The ToscanaJ Suite for Implementing Conceptual Information Systems

For over a decade, work on Formal Concept Analysis has been accompanied by the development of the

Toscana

software.

Toscana

was implemented to realize the idea of

Conceptual Information Systems

which allow the analysis of data using concept-oriented methods. Over the years, many ideas from Formal Concept Analysis have been tested in

Toscana

systems while the real-world problems encountered led to new theoretical research. After ten years of development, the

ToscanaJ

project was initiated to solve some outstanding problems of the older

Toscana

versions. The

ToscanaJ

suite provides programs for creating and using Conceptual Information Systems. The experience with older

Toscana

implementations has been applied to the design of the programs. A workflow that developed through many

Toscana

projects has now been integrated into the tools to make them easier to use. Implemented as an Open-Source project and embedded into the larger Tockit project,

ToscanaJ

is also a starting point for creating a common base for software development for Formal Concept Analysis. In this paper, we present the features of the

ToscanaJ

suite and how they can be used to implement Conceptual Information Systems.