Object-oriented analysis through a knowledge-based system

This research provides a basis for a systematic and problem-independent object-oriented analysis approach. A strategy for object-oriented requirements analysis (OORA) is described. The proposed OORA strategy is based on a semantic-net representational scheme that provides a set of constructs to organize the requirements model in a structured form. Besides formalizing and generalizing the expression of object-oriented designs, the semantic-net notation enhances the understandability of the requirements model and facilitates the mapping of the problem-domain objects into the software model. To demonstrate the viability of this approach, a prototype knowledge-based system was implemented. The implemented knowledge-based system is capable of performing different analyses on an initial requirements model to identify: (1) common patterns among classes; (2) message-connections; and (3) groups of cohesive classes. The ability of the system to identify such properties can be of great benefit to the software engineer.