Maintenance Capability for Software

MACS - 2570

Keywords software maintenance

Start Date: 02-JAN-89 / Duration: 48 months

Objectives and Approach

The objective of the MACS project is to define and implement a prototype system to assist software maintenance. Design graphs will be incorporated in the system to meet the software maintainer's requirements for information concerning applications design decisions and their intent. Application designs will be portrayed at different levels of abstraction to provide structured information for use in software maintenance.

MACS aims to support software maintainers in error diagnosis and debugging, program porting, performance improvement and system enhancement and evolution, and in other aspects of their work. It will do so by the provision of a system for assisting the analysis of applications.

The work-programme includes:

developing a knowledge representation system for software design graph recording and use
developing application and program design analysers for design graph construction
applying human factors principles to the system conceptualisation and to the design of the person-machine interface
developing a prototype software maintenance assistance system
integrating both the knowledge representation and the software evolution expert systems with a configuration management system
validation by experimentation on existing software applications.

Progress and Results

After 18 months of the project progress is being made on representing the knowledge required and in deriving it from the source code. Useful prototype tools are available to support system understanding in COBOL and C.

Exploitation

A prototype toolset is planned to be ready by the end of the project.

CONTACT POINT

Mrs Mari Georges
SESA
Rue de Tocqueville 118
F - 75017 PARIS
tel: + 33/ 1-40546632
fax: + 33/ 1-42674139

Participants

SESA - F - C
UNIVERSITÄT BREMEN - D - P
CISI INGENIERIE SA - F - P
UNIVERSITEIT VAN LIMBURG - NL - P
IPSYS SOFTWARE PLC - UK - P
TECNOPOLIS CSATA NOVUS ORTUS - I - P
CENTRO DE CALCULO DE SABADELL SA - E - P

MACS - 2570, December 1993

please address enquiries to the ESPRIT Information Desk

html version of synopsis by Nick Cook