公司管理者依據行銷、銷售、研究、發展、製造、財務部門的資訊，綜合判斷，以做出有情報性的決策。理想情況下，所有相關的資訊應在決策前就該準備齊全，然而在大公司裡，資訊需求的確定及得到恰當、一致與最新的資訊，是極複雜與耗時的程序，特別是「資訊需求的確定」就更是資料收集的一段複雜程序。本論文發展出一方法論以模式資料的需求，並同時分析其相關任務，本方法論對於在資料庫內研擬主計畫以進行問題導向性的知識挖掘，提供了頗有價值的貢獻。本論文將以一數值範例說明其程序與啟發式的演算法。

Corporation managers make informed decisions based upon a combination of judgments and information from marketing, sales, research, development, manufacturing, and finance departments. Ideally, all relevant information should be brought together before a judgment is exercised. However, determining the information requirements and obtaining pertinent, consistent and up-to-date information across a large company is a complex and time-consuming process. The information requirements determination (IRD) is a complex process, specifically, for data collection. In this thesis, a methodology was developed for modeling the requirements and analyzing their associated tasks for collecting the information simultaneously. The methodology provides a valuable contribution to a major plan for discovering the issues-oriented knowledge in databases. One procedure and one heuristic algorithm are illustrated with numerical examples.

致 謝 i
摘 要 ii
Abstract iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF FIGURES vi
LIST OF TABLES vii
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Thesis Motivation and Objectives 1
1.2 The Thesis Research Procedure 4
1.3 The Thesis Organization 5
Chapter 2 Nature of Information Requirements Determination and Literature Review 6
Chapter 3 Modeling the Information Requirements 13
3.1 The Quasi-Hierarchical Structure for Modeling Information Requirements 14
3.2 The Requirements Partition Problem 16
3.3 The Requirements Discrimination Procedure 18
Chapter 4 Information Tasks Analysis 24
4.1 Graph and Matrix Representation of Collection Tasks 24
4.2 The Modified Triangularization Algorithm 28
Chapter 5 Information Requirements Determination Synthesis 33
5.1 Development of the Requirements-Tasks Management Plan 33
5.2 The Requirements-Tasks Collection Strategy 35
Chapter 6 System Prototype 38
6.1 Requirements Discrimination Process 39
6.2 Information Tasks Analysis 42
Chapter 7 Conclusions 47
Appendix 49
I. Steps of the requirements discrimination procedure (RDP) 49
II. Results of Example 1 50
III. Steps of the modified triangularization algorithm 51
References 54

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