Supporting software maintenance processes in TEMPO

Abstract

TEMPO, a process-centered software engineering environment, assists in cooperative work by means of an approach based on a communication model. The executable formalism used to define software engineering activities is described, and it is shown how constraints related to the use of objects in these activities are expressed using the role concept. The communication model is then presented. Thanks to this model, strategies governing the cooperation between various software processes are specified by the concept of active, programmable connections. A connection is a communication channel that links two roles. Message exchange is controlled using TECA (temporal event-condition-action) rules, executed by a trigger mechanism. These allow for the programming of synchronization strategies between processes, propagating the effects of an executed action on one or more connection points. The temporary modes of TECA rules allow for transactions of long duration, because these can be used to reason on past activities. Coherence control of objects handled by activities of long duration is performed by the work environments. The union between connections and work environments makes it possible to support the cooperating processes and object sharing between processes.<>