1 Object Role Modeling Sander van der Rijnst

2 Outline  Background  Object Role Modeling method  Process Deliverable Diagram  Example  Discussion

3 Background  First concept created by Nijssen in the 1970s Natural language Information Analysis Method (NIAM)  Formalized in 1989 by Halpin Object Role Modeling  Several dialects exists FCO-IM, FORM

4 Timeline

5 Thee basic principles  Communication Oriented Does not model reality, but models the communication about reality (i.e. the facts and nothing but the facts)  Conceptuality All conceptual aspects of the communication should be modelled  Validation Users should be able to validate that their communication is correctly modelled without having to understand the model itself

6 Object Role Modeling  Is based on concrete information and examples in documents and conversations  Is in the form of a language, e.g. English, Dutch or even Chinese  Is in the natural language of the Universe of Discourse

7 Traditional Waterfall Development Approach Requirements Design Implement Test Release Feasibility

8 Design phase Conceptual information model Verbalization of examples Universe of Discourse perspective of domain expert perspective of information analyst interview level

9 Notation  Supported by CASE-tools PersonInstrument PersonInstrument NN EmployeeDepartment EmployeeDepartment N1... plays works for... plays works for

10 Process Deliverable Diagram

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12 Example “Room 211 of building MIN has a capacity of 80 seats” “MIN is an abbreviation of Minnaert” “ Room 211 of building MIN is of the room type amfitheater ” “Room 211 of building MIN is equipped with a PC”

13 Let’s model (1) Capacity “Room 211 of building MIN has a capacity of 80 seats” Room Number

14 Let’s model (2) Capacity “Room 211 of building MIN has a capacity of 80 seats” Room Number “Room 211 of building MIN” Room identifier Building

15 Let’s model (3) Capacity “Room 211 of building MIN has a capacity of 80 seats” Room Number “Room 211 of building MIN” Room identifier Building “building MIN” Code

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17 Conclusion  Fact-oriented modeling approach  Communication Oriented  Conceptual level  User Validated  Derive ERM models or UML class diagrams

18 Questions?