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Use of Formal Ontologies to Support Error Checking in Specifications

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Knowledge Acquisition, Modeling and Management (EKAW 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1621))

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of using formal ontologies to support detection of conceptual errors in specifications. We define a conceptual error as a misunderstanding of the application domain knowledge which results in undesirable behaviour of the software system. We explain how to use formal ontologies, and in particular ontological constraints, to tackle this problem. We present a exible architecture based on meta interpretation in logic programming in which the specification is viewed as a multilayer design. We illustrate the significance of this approach for the software and ontology engineering community via an example case in the domain of ecological modelling.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Artificial Intelligence, Institute for Representation and Reasoning, Division of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 80, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1HN, Scotland

    Yannis Kalfoglou & David Robertson

Authors
  1. Yannis Kalfoglou
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  2. David Robertson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. AIFB Institute for Applied Computer Science and Formal Description Methods, University of Karlsruhe, D-76128, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Dieter Fensel  & Rudi Studer  & 

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag

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Kalfoglou, Y., Robertson, D. (1999). Use of Formal Ontologies to Support Error Checking in Specifications. In: Fensel, D., Studer, R. (eds) Knowledge Acquisition, Modeling and Management. EKAW 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1621. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48775-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48775-1_13

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66044-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48775-3

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