Formal specification of geographic data processing requirements

Author

Roman, Gruia-Catalin

Author_Institution

Dept. of Comput. Sci., Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO, USA

Volume

2

Issue

4

fYear

1990

fDate

12/1/1990 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

370

Lastpage

380

Abstract

A formal foundation for the specification of geographic data processing (GDP) requirements is established. Emphasis is on modeling data and knowledge requirements rather than processing needs. A subset of first-order logic is proposed as the principal means for constructing formalizations of the GDP requirements in a manner that is independent of the data representation. Requirements executability is achieved by selecting a subset of logic, compatible with the inference mechanisms available in Prolog. Concepts with GDP significance such as time, space, and accuracy are added for the formalization without losing Prolog implementability or separation of concerns. Rules of reasoning about time, space, and accuracy can be compactly stated in a subset of second-order predicate calculus and can be easily modified to meet the particular needs of a specific application. The feasibility of the approach is established with the aid of a prototype implementation of the formalism in Prolog. The implementation also provides the means for the graphical rendering of logical information on a high-resolution color display

Keywords

PROLOG; formal logic; formal specification; geographic information systems; inference mechanisms; logic programming; GDP requirements; GDP significance; Prolog; accuracy; first-order logic; formal foundation; geographic data processing requirements; graphical rendering; high-resolution color display; inference mechanisms; knowledge requirements; logical information; modeling data; prototype implementation; second-order predicate calculus; space; time; Calculus; Computer displays; Data processing; Economic indicators; Formal specifications; Fuzzy logic; Inference mechanisms; Production systems; Prototypes; Rendering (computer graphics);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Knowledge and Data Engineering, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-4347

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/69.63249

Filename

63249