MSc Business Information Systems

SBVR – Semantics forBusiness Vocabulary and Business Rules

http://www.omg.org/spec/SBVR/1.0

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 2Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Verb Concepts (Fact Types)

Associate Concepts todefine Verb Concepts

What does SBVR do?SBVR realizes the ‘Business Rules Mantra’:

Noun ConceptsDefine Noun Concepts

Voca

bula

ry Develop Vocabularies and Rules Sets to represent them(starting with terms for the concepts)

… to describe the business language of the activities of organizations… in a way that is easily understandable by business people

“Rules are built on Facts. Facts are built on Terms.”

Base Business Definitions & Rules

on Verb Concepts

Definitions &Rules

(Chapin et al. 2008)

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 3Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

SBVR is not a Language Standard

SBVR is a vocabularyconsisting of interrelated sub-vocabularies

The SBVR vocabulary permits to capture the semantics of those kinds of sentences commonly used to express business rules

SBVR represents the semantics as facts, i.e.it consists of terms and facts about semantic formulation of meaning

SBVR-compliant tools capture the meaning of businessvocabularies and rules

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 4Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

SBVR Structured English NotationThere are four font styles with formal meaning:

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 5Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

UML Notation for SBVR

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 6Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

SBVR Model in ORM (fragment)

(Chapin et al 2008)

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 7Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Conformance

For conforming software, the SBVR specification defines fourcompliance points.

A software tool that conforms to toany of these compliance points shallsupport all of the concepts specifiedin the corresponding clauses

There are too additional conformances specified byrequirements defined in clause 10

Restricted Higher Order LogicFirst Order Logic

Clause 8

Clause 9

Clause 11

Clause 12

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 8Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

How to read the SBVR SpecificationThis specification describes a vocabulary, or actually a set of vocabularies, using terminological entries.

Each entry includes a definition, along with other specifications such as notes and examples. Often, the entries include rules (necessities) aboutthe particular item being defined.

Example:

The sequencing of the clauses in this specification reflects the inherentlogical order of the subject matter itself. Later clauses build semanticallyon the earlier ones. The initial clauses are therefore rather ‘deep’ in termsof SBVR’s grounding in formal logics and linguistics.

This overall form of presentation is rather difficult to approach. Figureshelp illustrate the structure of the vocabulary.

The following slides contain a small subset of the SBVR vocabulary

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 9Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Clause 8: Meaning and Representation Vocabulary

Clause 8 defines the basic concepts for defining meaning and representation.

Expression – things used to communicate (e.g., sounds, text, diagrams, gestures), but apart from their meaning — one expression can have manymeanings.

Representation – the connection between expression and a meaning. Eachrepresentation ties one expression to one meaning.

Meaning – what is meant by a word (a concept) or by a statement (a proposition) – how we think about things.

Extension – the things to which meanings refer, which can be anything(even expressions, representations, and meanings when they are thesubjects of our discourse).

Reference schemes – ways people use information about something to identify it. For example, a city in the United States is identified by a namecombined with the state, which is identified by its name or by a two-letterstate code.

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 10Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Examples for Extension, Meaning, Representationand Expression

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 11Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Meaning

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 12Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Some important definitions

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Noun Concepts

Examples:

The ‘general concept’ that denotes the set of countries in which EU-Rent does business

The ‘individual concept’ that denotes the country Switzerland

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 14Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Verb Concepts – Examples

Verb concepts

Unary (characteristic): flight is full1 placeholder, filled by ‘flight’

Binary: aircraft is assigned to flighttwo placeholders, filled by ‘aircraft’ and ‘flight’

N-ary: reassigned flight replaces missed flight after late arrivalthree placeholders representing roles, filled by ‘flight’, ‘flight’ and ‘late arrival’

Can objectify a verb concept and use it as a noun concept

(Chapin et al 2008)

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Noun Concepts: General and Individual

(Chapin & Hall 2006)

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Object Type = General Concept

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 17Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Individual Concept

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 18Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Role

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Relations between Concepts

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Examples of Relations

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 21Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Clause 11: Business Vocabulary

Clause 11 specifies a vocabulary providing words fordescribing business vocabularies along with the designationsand fact type forms they contain.

A full description of a business vocabulary involvesits relationship to semantic communities and speechcommunities, its relationship to other vocabularies, the concepts represented, their definitions and otherinformation about them.

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Communities, Meaning and Vocabularies

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Community

NODE = The New Oxford Dictionary of English.

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Semantic Community

A semantic community defines the scope of an SBVR Body of Shared Meanings:what concepts (both noun concepts and verb concepts) are to be included what business rules it needs to build on them

Usually, the most important semantic community is the organization for which you are building the SBVR Body of Shared Meanings, e.g. EU-Fly.

You will often have to consider other semantic communities that do or could share some of the vocabulary, e.g. the airline industry, national trade associations, EU-Fly customers

When you define rules, you do it from the perspective of the owning semantic community

Two kinds of Semantic Communities in business:Collaborative Community, e.g. a department, cross-function programme teamCommunity of Practice, e.g. project managers, operational excellence champions, departmental budget managers

(Chapin et al 2008)

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 25Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Body of Shared Meanings

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Speech CommunityA speech community is a subcommunity of a semantic community. It has the same “body of shared meanings”, but expresses them in a particular, shared vocabulary

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Vocabulary

(Chapin & Hall 2006)

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Vocabulary

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Concept and Characteristic

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Kinds of Definition

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Definition

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Epressing Definitions

… (Chapin & Hall 2006)

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Clause 12: Business Rules

(Surprisingly) small part of SBVR

Business Vocabulary is muchbigger (and reusable for otheraspects of business modelling)

Intended for people:

Can be brokenNeed enforcement

Actionable, but not necessarilyautomatable

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 34Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Business Rules

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Kinds of Business Rules

(Chapin & Hall 2006)

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Kinds of Business Rules

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Defining a Business Rule

(Chapin & Hall 2006)

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Levels of Enforcement

Levels of Enforcement are separated from rules

SBVR does not prescribe any enforcement levels. It onlygives examples (the ones also mentioned in BMM):

strict, deferred, pre-authorized, post-justified, override, guidelins

Only operative rules have levels of enforcements

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 39Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Statements of Guidance

Clause 12.2 provides a normative vocabulary for the kinds of guidance statements that business people assert.

These kinds of guidance statements are general with respectto any particular language.

It does not standardize any particular rule language

The categories presented in this subclause are intended forbusiness people.

deeper logical analysis is provided in clause 10 of the SBVR specification (see later)

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 40Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Statements of Guidance

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 41Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Statements of Guidance

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 42Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

Rule Statements

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SBVR Structured English – An Example

(Chapin & Hall 2006)

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SBVR Structured English- Quantification

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SBVR Structured English – Logical Operations

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SBVR Structured English – Modal Operations

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SBVR Structured English – Modal Operations

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SBVR Structured English – Other Keywords

Prof. Dr. Knut Hinkelmann 49Information Systems Architecture - SBVR MSc BIS/

References

OMG (2008): Semantics of Business Vocabulary and Business Rules (SBVR), v1.0, URL: http://www.omg.org/spec/SBVR/1.0 (17.10.2008)

Chapin, Donald and Hall, John (2006): Semantics and Business Rules. Tutorial at the Semantic Technology Conference, March 2006, San Jose CA

Chapin, Donald; Hall, John; Nijsson, Sjir; Piprani, Baba (2008): SBVR Tutorial. Open Forum 2008