OpenViews: ODP Viewpoints in a Development Framework

Welcome to the reception page of OpenViews, an EPSRC funded research project at the University of Kent at Canterbury (UKC), from May 1998 to August 2001.

OpenViews builds on results obtained in the successfully completed project "Cross Viewpoint Consistency in Open Distributed Processing" by the same investigators. Whereas the focus in the `Consistency' project was on formal techniques for inter-viewpoint consistency checking, OpenViews concentrates on the embedding of these and other formal techniques in a development framework for ODP systems based on the viewpoints defined in the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP).

These pages provide the latest information on the OpenViews project and will be kept up to date. The complete project proposal is also available.

Background

The Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP) defines an architecture for specifying and constructing open distributed systems. In order to separate concerns and accommodate all possible participants, the RM-ODP provides five different viewpoints from which such systems may be specified. The OpenViews project is based on the thesis that the ODP viewpoints architecture is also suitable as a development framework for the construction of distributed systems.

Objectives

In order to serve as a practical development framework, the abstract architecture of the RM-ODP needs to be instantiated with concrete notations, techniques and methods. The OpenViews project aims to provide such instantiations. More specifically, the project aims to:

1. enhance the Computational Viewpoint Language and develop notations to support Enterprise description;
2. develop techniques for relating specific ODP viewpoints;
3. provide a prototype tool-set to support the development architecture;
4. perform a demanding Case Study; and
5. feed the results of the research to relevant industrial enterprises and into ODP standardisation activities.

Investigators

The following people were involved in OpenViews:

• Eerke Boiten
• Howard Bowman
• John Derrick (principal investigator)
• Peter Linington
• Maarten Steen (research associate)
• Chris Taylor (research associate)

Contact

For more information about this project please contact John Derrick (e-mail: jd1@ukc.ac.uk) or Eerke Boiten (e-mail: eab2@ukc.ac.uk).

Publications

• Applying the UML to the ODP enterprise viewpoint. M.W.A. Steen and J. Derrick. Technical Report 8-99, Computing Laboratory, University of Kent at Canterbury, May 1999.
• Separating component and context specification using promotion. J. Derrick and E. A. Boiten. In K. Araki, A. Galloway, and K. Taguchi, editors, International Conference on Integrated Formal Methods 1999 (IFM'99), pages 293-312. Springer-Verlag, July 1999.
• Viewpoints and consistency: translating LOTOS to Object-Z. John Derrick, Eerke Boiten, Howard Bowman, and Maarten Steen. Computer Standards and Interfaces, 21:251-272, August 1999.
• Formalising ODP enterprise policies. M. W. A. Steen and J. Derrick. In 3rd International Enterprise Distributed Object Computing Conference (EDOC '99), University of Mannheim, Germany, IEEE Publishing, September 1999.
• Non-atomic refinement in Z. J. Derrick and E. A. Boiten. In J.M. Wing, J.C.P. Woodcock, and J. Davies, editors, FM'99 World Congress on Formal Methods in the Development of Computing Systems, volume 1708 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 1477-1496, Berlin, September 1999. Springer.
• Constructive consistency checking for partial specification in Z. E.A. Boiten, J. Derrick, H. Bowman, and M.W.A. Steen. Science of Computer Programming, 35(1):29-75, September 1999.
• A formal framework for viewpoint consistency. H. Bowman, M.W.A. Steen, E.A. Boiten, and J. Derrick. Computing Laboratory Technical Report 22-99, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NZ, December 1999.
• Liberating data refinement. E.A. Boiten and J. Derrick. In R.C. Backhouse and J.N. Oliveira, editors, Mathematics of Program Construction, 5th International Conference, Ponte de Lima, volume 1837 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 144-166. Springer, July 2000.
• Viewpoint consistency in ODP. E.A. Boiten, H. Bowman, J. Derrick, P.F. Linington, and M.W.A. Steen. Computer Networks, 34(3):503-537, August 2000.
• Comparison of ODP viewpoint specifications: a case study. Chris Taylor. Technical Report 7-00, University of Kent, March 2000.
• A case study in partial specification: consistency and refinement for Object-Z. Chris Taylor, John Derrick, and Eerke Boiten. In Proc. of ICFEM 2000, pages 177-185, IEEE, September 2000.
• ODP Enterprise Viewpoint Specification. M. Steen and J. Derrick. Computer Standards and Interfaces, 22:165-189, September 2000.

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