Formal specification of information systems requirements

摘要

An organizational information system can be viewed, in a broad sense, as a computational model of organizational activity and function. Logical requirements of information systems are defined, according to this view, as constraints imposed by the logical structure of such a computational model on the design, implementation and operation of information systems. In this study a formal model for the specification of logical requirements is presented in detail and its role as a tool for systems development is discussed. Three main advantages of the specification of logical requirements that can be capitalized through the use of this formalism are: (1) logical requirements are invariant with respect to specific means in which information processing is actually accomplished; (2) they can be easily related to relevant aspects of organizational activity and function; and (3) they can be related to basic components of the corresponding software systems, either existing or being developed.