Viewpoint Effectiveness

In my thesis I have conducted different case studies to validate the use of the viewpoint analyzer, a tool based on a production system, to help the analysis of viewpoints. Using different descriptions written in VWPL the tool would identify "candidates" for wrong information, inconsistencies and missing information.

The case studies did also pointed out that by having an agenda for discussing discrepancies would increase the overall knowledge about the topic at hand.

The paper below provides a case study that sheds more light of the importance on this agenda for discussion in the process of having better conceptual models.

Proceedings of the 13th IEEE International Conference on
Requirements Engineering, 2005
Do viewpoints lead to better conceptual models? An exploratory case study, by
Easterbrook, S. Yu, E. Aranda, J. Yuntian Fan Horkoff, J. Leica, M. Qadir, R.A.

Viewpoints in Connection with Semiotics

Just found, using, Scholar a work published in Australia.

Australasian Journal of Information Systems, Vol 10, No 1 (2002)
The Viewpoint Paradigm: a semiotic based approach for the intelligibility of a cooperative designing process,
by Pierre-Jean Charrel

Viewpoints '96

In October of 1996, Anthony Finkelstein managed to unite more than 30 researchers to discuss the concept of viewpoint applied to Software Engineering. The International Workshop on Multiple Perspectives in Software Development proceedings has 32 short papers on the topic. It is the more diverse collection of viewpoints literature dealing with the concept of viewpoint in Requirements Engineering.

Below follows a list of all the 32 papers published in the Viewpoints 96 Workshop.

1) Relating viewpoints: a preface to Viewpoints 96
Anthony Finkelstein

2) Multiple view analysis of designs
Boumediene Belkhouche, Cuauhtémoc Lemus Olalde

3) Issues in multiparadigm viewpoint specification
Eerke Boiten, Howard Bowman, John Derrick, Maarten Steen

4) Modularized exception handling
Martin S. Feather

5) Managing interference
Anthony Finkelstein, George Spanoudakis, David Till

6) Multi viewpoint analysis in requirements process
Hisayuki Horai

7) Connecting viewpoints by shared phenomena
Michael Jackson

8) Towards a framework for managing inconsistency between multiple views
Bashar Nuseibeh

9) Solving conflicts produces new contexts
Laurent Perrussel

10) Consistency management for multiple perspective software development
Wai Leung Poon, Anthony Finkelstein

11) Automated assistance for conflict resolution in multiple perspective systems analysis and operation
William N. Robinson

12) Tool support for requirements formalisation
Jaelson F. B. Castro, Christian J. Gautreau, Marco A. Toranzo

13) An architecture for viewpoint environments based on OMG/CORBA
Wolfgang Emmerich

14) Support for constructing environments with multiple views
John C. Grundy, John G. Hosking, Warwick B. Mugridge, Robert W. Amor

15) Multiple view software process support using the MultiView architecture
David Jacobs, Chris Marlin

16) Multiple views based on unparsing canonical representations—the MultiView architecture
Chris Marlin

17) Tool support for multiple viewpoints
Geoff Mullery

18) Generating direct manipulation program editors within the MultiView programming environment
Michael Read, Chris Marlin

19) Supporting viewpoints in Metaview
Paul G. Sorenson, Piotr S. Findeisen, J. Paul Tremblay

20) An approach to conceptual feedback in multiple viewed software requirements modeling
Harry S. Delugach

21) A module concept for ViewPoints
Christian Piwetz, Michael Goedicke

22) Divergent views in goal-driven requirements engineering
Axel van Lamsweerde

23) A convergent systems viewpoint on viewpoints
Jack C. Wileden, Alan Kaplan

24) View-based mechanisms for structured and distributed enactment
Denis Avrilionis, Pierre-Yves Cunin

25) Viewpoints supporting the development of interactive software
T. C. Nicholas Graham

26) Business patterns and viewpoints
Haim Kilov, Ian Simmonds

27) Managing analytical complexity of safety critical systems using viewpoints
J. A. McDermid, A. J. Vickers, S. P. Wilson

28) Viewpoints-based software for management problem-solving interventions
Nikolay Mehandjiev

29) About views for modeling software processes in a role-specific manner
Martin Verlage

30) Viewpoints on viewpoints
Julio Cesar Sampaio do Prado Leite

31) Viewpoints in object database systems
Elisa Bertino, Giovanna Guerrini

32) Providing multiple views for objects by means of surrogates
Naftaly H. Minsky, Partha Pratim Pal

Viewpoints Papers Published in the Requirements Engineering Journal

• Stakeholder viewpoints in requirements definition: A framework for understanding viewpoint development approaches,Peta Darke and Graeme Shank, 1996

• Practical Experience with Viewpoint-Oriented Requirements Specification, G. Kotonya, 1999

• Specifications in Context: Stakeholders, Systems and Modelling of Conflict, J. M. Coakes and E. W. Coakes, 2000

• Merging individual conceptual models of requirements, Debbie Richards, 2003

• View merging in the presence of incompleteness and inconsistency, Mehrdad Sabetzadeh and Steve Easterbrook, 2006

Read the Requirements Engineering Journal, a top quality journal dedicated to Requirements Engineering.

Software Engineering Journal, Vol. 11, N.1

At this special edition of the Software Engineering Journal, just
referred at the previous note, 4 papers dealt with the Viewpoint concept.

• Requirements engineering with viewpoints -- Kotonya, G.; Sommerville, I.

• Using ViewPoints for inconsistency management -- Easterbrrok, S.; Nuseibeh, B.

• Cross-viewpoint consistency in open distributed processing -- Bowman, H.; Derrick, J.; Linington, P.; Steen, M.

• Formal validation of viewpoint specifications -- Ainsworth, M.; Riddle, S.; Wallis, P.J.L.

1996 Viewpoints FAQ

Sommerville and Finkelstein wrote this FAQ for a special edition
of the Software Engineering Journal.

Viewpoints Papers Published in IEEE TSE

• Requirements validation through viewpoint resolution, J Leite, PA Freeman - IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 1991

• A framework for expressing the relationships between multiple views in requirements specification, B Nuseibeh, J Kramer, A Finkelstein - IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 1994

• Inconsistency handling in multiperspective specifications, ACW Finkelstein, D Gabbay, A Hunter, J Kramer, B … - Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on, 1994

• Inconsistency management for multiple-view software development environments, J Grundy, J Hosking, WB Mugridge - IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 1998

• Managing process inconsistency using viewpoints, I Sommerville, P Sawyer, S Viller - Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on, 1999

• Managing requirements inconsistency with development goal monitors, WN Robinson, SD Pawlowski - Software Engineering, IEEE Transactions on, 1999

• A methodological framework for viewpoint-oriented conceptual modeling, J Andrade, J Ares, R Garcia, J Pazos, S Rodriguez, … - IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 2004

Early Work

During the 5th International Workshop on Software Specification and Design 4 papers dealt with the concept of viewpoints.

• Viewpoint analysis: a case study
  J. C. S. P. Leite

• A look through PRISMA: towards pluralistic knowledge-based environments for software specification acquisition
  C. Niskier, T. Maibaum, D. Schwabe

• Multiparty specification
  A. Finkelstein, H. Fuks

• Integrating multiple specifications using domain goals
  W. N. Robinson

Perspectives x Viewpoints x Views

One of the important things in understanding viewpoints is making it clear that a viewpoint is different from a perspective.

My definition stands still: from pages 50 and 51.

Viewpoints

The Thesis is available as a image pdf file. Later on, I and Peter Freeman, my advisor, published, in the IEEE Transaction on Software Engineering, an article stressing the important findings of our viewpoint research.