Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!voder!pyramid!athertn!hemlock!mcgregor From: mcgregor@hemlock.Atherton.COM (Scott McGregor) Newsgroups: comp.software-eng Subject: Another CASE and CM product offering Message-ID: <34524@athertn.Atherton.COM> Date: 25 Feb 91 23:32:00 GMT Sender: news@athertn.Atherton.COM Reply-To: mcgregor@hemlock.Atherton.COM (Scott McGregor) Organization: Atherton Technology -- Sunnyvale, CA Lines: 207 I few weeks ago, there was a posting concerning CASE and Configuration Management products from a number of vendors. While the list was lengthy it was not a complete review of all the products available, and a number of other vendors who were not included in the orignial posting have posted information concerning their products. I have been asked by others to post information about Atherton's products in the CM and CASE arena to help round out the field. So, for those of you interested here is information about Atherton Technology's Software BackPlane. Questions concerning our products may be directed on line to Lewis Byington (lewis@atherton.com) or John Burdekin (john@atherton.com). --Scott McGregor Atherton Technology mcgregor@atherton.com ***************************** The software industry needs development environments that can accomplish the following: o a positive balance between engineering freedom and management control. o a method for tracking requirements easily through the lifecycle. o can retain old versions of files so that old baselines can be readily reproduced. o incorporate methodologies to produce better builds, eliminate reappearing defects, and cleaner releases. o ensure that tasks persist so they do not fall through the cracks. o allow a software development process to be evaluated and optimized on an on-going basis. Our product, Software BackPlane is a framework for an integrated project support environment (IPSE) with facilities for building, using, and maintaining the environment. The IPSE approach to software development encompasses the complete process -- including all disciplines involved, the various forms of project data, and the software tools used. An IPSE provides tools to help software professionals individually and collectively, both managers and engineers. IPSEs connect software tools, allow data to be exchanged, and make it easy to manage project data. Specifically, Software BackPlane provides o Data repositories - These safeguard your data. All versions of project data checked into a Software BackPlane repository remain securely in the database so that you can always retrieve an old version. o Environment facilities - They let you control access to an object in the database according to the user's group or name and defined role in the organization. The work flow control features enable you to define and enforce procedures for users accessing the database and/or tools in Software BackPlane. The tool integration facilities allow software tools to be readily integrated into the environment. o Open architecture - Software BackPlane is a framework you can build on. Based on an object-oriented implementation with inheritance, it is independent of hardware platforms, languages, and methodologies, with an emphasis on compliance to industry standards. In addition to Software BackPlane, Atherton Technology offers the following products and services: o Project SoftBoard - A communication tool for tracking tasks throughout a project. o Integration SoftBoard - A tool for integrating other software tools into the IPSE. o C-Make SoftBoard and FORTRAN-Make SoftBoard - Utilities for integrating the UNIX make tool for building applications written in the C and FORTRAN programming languages respectively. o Atherton-integrated Software Tools - These include text editors, documentation applications, edit/compile/debug tools, and other software tools. o Environment customization planning - A consulting service to help you define your existing software development process, find areas where process controls can be applied, and devise an implementation plan. o Customer training - There are basic courses for new Software BackPlane users and advanced courses for customers who wish to integrate their tools into Software BackPlane. The remaining paragraphs describe features of Software BackPlane. How Software BackPlane Ensures Data Integrity --------------------------------------------- Software BackPlane protects your data through its access control, context management, and version management features. Access control lets you define who can access an object in the database. Access permission is granted according to a combination of the user's group or name and defined role in the software organization, such as programmer or technical writer. Context management lets you define which part of a database a specific user can access. With contexts, users need be exposed to only the project data they work with. Version management enables you to retrieve the current or older version of a database object (or version of a collection of objects) from a repository. Once a version has been checked into a Software BackPlane repository, it is permanently in the database. How Software BackPlane Manages Changes -------------------------------------- Version management also helps engineers keep track of changes and is very useful to configuration managers for reproducing baselines. The Software BackPlane branching facility enables a user to create an identical version of an existing database object with a unique suffix attached to its name to distinguish it from the original. The user of the branch thus has access to the same data as in the original version but can only change the branch version. Branching is useful in parallel development efforts, testing, bug fixes, inspections, or simultaneous independent work on a version. The audit history feature of Software BackPlane provides a permanent record of all changes made to objects in the database. How Software BackPlane Lets You Customize Environments ------------------------------------------------------ Software BackPlane has a number of features that can help you customize your environment. Context management, versioning, and access control, which are standard repository services, enable you to set up various safeguards for objects in the database. Access control lets you use establish protection according to the job functions and work groups in your organization. You can also specify which operations can be performed on a specific data object and the nature of those operations. The Atherton profile initialization file lets you specify certain environmental characteristics for using Software BackPlane, such as a user's editor of choice. Through Software BackPlane type refinement, you can create new database object types (based on existing types of objects) to fit special data needs in your environment. Through message/method refinement, you can create or change the behavior of objects in the environment. You need only add small changes to an existing method and can reuse most of the code already in place. Tool integration lets you integrate your own tools or tools from third party vendors into Software BackPlane so that they are directly accessible from the user interface. No source code modification is necessary. Through work flow control, you can define procedures for users accessing the database and/or using tools in Software BackPlane, according to the policies of your organization. How Software BackPlane Helps Configuration Managers --------------------------------------------------- Software BackPlane has powerful features for building and reproducing configurations, and for obtaining their bills-of- materials. To protect objects in the database, the user interface contains a formalized check-in and check-out process. There is also an audit trail feature that records transactions in the database. How Software BackPlane Helps Control the Software Development Process ------------------------------------------------------------- With Software BackPlane, you have powerful facilities to help you bring your software development environment under control: o a customizable environment o secure data repositories o version management o audit history o project tracking o common user interfaces over multiple hardware platforms o tool integration facilities o work flow control And after your environment is under control, you can use Software BackPlane to look for ways to make the process even more efficient. For more information, you can respond to this email message directly or reach us at Atherton Technology 1333 Bordeaux Drive Sunnyvale, CA. 94089 Tele: 408 734-9822 Fax: 408 744-1607 Attention: Sales Dept. Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com