Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!hplabs!ucbvax!smu.CSNET!leff From: leff@smu.CSNET (Laurence Leff) Newsgroups: comp.doc.techreports Subject: tr-input/mcc1 Message-ID: <8706250912.AA16647@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: Thu, 25-Jun-87 00:58:55 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8706250912.AA16647 Posted: Thu Jun 25 00:58:55 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 27-Jun-87 01:22:26 EDT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: world Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 166 Approved: techreports@smu.csnet The following abstracts describe Non-Proprietary Technical Reports available from MCC's Software Technology Program. Please send requests to the person in the sign off banner. This list is an update to the posting dated April 6, 1987. ######################################################################## SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM TECHNICAL REPORTS (Non-Proprietary) (Updated May 29, 1987) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TR NUMBER: STP-003-87 DATE: April 2, 1987 TR TITLE: DELI: A Support Environment for Software Engineering Research at MCC AUTHOR(S): Peter Marks and Zvi Weiss ABSTRACT: DELI is a programming environment to support the research of MCC's Software Technology Program (MCC-STP) into the upstream of large-scale system development. DELI has three principal motivations: to encourage rapid prototyping of the research concepts of the STP staff, by providing needed support in specific areas; to enable researchers to easily build upon each other's prototypes, by providing a common computational environment; to facilitate transfer of MCC-STP developed technology to its shareholders, by building on a defined programmatic interface to an underlying virtual machine. This paper describes (the as yet uncompleted) DELI. CLASSIFICATION: Non Proprietary/Unrestricted REVISIONS: None - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TR NUMBER: STP-108-87 DATE: April 16, 1987 TR TITLE: Domain Connection Discovery AUTHOR(S): Ira D. Baxter ABSTRACT: Transformational systems for the (automated) implementation of software from specifications usually depend on the semantics of the implemented software to give meaning to the specification. We argue that such semantics are ambiguous in the presence of multiple transforms, and thus limit the effective use of such a system. We propose that this limitation can be overcome by defining the semantics of the to-be-transformed structures. Having many islands of semantic definition then lead to the possibility of discovering the transformations that bridge the gaps between the islands automatically. We call this process Domain Connection Discovery. The paper outlines some initial thoughts on how such a discovery process might occur. CLASSIFICATION: Non Proprietary/Unrestricted REVISIONS: None - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TR NUMBER: STP-124-87 DATE: April 27, 1987 TR TITLE: Experimental Evaluation of Software Documentation Formats AUTHOR(S): Bill Curtis, MCC-STP; Sylvia Sheppard, CTA, Inc.; Elizabeth Kruesi-Bailey, Software Metrics, Inc.; John Bailey, Software Metrics, Inc.; Deborah Boehm-Davis, George Mason University ABSTRACT: This paper describes research performed for the Office of Naval Research while the authors were at General Electric Company, and will appear in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Systems and Software. Four controlled experiments investigated the effectiveness of different documentation formats for presenting information about computer programs. Nine different documentation formats were created by varying three different forms of symbology (natural language, constrained language, and ideograms) and three different spatial arrangements (sequential, branching, and hierarchical). Professional programmers used these formats as aids to comprehend (Exp. 1), code (Exp. 2), debug (Exp. 3), and modify (Exp. 4) modular-sized programs. Natural language was found to be less effective in assisting most of the tasks studied than a constrained language or ideograms. A smaller effect was observed for the spatial arrangement in situations where control flow information aided the task. The largest effect in the experiments, individual differences among the participants, accounted for between a third and one half of the variation in performance. CLASSIFICATION: Non Proprietary/Unrestricted REVISIONS: None - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TR NUMBER: STP-138-87 DATE: May 4, 1987 TR TITLE: Software Design Capture AUTHOR(S): Don Petersen ABSTRACT: The capture of the design decisions made during the construction of a large, complex software system, and the subsequent retrieval of the information, is a very difficult problem that has not been adequately addressed by existing software development environments. Central to LEONARDO, the software design environment being developed by the Software Technology Program (STP) of MCC, is an Information Base which contains the design decisions evaluated. This paper describes an activity within the STP that is dedicated to empirically constructing a useful prototype Information Base. Issues of identifying the constituent parts and their effective organization, and the ready capture of the artifacts of the upstream activities of a software development project are addressed. CLASSIFICATION: Non Proprietary/Unrestricted REVISIONS: None - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TR NUMBER: STP-133-87 (A CHARGE OF $35 LEVIED FOR EACH COPY TO NON-MCC SHAREHOLDERS) DATE: May 8, 1987 TR TITLE: Highlights of the MCC Software Program: A Video Tape AUTHOR(S): Ted J. Biggerstaff ABSTRACT: This presentation provides an overview of the Software Technology Program at MCC and focuses on a few specific projects within that program. The specific projects that will be described are: the PlaneText/PlaneFig hypertext system developed at MCC, which is being used in several internal projects; the ROSE Reuse project, which is a system for reusing architectural abstractions and; the Raddle Distributed Systems Design project, which includes a visual interface (called Verdi) for developing and simulating Raddle designs. The talk will include short videotape clips that show demonstrations of the computer systems being developed in these projects. CLASSIFICATION: Non Proprietary/Unrestricted REVISIONS: None - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ########################################################################### END of ABSTRACT LISTING ###########################################################################