STRUCTURED METHODS FOR GIS DESIGN .2. AN OBJECT-ORIENTED SYSTEM FOR PHYSICAL PLAN MONITORING

Part 1 of this two-paper series presented a case study illustrating ho w structured data analysis methods may be employed to order the data r equirements of a spatial planning domain for efficient GIS design. Thi s paper uses a second case study to extend the discussion in three way s. First, it demonstrates the application of a different set of data a nalysis tools to a similar system design problem. Second, it gives a m ore detailed treatment of the task of defining elementary information system functions. Third, the tools used are compatible with the design of a more sophisticated postrelational database system and the two ca se studies therefore illustrate a technical advancement in the applica tion of structured methods for GIS design. The methodology presented r educes an entity-attribute model of the plan monitoring domain to a di graph via subtype matrix analysis. By labelling the arcs of the graph, a semantic network formalism is created which is capable of direct im plementation as an object-oriented database. Detailed object descripti ons (database schemata) are constructed and discussed in order to emph asise the important relationship between structured methods of data an alysis and system functionality.