Data processing: software development – installation – and managem – Software program development tool – Managing software components
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-24
2004-08-31
Ingberg, Todd (Department: 2124)
Data processing: software development, installation, and managem
Software program development tool
Managing software components
C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06785882
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system for increasing productivity in managing, tracking, and using reusable software modules; and more particularly, relates to an object management system having a repository for storing objects wherein ones of the objects are descriptive of a respective software module cataloged by the object management system, and wherein other ones of the objects are system objects describing the manner in which scripted tools that are available for performing various operations on the software modules may be invoked in a manner that is independent of the scripted tool interfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Computer technology is rapidly evolving. This provides a challenge for software developers who have an increasingly difficult time keeping pace with the various adaptations required to allow existing software to meet ever-changing requirements. For example, currently, much work is being done to adapt software applications and data repositories residing on mainframe systems so that these applications may be accessed via web browsers. Alternatively, it may desirable to modify source code designed for operation on Unix platforms so that it is operational on other platforms such as Microsoft Windows NT platforms. Even within a so-called family of computers, where the architecture of the new generation of computers has been designed to maintain a certain degree of compatibility with the prior generation, it is often a major task to adapt computer programs to the new architecture.
In addition to the types of transformations discussed above, an increasing amount of coding effort is being spent on code renovation. This is particularly true with the millennium approaching. Many billions of dollars will be spent world wide adapting software to properly handle dates falling after Dec. 31, 1999 to remedy what has commonly become known as the “Y2K problem”. Another type of renovation effort is needed to allow software to handle the European Monetary Unit (EMU), or “Euro”, which will become the common currency within many European countries within the next few years. Still other types of conversion are necessary when porting software between two machines that do not use the same word sizes. Software modification is further required when porting code to a machine having an expanded addressing space.
Many vendor tools are available to aid users in performing the types of transformation and renovation operations discussed above. Some of these tools may be used to translate an entire code sequence so that the code sequence becomes operational from within a different environment.
Other vendor tools perform the transformation process by making the interfaces of a code sequence available from an external environment, while allowing the body of the code sequence to remain unchanged. These tools produce so-called “wrappers” for the code interfaces, which are surrounding layers of code and data structures that hide the original code environment from the calling entity, and that allow the original code sequence to be called from an external environment. In some instances, part, or all, of the wrapper will be ported to the external (calling) system. For example, DGate Ace, which is commercially available from the Unisys Corporation, is a tool that builds a wrapper around the code entry points of enterprise server Open OLTP transaction applications. This wrapper makes the code entry points available to calling programs residing within a Microsoft ActiveX environment.
Various vendor tools are likewise available to perform analysis and renovation functions.
For example, Fulcrum 2000, commercially available from RMC, Ltd., is a tool that performs code analysis operations on a specified code sequence to flag potential Y2K problems. Another similar code analysis tool is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,714 to Skidmore, which is assigned to the assignee of this invention. The Skidmore system performs code analysis on code sequences to produce a listing of recommendations for source code conversion. In the described embodiment, the listing of recommended changes is used to convert code designed for operation within a 16 Megabyte (Mbyte) memory environment to code operational within a 64 Megabyte memory environment.
In addition to vendor tools that are used to perform transformation and renovation operations, other types of tools are commonly used when updating and managing code objects. For example, file transfer utilities are needed to move code objects from platform to platform. Other utilities such as compilers and linkers are needed to generate executables for source code objects that have been modified. Each of these tools may have a unique interface, and unique requirements.
The set of vendor tools which are integrated for use by an object management system will vary from system to system depending on user needs. As mentioned above, many of these tools have unique interfaces that include particular command sets, modes of operation, requirements for operation, and requirements concerning input and output parameter formats. Some of these tools require that some preprocessing or preliminary actions be performed before a given tool may be invoked on a set of software modules. As a simple example, before a linker may be invoked, the code to be linked must first be compiled. Other tools require that data be copied to a particular location within a server before the transformation process on that data may occur. This may be accomplished, for example, by using a program utilizing the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to copy files from a host system to a location within an external server. Since the user may want to perform a combination of transformation, renovation, and code development processes using multiple tools, the user must become familiar with a variety of tool interfaces. The associated learning curve adds to the time and effort required to perform the task.
Another problem associated with performing transformation, renovation, and code development operations involves identifying the various code and data components that must be submitted to undergo the conversion process. In large complex systems, program calls and data exchanges are made between many re-usable software components. The inter-relationships between these code components are not always obvious. Therefore, when a particular functionality is to be ported from one environment to another, it is often difficult to decide exactly which code and data components must actually undergo some type of transformation to accomplish the task.
What is needed is a comprehensive system which hides the complexities associated with a variety of object management tools, and further hides the particularities of the code interfaces, from the end user so that renovation and transformation operations may be performed more quickly, and with fewer errors.
OBJECTS
It is a primary object of the invention to provide an improved object management system;
It is another object of the invention to provide an object management system for supporting transformation, renovation, and code development operations performed by a set of disparate tools;
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an object management system wherein tools for managing, manipulating, and modifying objects are invoked independently of individual tool interfaces;
It is another object of the invention to provide a system for managing, manipulating, and modifying objects using a disparate set of tools by utilizing natural language phrases indicative of the process to be performed on the objects;
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a system for managing, manipulating, and modifying objects using a process-based interface which allows objects to be selected for processing based on natural language descriptions which are independent of the storage structure within which the objects are stored;
It is another object of the invention to provide a system for managing, manipulating, and modifying obje
Goiffon David A.
Hartmann Gerald E.
Johnson David R.
Ingberg Todd
Johnson Charles A.
McMahon Beth L.
Starr Mark T.
Unisys Corporation
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