=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2751/short-7
|storemode=property
|title=Kickstarting OntoUML Modeling from PURO Instance-Level Examples
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2751/short7.pdf
|volume=Vol-2751
|authors=Marek Dudas,Tomáš Morkus,Vojtěch Svátek,Tiago Prince Sales,Giancarlo Guizzardi
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/ekaw/DudasMSSG20
}}
==Kickstarting OntoUML Modeling from PURO Instance-Level Examples==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2751/short7.pdf
Kickstarting OntoUML Modeling from PURO
Instance-Level Examples
Marek Dudáš1 , Tomáš Morkus1 , Vojtěch Svátek1 , Tiago Prince Sales2 , and
Giancarlo Guizzardi2
1
Prague University of Economics and Business, Czech Republic
{marek.dudas|mort00|svatek}@vse.cz
2
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy
{gguizzardi,tiago.princesales}@unibz.it
Abstract. OntoUML is a modeling language based on an underlying
foundational ontology (UFO). Over the years, it has gained increasing
attention in the area of ontology-driven conceptual modeling, becoming
one of the most used languages in that field. In this paper, we report on
a preliminary prototype that kickstarts the creation of pre-conceptual
models in OntoUML from instance-level examples in PURO, a graphi-
cal modeling language originally developed for analogously kickstarting
OWL ontology skeletons.
Keywords: Ontology-Driven Conceptual Modeling · Modeling support
for Novice Users · OntoUML · PURO
1 Introduction
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in using foundational ontologies
for building reference conceptual models, as well as domain and core ontologies.
In particular, in the context of conceptual modeling, there is a tradition (going
back to the mid 80’s) of evaluating and redesigning modeling languages according
to formal ontological theories. In this context, a modeling language that gained
increasing attention is OntoUML and its underlying foundational ontology UFO
(Unified Foundation Ontology) [2, 4, 3]. In fact, a recent study shows that UFO
and OntoUML are, respectively, among the most used foundational ontology and
modeling language in ontology-driven conceptual modeling [5].
Despite its increasing adoption, given its ontological expressivity, OntoUML
novice users can benefit from different types of support smoothing their intial
learning curve. These include computational supporting tools [2] (which include
features such as model editing, verification, verbalization, and validation via
visual simulation), as well as modern construction approaches that are pattern-
based and dialogue-based [4], or that explore the canvas metaphor [3].
In this spirit, in the current paper, we report on a tool that aims at support-
ing the user in building preliminary pre-conceptual models in OntoUML from
instance-level examples created in the PURO language [1]. The idea of using
Copyright c 2020 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative
Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
2 M. Dudáš et al.
instances for building or enriching (in a bottom-up manner) the understand-
ing of general concepts is found in cognitive science (e.g., prototype-based and
examplar-based view of concepts), in the tradition of model population in infor-
mation modeling (e.g., in the ORM tradition) as well as in model-finding formal
approaches [2].
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In section 2, we briefly de-
scribe the PURO and OntoUML languages. In section 3, we discuss the proposed
prototype. This proof-of-concept prototype, via a step-by-step dialogue with the
modeler, supports the construction of an OntoUML model from a PURO model
describing the setting primarily at the instance level (this is the subject of the
demo).
2 Background: PURO and OntoUML
2.1 PURO
PURO was primarily developed as a graphical3 language for kick-starting the de-
velopment of OWL ontologies [1]. It possesses a very simple inventory of modeling
primitives (objects and their types, relationships, and quantitatively valuated at-
tributes), which can be however assembled in an less constrained way than their
counterparts (individuals, classes, and object/datatype properties) in OWL; in
particular, multi-level types and relations of arbitrary arity are allowed. The de-
signers can thus express their conceptualization with fewer artificial ‘tweaks’ such
as reification or meta-modeling/punning. A PURO model is however, normally,
not just a schema, but an important role is played by example individuals that
tie the graph together. Through pattern-based transformation, the same PURO
model can give rise to alternative OWL encodings adapted to different needs
(e.g., with preference for class-level modeling, meta-modeling by instances, or
by literal values); obviously, these are not complete ontologies but just skeletons
that can be further extended in an OWL editing environment.
However, as demonstrated in this paper, the potential of interactive graphical
modeling of instance (and linked schema) elements, as provided by the proto-
type PURO editing tool (PURO Modeler), is not restricted to scenarios having
an OWL ontology as a target notation. Its distinct usage might be to kick-start
the development of ontological conceptual models in a language such as On-
toUML. OntoUML’s modeling power (including the sheer number of its primi-
tives grounded in the UFO foundational ontology) is much higher than that of
PURO; this however can make it difficult for novice users to resolve all model-
ing decisions in one shot. Similarly to the PURO+OWL scenario, the proposed
PURO+OntoUML synergy then consists in the initial drafting of an instance-
level example in PURO, followed by its interactive transformation to OntoUML
as the target language, and, finally, refinement in that language.
In order to illustrate the instance-based modeling capabilities of PURO, let
us take the example model of Figure 1A. Suppose we start with a number of
3
Its first-order formalization has been recently set up, but not yet published.
Kickstarting OntoUML Modeling from PURO 3
facts representing a particular trip, namely, the famous second voyage of the
HMS Beagle (a PURO B-relation). This entity is described as being connected
to the date of 1831 (via a B-attribute) but it also connects a number of other
entities: the HMS Beagle itself, Plymouth, Salvador, Charles Darwin, and Robert
FitzRoy. Now, suppose the user is able to tag these entities in the following
manner: HMS Beagle is a ship, Darwin and FitzRoy are people, and Salvador
and Plymouth are harbors.
Fig. 1. Example of a PURO model (A) and the resulting OntoUML model (B)
2.2 OntoUML
In the sequel, we briefly explain a much reduced subset of the ontological dis-
tinctions in OntoUML by employing the model of Figure 1B. For more details
on this language and its foundations, one can refer to [3, 4, 2].
This model (generated by the transformation discussed below) represents en-
durants (roughly objects), i.e., entities that can qualitatively change while main-
taining their numerical identity. Central to this domain we will have a number of
object Kinds, i.e., the genuine fundamental types of objects that exist in this do-
main. Kinds represent essential properties of objects (they are also termed rigid
or static types). Typical examples of kinds include Person and Ship (see Figure
1B; stereotypes reflect the correspondence between the UML profile and UFO).
There are, however, types that represent contingent or accidental properties of
objects (termed anti-rigid types). These include Roles, which represent contin-
gent properties that entities have in a relational context (e.g., ‘being a husband’
is to bear a number of commitments and claims towards a spouse in the scope
of a marital relationship; ‘being a student’ is to bear a number of properties in
the scope of an enrollment relationship with an educational institution.). These
relational contexts are termed Relators. Relators represent clusters of relational
4 M. Dudáš et al.
properties that “hang together” by a nexus (provided by a relator kind). They
are existentially dependent entities (e.g., the marriage between John and Mary
can only exist if John and Mary exist) that bind together entities (their relata)
by the so-called mediation relations - a particular type of existential dependence
relation. Examples of relators include marriages, enrollments, presidential man-
dates, citizenships, but also trips (see Figure 1B). Objects participate in relators
playing roles. For instance, people play the role of spouse in a marriage relation-
ship; a person plays the role of president in a presidential mandate; a harbor
plays the role of a departure harbor and/or destination harbor in the scope of
a trip (see Figure 1B). Finally, all types of endurants can be characterized by
intrinsic properties (qualities) that can take their value in certain quality struc-
tures. UFO quality structures are represented in OntoUML via the constructs of
datatypes (see the departure date in Figure 1B).
3 The Prototype Tool
The users can first create an example model in PURO Modeler4 and then the
Build OntoUML button takes them to the transformation app. The transforma-
tion is dialogue-based.5 The app asks users a series of questions about the nature
of modeled PURO entities in terms of OntoUML stereotypes. The app crawls
the graph representation of the source PURO model, starting from relationship
nodes, and fires the questions based on a set of rules. In each question, users
are given applicable choices of OntoUML stereotypes for representing the given
PURO entity in OntoUML. The resulting OntoUML skeleton is gradually dis-
played next to the source PURO model. The user can then download the result,
load it into an OntoUML modeling tool and finalize it.
The authors (MD, TM and VS) have been partially supported by CSF 18-23964S.
References
1. Dudáš, M., Hanzal, T., Svátek, V., Zamazal, O.: OBOWLMorph: Starting ontology
development from PURO background models. In: 12th OWLED@ISWC (2015)
2. Guerson, J. et al.: OntoUML lightweight editor: a model-based environment to build,
evaluate and implement reference ontologies. In: IEEE 19th EDOCW (2015)
3. Guizzardi, G., Sales, T.: “As simple as possible but not simpler”: Towards an on-
tology model canvas. In: JOWO 2017. vol. CEUR 2050 (2017)
4. Guizzardi, G. et al.: Design patterns and inductive modeling rules to support
the construction of ontologically well-founded conceptual models in OntoUML. In:
ODISE@CAISE 2011. pp. 402–413. Springer
5. Verdonck, M., Gailly, F.: Insights on the use and application of ontology and con-
ceptual modeling languages in ontology-driven conceptual modeling. In: 35th Inter-
national Conference on Conceptual Modeling (ER). pp. 83–97. Springer (2016)
4
Available at http://protegeserver.cz/purom5/
5
Demo available at https://tinyurl.com/puro-ontouml
Kickstarting OntoUML Modeling from PURO 5
Fig. 2. The OntoUML Model Kickstart Prototype - a screenshot of the web application
showing an intermediate step of a dialog-based transformation from PURO (on the left)
to OntoUML (right).