Software Traceability for Multi-Agent Systems Implemented Using BDI Architecture (vol. 1)

The development of multi-agent software systems is considered a complex task due to (a) the large number and heterogeneity of documents generated during the development of these systems, (b) the lack of support for the whole development life-cycle by existing agent-oriented methodologies requiring the use of different methodologies, and (c) the possible incompleteness of the documents and models generated during the development of the systems.

In order to alleviate the above problems, in this thesis, a traceability framework is described to support the development of multi-agent systems. The framework supports automatic generation of traceability relations and identification of missing elements (i.e., completeness checking) in the models created during the development life-cycle of multi-agent systems using the Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) architecture.

Traceability has been recognized as an important activity in the software development process. Traceability relations can guarantee and improve software quality and can help with several tasks such as the evolution of software systems, reuse of parts of the system, validation that a system meets its requirements, understanding of the rationale for certain design decisions, identification of common aspects of the system, and analysis of implications of changes in the system.

The traceability framework presented in this thesis concentrates on multi-agent software systems developed using i* framework, Prometheus methodology, and JACK language. Here, a traceability reference model is presented for software artefacts generated when using i* framework, Prometheus methodology, and JACK language. Different types of relations between the artefacts are identified. The framework is based on a rule-based approach to support automatic identification of traceability relations and missing elements between the generated artefacts. Software models represented in XML were used to support the heterogeneity of models and tools used during the software development life-cycle. In the framework, the rules are specified in an extension of XQuery to support (i) representation of the consequence part of the rules, i.e. the actions to be taken when the conditions are satisfied, and (ii) extra functions to cover some of the traceability relations being proposed and completeness checking of the models.

A prototype tool has been developed to illustrate and evaluate the work.

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Chapter 1 - Introduction
• 1.2 Hypotheses
• 1.3 Objectives
• 1.4 Contributions
• 1.5 Thesis Outline
• Chapter 2 - Literature Survey on Traceability
• 2.1 Traceability Reference Models and Meta-Models
• 2.2 Traceability Approaches to Capture Trace Relations
• 2.2.1 Formal Approaches
• 2.2.2 Process Oriented Approaches
• 2.2.3 Information Retrieval Approaches
• 2.2.4 String Matching Approaches
• 2.2.5 Rule Based Approaches
• 2.2.6 Run-time approaches
• 2.2.7 Hypermedia and Information Integration approaches
• 2.3 Representation, Recording and Maintenance of Traceability Relations
• 2.4 Visualisation of Traceability Relations
• 2.5 Use of Traceability Relations
• 2.6 Traceability Approaches for Multi-Agent Systems
• 2.7 Performance Measures
• 2.8 Implication of tools that infer trace relations
• 2.9 Summary
• Chapter 3 - Traceability Reference Model
• 3.1 Overview of the Reference Model
• 3.2 Multi-agent Oriented Artefacts
• 3.2.1 i* Framework
• 3.2.2 Prometheus
• 3.2.3 JACK
• 3.3 Traceability Relations
• 3.3.1 Traceability Relations between i* and Prometheus
• 3.2.2 Traceability Relations between Prometheus and JACK
• 3.4 Summary
• Chapter 4 - Traceability Framework
• 4.1. Overview of the Framework
• 4.2 Traceability and Completeness Checking Rules
• 4.3 Extended Functions
• 4.3.1 Completeness checking functions
• 4.3.2 XQuery functions
• 4.3.3 XQueryJACKFunctions
• 4.3.4 XQueryPDTFunctions
• 4.3.5 XQuerySimilarityFunctions
• 4.3.6 XQuerySynonymsFunctions
• 4.3.7 XQueryTAOMFunctions
• 4.4 Retratos Tool
• 4.5 Discussion
• 4.6 Summary
• Chapter 5 - Evaluation and Results
• 5.1 Criteria for Evaluation
• 5.2 Automatic Teller Machine
• 5.2.1 Overview of the Case Study
• 5.2.2 Artefacts
• 5.2.3 Evaluation
• 5.3 Air Traffic Control Environment
• 5.3.1 Overview of the Case Study
• 5.3.2 Artefacts
• 5.3.3 Evaluation
• 5.4 Electronic Bookstore
• 5.4.1 Overview of the Case Study
• 5.4.2 Artefacts
• 5.4.3 Evaluation
• 5.5 Discussion
• 5.6 Threats of Validity
• 5.7 Summary

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This thesis focuses on the implementation of software traceability for multi-agent systems using the Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) architecture. The main goal is to develop a comprehensive framework for capturing and managing traceability relationships between different artifacts within multi-agent systems. The key themes explored in the thesis include:

• Traceability reference models and meta-models for multi-agent systems.
• Approaches and techniques for capturing traceability relations between different artifacts, including formal methods, process-oriented approaches, information retrieval, string matching, and rule-based methods.
• The development and evaluation of a traceability framework for multi-agent systems based on the BDI architecture, including the use of XQuery functions and the Retratos tool.
• Case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework in real-world scenarios, such as automatic teller machines, air traffic control environments, and electronic bookstores.
• Threats of validity and limitations of the proposed framework.

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

• Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the research problem, outlining the motivations, hypotheses, objectives, contributions, and thesis outline.
• Chapter 2 presents a comprehensive literature survey on traceability, exploring different reference models, meta-models, and approaches for capturing and managing traceability relations. It discusses various approaches, including formal methods, process-oriented approaches, information retrieval, string matching, rule-based methods, run-time approaches, hypermedia and information integration approaches. It also covers the representation, recording, and maintenance of traceability relations, visualization techniques, and performance measures. Finally, the chapter examines the implications of tools that infer trace relations and provides a summary of the current state of the art in traceability.
• Chapter 3 introduces a novel traceability reference model specifically designed for multi-agent systems. The chapter discusses multi-agent oriented artifacts, including the i* framework, Prometheus, and JACK, and defines traceability relations between these artifacts.
• Chapter 4 presents a detailed description of the traceability framework developed in this thesis. It discusses the framework's overall design, including the traceability and completeness checking rules, extended functions, XQuery functions, and the Retratos tool.
• Chapter 5 focuses on the evaluation and results of the proposed traceability framework. The chapter describes the criteria used for evaluation and presents three case studies: an automatic teller machine, an air traffic control environment, and an electronic bookstore. For each case study, the chapter provides an overview, describes the artifacts used, and presents the evaluation results. It also discusses threats of validity and provides a summary of the evaluation findings.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

The primary keywords and focus topics of this thesis include software traceability, multi-agent systems, BDI architecture, i* framework, Prometheus, JACK, traceability reference model, traceability framework, XQuery functions, Retratos tool, case studies, and threats of validity. The research focuses on applying these concepts to develop a comprehensive framework for capturing and managing traceability relations within complex multi-agent systems, contributing to the advancement of software development and maintenance practices in this domain.

Details

• College: City University London
• Course: Computer Science
• Author: Gilberto Cysneiros Filho (Author)
• Publication Year: 2011
• Pages: 199
• Catalog Number: V278913
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656718437
• ISBN (Book): 9783656718413
• Language: English
• Tags: software traceability multi-agent systems implemented using architecture