AN APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF OBJECT ASSOCIATIONS

Much work has been done on the logical modelling of Objects, However, much less effort has been spent on describing the transformation from such logical models to detailed design representations which can subse quently be implemented. This paper reviews the state of current publis hed material on one aspect of this transformation, namely the detailed design of associations. It discusses the shortcomings of existing app roaches and proposes an alternative design for associations, The advan tages of the proposed approach are described. The paper concludes that a clearer separation of concerns is achieved, leading to improved ext ensibility. The rigour of the approach lends itself to automated suppo rt.