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A Rationale-based Model for Architecture Design Reasoning

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11.2. Checking AREL models<br />

Figure 11.7: An Example of a Quantitative <strong>Rationale</strong> (QNR)<br />

hence a separate program is required. The AREL Tool is developed in Microsoft .Net and<br />

runs on the Windows XP plat<strong>for</strong>m.<br />

The consistency checking of the AREL model follows a number of rules:<br />

• Detect any directed cycles in the AREL model. An error is shown when it happens.<br />

• Detect any improper model construct which violates the AREL definition. The<br />

anomalies are: two AEs are linked directly by ≪ARtrace≫ without an AR; two<br />

ARs are linked directly by ≪ARtrace≫ without an AE; the leave node is an AR;<br />

the root node is an AR. The tool reports these as errors.<br />

• Detect any isolated items such as an AE or an AR which are not connected to any<br />

other elements. The tool reports these as warnings.<br />

The AREL Tool is contained in a program (i.e. EA<strong>Model</strong>ProjectUI.exe). It is a standalone<br />

program and can be downloaded from [155]. The installation of the program is done<br />

by running Setup.exe. When the program starts up, the user has to specify the Enterprise<br />

Architect repository that contains the AREL model. Then the AREL Tool would open<br />

the repository and a number of options are displayed in a window <strong>for</strong> the user to select.<br />

This is shown in Figure 11.8.<br />

The user can click the Check <strong>Model</strong> button to start the consistency checking. When<br />

checking is complete, the tool displays a screen to show any errors or warnings which are<br />

present in the AREL model in a pop-up window. If any error is reported, then the result<br />

would indicate that the AREL model is inconsistent. An example of the window is shown<br />

in Figure 11.9. A detailed error report is also produced and it is located in the same<br />

directory as the Enterprise Architect repository. If errors are present, users will need to<br />

update the AREL model to correct them and re-run the AREL Tool to check that they<br />

have been fixed. The user manual of the AREL Tool is contained in Appendix A and so<br />

its operations are not described in details here.<br />

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