> PO WEEKNAPPLICATION DEVELOPMENT Start with I-GASE To Reshape the Development Process Ja 16, 190 Pace 51 Information: systems manag- ers committed to refining the ap- plications-devel- Oprnent process should be active- ly evaluating in- tegrated comput: er-aided software engineering (I- CASE) tools as the first step to- ward building pi- lot projects. As shown in the figure, CASE tool sets support all phases of the applications-development life cycle, from strategic planning and design through code generation and ver- slon control. The front-end planning, uulysis and design components of this Henre of tools are tightly integrated with le back-end code, database and docu- mentation-generation facilities. | GASE tools are distinguished by heir ability to generate 100 percent of (he code for an application based on a set of design specifications in a central repository. Recently, these tools have evolved even further, allowing code gen- eration for complete systems to take place on the desktop. Simply put, the process of using an I- CASE tool is as follows: Through a graphical user interface, a systems ana- lyst interacts with the CASE tool, creat- ing, verifying and revising an assort- ment of diagrams on the screen. The 1- CASE tool then analyzes the diagrams for lugical consistency and completeness, and converts them into source code to crvate a finished application. Most CASE tools furnish sets of dia- grams that are associated with a variety of development methodologies. Some di- uyrams follow modern technigues based on slate-of-the-art information-engineer- ing concepts, while others deliver older, manually oriented technigues based on structured-engineering ideas. Analysts enter the appropriate dia- grams into the I-CASE system using the planning, analysis and design compo- nents of the tool'set. Bach frontend component supports a set of diagram structure of the organizatlon and ils goals and privrities, us well us represeni, its business informallon, buslnesa uclivi- ties and interactioiH, While creating (he organizatlonal male! is (he domait oč (ho planin (0 Set, (ie analysis Too Bat IH typlčuliy used to define fully narmulized duta Central Role of the Repository In System Design FI | Fronp-end modules | are Used lo gener- ale specificafions. Design analyzer cheecks specifica- ljons for consis- tency and com- pleteness. ela models -end modules ka from - he reposilory la periarm various (unetions. eFilipatjons gosin slructures. r Rules anning TI x Rapori geslant » Procesa mode , Sorean doslon? , Data sir! Generatjon of database, Job JE Gantrol Language (JCL), or - other operational support modules types that is specialized to a particular methodology and to a specific phase of the life cycle. For example, in a CASE product that follows the information-engineering methodology, the planning tool set would be used to produce a high-level model of the corporate enterprise and its data. This model would depict the Juhu, Avaklan modela, entity relatlonshipa, process de- composition and dafu low diagrame. Thu component is also used Lo creale malice (hat indicate whleh data cent ties ure uned, updalod and orented by apocific processes, "lo doslgu £ool sa. IH prinunrily used to uteulo ul evolvu uyulotui protolypen (hal, can be bnuik, with a rapiei prototyping methodology. The design tool set ulso handles the specification of sercens, reports, slruclure charts, dia- logue Once (he design tion relating to the desigu of the appli- cation is uccumulated at a high level initially, (hen al progressively more de- (niled levels. As Lhe analyst progresses through the planning, analysis and design stages of the applications-development life cycle, additional levels of detail are added to the system specification. 'This process continues until sufficient detail has been collected, ensuring (hat code can be gen- erated automatically. "Fhe repository should maintain the design specificalion database in abstract form, lucreasingly, (he abstract design information in the repository will be slored using an industry-standard meta- data model, such as IBM's AD/Cycle re- pository. Currently, more than 40 CASE vendors have committed themselves to providing products that are compliant with this de facto standard. Next week, | will discuss the AD/Cyele environment, which provides . a common set of standards for user in- teraction, programming interfaces, com- munications interface and repository services. The concepts embodied. in this article are described in the CASE volume in The James Martin Report Series. For more information on this volume, call (617) 639-1958. For information on seminars, contact Cin the United States and Canada) Technology Transfer In- stitute, 741 10th St., Santa Monica, Calif. 90402 (213) 8394-8305. lu. Eu- rope, contact Savant, 2 New St., Carn/forih, Lancs., LA5 9BX United Kingdom (0524) 734 505. flow und action diagrams used to specify the customized procedural logic: information is collect- ii SeuPana organižca, 115 sen to the ia GASE lool's central repository. Informa- Use Micro Fovux C(OBOL/2 Workbench as the cornerstone of your upplicalan development strategy. 'Bhe PC development | environment based on COBOL/2 Workbench outperforms the | host and provides programming, testing and debugging tools unavailable elsewhere. For the most efficient development of | your mainframe applications using any of these technologies, call us now, 1-800-872-6265 | Micro Focus, Inc. 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