Dynamically evolving concurrent information systems specification and validation: a component-based Petri nets proposal

Besides the steady growing of size-complexity and distribution of present-day information systems, business volatility with rapid changes in users' wishes and technological upgrading are stressing an overwhelmingly need for more advanced conceptual modeling approaches. Such advanced conceptual models should coherently and soundly reflect these three crucial dimensions, namely the size, space and (evolution over) time dimensions. In contribution towards such advanced conceptual approaches, we presented in [Data Know. Eng. 42 (2) (2002) 143] a new form of integration of object-orientation with emphasize on componentization into a variety of algebraic Petri nets, we referred to as CO-NETS. The purpose of the present paper is to soundly extend this proposal for coping with dynamic changing of structural and behavioral aspects Of CO-NETS components. To this aim, we are proposing an adequate Petri net-based meta-level that may be sketched as follows. First, we construct two 'meta-nets' for each component; one concerns the modification of behavioral aspects and the other is for dealing with structural aspects. While the meta-net for behavioral dynamic enables the dynamic of any transition in a given component to be modified at runtime, the meta-net for structural aspects completes and enhances these capabilities by allowing involved messages and object signatures (i.e. structure) to be dynamically manipulated. In addition of a rigorous description of this meta-level and its illustration using a medium-complexity banking system example, we also discuss how this level brings a satisfactory solution to the well-known inheritance-anomaly problem. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.