Aspects of Lyee Configuration Management

Based on the static structure of Lyee programs, a configuration management concept for Lyee software projects is presented. After describing a modularization concept which is vital for configuration management, the configuration management concept itself is elaborated by showing the involved elements and procedures. Finally, the structure of the actual configuration management tool is presented and discussed

A Generic, Peer-to-Peer Repository for Distributed Configuration Management

Distributed con guration management is intended to support the activities of projects that span multiple sites. NUCM is a testbed that we are developing to help us explore the issues of distributed con guration management. NUCM separates con guration management repositories (i.e., the stores for versions of artifacts) from con guration management policies (i.e., the procedures by which the versions are manipulated) by providing a generic model of a distributed repository and an associated programmatic interface. This paper describes the model and the interface, presents an initial repository distribution mechanism, and sketches how NUCM can be used to implement two, rather di erent, con guration management policies, namely checkin/check-out and change sets

Rethinking Consistency Management in Real-time Collaborative Editing Systems

Networked computer systems offer much to support collaborative editing of shared documents among users. Increasing concurrent access to shared documents by allowing multiple users to contribute to and/or track changes to these shared documents is the goal of real-time collaborative editing systems (RTCES); yet concurrent access is either limited in existing systems that employ exclusive locking or concurrency control algorithms such as operational transformation (OT) may be employed to enable concurrent access. Unfortunately, such OT based schemes are costly with respect to communication and computation. Further, existing systems are often specialized in their functionality and require users to adopt new, unfamiliar software to enable collaboration. This research discusses our work in improving consistency management in RTCES. We have developed a set of deadlock-free multi-granular dynamic locking algorithms and data structures that maximize concurrent access to shared documents while minimizing communication cost. These algorithms provide a high level of service for concurrent access to the shared document and integrate merge-based or OT-based consistency maintenance policies locally among a subset of the users within a subsection of the document – thus reducing the communication costs in maintaining consistency. Additionally, we have developed client-server and P2P implementations of our hierarchical document management algorithms. Simulations results indicate that our approach achieves significant communication and computation cost savings. We have also developed a hierarchical reduction algorithm that can minimize the space required of RTCES, and this algorithm may be pipelined through our document tree. Further, we have developed an architecture that allows for a heterogeneous set of client editing software to connect with a heterogeneous set of server document repositories via Web services. This architecture supports our algorithms and does not require client or server technologies to be modified – thus it is able to accommodate existing, favored editing and repository tools. Finally, we have developed a prototype benchmark system of our architecture that is responsive to users’ actions and minimizes communication costs

Configuration management for a distributed and collaborative software development environment

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-106).In the face of changing technology, the world is becoming more global by the minute. This globalization has resulted in dispersed teams and collaborative opportunities, which offer value and depth to projects. Software development also reflects this globalization, as do all the processes involved in software development. It is important to understand these changes and how they affect not only the entire development process as a whole but also each individual part of the process. Configuration management is an integral part of the software development process. In order to perform good software development, it is imperative to understand and be able to implement proper configuration management. Thus, as configuration management is important to software development, it is also important to study the effects of how the changing context of software development toward distributed and collaborative environments affects configuration management. Not only does configuration management influence the transition to this type of environment, it also is quite affected by it. In this thesis, I aim to examine the impact of a distributed and collaborative development environment on configuration management. I will first give an overview of software engineering with respect to configuration management; next, I will provide and introduction to traditional configuration management, and in the following chapter, I will discuss distributed and collaborative configuration management as it exists today. Next, I will provide a case study of the ieCollab project, a project in which developers were dispersed and a great deal of collaboration occurred, and finally, I will discuss the future of collaborative and distributed configuration management.by Teresa Liu.M.Eng

Inverse software configuration management

Software systems are playing an increasingly important role in almost every aspect of today’s society such that they impact on our businesses, industry, leisure, health and safety. Many of these systems are extremely large and complex and depend upon the correct interaction of many hundreds or even thousands of heterogeneous components. Commensurate with this increased reliance on software is the need for high quality products that meet customer expectations, perform reliably and which can be cost-effectively and safely maintained. Techniques such as software configuration management have proved to be invaluable during the development process to ensure that this is the case. However, there are a very large number of legacy systems which were not developed under controlled conditions, but which still, need to be maintained due to the heavy investment incorporated within them. Such systems are characterised by extremely high program comprehension overheads and the probability that new errors will be introduced during the maintenance process often with serious consequences. To address the issues concerning maintenance of legacy systems this thesis has defined and developed a new process and associated maintenance model, Inverse Software Configuration Management (ISCM). This model centres on a layered approach to the program comprehension process through the definition of a number of software configuration abstractions. This information together with the set of rules for reclaiming the information is stored within an Extensible System Information Base (ESIB) via, die definition of a Programming-in-the- Environment (PITE) language, the Inverse Configuration Description Language (ICDL). In order to assist the application of the ISCM process across a wide range of software applications and system architectures, die PISCES (Proforma Identification Scheme for Configurations of Existing Systems) method has been developed as a series of defined procedures and guidelines. To underpin the method and to offer a user-friendly interface to the process a series of templates, the Proforma Increasing Complexity Series (PICS) has been developed. To enable the useful employment of these techniques on large-scale systems, the subject of automation has been addressed through the development of a flexible meta-CASE environment, the PISCES M4 (MultiMedia Maintenance Manager) system. Of particular interest within this environment is the provision of a multimedia user interface (MUI) to die maintenance process. As a means of evaluating the PISCES method and to provide feedback into die ISCM process a number of practical applications have been modelled. In summary, this research has considered a number of concepts some of which are innovative in themselves, others of which are used in an innovative manner. In combination these concepts may be considered to considerably advance the knowledge and understanding of die comprehension process during the maintenance of legacy software systems. A number of publications have already resulted from the research and several more are in preparation. Additionally a number of areas for further study have been identified some of which are already underway as funded research and development projects