2.3 Result of the algorithmic transformation: A first object model

The JIDM algorithm described in the previous section serves as a basis for obtaining the first version of a Unix workstation object model. However, two remarks must be made:

  

Figure 3: Algorithmic generated object model in OMT notation (partial view)

1.

The JIDM algorithm has been developed for implementing management gateways. This implies that a gateway needs to store any information related to SNMP variables (table indices, object identifiers etc.) in object attributes. While this is certainly necessary for management gateways, such an approach is not needed for the redesign of our agent.

2.

The target language of the JIDM algorithm is, as already mentioned in section 2.2, OMG IDL. It is absolutely crucial for the further design of the management agent to transform the MIB into a notation which permits further refinements with commercially available CASE-tools. The tool we used (described in section 3.1) uses the Object Modeling Technique (OMT) [10]. Thus, the transformation of IDL into OMT had to be done manually but did not take long because the structure and the data types of the object classes and their attributes were already given by the JIDM algorithm.

Figure 3 depicts the first version of the obtained object model.