Tool function

Hardy, B.L., Kay, M., Marks, A.E. and Monigal, K. (2001). Stone tool function at the paleolithic sites of Starosele and Buran Kaya III, Crimea behavioral implications. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98 10972-10977. 

Layer 2 external models presentation, user interface, tool functionality (extended environments)... 

Developers and Tool Support Processes of human actors are supported by new semantical tool functionality, concentrating on major design steps and/or eliminating bookkeeping effort. 

From the perspective of computer science, the key contribution of the demonstrator not only comprises novel tool functionality [348], but also its synergistic integration, to form an overall design environment. This environment, sketched in Fig. 1.12, provides added value which goes beyond the use of the individual... 

The relation between areas A and B is more than specifying tool functionality in area A and realizing tools in area B. Instead, tools are realized in a close cooperation between the engineering and computer science projects in areas A and B, respectively. Furthermore, the engineering projects also developed some tools to be described later. 

The current state of design processes can essentially not be improved by making only small steps. Instead, a new approach is necessary. Thereby, we face principal questions and nontrivial problems. We find new questions and corresponding problems by coherently and uniformly modeling the application domain and by defining new and substantial tool functionality. The layered process/product model is a scientific question which - even in a long-term project like IMPROVE - can only be answered partially. 

By taking existing tools and by asking fundamentally new questions, the IMPROVE project tried to balance between relevance for industry on the one and scientific focus for research on the other hand. Usability is specifically addressed by carefully regarding application-specific aspects and by the ergonomic evaluation of intended concepts and resulting tool functionality. Model and tool integration is still a hot topic of practice and research. As shown in Chap. 7, results of the IMPROVE project can be transferred to industrial practice. 

The results described in this section also need to be seen in relation to the new tool functionalities of the CRC, as presented in the previous chapter, especially with respect to the PRIME approach in Sect. 3.1. The PDW cooperates closely with the PRIME environment in two primary directions. The models, their realizations, and the extended semantic functionalities, as described in this section, offer a set of services to the fine-grained process support described there on the other hand, the traceability mechanisms needed for process guidance provide part of the functionality required for the process data warehouse approach. 

This integrator clearly shows the benefit of the synergistic combination of new tool functionality which has been developed within IMPROVE. It combines the process-centered FBW (subproject BI) with the reactive management system AHEAD (subproject B4) using an integrator (subproject B2). 

This section is structured as follows (see again Fig. 6.1) We start by summarizing the apphcation domain models in the next subsection (part (a) of Fig. 6.1). Especially, we explain that the different parts of the apphcation model fit together (for details, see Sect. 2.6), each giving a specihc perspective. Then, we sketch which part of the apphcation model is relevant for which tool functionality, i.e. we explain the relation between apphcation model and the three tool models (cf. column (b), (c), and (d) of Fig. 6.1). Finally, we... 

Sections 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4 described some promising results about how to get tool functionality by well-defined tool construction processes starting from elaborate application domain models, as described in Sects. 2.6 and 6.1. Furthermore, these sections also discussed how the information accumulated during these processes should be organized in a layered PPM. 

D) Structural and behavioral UI details are also to be specified before conceptual tool construction can start on layer 3. UI specification should not be understood as, for example, layout of masks or similar details. However, the UI functionality has to be made precise in the sense of specifying requirements for tools. There are two possibilities Either there is a model layer 2 for UI and tool functionality, which, realistically, has to be developed by both domain experts and computer scientists. Or, since UI specifications contribute to the application domain model and also to the conceptual tool realization model, we can regard the second layer as a modeling activity, the results of which are being delivered on the models of the first and the third layer. The results of this joint activity then are given by the domain experts on the first, and by computer scientists on the third layer. 

Synergistic integration (see Sect.. 5..5) is not handled in the PPM up to now. Hence, there is the question, where to place this part of the model. The corresponding specification should not to be included in the application domain model, because the definition of synergy refers to tool functionality. Also, synergy is not easy to be determined on a conceptual realization layer, since different specification formalisms are used in the tool realization case studies (i.e. column (b) on the one and columns (c) and (d) on the other hand). 

Instead, AHEAD and the commercial tools are synergistically combined into a coherent overall system in a bottom-up fashion resulting in two advantages (1) The commercial tools are embedded in a dynamic process environment. Thus, their functionality can be used in a coordinated manner to achieve new and advanced objectives. (2) AHEAD is extended with new functionality assembled from the commercial tools functions. This avoids the need to re-implement already existing functionality offered by these tools. By the integration of commercial tools, the AHEAD system can be successfully embedded into the industrial technical and managerial overall environment. 

A better support for design processes by results of IMPROVE comes from the fact that new tools or new tool functionality on top of given tools are both derived from investigating the application domain and existing development processes. Especially, the deficits and needs in these processes and how to better support the corresponding situations were studied. 

As explained in detail in Sect. 5.5 these new tool functionalities can again be sjmergistically integrated. There is no other literature available where the integration of novel collaboration concepts is studied (two-level integration). Hence, synergy is definitely a topic of success to be mentioned in this section reviewing our achievements on tools. 

This subsection deals with two aspects. (1) How application domain modeling influences tool functionality and tool construction and, furthermore, (2) how conceptual modeling drives reuse in the tool construction process. There are limits in our results in direction of a well-understood realization process with reuse, which are also described here. 

The objective of IMPROVE to develop an integrated process and product model, spanning the application domain, tool functionalities and software platforms with both a product data as well as an engineering workflow perspective, has been by far too visionary and forward-looking to get the chance of being picked up in the short-term by the software industries. 

The imposition of different stressors, that is, a task characteristic or difficulty and a tool functionality (e.g., handling problem) lead to unknown strain effects. Moreover, different types of superpositions can occur (Luczak, 1982). When stressors are added, strain increases. Stressors that compensate each other reduce strain. Stressors ean be indifferent, sug-... 

Tool, wear life of The amount of time that a tool will perform satisfactorily for. Measured as some tool function such as holes drilled, cut length, etc., under specified conditions. 

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