ERCIM News No.32 - January 1998

ProForm - A Knowledge-Based Tool for Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

by Michele Missikoff and Roberto Pizzicannella


ProForm aims at developing an environment for the analysis, modeling and rapid prototyping of Object-Oriented Information Systems. The application model is defined using an object-oriented approach with the specification of structural (static) and behavioural (dynamic) components. The specifications are stored in a knowledge base, allowing a rich set of services, such as: formal verification, diagrammatic representation of the application domain, rapid prototyping.

The ProForm research project is being carried out at IASI-CNR (Institute for System Analysis and Computer Science of the Italian National Research Council) by the MOSAICO group. The main motivation for the project is the inadequacy of traditional tools and methodologies to handle the development of new generation Information Systems.

This inadequacy has two main causes:

The approach to Information System modeling in ProForm is based on two paradigms:

Main features

The main characteristics of ProForm with reference to the system architecture reported in the figure are:

Knowledge Application Modeling:

ProForm Interface:

Knowledge Base Verifier:

Diagram Interface:

ProForm Engine:

ProForm is currently under development on a PC platform, using Windows 95, Microsoft Access and Visual Basic.

Please contact:

Michele Missikoff or Roberto Pizzicannella - IASI-CNR
Tel: +39 6 77161
E-mail: {missikoff, pizzican}@iasi.rm.cnr.it


return to the contents page