Method Engineering: A Service-Oriented Approach - Intentional Perspectives on Information Systems Engineering - page 338

Fig. 4 Identification part of a
method service

Identification part

1

1

1

Finality
1

Argument

1 1 1 1

0..*

1 0..1 1 0..*

(L goal )
Goal

Manner Context Pro Con

1 1 1

0..* 0..*

1
Project

1 1 1..* (Lproc)

Process unit

(Lprod)
Product element

(Lact)
Actor

Legend : Elements annoted with
(Lgoal), (Lact), (Lproc), (Lprod) refer
respectively to the goal ontology,
the actor ontology, the process
ontology and the product ontology

1

1

0..*

Nature Nature Nature Domain Domain Domain

The finality defines the problem that the method service solves. The finality is
structured with a goal (defined in the goal ontology), a manner and a context. Each
goal is defined by a verb and an object. For example, the goal “Construct a class
diagram” is defined with the verb “Construct” and the object “a class diagram”. The
manner defines a way of achieving the goal and the context describes the situation in
development project for which the method service is suitable. The context is detailed
with the project nature, the involved actors, a process phase and some product ele-
ments. All these elements refer to ontologies. Finally, the arguments express the
advantages (i.e. the “pro” arguments) and the drawbacks (i.e. the “con” arguments)
of using the method service . So, arguments support service(s) selection within the
goal realization process.
For instance, the identification part of the method service “Construct a class dia-
gram manually” is presented in Fig. 5. This service helps the developer to construct

-Finality

-Goal : Construct a class diagram
-Manner : manually
-Context :
- Project :
- Nature : Development
- Domain : -
- Actor : Designer, method engineer
- Process unit : Requirement elicitation, design
- Product element : class diagram

-Argument :
- pro : - the suggested process guides class diagram construction
- con : - requires UML skills

Fig. 5 Identification part of the method service “construct a class diagram manually”