This is the sirih in a series of articles cover- ing the architec: tures, methodolo- gies and tools reguired, to re: tool information systems. With the spec- trum of incom- patible comput- er-aided software — ure; engineering (CASE) tools currently topping the 200 mark, it's nearly impossible to share design information among diverse products. To overcome these limitations and allow developers to mix and match assorted tools, its essential that CASE vendors subseribe to a common stan- dard for design information. GASE tools accept design information . in the form of diagrams, analyze the in- formation for logical errors and then stora the design information in a data dictionary or repository. Today, howev- er, each vendor stores information with: - : in its own repository differently; conse- auently, there are hundreds of ways to » , represent data-flow diagrama. š This situation is about to change as a result of IBM's announcement last Sep- tember of its AD/Cycle repository, which specifies a standard way of defin- ing design information in the form of a common meta-data model. The meta- data model offers a standard represen- tation for the information contained in data-flow, decomposition, entity-relation- V | ship and other di To date, 47 vendors have announced that they will reimplement their CASE repositories for AD/Cycle compliance. Once this happens, developers will be presented with a "software backplane" environment, which will let CASE tools a i) | ij pe WEEKNAPPLICATION DEVELOPMENT from multiple tj rasi share de: sign information. ; This morivariterepikne environment is illustrated in the accpmpanying fig: A variety of frontend CASE tools, 'back-end code generators and support | tools all share information via the com- mon AD/Cycle repository standard. MY 23, 100 | : AD/Cyele Promises Mix-and-Match. Developmeni Tools (imi LPtiLU able load modules. :. gibu c Compliance with a common reposl« tory of design informatlon, as defined ij by AD/Cyele, will pormnit organizatlona ;; to select CASE tools thal are (he. 'best of the breed," or tools (hat best support a specific yrtion of the development, life cycle. kventually, (he hope ls that AD/Cycle Application-Development Environment Objective Is To Let Developers Take Advantage of SAA-(ompllunt CASE Tools from Different Vendors; AH Tools Share a Common Kepoxtlory SNA Platforms (PS/2, AS/400, or System/370) mmm To olhor SAA and non-IBM 6yaloms | Como, | Cormanamcokons SAJ, (ie Sknnn Programmin: g Wnterface Front-end tools from diifereni vendors Front-end tools, which feed data into the repository, could include planning, analysis and design workbenches from variety of CASE vendors. Back-end tools, which extract specification infor- mation from the repository to perform specific tasks, could consist of source- code generators for COBOL, C and Ada, or modules that generate execut:: Application " taska, and "sis atid b generators from difter« ent vendors multiple vendors to support specific dex% sign and implementatlon reguirementa, | To this end, an organizatlon might seriji lect one CASE tool for database design, 7 another to support deje planning ja anothor (o handle anulys | ka operalldiw, ln addition, ohoose fin 4 wide ranyo ot" j Beja bouli b poje Paš We're very proud of COBOL/2 Workbench. And we're very gratified a dohjevi a wo ihted score ol 6 corporate buyer preferences in a recent PO Week review. nos ? U m nom gain! a From our maintrame COBOL compatibility features to our easy-to-leam, function key driven menu onem Moro Foouh DO, tebi Workbench is "eguipped to support the experienced developer" making a transition from terminals t0 wWorketatlone tor čl programming and maintenance tasks, Me And there's more ,.."Micro Focus belies CoBOLs manteme heritage with the zi design of the Warkbenoh environi Micro Focus' debugger, he ANIMATOR, lives up to lis name wi. gal koke displays that trace execution through 'elructural diagrame as . COBOL Workbench is a "superb interactiye env nent" and " professionally erafted," according to a recent product review. — well as through highlighted source code." najini tiieo you or your organization want to improve pi rammer ' productivity, bi — re-engineer existing COBOL applications di, mot, « or peska hloh lormance, (4 ee Way pa nemi TE perti easy to maintaln business zene kli - malnranes, give us a call at Micro Spol, is, LAN: š ZAOD) ; ia žvices, including a common user inter- programming interface, , vestment in CASE technology. , —Tha The James Martin Report Series. For 4 (617) oo, 1958. For information on | Cdlif, 90402 (213) 394-8305. In Ev: ' U1 | Cali Micro Focus Kay at 1-800-872-6265and tone reguest a reprint of the entire PO Week review. code generators to produce applicatioi guickly in C, COBOL, Ada and other source languages. Un£ortunately, this era of "plugand- | play" CASE tools is stili off in the future. While most important CASE tool vendors have pledged compatibility with AD/ Cycle, these products are stili not avail- ' able and are not expected to surface until late this year and throughout 1991. To support the entire applications-de- velopment life eycle today, an organiza- tlon must purchase an integrated set of CASE tools from a single vendor, How- over, there are only a handful of ven- dors selling integrated CASE tools. Once products appear that conform to the AD/Cyele repository standard and are compatible with the services provid- ed by IBM's pese Application Archi- tecture (SAA), organizations can begin developlng true cooperative-processing applications, This type of application will support the distribution of both » process and data throughout a network of computers, es. vsaj As shown in the figure, the Z D/Cyele | environment provides a set of SAA ser- face, a common pi week, will c he 4 ' users should look for in a CASE tool to obtain the maximum return from an in- concepts embodied, in this article are described in the CASE volume in more in, formation on this volume, call seminars, contact (in the United States and Canada) Technology Transfer In- stitute, 741 10th St., Santa Monica, v rope, contact Savant, 2 New St., | |, Carnforth, Lanos., LA5 9BX United Kingdom (052%) 734 505, .,,,,.,