Project No.: 5003-045328 01.03.96 - 30.09.98

Project leader: Prof. Gerhard Jäger, Institut für Informatik und angewandte Mathematik, University of Bern
e-mail: jaeger@iam.unibe.ch

Name of project: A frame for networked components

Partners: Dr. Heinz Lienhard, IvyTeam, Zug

Funding: Sfr 247,321.-

Summary:
"A frame for Networked Components" is part of the "Virtual Software House (VSH)" project package. The object is to develop a powerful, executable frame for network components that can be used to assemble complex model components from elementary units. In addition to drawing up mathematically based rules of composition, this requires the development of suitable interface definitions to fit the individual parts into the frame. The point of departure is the component structure of BusinessSpecs 2.0, developed by IvyTeam, Zug, and the University of Bern with the support of the SPP IF. The biggest challenge now is to match components of different providers accessible via the VSH in the simplest possible manner, addressing the end-user (e.g. the organizer of a business process reengineering project) rather than the software engineer.

This goal demands a strictly mathematical approach to the problem, while nevertheless hiding the mathematical mechanisms from the end-user. Instead, the end-user is provided with easy-to-operate composition plans featuring intuitive semantics.

Cooperation:
This partial project is a cooperative effort between the University of Bern’s institute for information technology and the relatively small IvyTeam company of Zug. This collaboration already proved itself in the SPP IF programme (1992-1995), the results of which provide a sturdy foundation for the present integrated research project.