A concept-oriented logical framework for domain knowledge modelling and analysis in computer-based systems engineering

This paper outlines the main features of the DD framework, an extensible ontological and methodological approach to the description of real-world application domains. It promotes automatic reasoning and a concept-oriented domain knowledge representation in computer-based systems engineering. The DD, framework is centred around EDDL/sub DP/, a formal but user-friendly language allowing automatic consistency check and property deduction. EDDL/sub DP/ deals with the external outlook of real-world structural and behavioural domain concepts. It offers an expressively adequate set of data, process and object-like concept constructors for a flexible description of the essential domain model of a computer-based system. The DD framework has been explicitly conceived for the development of a new generation of computer-based systems engineering tools endowed with deductive capabilities.