Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Acquiring Configuration Knowledge Bases in the Semantic Web Using UML

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management: Ontologies and the Semantic Web (EKAW 2002)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 2473))

Abstract

The Semantic Web will provide the conceptual infrastructure to allow new forms of business application integration. This paper outlines our approach for integrating Web-based sales systems for highly complex customizable products and services (configuration systems) making use of descriptive representation formalisms of the Semantic Web. The evolving trend towards highly specialized solution providers cooperatively offering configurable products and services to their customers requires the extension of current (standalone) configuration technology with capabilities of knowledge sharing and distributed configuration problem solving. On the one hand, a standardized representation language is needed in order to tackle the challenges imposed by heterogeneous representation formalisms of state-of-the-art configuration environments (e.g. description logic or predicate logic based configurators), on the other hand it is important to integrate the development and maintenance of configuration systems into industrial software development processes. We show how to support both goals by demonstrating the applicability of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) for configuration knowledge acquisition and by providing a set of rules for transforming UML models into configuration knowledge bases specified by languages such as OIL or DAML+OIL which represent the foundation for potential future description standards for Web services.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. A. Artale, E. Franconi, N. Guarino, and L. Pazzi. Part-Whole Relations in Object-Centered Systems: An Overview. Data & Knowledge Engineering, 20(3):347–383, 1996.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  2. V.E. Barker, D.E. O’Connor, J.D. Bachant, and E. Soloway. Expert systems for configuration at Digital: XCON and beyond. Communications of the ACM, 32(3):298–318, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. A. Borgida. On the relative expressive power of description logics and predicate calculus. Artificial Intelligence, 82:353–367, 1996.

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. A. Felfernig, G. Friedrich, and D. Jannach. Generating product configuration knowledge bases from precise domain extended UML models. In Proceedings of the 12 th International Conference on Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (SEKE’2000), pages 284–293, Chicago, USA, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  5. A. Felfernig, G. Friedrich, and D. Jannach. UML as domain specific language for the construction of knowledge-based configuration systems. International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (IJSEKE), 10(4):449–469, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. A. Felfernig, G. Friedrich, D. Jannach, M. Stumptner, and M. Zanker. A Joint Foundation for Configuration in the Semantic Web. Proceedings of the Workshop on Configuration (ECAI’2002), 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  7. A. Felfernig, G. Friedrich, D. Jannach, M. Stumptner, and M. Zanker. Transforming UML domain descriptions into Configuration Knowledge Bases for the Semantic Web. Lyon, France, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  8. A. Felfernig, G. Friedrich, D. Jannach, and M. Zanker. Semantic Configuration Web Services in the CAWICOMS Project. Sardinia, Italy, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  9. A. Felfernig, G. Friedrich, D. Jannach, and M. Zanker. Web-based Configuration of Virtual Private Networks with Multiple Suppliers. Cambridge, UK, 2002. Kluwer Academic Publisher.

    Google Scholar 

  10. D. Fensel, F. van Harmelen, I. Horrocks, D. McGuinness, and P.F. Patel-Schneider. OIL: An Ontology Infrastructure for the Semantic Web. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 16(2):38–45, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. G. Fleischanderl, G. Friedrich, A. Haselböck, H. Schreiner, and M. Stumptner. Configuring Large Systems Using Generative Constraint Satisfaction. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 13(4):59–68, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. T. Gruber. Ontolingua: A mechanism to support portable ontologies. Technical Report KSL 91-66, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  13. E.W. Jüngst M. Heinrich. A resource-based paradigm for the configuring of technical systems from modular components. In Proceedings of the 7 th IEEE Conference on AI applciations (CAIA), pages 257–264, Miami, FL, USA, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  14. S. Mittal and F. Frayman. Towards a Generic Model of Configuration Tasks. In Proceedings 11 th International Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence, pages 1395–1401, Detroit, MI, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  15. J. Rumbaugh, I. Jacobson, and G. Booch. The Unified Modeling Language Reference Manual. Addison-Wesley, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  16. D. Sabin and R. Weigel. Product Configuration Frameworks-A Survey. In B. Faltings and E. Freuder, editors, IEEE Intelligent Systems, Special Issue on Configuration, volume 13, pages 50–58. IEEE, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  17. U. Sattler. Description Logics for the Representation of Aggregated Objects. In Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI 2000), pages 239–243, Berlin, Germany, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  18. T. Soininen, J. Tiihonen, T. Männistö, and R. Sulonen. Towards a General Ontology of Configuration. AI Engineering Design Analysis and Manufacturing Journal, Special Issue: Configuration Design, 12(4):357–372, 1998.

    Google Scholar 

  19. M. Stumptner. An overview of knowledge-based configuration. AI Communications, 10(2), June, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  20. F. vanHarmelen, P.F. Patel-Schneider, and I. Horrocks. A Model-Theoretic Semantics for DAML+OIL. http://www.daml.org, March 2001.

  21. J. Warmer and A. Kleppe. The Object Constraint Language-Precise Modeling with UML. Addison Wesley Object Technology Series, 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  22. J.R. Wright, E. Weixelbaum, G.T. Vesonder, K.E. Brown, S.R. Palmer, J.I. Berman, and H.H. Moore. A Knowledge-Based Configurator that supports Sales, Engineering, and Manufacturing at AT&T Network Systems. AI Magazine, 14(3):69–80, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Produktionsinformatik, Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik und Anwendungssysteme, Universitätsstrasse 65-67, A-9020, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Alexander Felfernig, Gerhard Friedrich, Dietmar Jannach & Markus Zanker

  2. Advanced Computing Research Centre, University of South Australia, 5095, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Markus Stumptner

Authors
  1. Alexander Felfernig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gerhard Friedrich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dietmar Jannach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Markus Stumptner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Markus Zanker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Campus de Montegancedo, s/n, 28660, Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain

    Asunción Gómez-Pérez

  2. Intelligent Software Components, S.A. (iSOCO), Francisca Delgado, 11 - 2∘, 28108, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain

    V. Richard Benjamins

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Felfernig, A., Friedrich, G., Jannach, D., Stumptner, M., Zanker, M. (2002). Acquiring Configuration Knowledge Bases in the Semantic Web Using UML. In: Gómez-Pérez, A., Benjamins, V.R. (eds) Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management: Ontologies and the Semantic Web. EKAW 2002. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 2473. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45810-7_31

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45810-7_31

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-44268-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-45810-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation