of ethics that appeals to computer engineers. This is particularly clear in the area of software engineering, which focuses on software and associated tools such as algorithms, diagramming, documentation, modeling and design as applied to various types of data and conceptual artifacts. It seems that software engineers look at ethical materials as a collection of ideas and notions that lack systemization and uniformity. Accordingly, this paper explores a thinging schematization for ethical theories that can serve a role similar to that of modeling languages (e.g., UML). In this approach, thinging means actualization (existence, presence, being) of things and mechanisms that define a boundary around some region of ethically related reality, separating it from everything else. The resultant diagrammatic representation then developed to model the process of making ethical decisions in that region.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2018

Petri Nets and Machines of Things That Flow

Petri nets are an established graphical formalism for modeling and analyzing the behavior of systems. An important consideration of the value of Petri nets is their use in describing both the syntax and semantics of modeling formalisms. Describing a modeling notation in terms of a formal technique such as Petri nets provides a way to minimize ambiguity. Accordingly, it is imperative to develop a deep and diverse understanding of Petri nets. This paper is directed toward a new, but preliminary, exploration of the semantics of such an important tool. Specifically, the concern in this paper is with the semantics of Petri nets interpreted in a modeling language based on the notion of machines of things that flow. The semantics of several Petri net diagrams are analyzed in terms of flow of things. The results point to the viability of the approach for exploring the underlying assumptions of Petri nets.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2018

Thinging for Software Engineers

The aim of this paper is to promote the terms thing and thinging (which refers to the act of defining a boundary around some portion of reality and labeling it with a name) as valued notions that play an important role in software engineering modeling. Additionally, we attempt to furnish operational definitions for terms thing, object, process, and thinging. The substantive discussion is based on the conception of an (abstract) machine, named the Thinging Machine (TM), used in several research works. The TM creates, processes, receives, releases, and transfers things. Accordingly, a diagrammatic representation of the TM is used to model reality. In the discussion section, this paper clarifies interesting issues related to conceptual modeling in software engineering. The substance of this paper and its conclusion suggest that thinging should be more meaningfully emphasized as a valuable research and teaching topic, at least in the requirement analysis phase of the software development cycle.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2017

Software Engineering Modeling Applied to English Verb Classification (and Poetry)

In requirements specification, software engineers create a textual description of the envisioned system as well as develop conceptual models using such tools as Universal Modeling Language (UML) and System Modeling Language (SysML). One such tool, called FM, has recently been developed as an extension of the INPUT-PROCESS-OUTPUT (IPO) model. IPO has been used extensively in many interdisciplinary applications and is described as one of the most fundamental and important of all descriptive tools. This paper is an attempt to understanding the PROCESS in IPO. The fundamental way to describe PROCESS is in verbs. This use of language has an important implication for systems modeling since verbs express the vast range of actions and movements of all things. It is clear that modeling needs to examine verbs. Accordingly, this paper involves a study of English verbs as a bridge to learn about processes, not as linguistic analysis but rather to reveal the semantics of processes, particularly the five verbs that form the basis of FM states: create, process, receive, release, and transfer. The paper focuses on verb classification, and specifically on how to model the action of verbs diagrammatically. From the linguistics point of view, according to some researchers, further exploration of the notion of verb classes is needed for real-world tasks such as machine translation, language generation, and document classification. Accordingly, this non-linguistics study may benefit linguistics.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2017

Diagramming the Class Diagram: Toward a Unified Modeling Methodology

The object-oriented class is, in general, the most utilized element in programming and modeling. It is employed throughout the software development process, from early domain analysis phases to later maintenance phases. A class diagram typically uses elements of graph theory, e.g., boxes, ovals, lines. Many researchers have examined the class diagram layout from different perspectives, including visibility, juxtaposability, and aesthetics. While software systems can be incredibly complex, class diagrams represent a very broad picture of the system as a whole. The key to understanding of such complexity is use of tools such as diagrams at various levels of representation. This paper develops a more elaborate diagrammatic description of the class diagram that includes flows of attributes, thus providing a basic representation for specifying behavior and control instead of merely listing methods.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2017

Conceptual Modeling for Control of a Physical Engineering Plant: A Case Study

We examine the problem of weaknesses in frameworks of conceptual modeling for handling certain aspects of the system being modeled. We propose the use of a flow-based modeling methodology at the conceptual level. Specifically, and without loss of generality, we develop a conceptual description that can be used for controlling the maintenance of a physical system, and demonstrate it by applying it to an existing electrical power plant system. Recent studies reveal difficulties in finding comprehensive answers for monitoring operations and identifying risks as well as the fact that incomplete information can easily lead to incorrect maintenance. A unified framework for integrated conceptualization is therefore needed. The conceptual modeling approach integrates maintenance operations into a total system comprising humans, physical objects, and information. The proposed model is constructed of (abstract) machines of things connected by flows, forming an integrated whole. It represents a man-made, intentionally constructed system and includes technical and human things observable in the real world, exemplified by the study case described in this paper. A specification is constructed from a maximum of five basic operations: creation, processing, releasing, transferring, and receiving.

cs.CY↗

arXiv2017

Process Description, Behavior, and Control

Modeling processes are the activities of capturing and representing processes and control of their dynamic behavior. Desired features of the model include capture of relevant aspects of a real phenomenon, understandability, and completeness of static and dynamic specifications. This paper proposes a diagrammatic language for engineering process modeling that provides an integration tool for capturing the static description of processes, framing their behaviors in terms of events, and utilizing the resultant model for controlling processes. Without loss of generality, the focus of the paper is on process modeling in the area of computer engineering, and specifically, on modeling of computer services. To demonstrate the viability of the method, the proposed model is applied to depicting flow of services in the Information Technology department of a government ministry.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2017

Modeling Events as Machines

The notion of events has occupied a central role in modeling and has an influence in computer science and philosophy. Recent developments in diagrammatic modeling have made it possible to examine conceptual representation of events. This paper explores some aspects of the notion of events that are produced by applying a new diagrammatic methodology with a focus on the interaction of events with such concepts as time and space, objects. The proposed description applies to abstract machines where events form the dynamic phases of a system. The results of this nontechnical research can be utilized in many fields where the notion of an event is typically used in interdisciplinary application.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2017

Business Process Modeling: Blueprinting

This paper presents a flow-based methodology for capturing processes specified in business process modeling. The proposed methodology is demonstrated through re-modeling of an IBM Blueworks case study. While the Blueworks approach offers a well-proven tool in the field, this should not discourage workers from exploring other ways of thinking about effectively capturing processes. The diagrammatic representation presented here demonstrates a viable methodology in this context. It is hoped this explicit analysis of diverse fundamental approaches will benefit the research in the field and also advance current practices.

cs.SE↗

arXiv2013

Conceptual Understanding of Computer Program Execution: Application to C++

A visual programming language uses pictorial tools such as diagrams to represent its structural units and control stream. It is useful for enhancing understanding, maintenance, verification, testing, and parallelism. This paper proposes a diagrammatic methodology that produces a conceptual representation of instructions for programming source codes. Without loss of generality in the potential for using the methodology in a wider range of applications, this paper focuses on using these diagrams in teaching of C++ programming. C++ programming constructs are represented in the proposed method in order to show that it can provide a foundation for understanding the behavior of running programs. Applying the method to actual C++ classes demonstrates that it improves understanding of the activities in the computer system corresponding to a C++ program.

cs.PL↗

arXiv2012

Diagrammatization of the Transmission Control Protocol

With the wide spread of Internet services, developers and users need a greater understanding of the technology of networking. Acquiring a clear understanding of communication protocols is an important step in understanding how a network functions; however, many protocols are complicated, and explaining them can be demanding. In addition, protocols are often explained in terms of traffic analysis and oriented toward technical staff and those already familiar with network protocols. This paper aims at proposing a diagrammatic methodology to represent protocols in general, with a focus on the Transmission Control Protocol and Secure Sockets Layer in particular. The purpose is to facilitate understanding of protocols for learning and communication purposes. The methodology is based on the notion of flow of primitive things in a system with six stages: creation, release, transfer, arrival, acceptance, and processing. Though the method presents a basic description of protocols without in-depth analysis of all aspects and mechanisms, the resultant conceptual description is a systematic specification that utilizes a few basic notions that assist in illustrating functionality and support comprehension.

cs.NI↗