Object-Oriented Design Archaeology with CIA++

Increasing numbers of programmers find that they must work on large software systems that they did not write and do not entirely understand. In this situation it is necessary for the programmer to build a working model of the system's design. The process of constructing a working design model from studying the source code may be called software archaeology. This paper demonstrates how software archaeology can be done within the framework of an appropriate design methodology using good static analysis tools. The Object-Oriented Design (OOD) methods described by Grady Booch and James Rumbaugh provide the framework for my investigation. The static analysis tools are based on CIA#. The C# Information Abstractor, CIA#, builds a relational database of information extracted from C# programs. The database serves as a foundation for the development of C# programming tools. Current tools in the CIA# system include tools for graphical display of various views of the program structure, tools for queries about program symbols and relationships, and tools that extract cohesive components from a larger system. These tools can be used as they are, combined or extended to adapt to specific needs. @ Computing Systems, Vol. 5 . No. I . Winter 1992 This paper briefly describes the CIA# system and demonstrates how it can be used to extract design information from a significant system: InterViews 3.0, a C# graphical interface toolkit developed by Mark Linton at Stanford University.