Bases for the development of LAST: A formal method for business software requirements specification

Résumé

This paper proposes a possible approach to IS requirements specification. It relies on the application of standard (i.e. conventional) discrete mathematics, more precisely, it uses a fairly limited number of concepts from the fields of linear algebra and set theory (hence its name, LAST). The use of LAST for data definition and query-answer are discussed in some detail, given the data-rich quality of Business IS and the fact that a solid data-model is therefore essential to their specification. The proposed approach implies integration with other semiformal specification methods, two of the possibilities being integration with UML-OCL and with the Entity Relationship Model, which are discussed in this paper. Finally, mapping of LAST specifications to the Relational Model is also addressed; this possibility having an interest both, for (partial) implementation and for model simulation. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.