We present a modelling framework for the generation of environmental process models. The framework builds on the Direct Computer Mapping method with an editable, process network based expert module ...and interpreter. The expert interface supports mapping of objects from the GIS layers onto the prototyped state, transition and connection elements of the case specific generic process model. The developed general purpose interpreter generates the standardized declarative facts and clauses, describing the actual model with the locally executable program prototypes. This input is executed by the general kernel. The model interpreter generates also the case specific templates for the (optionally web based) user interface, while map-server utilizes the GIS shape files of expert model. The implementation supports the extension of the model with new components in space and time. The framework is illustrated by an example for the watershed of Lake Balaton.
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•We map the GIS objects onto an editable net structure, used as an expert interface.•We interpret this net structure to uniform declarative facts and clauses.•This declarative simulation model is executed by our general purpose kernel program.•The interpretation is accompanied by template generation for the user interface.•The environmental model can be extended by new elements and components, easily.
Building operating systems play an important role in monitoring energy consumption of devices and improving energy efficiency in household buildings. From this arises a need for a preferably flexible ...and full-featured user interface to visualize the energy data in the building and allow residents to collect and realize various needs and preferences to the system. This article introduces a generic user interface for building operating systems which is presented from aspects of design, implementation and evaluation. To ensure the user interface can be flexibly adapted to various types of buildings, we design a series of generic data models which are independent of any building operating system. Besides, three roles with different permissions and a number of functional components of the user interface are also introduced in the article. Based on the design, a prototype of such a generic user interface named Building Operating System User Interface (BOS UI) has been implemented to operate the Energy Smart Home Lab (ESHL) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). We evaluate the design, functionality and usability of the BOS UI qualitatively and quantitatively. The evaluation results show that the BOS UI meets a set of desired requirements (except for system configuration) for a generic user interface of building operating systems. Besides this, the evaluation experiments yielded very positive feedback in many aspects including improvement of energy efficiency and user experience. More than 90% of the test users agreed that the BOS UI provided them with enough information and functionalities that they would need in their daily lives and it can help them to save money. Furthermore, the mean score of the System Usability Scale (SUS) is 79.0, which indicates a good usability. The experiments prove that the user interface is still easy to use, despite abundant features are integrated into the system.
Task modelling has entered the development process of web applications, strengthening the usage-centred view within the early steps in Web-Engineering (WE). In current approaches, however, this view ...is not kept up during subsequent activities to the same degree as this is the case in the field of Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). The modelling approach presented in this contribution combines models as known from WE with models used in HCI to change this situation. Basically the WE-HCI-integration is supported by combining task and object models as known from HCI with conceptual modelling known from WE. In this paper, the main focus is on the WebTaskModel, a task model adapted to web application concerns, and its contribution towards a task-related web user interface. The main difference to existing task models is the build-time and run-time usage of a generic task lifecycle. Hereby the description of exceptions and erroneous situations during task performance (caused by, e.g., the stateless protocol or Browser interaction) is enabled and at the same time clearly separated from the flow of correct action.
Zur Stärkung der benutzungszentrierten Sicht im Web-Engineering (WE) hat die Aufgabenmodellierung bereits ihren Einzug in die frühen Entwicklungsphasen gefunden. In derzeitigen Ansätzen wird diese Sicht in nachfolgenden Aktivitäten jedoch nicht so konsequent beibehalten wie dies im Bereich der Mensch-Maschine-Kommunikation (MMK) der Fall ist. Der in diesem Beitrag präsentierte Ansatz kombiniert Modelle aus den Bereichen WE und MMK, um so deren notwendige Integration zu unterstützen. Unser derzeitiger Fokus liegt dabei auf den aus der MMK bekannten Aufgaben- und Objektmodellen und den konzeptionellen Modellen, wie sie im WE verwendet werden. Im Kern dieses Beitrags steht das WebTaskModel, ein an die Belange von Webanwendungen angepasstes Aufgabenmodell. Der Hauptunterschied zu existierenden Aufgabenmodellen ist durch das Konzept eines generischen Lebenszyklus für Aufgaben gegeben, das sowohl zur Modellierung als auch als Laufzeitkomponente genutzt wird. Es erlaubt die Spezifikation von Fehler- und Sonderfällen, wie sie etwa durch das zustandslose Protokoll oder durch Browserinteraktionen verursacht werden können. Diese Spezifikationen werden eng mit den Aufgaben verknüpft formuliert und gleichzeitig deutlich getrennt von den regulären Abläufen beschrieben.
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