Building Case consensus: worldwide groups join to create a framework - computer-aided software engineering, National Institute for Standards and Technology sponsors meetings - Field Report

Software Magazine, June, 1992 by Henry Heffernan

The National Institute for Standards and Technology (Nist) in Gaithersburg, Md., has sponsored several meetings this spring in an effort to build a worldwide consensus on a computer-aided software engineering (Case) framework architecture.

Nist is looking to extend the common framework reference model it jointly developed with the European Computer Manufacturers Association (Ecma) over the past two years, said William Wong, a computer scientist at Nist.

Workshops participants have included representatives from standards groups, user organizations and computer and software vendors from around the world.

The groups have agreed to use the common model as a conceptual foundation for a unifying systems architecture that can support multiple vendors; Case tools. It will also provide the integration mechanisms for interaction between these tools, said Ian Thomas, director of environment infrastructure studies at Software Design and Analysis, Inc., Boulder, Colo.

Standards groups supporting the framework include Ecma's Portable Common Tools Environment (PCTE) committee, the Japanese Sigma project, a new Taiwainese initiative on Case tool integration and the U.S. Navy's Project Support Environment Standards Working Group program.

Other meetings this spring have focused on graphical user interfaces, and on sorting out the information and conceptual schema required for tool integration in software development environments.

All of these subgroups took part in the Integrated Software Engineering Environments (ISEE) workshop held in late May in Gaithersburg, Nist's Wong said.

At the ISEE workshop, the subgroups reviewed all of the mapping studies conducted from 1991 through May of this year. These subgroups, Nist's Wong said, have developed a consensus on how to relate each of their disciplines to the Nist/Ecma set of core reference model concepts.

Software Design's Thomas said the latest Nist effort will seek to build on the underlying rationale of the European PCTE to differentiate generic services (used to provide mechanisms for interaction between different tools) from tas support services (incorporated in individual Case tools).

The next step will be to refine, clarify and complete the reference model concepts, Nist's Wong said.