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1990 | Buch

The NIAM Method of Information Analysis Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

The NIAM Information Analysis Method

Theory and Practice

verfasst von: J. J. V. R. Wintraecken

Verlag: Springer Netherlands

Enthalten in: Professional Book Archive

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Über dieses Buch

About information analysis Everywhere people are working, they are communicating or exchanging informa­ tion about their work. Unless they come to reasonable agreements about this communication, i.e., agreements describing the "language" of their communica­ tion so that they can understand each other's information, sooner or later there will be such a "Tower of Babel" that their goal of communication will be doomed to failure. There are a lot of places wh~re some of the communication between people working together is being carried out via an information system. In these cases too, a clear agreement about communication must be made, so that people communi­ cating via an information system can understand each other at all times. In such an agreement, it is determined which data may be exchanged with the information system and the meaning everyone should assign to that data. For communication taking place via an information system, such an agreement is called a "grammar" or a "conceptual schemea" of this information system. "Information analysis" is that field and also that phase of development of an information system in which the grammar or the conceptual schemea of the information system is determined. The grammar or the conceptual scheme is an essential part of the specifications of present-day information systems.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis
Abstract
This first chapter begins with a definition of what we mean by “information analysis” in this book, what has to be done during information analysis, and what the results of its application should be. This chapter serves as a framework and reference point for upcoming chapters.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
2. An Information System Model
Abstract
In the previous chapter, we saw that the objective of the NIAM method of information analysis is the specification of the grammar. Before taking up the question of how the grammar has to be specified, we must first get an idea of how the information exchange with the information system takes place. Therefore, in this chapter we will take a look at how an information system works in general and what its functional components are. These components and their mutual relations then form a model of an arbitrary information system. In setting up this model, we use the main principles of the NIAM method of information analysis, the conceptual principle and the 100% principle, as our starting point. One of the consequences of this is that only the conceptual aspects, and not the realization aspects, of an information system are described. That is, this model only indicates what the information system and its components must do, and not how they could be realized in practice. That is the reason we talk about a conceptual model of information systems. In fact, the conceptual model forms the specification of an arbitrary information system. During information analysis, we will assume that every information system behaves as is described by the conceptual model.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
3. From Object System Analysis to Information Analysis
Abstract
In this chapter we shall show the connection between object system analysis and information analysis. By means of an example, we shall give a short survey of the results of object system analysis and of the way in which these results should be used during information analysis. At the same time, we will roughly survey what should occur during object system analysis, as far as this is relevant for information analysis. Many aspects of object system analysis will necessarily be left out of consideration.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
4. The Structure of Information
Abstract
In Chapter 1, we saw that the aim of information analysis is to specify the grammar of an information system. The rules of the grammar prescribe the information of which the information base may consist at any moment and the information base state transitions which may occur. Before we can indicate how the grammar of an information system can be specified, we must first give a more detailed description of information or communicable knowledge.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
5. Describing Information
Abstract
We stated earlier that during information analysis the grammar of an information system is described. In this chapter we shall look at how information in general, and the grammar of an information system in particular, can be described.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
6. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis in Practice — 1
Abstract
This is the first of a number of practically oriented chapters in which, after one or more chapters on theory, we shall keep coming back to the practice of the NIAM method of information analysis. Little by little, we will construct a stepwise plan that can be used as a “cookbook” or checklist for applying NIAM.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
7. Graphical Constraints Involving One Fact Type
Abstract
As we noted at the end of Chapter 5, a significant portion of the remainder of this book deals with constraints. In this chapter, we will begin by taking a look at two graphical constraint types which limit the populations of one single fact type.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
8. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis in Practice — 2
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
9. Graphical Constraints Involving Multiple Fact Types
Abstract
In Chapter 7, we took a look at graphical constraints which restrict the role populations of one single fact type. In the upcoming sections we shall investigate graphical constraints which restrict the role populations of two or more fact types. Just as in Chapter 7, these constraints will be illustrated by the library case. To do this, we will be adding to the library case in each section.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
10. Graphical Constraints Involving Combinations of Roles
Abstract
In this chapter, we shall show that graphical constraints can also involve combinations of roles of different fact types.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
11. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis in Practice — 3
Abstract
In the previous practical chapters, we dealt with the first six and the eleventh steps of the NIAM process of information analysis. In this chapter, the ninth step comes up for discussion. The intermediate steps 7, 8, and 10 will be treated in subsequent practical chapters.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
12. Fact Types Consisting of More Than Two Roles
Abstract
Up to now, we have only considered elementary sentence types and fact types consisting of two roles. In this chapter we will examine elementary sentence types and fact types that consist of more than two roles. We shall see that fact types having more than two roles can always be replaced by binary fact types by introducing an extra object type. As a consequence, an information structure diagram can always be represented such that it contains only binary fact types. This explains why up to this point we have been able to restrict ourselves so specifically to binary fact types.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
13. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis in Practice — 4
Abstract
In this chapter, we will add to the stepwise plan of the NIAM method of information analysis by dealing with non-binary fact types.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
14. Fact Types Consisting of One Role
Abstract
Up to this point, we have taken a look at fact types that consist of two or more roles. We shall now show that there are also fact types that consist of one single role.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
15. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis in Practice — 5
Abstract
In this chapter, we shall add the treatment of subtypes to the stepwise plan of the NIAM method of information analysis. To this end, we will further expand the information structure diagram of the library case which we constructed in the foregoing practical chapters.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
16. Non-Graphical Constraints
Abstract
Up to now, we have only considered constraints which can be represented in the information structure diagram by means of graphical symbols. We have called these “graphical constraints.” In this chapter, we shall consider constraints for which no graphical symbols exist and which consequently cannot be represented in the information structure diagram: non-graphical constraints. These have to be described separately apart from the information structure diagram. Together, the specification of the non-graphical constraints and the information structure diagram (which includes the graphical constraints) form a description of the grammar of the information system.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
17. The NIAM Method of Information Analysis in Practice — 6
Abstract
We will take up the tenth step in the NIAM method of information analysis in this chapter, which completes the stepwise plan. In step 10, we determine all of the non-graphical constraints involving the fact type roles added to the information structure diagram in the previous steps.
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
The NIAM Information Analysis Method
verfasst von
J. J. V. R. Wintraecken
Copyright-Jahr
1990
Verlag
Springer Netherlands
Electronic ISBN
978-94-009-0451-4
Print ISBN
978-94-010-6687-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0451-4