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Introduction This overview is prepared for CSE 625 Software Engineering Environments at Auburn University, Summer of 1998. This project is the first time work of its author and may not be copied without permission. This project was prepared by Tony Pittarese. The author can be contacted via email at tony@pittarese.com. This overview presents basic information regarding several CASE tools currently available. All information for this project was taken from the manufacturers' web sites. None of the below software has actually been tested or used by the author, so the statements below about functionality are based strictly on the information provided by the manufacturer. In some cases statements made by manufacturers was vague or conflicted with other statements. In those situations the judgement of the author was used to attempt to deduce the true product attribute. Since no actual hands on evaluation was done, readers should not assume comments listed below constitute the endorsement or opinion of the author. Documentation provided on the product's referenced web site is the sole source of information and is quoted extensively throughout this document. Tools which support Linux are designated by the Index of tools surveyed:
As the name implies, Simply Objects is a CASE tool designed for Object Oriented software development. It supports all of the major OO design constructs (UML, OMT, etc.). Development with Simply Objects begins with system object diagrams and proceeds up to the code generation process. The tool supports reverse engineering of existing source code. Since the design is tightly integrated with project source code, the system maintains a dynamic link between those two and attempts to insure that documentation and diagrams match source code for the project. In addition to the core project priced and described above, Adaptive Arts has made available tools that are more specifically tied to particular languages and are more limited in scope. These tools are available at lower prices and are frequently integrated with third-party products. The "Modeler" product supports Delphi, Java, and Smalltalk, and is made available by Borland/Inprise for use in Delphi development. Group development is supported extensively in this tool. It features the ability to tightly integrate with a corporate intranet and make design documents and diagrams available on web pages through the use of HTML and generated graphics.
QASE is specifically designed for client/server system modeling. Execution flow diagrams, periodic and random workload analysis, hardware systems diagrams, and resource usage are the core elements on the product's focus. QASE gains its needed data through a series of dialog boxes which collect information from the user. QASE represents the overall client/server system graphically, and permits the user to view the entire system or just selected portions. QASE evaluates the completeness of the modeled system. QASE can be used to evaluate the feasibility of several alternatives, and simulate bottlenecks or other problems with the system. The user can evaluate "what if?" by changing various system attributes and reevaluating. QASE interfaces with Hewlett-Packard's MeasureWare Agent and Platinum's TransTracker for data collection.
System Dependability Assessment Tool
More hardware than software related, SDAT assesses the overall expected reliability of a system. This is particularly useful in mission-critical situations. Extensive support for state modeling and transition.
The entire set of Easy- tools seems very comprehensive in the modeling support afforded and the number of tools it is compatible with. State-event, process and data modeling are supported, and team-based development is supported with workgroup software. All tools in the Easy- suite a sold independently, and all tools are designed to interface with one another for assembling a unified system. Visible's web site (listed above) provides extensive pre-sales product information.
With AxiomSys you can build a detailed Structured Analysis model of your system, create the architectural design for the implementation of the system, trace how and where each and every requirement is fulfilled, validate the entire model for consistency and logical integrity, and automatically produce accurate and complete requirements documentation. AxiomSys is uniquely well suited for the analysis of real time systems. AxiomSys provides a powerful, yet user friendly implementation of the Yourdon-DeMarco Structured Analysis method. AxiomSys provides the capability to cross reference any type of information to the processes, modules and data items in your model. These trace items can be system requirements, test plans, schedule milestones or other information. AxiomSys provides easy to use, interactive graphics editors for the creation of flow diagrams, architecture diagrams and state transition diagrams. AxiomDsn allows the user to build a detailed software design model, trace how and where each and every requirement is fulfilled, validate the entire model for consistency and logical integrity, and automatically produce accurate and complete requirements documentation. Views into the design are graphically available in reports. These views include module hierarchy (dependency charts) and calling structure charts. AxiomDsn provides the capability to cross reference any type of information to the modules, functions, data types, variables and constants in your model. These trace items can be system requirements, test plans, schedule milestones or other information. . You can also validate a single module or a single function. The validation checks all scoping rules for references, illegal read or writes, finds 'dead' or unused variables, constants, data types, and functions. The above information on AxiomSys and AxiomDsn is a summary of quotes from the Structured Technology Group web site referenced above.
Features architecture flow and interconnect diagrams from the context level down. Displays graphical allocation of requirements assignment to architecture, using superbubbles. This allow requirements/architecture traceability through traceability matrices. Supports automatic creation of submodule requirements diagrams from the higher-level allocations.
Logiscope, SCADE, ObjectPartner, ObjectGeode
ObjectPartner provides complete OMT support during analysis and design, generates C++ code, and improves reliability through overall control of the testing process. ObjectPartner certifies quality and reusability of software components with object-oriented metrics. Maintenance and effective reuse are achieved through reverse engineering of existing C++ code into graphical OMT models. ObjectGEODE is a toolset dedicated to analysis, design, verification and validation through simulation, code generation and testing of real-time and distributed applications. ObjectGEODE supports a coherent integration of complementary object-oriented and real-time approaches based on the UML, SDL and MSC standards languages.
Able to be used stand-alone or within other applications such as MS Word or PowerPoint. In addition to analysis and design, it can be used for outlines, to-do lists, work breakdowns and documentation.
TRUErelease, TRUEchange, TRUEtrack
TRUErelease manages the software release process by insuring that the correct code gets released to production for every managed software project. TRUErelease captures and analyzes all dependencies between application components and between changes; verifies that all affected components are included in a package; generates dependency, exception and Bill of Materials reports; and passes the information to leading software distribution systems in industry-standard data formats and generate the corresponding change deployment support files (e.g., AMS). TRUEchange SCCS system provides sophisticated, tightly integrated source code change tracking and deployment over multiple projects. Rather than using a "simplistic" delta-based version control system, TRUEchange divides modifications into change sets, allowing more sophisticated management of changes to multiple files simultaneously. TRUEtrack problem tracking system provides organizations with a way to track every task or change within their software development process, from problem detection and identification to development, production, and finally distribution. Automatically generate a list of pending work items for each problem owner. Maintain multiple incident and problem statuses Review all change documentation provided by developers.
Discover Development Information Systems
Program/sw also includes an Impact Analysis tool that automates risk assessment and management prior to change. Design/sw modifies graphical views -- data charts, entity relation diagrams and class inheritance diagrams -- resulting in automatic generation of the associated code. DocLink/sw establishes direct links between source code and related development documents in order to maintain documentation. Other tools are included but not overviewed here. Go to the next page. All graphics used above are the registered trademarks of their respective companies. Project Completed: 6/25/96 |
graphic.
