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Introduction
Systemanalysis and design process is a complex process. It requires a carefulsteps and planning. Methodologies and approaches has been developed tosystematically improve the efficiency and effectiveness of this processso it can better support and be aligned with the business needs.
Theemergence of personal computer has enabled the broader adoption of CASEtools which were previously only available on commonly very expensivemainframe. Many vendors has developed a broad variety of CASE toolsranging from the narrowes to tho the full specification of CASE tool.
Becauseof the wide selection available on the market right now, managers oforganization need to wisely select the appropriate CASE tool for theirorganizational need. Although the CASE tools being evaluated is notvery extensive, this online paper is intended to give an overview and ainitial thought on selecting the a CASE tool.
Computer-aidedsoftware engineering (CASE) tools is defined as software tools thatprovide automated support for some portion of the systems developmentprocess [1]. According to [2], CASE tool can be categorized into three categories:
- Upper CASE
- Middle CASE
- Lower CASE
Becauseof their similarities, sometimes Upper and Middle CASE are simplyreferred as Upper CASE. Generally, Upper CASE is a tool for high levelview of software development whereas lower CASE is mostly being used asa tool at the programming and testing phase.
Related Works
Evaluation of CASE tools has been conducted on several academic studies. Plessis et al. [2], Zucconi et al. [5], Kitchenham et al. [6]describes on how to evaluate a case tools. It has an extensive list onhow to evaluate a case tool and defines the evaluation criteria set asa guideline for managers to decide the suitable one. However, thispaper didn’t compare CASE tools product currently on the market.
Similarly, Le Blanc et al. [3]defines a method for evaluating and selecting CASE tools. Although itlists the case tool products on the market at that time, no comparisonwere made and the products were considered outdated. Budgen et al. [7]defines a more updated method on evaluating a CASE tool. This studysuggests the use of survey so the qualitative results can be obtained.A more formalized method in evaluating case tool is defined in ISO 14102 [8]. However, due to a limited access to this standard, this paper cannot make any comments regarding this method.
Finally, Chinn et al. [9]conducted a more relevant study, but with different type ofrespondents. This study compared popular case tool being used byacademic community. It compared case tools by its features.
Therelated works mentioned above mostly describe on how to evaluate andselecting case tools, but they didn’t evaluate CASE tools productscurrently available on the market. To conduct an evaluation using anyof those methods would require substantial amount of funds and timewhich most managers considered expensive. Therefore, this study isintended to give a starting view of the current CASE tool products onthe market so they can have a better understanding on which product tochoose based on their organization’s need.
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CASE stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering. It means, development and maintenance of software projects with help of various automated software tools.
CASE Tools
CASE tools are set of software application programs, which are used to automate SDLC activities. CASE tools are used by software project managers, analysts and engineers to develop software system.
There are number of CASE tools available to simplify various stages of Software Development Life Cycle such as Analysis tools, Design tools, Project management tools, Database Management tools, Documentation tools are to name a few.
Use of CASE tools accelerates the development of project to produce desired result and helps to uncover flaws before moving ahead with next stage in software development.
Components of CASE Tools
CASE tools can be broadly divided into the following parts based on their use at a particular SDLC stage:
Central Repository - CASE tools require a central repository, which can serve as a source of common, integrated and consistent information. Central repository is a central place of storage where product specifications, requirement documents, related reports and diagrams, other useful information regarding management is stored. Central repository also serves as data dictionary.
Upper Case Tools - Upper CASE tools are used in planning, analysis and design stages of SDLC.
Lower Case Tools - Lower CASE tools are used in implementation, testing and maintenance.
Integrated Case Tools - Integrated CASE tools are helpful in all the stages of SDLC, from Requirement gathering to Testing and documentation.
CASE tools can be grouped together if they have similar functionality, process activities and capability of getting integrated with other tools.
Scope of Case Tools
The scope of CASE tools goes throughout the SDLC.
Case Tools Types
Now we briefly go through various CASE tools
Diagram tools
These tools are used to represent system components, data and control flow among various software components and system structure in a graphical form. For example, Flow Chart Maker tool for creating state-of-the-art flowcharts.
Process Modeling Tools
Process modeling is method to create software process model, which is used to develop the software. Process modeling tools help the managers to choose a process model or modify it as per the requirement of software product. For example, EPF Composer
Project Management Tools
These tools are used for project planning, cost and effort estimation, project scheduling and resource planning. Managers have to strictly comply project execution with every mentioned step in software project management. Project management tools help in storing and sharing project information in real-time throughout the organization. For example, Creative Pro Office, Trac Project, Basecamp.
Documentation Tools
Documentation in a software project starts prior to the software process, goes throughout all phases of SDLC and after the completion of the project.
Documentation tools generate documents for technical users and end users. Technical users are mostly in-house professionals of the development team who refer to system manual, reference manual, training manual, installation manuals etc. The end user documents describe the functioning and how-to of the system such as user manual. For example, Doxygen, DrExplain, Adobe RoboHelp for documentation.
Analysis Tools
These tools help to gather requirements, automatically check for any inconsistency, inaccuracy in the diagrams, data redundancies or erroneous omissions. For example, Accept 360, Accompa, CaseComplete for requirement analysis, Visible Analyst for total analysis.
Design Tools
These tools help software designers to design the block structure of the software, which may further be broken down in smaller modules using refinement techniques. These tools provides detailing of each module and interconnections among modules. For example, Animated Software Design
Configuration Management Tools
An instance of software is released under one version. Configuration Management tools deal with –
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- Version and revision management
- Baseline configuration management
- Change control management
CASE tools help in this by automatic tracking, version management and release management. For example, Fossil, Git, Accu REV.
Change Control Tools
These tools are considered as a part of configuration management tools. They deal with changes made to the software after its baseline is fixed or when the software is first released. CASE tools automate change tracking, file management, code management and more. It also helps in enforcing change policy of the organization.
Programming Tools
These tools consist of programming environments like IDE (Integrated Development Environment), in-built modules library and simulation tools. These tools provide comprehensive aid in building software product and include features for simulation and testing. For example, Cscope to search code in C, Eclipse.
Prototyping Tools
Software prototype is simulated version of the intended software product. Prototype provides initial look and feel of the product and simulates few aspect of actual product.
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Prototyping CASE tools essentially come with graphical libraries. They can create hardware independent user interfaces and design. These tools help us to build rapid prototypes based on existing information. In addition, they provide simulation of software prototype. For example, Serena prototype composer, Mockup Builder.
Web Development Tools
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These tools assist in designing web pages with all allied elements like forms, text, script, graphic and so on. Web tools also provide live preview of what is being developed and how will it look after completion. For example, Fontello, Adobe Edge Inspect, Foundation 3, Brackets.
Quality Assurance Tools
Quality assurance in a software organization is monitoring the engineering process and methods adopted to develop the software product in order to ensure conformance of quality as per organization standards. QA tools consist of configuration and change control tools and software testing tools. For example, SoapTest, AppsWatch, JMeter.
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Maintenance Tools
Software maintenance includes modifications in the software product after it is delivered. Automatic logging and error reporting techniques, automatic error ticket generation and root cause Analysis are few CASE tools, which help software organization in maintenance phase of SDLC. For example, Bugzilla for defect tracking, HP Quality Center.