Understand→specify→reuse: precise specification of behavior and relationships

This paper shows how to specify the semantics of behavior of and relationships between managed objects. Our approach of formulating abstract and precise specifications of semantics is based on ideas from programming methodology and object modeling. The approach has been successfully used for information modeling in Bellcore. Certain ideas have already been accepted by both the existing international standards and by the draft standard on general relationship modeling for managed objects. The goal of the approach is to understand (i.e., precisely and explicitly formulate) and unify concepts based on similar, but different object models, and on existing industrial practice (e.g., ER modeling)