MODEL INTEGRATION USING METAGRAPHS

The availability of a large and diverse collection of stored modules s uch as data relations and decision models is a desirable feature in a decision support system (DSS). However, it is usually infeasible to de sign a DSS in which every problem instance can be solved using a singl e module. Instead, it may be necessary to combine several stored modul es into an integrated model that is sufficient to solve the given prob lem. We show that modules such as data files and decision models in a DSS can be usefully represented by a metagraph, a graph-theoretic cons truct that captures relationships between pairs of sets of elements. I n addition to the visualization benefits that graphical representation offers, we show that many useful questions faced by the designers and users of DSS can be addressed by exploiting analytical properties of metagraphs. In particular, we show that the process of model integrati on can be significantly facilitated by exploiting certain connectivity properties in metagraphs.