A Structured Approach to Software Tool Integration.
Abstract
As the trend towards commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software continues, civilian companies and government agencies alike are battling with the challenge of making multiple software packages and applications work together. Many of these companies and agencies have attempted to integrate the software tools to form a coherent system that satisfies their goals. often without the use of a step by step approach guiding the effort. Many researchers in the field of software tool integration have determined the areas that need to be addressed when tools are integrated. Some researchers have developed and expanded upon a theoretical model for integration. This model of tool integration aids in understanding what types of integration need to be performed, but does not provide a set of steps to aid in completing the integration. The methodology developed as part of this thesis research is based upon this model of integration. It provides a method of characterizing the tools being integrated and offers guidance on how to integrate them in a step by step manner. A software development tool, AFITtool, has been developed at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) to build software based on a formal requirements specification. The process of developing executable code from a requirements specification is based on mathematically provable, correctness-preserving transformations. Researchers at AFIT realized that some of AFITtool's shortcomings could be addressed by taking advantage of the capabilities of other tools. As part of this research, three tools were chosen to integrate with AFITtool and performing the integrations served to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology developed, while addressing specific shortcomings of AFITtool.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA361674
Entities
People
- Penelope A. Noe
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology