John Zachman introduced a framework for information systems architecture (ISA) that has been widely adopted by systems analysts and database designers. It provides a taxonomy for relating the concepts that describe the real work to the concepts that describe an information system and its implementation. The ISA framework has a simple elegance that makes it easy to remember, yet it draws attention to fundamental distinctions that are often overlooked in systems design. This paper presents the framework and its recent extensions and shows how it can be formalized in the notation of conceptual graphs.

/pdf/extending-and-formalizing-the-framework-for-information-12zijd6zeu.pdf

Extending and formalizing the framework for information systems architecture

Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) environments have spread at a lower pace than expected. One reason for this is the immaturity of existing environments in supporting development in-the-large and by-many and their inability to address the varying needs of the software developers. In this paper we report on the development of a next generation CASE environment called MetaEdit+. The environment seeks to overcome all the above deficiencies, but in particular pays attention to catering for the varying needs of the software developers. MetaEdit+ is a multi-method, multi-tool platform for both CASE and Computer Aided Method Engineering (CAME). As a CASE tool it establishes a versatile and powerful multi-tool environment which enables flexible creation, maintenance, manipulation, retrieval and representation of design information among multiple developers. As a CAME environment it offers an easy-to-use yet powerful environment for method specification, integration, management and re-use. The paper explains the motivation for developing MetaEdit+, its design goals and philosophy and discusses the functionality of the CAME tools.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F3-540-61292-0_1.pdf

MetaEdit+: A Fully Configurable Multi-User and Multi-Tool CASE and CAME Environment

Tool integration is not a property of a single tool, but of its relationships with other elements in the environment, chiefly other tools, a platform, and a process. Tool integration is about the extent to which tools agree. The subject of these agreements may include data format, user-interface conventions, use of common functions, or other aspects of tool construction. A framework that determines how well tools are integrated into an environment and that defines integration independently of the mechanisms and approaches used to support integration is proposed. Process, data, control, and presentation integration properties are described separately so as to identify them as clearly and independently as possible. Emphasis is placed on definitions of integration properties on relationships between tools rather than on the specific integration-support mechanisms. >

Definitions of tool integration for environments

A plethora of BPR methodologies have appeared in the literature during recent years, however, most of them present serious limitations mainly due to the need for a multi‐disciplinary approach. In this paper we present an overview of existing work in the area of BPR with the aim of highlighting the different categories of BPR methodologies identified in the literature, their focus on the redesign process and the general BPR principles that emerge from them. We also present a BPR methodology called Agent Relationship Morphism Analysis (ARMA) that goes beyond the limitations of the existing BPR methodologies taking a holistic view of the organisation. In ARMA the modelling of the business environment is achieved with the use of three perspectives: the structural, behavioural and process. The use of these three perspectives provides insight to the relationship between organisational structure and organisational processes.

Critical review of existing BPR methodologies

Software engineering problems often involve large sets of objects and complex relationships among them. This report proposes that graphical visualization techniques can help engineers undersland and solve a class of these problems. To illustrate this, two problems are analyzed and recast using the graphical language GraphLog. The first problem is that of simplifying dependencies among components of a system, which translates into removing cycles from a graph. The second problem is that of designing an efficient code overlay structure, which is facilitated in several ways through graphical techniques.

Visualizing and querying software structures

Over the years, IBM has made progress in resolving many of the issues that deal with improving application development (AD) productivity and quality. Systems Application Architecture™, together with IBM's recently announced AD/Cycle™ direction, provides a platform for even greater progress. This paper addresses the IBM strategy that supports AD/Cycle and gives an overview of the major components of the AD/Cycle architecture. This paper is an introduction to other papers that follow in this issue.

A. M. Nisbet

Papers

AD/Cycle strategy and architecture