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Gateways between information systems (IS-gateways) are discussed in detail and
we propose both a reference architecture and a classification scheme. The
reference architecture describes an IS-gateway in terms of its elements, the
interfaces and the interoperation of the elements. The classification scheme can
be used to identify integration situations associated with one or more subsystems
and select appropriate gateway solutions.
To support the development of individual IS-gateways, we have developed an
Interface Description Language, IDLE. The IDLE language facilitates the formal
description of user interfaces to subsystems, thereby allowing a gateway program
to access a subsystem in a manner similar to local users.
The thesis describes five different IS-gateways which were developed to validate
the concepts developed in this work. We also present general guidelines for the
efficient development of IS-gateways.
