APPLICATION OF MATHEMATICAL GENERAL SYSTEMS THEORY-BASED APPROACH TO RAILWAY DIAGRAM SYSTEM

摘要

Mathematical General Systems Theory-Based Approach is a new formal approach to the design of the information system including its implementation that our group advocates. This paper discusses its application to the development of a Railway Diagram System. The paper targets only a problem solving type information system, however the approach covers all types of the information systems, which are loosely divided into two types, data processing types and problem solving types. The conceptual base of the approach is a system model of the general systems theory, and we apply a goal seeking model to the problem solving type information system. To describe the model, we use a pure set theory and logic. Then, the set theoretic model is transformed to the Prolog programming by our compiler, that is the automatic implementation. It can be realized because of the very narrow semantic gap between set theoretic description and the Prolog specification. Because we do not apply the systems concept to a specific problem but to the overall problem solving system, we can reveal its abstract structure and then we can apply the approach to various problems due to the generality of the model. The paper makes an attempt to show this by applying it to the design of a practical system, the Railway Diagram System.