BIM-Tool

General Information

Tool Name

BIM-Tool

Version

1.0

Group

University of Toronto

Date Tool Template Last Updated

April 5, 2013

Web page (if available)

http://http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~jm/bim/

Main Purpose of the Tool

BIM-Tool supports modeling and analysis using the Business Intelligence Model, a strategic business modeling language based on high-level notions such as goals, tasks, indicators, situations, domain assumptions, refinement, and influence.

i* framework supported

BIM

Availability of the tool

• (X) For i* modelling only
• ( ) For development only
• ( ) Both

Programming Language

Java, based on Eclipse and the Eclipse GMP/GMF project

Platform Requirements

Currently, Windows or Linux. Potentially, the tool can be deployed for any platform.

Other technology needed

Java runtime environment v6 or above

Current state of the tool

Available for use

Ongoing work

Improving usability, bug fixing, adding further analysis techniques, support for Mac OS X

i* Modelling Suitability

1. Does the tool allow SD modelling?

No

2. Does the tool allow SR modelling?

No

3. Does the tool allow working with SD & SR models jointly?

No

4. Does the tool allow the construction of the models graphically?

Yes, drag-and-drop from a palette of elements and relationships

5. Does the tool allow the construction of the models textually?

No

6. Describe how the elements are modelled and their flexibility (i.e., the elements can be moved and reordered).

• The elements can be moved, reordered, deleted, copied, pasted.
• The elements can be arranged automatically (default feature in Eclipse GMF).

7. Describe how the dependency links are modelled and their flexibility (i.e., dependencies are modelled with straight lines that can not be redirected).

Dependencies are not supported

8. Does the tool allow automatic organization of the elements?

Yes

10. Does the tool check SD models?

No

11. Does the tool check SR models?

No

12. Other checks provided by the tool (i.e., cross validation between SD and SR models).

• Syntactic rules of BIM (mainly typing and cycle avoidance) are checked on-the-fly by the tool

13. Does the tool allow working with two or more models at the same time?

Yes

14. Does the tool allow to group models in projects?

Yes

15. Does the tool allow working with two or more projects at the same time?

Yes

16. What are the other functionalities that the tool provides?

• Top-down analysis (is it possible?): is there a possible strategy that provides satisfaction/denial evidence to a set of (not) desired goals, situations, etc?
• Bottom-up analysis (what if?): given input information about goals, processes, situations, indicators, and domain assumptions, how does this input propagate to other elements in the model?

Usability

17. Rate the understandability of the user interface

• ( ) Internal use
• (X) Ready for public use
• ( ) Has been used publicly

If it is not ready for public use, mark one or more of the following:

• ( ) not in English
• ( ) writing not polished
• ( ) poor usability (colours, ...)
• ( ) others: please specify

18. Rate the quality of the user manual

• ( ) Inexistent
• (X) Internal use
• () Ready for public use
• ( ) Has been used publicly

If user manual for internal use, mark one or more of the following:

• ( ) incomplete
• ( ) obsolete
• ( ) not in English
• ( ) writing not polished
• (X) the manual consists of three sreencasts only

19. Does the tool provides i* learning facilities?

No

20. Does the tool provide any examples for the users?

Yes

21. Rate the difficulty of installing the tool

• ( ) Copy files and initializing paths
• (X) Copy files
• ( ) Executable installation file provided

Maturity of the Tool

22. Rate the maturity of the tool from the user point of view:

• ( ) Under Development
• (X) Prototype
• ( ) Ready for public use
• ( ) Has been used publicly

If not for public use, mark one or more of the following:

• ( ) incomplete
• (X) occasional testing
• ( ) non-exhaustive testing
• ( ) non-persistent data
• ( ) poor efficiency
• ( ) not portable
• ( ) others: please specify

23. Has the tool been used for any case study?

No

24. Has the tool been tested in large models?

No

25. Has the tool any drawback when working with very large models?

No

26. Which is approximately the maximum size of the model (in terms of actors and dependencies) the tool has been used for?

Around 100 goals

Extensibility and Interoperability

27. Does the tool allow importing files?

No, just regular saving

28. Does the tool allow exporting files?

No, just regular open

29. Does the tool allow importing/exporting the data through an XML format?

No. The save format is actually XML basd

30. Is the architecture of the tool published?

No

31. Does the tool allow the addition of other elements outside the i* framework of the tool?

No

32. New functionalities can be added to the tool by means of:

• ( ) PLUG-IN
• ( ) Open-Source code
• ( ) import & export XML
• (X) NONE

33. Rate the maturity of the tool from for open development:

• ( ) Under Development
• (X) Prototype
• ( ) Ready for public development use
• ( ) Has been used for public development

If not for public development use, mark one or more of the following:

• ( ) incomplete code
• (X) no help provided
• ( ) non-persistent data
• ( ) non-exhaustive testing
• ( ) poor efficiency
• ( ) not portable
• ( ) no development installation facilities provided
• ( ) others: please specify

Expected date for public development use (if any):

34. Is there any internal documentation for programmers?

No
If so, enumerate the facilities provided

• ( ) Requirements specification and design decisions available
• ( ) Interface conventions
• ( ) Code conventions
• ( ) Full commented code
• ( ) Examples
• ( ) others: please specify