ABSTRACT
In order for an information system to satisfy the information needs for which it is built, the design must be based on a correct domain model, which must capture precisely all the classes and relationships that are relevant to the information needs being addressed. To perform this task, the text analysis approach—whereby one tries to discover classes and relationships by examining the nouns and verbs in the language of the domain stakeholders—is commonly adopted. However, there are situations where the construction of the domain model can be too complex a task for the text analysis approach to handle effectively. In this chapter, we identify a number of problems associated with the text analysis approach, and propose the use of the fact-based approach (also known as Object-Role Modeling) as an alternative technique. In particular, we show how the fact-based approach can be used effectively, in conjunction with the use case approach, in the construction of domain models for object-oriented information systems.
