A relational view of a software design model

Abstract

I n t h i s paper a r e l a t i o n a l view o f t h e information required t o model t h e s t a t i c ( i . e . s t r u c t u r a l ) c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f l a r g e complex software systems is presented. The model has been designed t o allow i n t e r r e l a t i o n of a continuium of information beginning with t h e i n i t i a l phases of design and continuing through implementation. The r e l a t i o n a l organization allows t h e information t o be decoupled from any p a r t i c u l a r system development a c t i v i t y . Moreover, t h e r e l a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of t h e model provide a convenient framework f o r query, r e t r i e v a l , and update of s p e c i a l i z e d design information as w e l l as f o r t h e generation of t r a d i t i o n a l documentation. KEY WORDS AND PHRASES: software documentation, maintenance, a b s t r a c t i o n , r e l a t i o n a l models, r e l a t i o n a l d a t a bases, computer aided design, software r e l i a b i l i t y .

An extension to algebraic specifications to incorporate state behavior

“…The models that are aimed at recording structural information treat a software designas a hierarchy of procedural and data abstractions [Glagowski78]. The maintenance knowledge base must, of course, record a specification for each of the abstractions in a design.…”