Abstract: This paper introduces the Ponder language for specifying distributed object enterprise concepts. Ponder, is a declarative language, which permits the specification of policies in terms of obligations, permissions and prohibitions and provides the means for defining roles, relationships and their configurations in nested communities. Ponder provides a concrete representation of most of the concepts of the Enterprise Viewpoint. The design of the language incorporates lessons drawn from several years of research on policy for security and distributed systems management as well as policy conflict analysis. The various language constructs are presented through a scenario for the operation, administration and maintenance of a mobile telecommunication network.

Abstract: Standardization experts in object modelling are having difficulties with defining the concept of role; for example, they are not sure of whether role is a type or an instance concept. This issue is a source of confusion in the UML standard, and prevents ISO experts to reach consensus and finalize a language for ODP enterprise modelling. In this paper, we make an in-depth analysis of the problem, find its likely causes, and come up with a proposal for a new ODP definition of role, as well as with definitions of related concepts. Our findings and our definitions provide a basis for reconciling the positions that people have about the concept of role.

Abstract: Due to its high protocol overhead, both in data traffic and in round-trips, Java RMI is poorly suited for communication over slow wireless links. However, its performance can be enhanced without breaking compatibility with Java RMI specification, and with minimal changes to existing software and network hosts. The paper analyzes the reasons for the poor performance of Java RMI, outlines a solution based on mediator technology and evaluates the performance of a prototype implementing the solution.

Abstract: Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) provides special functionalities such as transaction, persistence, location transparency and security. These functionalities can be considered as aspects and EJB can be regarded as an aspect-oriented programming (AOP) environment. However, its architecture has no extensibility and flexibility to add or modify aspects, so it is not considered as a general AOP environment and hard to be applied to diverse domains. In this research, a new EJB server, named AES, is designed and implemented. An aspect exists independently of a container, and can be added and updated as needed. A container is changed into a generalized metaobject supporting more aspects in a flexible and extensible way. Also, an EJBObject is changed as a reference aspect supporting various network protocols. To prove flexibility and extensibility of AES, a testing application and user-defined aspects are developed. Finally, overhead for supporting AOP in EJB is measured.

Abstract: Software development in general and groupware applications in particular can greatly benefit from the reusability and interoperability aspects associated with software components. Component-based software development enables the construction of software artefacts by assembling prefabricated, configurable and independently evolving buildings blocks, called software components. This paper presents a methodology for the development of groupware applications using a set of composable software components. This methodology consists of splitting the software development process according to four abstraction levels, viz., enterprise, system, component and object, and three different views, viz., structural, behavioural and interactional. The use of different abstraction levels and views allows a better control of the development process. We illustrate this methodology using a chat application as a case study.

Abstract: In many enterprises the presence of heterogenous legacy information systems is pervasive, nevertheless the different component organizations need to cooperate in order to offer new services. The Distributed Object Computing is a valid approach for the definition of a cooperative model among heterogeneous legacy information systems, but few methodologies and architectures explicitly address these issues. This paper describes a case study (or better, a set of case studies) in which these issues were addressed: it is the Cooperative Architecture over the Unitary Network of the Italian Public Administration. Then it proposes some methodological suggestions, stemming from the case studies, for the development of cooperative systems based on distributed object middleware.

Abstract: The design and implementation of a dependable system that provides a composition and execution environment for distributed applications whose executions could span arbitrarily large durations is described. The objective is to create a framework for complex service provisioning. By complex service provisioning we primarily mean the ability to compose a given service out of existing ones as well as the ability to exercise dynamic control over the execution of the service. The approach taken is centred around building middleware services based on integration of workflow and agent technologies. The platform enables these two systems to interact via CORBA services. Service behaviour and service deployment are represented as workflow processes. Individual tasks that make up the workflow would be legacy applications, specially created tasks, and agent applications. Agents are able to create workflow instances, receive results from workflow and send inputs to workflows. This enables agents to act as user agents capable of managing workflows on behalf of users.

Abstract: Proposes an application framework for mobile agents which provides rule-based generic services to support the three phases of a market transaction (information phase, contracting phase and settlement phase). It is described within the four views of an electronic market (the business view, the transaction view, the services view and the infrastructure view) which describe organizational as well as technological aspects. The focus of this paper is on the technological aspects of the contracting phase in which the participating agents carry out an automated negotiation process to determine the terms of contract.

Abstract: According to our definition, the enterprise-level groupware system (EGS) is the Web-based groupware that focuses specifically on addressing some crucial cooperation requirements put forward by Business-to-Business and Business-to Consumer electronic commerce In this paper, we propose a new approach for constructing EGSs, in which a latest IETF specification: WebDAV is adopted in order to fully unlease the Web's potential in supporting cooperation activities, and at the same time, an enterprise-level platform: J2EE is adopted in order to ensure some enterprise-level features of the system, eg, scalability, availability, extensibility and security We then introduce a prototype EGS implementation called "Cooperative Workbench", which is developed in our institute This prototype has partly proven the advantages of this new approach and its promising application prospects in the future EGSs

Abstract: We describe a new architecture and protocol that we have developed to meet the requirements of workflow systems that are used for electronic commerce systems among enterprises. We developed practical electronic commerce systems using XML-based workflow systems among enterprises. We found that the requirements are greatly different from traditional workflow systems in some points; such as process management, server communication protocol, history log management, data conversion, and external application calls. In this paper, we illustrate the new requirements and problems when EC systems are developed using traditional workflow architecture and protocols, then we propose our new architecture and protocol that provide solutions for these requirements and problems. In this architecture based on XML, servers have the server communication module and the external-call module. The server commutation module provides a way to make a batch request. The external-call module provides a reliable way to call business applications. We also presented a retrying algorithm that maintains consistency between a workflow engine and an external application. The logging server provides a stable and fast way to query logs by collecting events from workflow servers. Our new protocol is being proposed of WfMC (WorkFlow Management Coalition) as an extension of Wf-XML.

Abstract: This paper presents a concrete experiments in assembling components from different "protocol-aware" component frameworks such as Java/Jini (Sun), Corba 3.0 (Object Management Group), Enterprise JavaBeans (Sun) and our own framework called CLF (Coordination Language Facility). We describe how the CLF coordinator can be used to negotiate and perform distributed transactions across several components belonging to the previously cited frameworks, taking advantage of the native transactional capabilities they provide. Since the classical two-phase commit protocol ensures not only serializability but also linearizability, we are able to combine operations in a linearizable way on the whole set of components and thus enforce the serializability of the resulting transaction. We illustrate this approach through a showcase application implementing the coordination of heterogeneous components.

Abstract: The explosive growth of electronic commerce will cause many changes in the way business is done worldwide. This talk will address the underlying causes and technologies that are enabling the evolution, and also a vision of a highly dynamic economy. Technical capabilities (bandwidth, computing power, storage capacity) are growing rapidly. Systems are moving toward standardized interfaces and distributed processing. Most important, software embodies ever more complex objects, including general business processes and models. Enterprise software will increasingly be built using business-oriented services that are negotiated and accessed over the network. Traditional business practices are characterized by rigidities of location, computing systems, software design, organization limit, closed long-term relationships, industrial sector, and national boundaries. In many cases, these will be replaced by new dynamics: pervasive e-business, distributed computing, network-based service components, virtual enterprises, competitive deal-making, cross-industry markets, and globalization

Abstract: Process orientation is used increasingly as an approach to streamlining formerly inefficient business procedures and workflow management systems are frequently deployed IT systems to support this. The large number of workflow management systems available in the market and a growing demand for workflow systems demonstrates this trend. However in a world of electronic interconnectivity, the concepts for process automation within a single organisation need to be extended to support co-operation with customers and partners in different organisations. Current workflow standards bodies provide limited support to enable this interconnectivity. They provide interfaces and data structures for interoperability but they do not address various aspects of the confidentiality of internal structures of process; those that bring a competitive edge. The paper outlines our approach for dealing with these inter-organisational aspects. We propose a model for tiering business processes into organisations' private business processes and shared business processes that interconnect them. Private business processes can expose interaction points and shared processes can link to these points so that an overall business process may span two or more organisations. The interaction points can selectively expose information about an organisation's processes, process tasks and roles. The paper also presents how these modelling ideas can be supported by a corresponding architecture and describes a prototype that implements key ideas of the architecture.

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the concepts involved in implementing a totally inter-operable ecosystem of e-services encompassing both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer domains. These ecosystems integrate such things as supply chain automation, e-procurement, collaborative e-commerce, trading exchanges and personalized business-to-consumer interactions. This paper details the e-speak Service Framework Specification (SFS) and its core API that form the foundation for intelligent interaction amongst e-services in the ecosystem defined above. This paper also addresses some of the cardinal elements of a truly inter-operable ecosystem such as compliance with XML based business process schemas defined by RosettaNet and CommerceNet.

Abstract: Jini is a technology for building reliable, fault-tolerant distributed applications. Besides offering an infrastructure for clients to locate services, it introduces the concept of leasing. Leases model time-constrained access granting and are used for distributed garbage collection. In this paper we propose an extension to the lease concept that allows associating costs with resource access. To make this extension usable in a commercial environment authentication, encryption, and non-repudiation are required. We analyze our extension in this respect and identify the types of security needed. Based on this analysis we introduce an architecture consisting of a number of Jini-enabled services that support non-repudiation and accounting.

Abstract: A new, component-based application architecture, ComponentAA, is proposed for developing business application systems. The architecture enables an application system to be considered as a collected or "medium-grained" reusable software components. ComponentAA is made up of an effective combination of frameworks, patterns, and methodology. A set of component frameworks and their accompanying usage patterns can be used with Enterprise JavaBeans to develop business systems, based on the architecture. Each one of the frameworks has its own purpose and is designed to be reusable for a reasonably wide variety of application systems. Also, an object-oriented modeling method is provided to analyze and design business systems using the component-based architecture. These technologies have been examined and proved effective in several actual development projects for over a year.

Abstract: To satisfy the need for a wide range of enterprise modelling choices, it is necessary to have a rich set of process based and role based modelling concepts. It is also necessary to have a sound and expressive business event model that includes a flexible way of associating business events with business processes and roles. However, the ability to construct detailed and expressive enterprise models is not useful in a business context without some means of realising the model in technology. The paper introduces the basic modelling concepts from the DSTC's UML Profile for Enterprise Distributed Object Computing before describing in detail the profile's business event model. The paper then describes how this event model can be mapped in a straightforward manner to implementations using the OMG's CORBA Notification Service. This mapping can then be used as the basis for building automated tools that support generating implementations of systems from high level enterprise models.

Abstract: We propose a new concept called Rental Service. Recently, Rental Application has been applied as ASP (Application Service Provider). For the next step in advancing ASP, we would prefer to provide Service which creates new functions, coordinating and facilitating already-existing functions, provided by many applications in the network. In this paper, we firstly made a list of problems for adding such service into the current ASP systems. Then, we developed a framework as a solution to the problems, in which the service itself is regarded as an agent. Moreover, we introduced a practical system developed by the framework, and finally examined its effectiveness for the above problems through that practical case.

Abstract: The development of object systems can be improved through the use of tools which assist in the complete development cycle, from development process definition to software production. We propose a reference model and a workbench for UML-based development processes founded on the decoupling of dynamic (workflow) and static (work contexts) aspects of a process and developed in the French RNRT PILOTE project. The workbench is based on a flexible architecture, which integrates tools specialized in each aspect and which should allow the replacement of any element in the tool-suite.

Abstract: The Internet and distributed object technologies have made it possible for different business enterprises to draw upon the best of their resources for conducting joint business as a virtual e-enterprise (VEE). To enable virtual e-enterprises, the integration of legacy applications and the modeling and enactment of concurrent business processes are necessary. The authors combine the features of the messaging approach and the distributed object approach to system integration. Business Object Documents (BOD) are used for transmitting business operations and data among application systems. Message transmission is supported by two underlying communication infrastructures: CORBA and Java RMI. The separation of messaging from communication infrastructure allows the underlying infrastructure to be changed without impacting application systems. Also, business processes are modeled as sequences or network structures of BOD transmissions. The process models are replicated at all sites and used by an extended information infrastructure to enable distributed, concurrent enactment of processes.

Abstract: The PI-CEE(Project Information Cooperative Enterprise Environment) system is a project information management system that uses Java applications and is based on the model-based distributed collaborative work support concept. It is designed to achieve optimal performance with model-based Java applications for application to large-scale projects. We applied the first prototype of PI-CEE to a large-scale project. The result was twofold: memory use and response time worsened with increases in data quantity. Our design concept is based on doing four things: designing a server transaction system and database, implementing client cache management, making improvements in server-client communication, and multiple-server replication. We discuss our system, the general lessons that we learned from its application, and the problems we encountered and their resolutions.

Abstract: LIP6 and EDF have started to develop an RM-ODP framework for building open distributed systems. The first concern of this development was the construction of the Specification Exchange Service. This service, the so-called Backbone, enables to exchange RM-ODP specifications over any ORB or file system. This article presents the functionalities of the Backbone in the RM-ODP framework and its explains how meta-modeling standards such as MOF and XMI have been used to create it.

Abstract: Today's e-Commerce world has suddenly created huge application integration requirements within large enterprises For Boeing, additional demands are often imperative when they work with suppliers and partners to create a virtual enterprise that contains unique integration requirements The fast moving, electronic world can only be managed and exploited properly if application integration is founded on a robust architecture This paper traces a successful implementation of such an architecture, as well as presenting the way it is evolving to solve these new future challenges

Abstract: This paper reports a directory server in a distributed middleware for realizing the interoperability between a wide variety of mobile agent systems. The ODP trader, an ITU-T recommendation for direction service, is customized for the specific requirements. The key ideas are (1) to extend the managed information so that program codes can be members, and (2) to provide Proxy Offer for utilizing services located outside the directory. Performance measurement shows that Proxy Offer is more efficient than dynamic property of the ODP trader in the current application.

Abstract: The paper proposes an approach which generates alternative flows and cancel flows necessary in exceptional conditions automatically with transactional constraint rules in business flow. In our approach, modification of a business flow is easier than current workflow systems because modification of the transactional constraint rule is not necessary unless constraints among the services change. The paper shows the effectiveness of our approach with a travel reservation example.

Abstract: Companies are moving their distributed desktop applications to the Web to take advantage of its huge user based and easy accessibility. Many focus on the issue of portability, and choose platform independent languages, such as Java to implement their applications. While the issue of Java to implement their applications. While the issue of portability is important, there are other problems and issues in migrating a distributed object application to the Web. In this paper, we use our experience of migrating a Javal|CORBA desktop application to the Web to present the problems of download size, browser security, incompatibility of virtual machines and Web-based protocol. In particular, we point out the importance of download size and how it can affect the distribution of software components within the architecture of a web application.