Combining Conceptual Modeling and Active Rules for the Design of Adaptive Web Applications

In this paper we propose a framework for the design and development of adaptive Web applications. The framework leverages on the integration of two well established approaches: a conceptual model, complemented with a CASE tool for automatic code generation, and a language for expressing ECA rules, supported by an engine for rule execution. Such integration leads to a versatile and flexible adaptivity environment, whose advantage is twofold: on one hand, conceptual modeling and automatic code generation support an efficient development process; on the other hand a detached rule engine allows us to widen the set of adaptivity requirements that can be handled and to overcome some limitations of current modeling approaches.