5th OOPSLA Workshop on
Domain-Specific Modeling
Translation Patterns to Specify
Processes in the PSL Ontology
Dr. A. Sánchez-Ruíz
University of North Florida
CIS Department
Associate Professor and
Coordinator of the Software
Engineering Graduate Track
Gregory Hansen, President
Computer Aided Process
Improvement – CAPI, Inc.
Context
Domain:
Manufacturing Process
PSL
Interoperation
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Definition
“An Ontology is a formal explicit specification
of a shared conceptualization for a domain of
interest”
T. Gruber: “A Translation Approach to
Portable Ontology Specifications”. In
Knowledge Acquisition, Vol. 5, 1993, pp.
199-220.
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PSL Ontology
 PSL: Process Specification Language
 Author: National Institute for Standards and
Technology (NIST – http://www.nist.gov/)
 Domain of Application: Manufacturing
Processes.
 Sample of concepts and their relationships:
activity, activity occurrence, duration,
object, sub-activity, consumes …
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PSL Ontology
 Documentation:
http://www.mel.nist.gov/psl/
 Formalism: First-Order Logic (FOL)
 Structure: Layered FOL theories (lattice of
theories related by ‘extension’).
 Language: Knowledge Interchange Format
(KIF) … any FOL language would suffice
(e.g. UML’s Object Constraint Language –
OCL).
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Example of a PSL Specification:
Simple Sequential Process
Consider a complex activity a, with
primitive subactivities a1 and a2,
respectively. Assume that we want to express
the process characterized by occurrences of
a1 followed by occurrences of a2, such that:
• There are no occurrences before a1 and after
a2.
• There are no occurrences of a between a1 and
a2.
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Example of a PSL Specification:
Simple Sequential Process
[1](activity a)
[2](activity a1)
[3](activity a2)
[4](subactivity a1 a)
[5](subactivity a2 a)
[6](primitive a1)
[7](primitive a2)
[8](forall (?occ_a)
[9] (implies
[10]
(and (occurrence_of ?occ_a a)
[11]
(legal ?occ_a))
[12]
(exists (?occ_a1 ?occ_a2)
[13]
(and
[14]
(occurrence_of ?occ_a1 a1)
[15]
(legal ?occ_a1)
[16]
(occurrence_of ?occ_a2 a2)
[17]
(legal ?occ_a2)
[18]
(subactivity_occurrence ?occ_a1 ?occ_a)
[19]
(subactivity_occurrence ?occ_a2 ?occ_a)
[20]
(root_occ ?occ_a1 ?occ_a)
[21]
(next_subocc ?occ_a1 ?occ_a2 a)
[22]
(leaf_occ ?occ_a2 ?occ_a)))))
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Example of a PSL Specification:
Simple Sequential Process
[1]let a be an activity
[2]let a1 be an activity
[3]let a2 be an activity
[4]let a1 be a subactivity of a
[5]let a2 be a subactivity of a
[6]let a1 be primitive
[7]let a2 be primitive
[8]for all ?occ_a:
[9] if
[10]?occ_a is an occurrence of a and
[11] ?occ_a is legal, then
[12]there exist ?occ_a1, ?occ_a2, such that
[13]
[14] ?occ_a1 is an occurrence of a1, and
[15] ?occ_a1 is legal, and
[16] ?occ_a2 is an occurrence of a2, and
[17] ?occ_a2 is legal, and
[18] ?occ_a1 is a
subactivity occurrence of ?occ_a, and
[19] ?occ_a2 is a
subactivity occurrence of ?occ_a, and
[20] ?occ_a1 is the
root occurrence of ?occ_a, and
[21] ?occ_a2 strictly follows ?occ_a1 in
the activity tree of a, and
[22] ?occ_a2 is the leaf occurrence of ?occ_a
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This Paper
 Derives patterns that can be used to generate
PSL specifications of processes comprised of
activities, which can be complex/primitive,
and are composed:
• Sequentially.
• Concurrently.
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Questions?
•
•
•
 Thanks!
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Outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Starting with the Basics
Definitions
Examples/Applications
Requirements
Research Problems
Summary
References
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Starting with the Basics
 From the Merrian-Webster Dictionary:
Main Entry: on·tol·o·gy
Pronunciation: än-'tä-l&-jE
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin ontologia, from ont- + -logia -logy
1 : a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and
relations of being
2 : a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds
of existents
- on·tol·o·gist /-jist/ noun
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Definitions
Application
Domain
Applications
Local Lingo
Applicatio
n
Body of
Concepts
Applications
Local Lingo
Applications
Local Lingo
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Definitions
Application
Domain:
Cooking
Appetizers: Guacamole
Local Lingo: Aguacate (L.A.)
Appetizers: Guacamole
Local Lingo: avocado (US, L.A.)
Appetizers: Guacamole
Local Lingo: Palta (Chile)
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Definitions
Application
Domain
Applications
Local Lingo
Applicatio
n
Body of
Concepts
Applications
Local Lingo
Applications
Local Lingo
5th OOPSLA Workshop on Domain-Specific Modeling – Sánchez & Hansen Presentation
Ontology:
Common
Lingo!
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Definitions
Application
Domain:
Cooking
Appetizers: Guacamole
Local Lingo: Aguacate (L.A.)
Appetizers: Guacamole
Local Lingo: avocado (US, L.A.)
Appetizers: Guacamole
Local Lingo: Palta (Chile)
5th OOPSLA Workshop on Domain-Specific Modeling – Sánchez & Hansen Presentation
Ontology:
Scientific
Classification
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Definitions
Application
Domain:
Cooking
Ontology:
Scientific
Classificatio
n
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Definitions
Approaches to
Interoperability
A1
A2
A3
A1
A2
A3
Ontology!
A4
A5
A4
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A5
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Examples/Application
 Web Ontology Language – OWL:
• Resource Description Framework (RDF) and its
vocabulary description language (RDFS – RDF
Scheme).
• DAML+OIL: joint effort …
• DARPA Agent Markup Language (US)
• Ontology Inference Language (ontoknowledge.org
Sponsored by European Community)
 Fundamental Application: Semantic Web …
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Requirements
 Formalism-based:
• Syntax and Semantics
• Model-based: set theory, logic, algebras
 Ability to reason:
• Use theorem provers, inference engines
 Ability to transport knowledge (domain-specific,
lingo-neutral)
 Usability:
• Humans do not directly use Ontologies, tools enable
their use
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Research Problems
 Core (Domain-Independent):
• New Formalisms (RDF, RDFS, F-Logic, Ontology
Algebras)
• Frameworks/Tools to engineer ontologies
(ONTOCLEAN, OTKM).
 Domain-Dependent:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Medical
Defense/Intelligence
Manufacturing
Software Engineering
Semantic Web
Modeling
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Summary
 Requirements:
A1
A2
A3
Ontology!
A4
• Formalism-based
• Ability to reason
• Ability to transport
knowledge (domainspecific, lingo-neutral)
• Usability
 Research:
A5
• Core research
• Applied research
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References
 Many references embedded in the document
as hyperlinks.
 S. Staab, R. Studer (Editors): “Handbook of
Ontologies”. Springer-Verlag, 2004.
 T. Berners-Lee, J. Hendler, O. Lassila: “The
Semantic Web”. Scientific American, May
2001.
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