Presentation of a paper by Herman Balsters (H.Balsters@rug.nl - University of Groningen, The Netherelands) Andy Carver (andy@neumont.edu) Terry Halpin (terry@neumont.edu) and Tony Morgan (tony.morgan@neumont.edu) Neumont University, Utah, USA
Abstract: This paper proposes an extension to the Object-Role Modeling approach to support formal declaration of dynamic rules. Dynamic rules differ from static rules by pertaining to properties of state transitions, rather than to the states themselves. In this paper, application of dynamic rules is restricted to so-called single-step transactions, with an old state (the input of the transaction) and a new state (the direct result of the transaction). Such restricted rules are easier to formulate (and enforce) than a constraint applying historically over all possible states. In our approach, dynamic rules specify an elementary transaction type indicating which kind of object or fact type is being added, deleted or updated, and (optionally) pre-conditions relevant to the transaction, followed by a condition stating the properties of the new state, including the relation between the new state and the old state. Thse dynamic rules are formulated in a syntax designed to be easily validated by non-technical domain experts.
Paper available from OTM Workshops 2006, LNCS 4278, pp. 1201-1210 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heideleberg