Abstract
In the AOSE (Agent-Oriented Software Engineering) area, several research efforts are underway to develop appropriate meta-models for agent-oriented methodologies. Meta-models are meant to check and verify the completeness and expressiveness of methodologies.
In this paper, we put to test the well-established standard Unified Modelling Language (UML), and the emergent Object Process Methodology (OPM), and compare their meta-modelling power. Both UML and OPM are used to express the meta-model of SOFA, an agent-oriented methodology which stresses interaction and social aspects of MASs (multi-agent systems). Meta-modelling SOFA allows us to evaluate the effectiveness of the two approaches over both the structural and dynamics parts. Furthermore, this allow us to find out some desirable features that any effective approach to meta-modelling MAS methodologies should exhibit.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
van Hillegersberg, J., Kumar, K., Welke, R.J.: Using metamodeling to analyze the fit of object-oriented methods to languages. In: 31st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 1998), Modeling Technologies and Intelligent Systems, Kohala Coast, HI, USA, vol. 5, pp. 323–332. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos (1998)
Bernon, C., Cossentino, M., Gleizes, M.P., Turci, P., Zambonelli, F.: A study of some multi-agent meta-models. In: Odell, J.J., Giorgini, P., Müller, J.P. (eds.) AOSE 2004. LNCS, vol. 3382, pp. 62–77. Springer, Heidelberg (2005)
Bresciani, P., Giorgini, P., Giunchiglia, F., Mylopoulos, J., Perini, A.: Tropos: An agent-oriented software development methodology. Autonomous Agent and Multi-Agent Systems 3(8), 203–236 (2004)
Gòmez-Sanz, J.J., Pavòn, J., Garijo, F.: Meta-models for building multi-agent systems. In: ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC 2002), pp. 37–41. ACM Press, New York (2002)
IGENIAS: Home page http://grasia.fdi.ucm.es/ingenias/metamodel/
UML: Home page http://www.uml.org/
Dori, D., Reinhartz-Berger, I.: An OPM-based metamodel of system development process. In: Song, I.-Y., Liddle, S.W., Ling, T.-W., Scheuermann, P. (eds.) ER 2003. LNCS, vol. 2813, pp. 105–117. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Peleg, M., Dori, D.: The model multiplicity problem: Experimenting with real-time specification methods. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 26, 742–759 (2000)
Dori, D.: Object-Process Methodology: A Holistic System Paradigm. Springer, Heidelberg (2002)
Zambonelli, F., Jennings, N.R., Wooldridge, M.: Developing multiagent systems: The Gaia methodology. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM) 12, 317–370 (2003)
Cheong, C., Winikoff, M.: Hermes: A methodology for goal-oriented agent interactions. In: 4th International Conference on Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS 2005), Poster (2005)
Omicini, A.: SODA: Societies and infrastructures in the analysis and design of agent-based systems. In: Ciancarini, P., Wooldridge, M.J. (eds.) AOSE 2000. LNCS, vol. 1957, pp. 185–193. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)
Ciancarini, P., Omicini, A., Zambonelli, F.: Multiagent system engineering: The coordination viewpoint. In: Jennings, N.R., Lespérance, Y. (eds.) ATAL 1999. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 1757, pp. 15–17. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)
Henderson-Sellers, B., Gonzalez-Perez, C.: A comparison of four process metamodels and the creation of a new generic standard. Information & Software Technology 47, 49–65 (2005)
Gonzalez-Perez, C., McBride, T., Henderson-Sellers, B.: A metamodel for assessable software development methodologies. Software Quality Journal 13, 195–214 (2005)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Molesini, A., Denti, E., Omicini, A. (2005). MAS Meta-models on Test: UML vs. OPM in the SODA Case Study. In: Pěchouček, M., Petta, P., Varga, L.Z. (eds) Multi-Agent Systems and Applications IV. CEEMAS 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 3690. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11559221_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11559221_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-29046-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31731-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)