Object Calculus and the Object-Oriented Analysis and Design of an Error-Sensitive GIS

The use of object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) in GIS research, development and application is now well established. However, the tendency towards informality in OOAD techniques means many of the potential benefits of object-orientation (OO) are being discounted. Recent advances in the formal representation of OO systems may help realise these benefits with respect to some of the key contemporary issues in GIS. This paper examines the application of one particular OO formalism, the ς (sigma) calculus of Abadi and Cardelli, to a long-standing unresolved research problem in GIS: the development of an error-sensitive GIS. The work indicates that significant enhancements in the exploration, verification and understanding of OO systems can be achieved through the use of ς-calculus in support of conventional OOAD techniques.