Järjestelmäintegroinnin vaatimukset dokumenttien hallinnan sovelluspalvelussa ja palvelualustan suunnittelu

Työssä on selvitetty soveltuvatko maailman johtavien ECM (Enterprise Content Management)-toimittajien järjestelmät palvelualustaksi dokumenttien hallinnan sovelluspalvelulle. Sovelluspalvelulla tarkoitetaan palvelutoimittajan (Application Service Provider, ASP) tiloissa toimivia sovelluksia, joita tarjotaan palveluna asiakkaille tietoverkon yli. Selvitystä varten työssä on kerätty tärkeimmät palvelualustaan kohdistuvat vaatimukset. Integrointivaatimusten tunnistaminen oli työn tärkein tavoite. Integroitavuuden lisäksi työssä on tutkittu sovelluspalvelumallista syntyviä erityisvaatimuksia. Vaatimusten keruu ja vaatimusten pohjalta tehty ominaisuuskartoitus ovat osa palvelualustan suunnittelua. Ominaisuuskartoituksessa vaatimuksista on laadittu laaja kyselylomake ja pyydetty valituilta toimittajilta siihen vastaukset. Saatuja vastauksia on peilattu asetettuihin vaatimuksiin. Tehtyjen havaintojen pohjalta on esitetty soveltuvuusarvio tutkittujen järjestelmien soveltuvuudesta tarpeita vastaavaksi sovelluspalvelualustaksi. Lopputuloksena on todettu, että useimpien järjestelmien soveltuvuus perustasolla on hyvä. Yksittäisiä selkeitä puutteita kuitenkin tunnistettiin. Integrointivaatimukset täyttyvät pääosin hyvin, mutta erityisesti tietoturvassa havaittiin puutteita.

Scheduling of guarded command based models

Formal methods provide a means of reasoning about computer programs in order to prove correctness criteria. One subtype of formal methods is based on the weakest precondition predicate transformer semantics and uses guarded commands as the basic modelling construct. Examples of such formalisms are Action Systems and Event-B. Guarded commands can intuitively be understood as actions that may be triggered when an associated guard condition holds. Guarded commands whose guards hold are nondeterministically chosen for execution, but no further control flow is present by default. Such a modelling approach is convenient for proving correctness, and the Refinement Calculus allows for a stepwise development method. It also has a parallel interpretation facilitating development of concurrent software, and it is suitable for describing event-driven scenarios. However, for many application areas, the execution paradigm traditionally used comprises more explicit control flow, which constitutes an obstacle for using the above mentioned formal methods. In this thesis, we study how guarded command based modelling approaches can be conveniently and efficiently scheduled in different scenarios. We first focus on the modelling of trust for transactions in a social networking setting. Due to the event-based nature of the scenario, the use of guarded commands turns out to be relatively straightforward. We continue by studying modelling of concurrent software, with particular focus on compute-intensive scenarios. We go from theoretical considerations to the feasibility of implementation by evaluating the performance and scalability of executing a case study model in parallel using automatic scheduling performed by a dedicated scheduler. Finally, we propose a more explicit and non-centralised approach in which the flow of each task is controlled by a schedule of its own. The schedules are expressed in a dedicated scheduling language, and patterns assist the developer in proving correctness of the scheduled model with respect to the original one.

Strategic communication : practice, ideology and dissonance

This dissertation approaches the manifestations of ideology in U.S. Strategic Communication. The discussion approaches Strategic Communication by relating it to the Enlightenment narratives and suggesting these narratives maintain similar social and political functions. This dissertation aims to address the key contents and mechanisms of Strategic Communication by covering the perspectives of (i) communication as leadership as well as (ii) communication as discourse , i.e. practice and contents. Throughout the empirical part of the dissertation, the communication theoretical discussion is supported by a methodological framework that bridges Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and functional language theory. According to the principles of CDA, Strategic Communication is treated as ideological, hegemonic discourse that impacts social order. The primary method of analysis is transitivity analysis, which is concerned with how language and its patterns construe reality. This analysis is complemented with a discussion on the rituals of production and interpretation, which can be treated as visual extensions of textual transitivity. The concept of agency is the key object of analysis. From the perspective of leadership, Strategic Communication is essentially a leadership model through which the organization defines itself, its aims and legitimacy. This dissertation arrives to the conclusion that Strategic Communication is used not only as a concept for managing Public Relations and information operations. It is an esse ntial asset in the inter-organization management of its members. The current developments indicate that the concept is developing towards even heavier measures of control. From the perspective of language and discourse, the key narratives of Strategic Communication are advocated with the intrinsic values of democracy and technological progress as the prerequisites of ethics and justice. The transitivity patterns reveal highly polarized agency. The agency of the Self is typically outsourced to technology. Further, the transitivity pa tterns demonstrate how the effects-centric paradigm of warfare has created a lexicon that is ideologically exclusive. It has led to the development of two mutually exclusive sets of vocabulary, where the desc riptions of legitimate ac tion exclude Others by default. These ideological discourses have become naturalized in the official vocabulary of strategic planning and le adership. Finally, the analysis of the images of the captures and deaths of Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi bring the discussion back to the themes of the Enlightenment by demonstrating how democracy is framed to serve political purposes. The images of democracy are essentially images of violence. Contrary to the official, instrumental and humanitari an narratives of Strategic Communication, it is the grammar of expressive, violent rituals that serve as the instrument of unity.

Keräilykorttipelin toteutus HTML5- ja Javascript-tekniikoilla

HTML5-tekniikka sekä Javascript tuen laajuus selaimissa vaihtelee. Tässä työssä kyseisiä tekniikoita tutkitaan ja selvitetään niiden toimivuus keräilykorttipelin tarvittavien ominaisuuksien osalta. Tuet kartoitetaan viiden yleisimmän selaimen osalta. HTML5 tukee WebSocket-ominaisuutta, mutta kaikki selaimet eivät tue ominaisuutta tai se on poistettu käytöstä. Työssä etsitään tiedonsiirtotekniikan korvaaja, jota testataan ja verrattaan yleisesti käytettäviin tekniikoihin. Socket.io oli nopea tekniikka ja viisi yleisintä selainta tuki kyseistä tekniikkaa. Tämän vuoksi Socket.io-tekniikka soveltuu keräilykorttipeliin hyvin. Työssä tutkitaan keräilykorttipeliin liittyviä ongelmia sekä ratkaistaan ilmenneet ongelmat. Keräilykorttipelissä kyseisiä ongelmia ilmeni hyvin vähän. HTML5 animaatio tutkitaan että se on optimoitu hyvin, jotta käyttäjälle tulee miellyttävä peli kokemus. Keräilykorttipeliin lisäksi tehdään käytännön toteutuksena pakkaeditorin prototyyppi, jossa käytetään drag&drop-tekniikkaa. Tämän vuoksi myös drag&drop-tekniikan tuki on selainten osalta kartoitettu myös työssä, sekä testattu käytännön toteutuksena prototyypissä. Prototyypin tarkoitus on kartoittaa mahdolliset tulevat ongelmat sekä auttaa varsinaisen pakkaeditorin tuotantoversiossa.

Data and Inventory Management in Spare Part Business: Developing Operations in the Case Company

After sales business is an effective way to create profit and increase customer satisfaction in manufacturing companies. Despite this, some special business characteristics that are linked to these functions, make it exceptionally challenging in its own way. This Master’s Thesis examines the current situation of the data and inventory management in the case company regarding possibilities and challenges related to the consolidation of current business operations. The research examines process steps, procedures, data requirements, data mining practices and data storage management of spare part sales process, whereas the part focusing on inventory management is reviewing the current stock value and examining current practices and operational principles. There are two global after sales units which supply spare parts and issues reviewed in this study are examined from both units’ perspective. The analysis is focused on the operations of that unit where functions would be centralized by default, if change decisions are carried out. It was discovered that both data and inventory management include clear shortcomings, which result from lack of internal instructions and established processes as well as lack of cooperation with other stakeholders related to product’s lifecycle. The main product of data management was a guideline for consolidating the functions, tailored for the company’s needs. Additionally, potentially scrapped spare part were listed and a proposal of inventory management instructions was drafted. If the suggested spare part materials will be scrapped, stock value will decrease 46 percent. A guideline which was reviewed and commented in this thesis was chosen as the basis of the inventory management instructions.