Dependency Analysis Using Conceptual Graphs

Analysis of dependencies between entities is an important part of modeling. Whether the modeling domain is at the enterprise level or at the system or software component level, characterization, representation, and analysis of these dependencies is essential to correctly modeling the domain. For example, it is important to identify and characterize dependencies between both system and software components when trying to determine the extent of and impact of a breach in computer system security or of a malfunction in a component. Analysis of such dependencies is also greatly beneficial in both the requirements and maintenance phases of software engineering. What is needed is a formal characterization of the concept of dependency along with a more formal and unified approach to dependency analysis . This paper introduces the notion of dependency at a general level. In the present literature, an actual definition and characterization of a dependency is usually avoided, and it is difficult to separate the discussion of the dependency from the particular domain of interest. Most of the literature available implies that it is simply “understood” that a dependency can be represented by a directed arc on a graph where the dependent components are the nodes of the graph. Much work in the current literature addresses dependencies in widely varying ways. This paper attempts to formalize both the definition and characterization of a dependency in a unified approach, and then illustrates how dependencies themselves and the effect of those dependencies upon a system can be efficiently modeled using Conceptual Graphs.