AUTOMATION OF DOMAIN MODEL FOR SOFTWARE REUSE

DOMAIN ANALYSIS (DA) IS THE FIRST STEP IN SOFTWARE REUSE AS IT PROPOSES A SYSTEMATIC, FORMAL AND EFFECTIVE PRACTICE OF SOFTWARE REUSE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY IS AT ITS INFANCY STAGE IN DA AND KNOWLEDGE BASE IS NOT READILY AVAILABLE. OUR EXPERIENCE INDICATES HOWEVER, THAT ACQUIRING AND STRUCTURING THE KNOWLEDGE IS THE BOTTLENECK OF DA. DR. RUBEN PRIETO-DIAZ HAS PROPOSED A FORMAL DA PROCESS TO CONVERT THE AD-HOC NATURE OF DA INTO A REPEATABLE PROCEDURE. WE WILL IMPLEMENT THIS METHODOLOGY IN ONE APPLICATION DOMAIN. WE PROPOSE TO ASSESS THE POTENTIAL FOR AUTOMATION OF DA AND TEST ITS APPLICABILITY TO AN APPLICATION DOMAIN. EXISTING TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS, IN PARTICULAR THOSE FROM INFORMATION RETRIEVAL AND EXPERT SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR ACTIVITIES IN THE DA PROCESS. MANY OF THESE TOOLS CAN BE USED IMMEDIATELY, WHILE CERTAIN DA ACTIVITIES WILL REQUIRE THE CREATION OF NEW TOOLS. THERE IS A DEFINITE POTENTIAL FOR AUTOMATING PARTS OF DA PROVIDED THAT A BASIC FRAMEWORK TO CONDUCT DA EXITS. STARS REUSE LIBRARY PROCESS MODEL WILL BE USED FOR AUTOMATING THE PRIMITIVE OPERATIONS. THE OBJECTIVE IN PHASE I IS DEVELOP AN AUTOMATION OF DOMAIN MODEL FOR REUSE ENVIRONMENT, ADMSR. OUR RESULTS WILL SUPPORT COMMAND AND CONTROL, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS, AND FLIGHT SIMULATION DOMAINS. WE WILL PROVIDE THE FRAMEWORK FOR STANDARDIZING SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES OF DA, SPECIFICALLY DOMAIN MODEL FOR AN APPLICATION DOMAIN. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS INCLUDE TAILORING OF ADMSR TO SUPPORT SPECIFIC DOMAINS, MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND FLIGHT SIMULATION, FOR EXAMPLE.