1 Proposal Of A Generic Visual Critic Authoring Framework By: Norhayati Mohd.Ali PhD Candidate [1 st Year : PhD] Supervisors: Prof.John Grundy & Prof.John Hosking

2 Content Introduction Research Objective Literature Review & Motivation Approach Methodology Research Progress Conclusions

3 Introduction Integrated support tools have been developed to support designers in developing complex software/systems One of the components of such integrated support tools  Critics Focus of research  The use of critic tools in software development

4 Introduction Critic tools have been used for many domains. Critic tools: –detect potential problems –Give advice and alternative solutions –Possibly automated/semi- automated design improvements to the end-user

5 Research Objective The objective of this research is to develop a generic visual critic authoring framework embedded within an end-user oriented domain specific visual language meta tool This will allow tool critic support to be developed in parallel with the tools

6 Literature Review Critic-support tools DSVL Meta-tool & meta-model concept Visual modelling environment OCL

7 Critic-support tools ToolDomain ArgoUMLSoftware architecture ArchStudioSoftware architecture SoftArchSoftware architecture IDEADesign pattern ABCDE- Critic OOAD DAISYSoftware architecture AIRRequirement engineering PreferRequirement engineering Table1:Critic tool research in SE domain ToolDomain OnconcinClinical SEDARCivil engineering Java critiquer Education Design evaluator Design sketch system CATSRecommender system Table 2:Critic tools in other domain

8 DSVL The domain-specific visual language (DSVL) are graphical notations specially devised for the specific needs and knowledge [J de Lara, H.Vangheluwe] allows someone who is a domain expert to use the visual language as an application development tool for the domain. defined by a modeling language(meta-model) that defines a set of possible languages(models) and provides a basis for generators.

9 Motivation Most existing critic tools use representational approaches that are: –complex to express –requires deep programming understanding –difficult for end user designers No visual critic authoring tool Opportunity to design & develop a visual critic authoring framework

10 Approach Based on the “Three examples” pattern of the Evolving Frameworks Pattern Language [Roberts,D & Johnson,R. ] Generalize from the three examples to a generic visual language and support environment

11 Methodology Identify a set of initial requirements for a visual critic tool Design & implement the visual critic authoring framework Identify a core set of building blocks needed for a generic critic authoring framework Develop an initial prototype – explore problems & issues Design three examples of visual critic tools with different domains LR-critic tools, compare & analyse Evaluate the visual critic authoring tool: -construct a prototype systems and examples -Test against design examples -conduct end user evaluation y1 y3 y2

12 Research Progress Analyse and compare the critic-based tools (based on table 1)based on table 1 List critic specification Apply Marama formula designer – as a stepping stone

13 Research Progress Critic Specifications Critic elementsdescription Critic namename of the critic Critic rulesrules to construct critics Critic domaindomain of the problem Critic categoriesall critics are categorized based on the type of domain knowledge Critic repositoryto store all critics Critic strategiesStrategies to repair/fix any identified defects/errors Defect detectorDetect potential defects Critic messageGenerate messages/warning relating to defects RationaleGive rationale explanation for each critic Suggestion/solutionGive solution/suggestion for each critic Critic dimensionRefers to when a critic should interrupt the end user (active/passive, negative/positive) Critic priorityRanking for each critic (H/M/L) Critic editorCapability to add, edit, view & delete critics

14 Research Progress Domain:UML class diagram Critic nameDescriptionSuggestion Duplicate Class nameTwo classes in the design have the same name Rename one of the components or remove one of the components Duplicate Attribute name Two attributes within a Class have the same Rename one of the attributes or remove one of the attributes Naming Critics concerned with Class, Attribute & Method Example of critic:

15 Research Progress Domain:UML class diagram Critic nameDescriptionSuggestion Self-inheritanceA Class references a subclass of itself remove the reference from the superclass to the subclass Circular inheritance There is a cycle in generalization relationship remove one of the relationship to break the cycle Structure Critics concerned with the Relationships between Classes Example of critic:

16 Research Progress Visual Critic’s metamodel

17 Conclusions Through this research, we will provide proofs of the fact that such a DSVL for critic-support tool will assists the end-user software designers to express critics naturally and efficiently at the meta level

18 THANK YOU Thank you for listening You are welcome to give any feedback