Workshop on Object Interoperability

In Association with ECOOP'99
June 14-18, 1999.
Lisbon, Portugal.

Call for Participation

Interoperability is one of the key aspects related to the construction of large object-oriented systems, and it can be defined as the ability of two or more entities to communicate and cooperate despite differences in the implementation language, the execution environment or the model abstraction. Basically, three main levels of interoperability between objects can be distinguished: the syntactic level (names and signatures of operations), the protocol level (partial ordering between exchanged messages and blocking conditions), and the semantic level ("meaning" of operations).

Syntactic interoperability is currently well-defined and understood at the interface level, where now open systems architects and vendors are trying to establish different interoperational standards (CORBA, JavaBeans, COM, ...). However, it is also recognised by all software developers that this sort of interoperability is not sufficient for ensuring the correct development of object oriented applications, should they be object-based or component-based applications. But on the other hand, the study and usage of the latter two levels currently present serious challenges, from both the theoretical and practical points of view. There have been some partial advances in those levels, but we are still far from reaching any satisfactory solution.

Object interoperability can embrace aspects besides and beyond components. Although often confused, components and objects can be really seen as orthogonal concepts, each one having its own specific and distinguishing features. In general, component interoperability can be seen as a particular case of the object interoperability problem.

Another interesting issue and closely related to object interoperability is replaceability, i.e. the polymorphic substitutability of objects in clients, or how to guarantee that the behavior of subclass instances is consistent with that of superclass instances. Interoperability and replaceability are the two flip sides of the object compatibility coin.

This workshop aims to promote research concerned with all aspects of interoperability and replaceability between objects, in particular at the protocol and semantics levels. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Enabling models, technologies and architectures for object interoperability.
• Interface and protocol matching.
• Mediated architectures and automated construction of mediators.
• Resource discovery based on semantic matching.
• Extensions to object interfaces and IDLs to deal with protocol or semantic interoperability.
• Formal aspects of interoperability.
• Object replacement and correct subclassing.
• Using coordination to achieve interoperability.

The workshop tries to provide a venue where researchers and practitioners on these topics can meet, disseminate and exchange ideas and problems, identify some of the key issues related to object interoperability, and explore together possible solutions. To enable lively and productive discussions, attendance will be limited to 20 participants and submission of a position statement is required. All submissions will be formally reviewed.

Submission Format and Procedure

Position statements should be 4 to 8 A4 pages long in LNCS format and include the author's name, affiliation and contact details. They should be submited by e-mail as postscript or PDF files before April 5, 1999, to Antonio Vallecillo.

Authors will be notified of acceptance by May 1, 1999. At least one author of accepted papers should participate in the workshop. Accepted papers will be made available to the participants prior to the workshop, and will be published in the workshop proceedings.

Important Dates

• Paper submission: April 5, 1999.
• Notification of acceptance: May 1, 1999.
• Workshop handouts ready: May 30, 1999.

Workshop Organizers