Date of Award

12-1992

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Computer Science

First Advisor

Dr. Hossein Saiedian

Second Advisor

Mr. Stanley Wileman

Third Advisor

Dr. Zhenqxin Chen

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Justin Stolen

Abstract

Office support systems are used to automate routine office tasks. Since office tasks often require the cooperation of several office workers who may be physically dispersed, it is important to develop advanced communication systems that better facilitate collaborative and cooperative office work among office workers.

In this thesis, we propose an approach to the construction of advanced communication systems in which messages are represented as objects that are “intelligent” and “active” and can therefore perform certain activities (such as interacting with various entities to collect data) and decisions (such as dynamically deciding which user to go to next) on their own. The system is called Intelligent Message System IMS. The major components of IMS are as follows:

  1. Intelligent Message Objects (IMO). These objects represent the actual intelligent objects of the system.
  2. System Mail Manager (SMM) which provides the users an interface to create, send, receive, and maintain IMOs.
  3. Intelligent Message Script Language (IMSL) is a language used to program IMOs.

Office workers can delegate the responsibility for certain routine office tasks to an IMO and can therefore spend their time on more important activities. Thus, in addition to its theoretical contributions, this thesis provides a framework for building an advanced computer-based message system that increases productivity in an office environment.

Each component of the IMS is explained in detail in the thesis. A variation of BNF formalism is used to define the syntax of IMSL while VDM is used to formally define the semantics of major functions of intelligent message objects. A number of examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the IMS in automation of certain office tasks.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Department of the Computer Science and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts University of Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska. Copyright 1992 Robert L. Palumbo.

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