THE ADELE-TEMPO experience : an environment to support process modeling and enaction

Process-Centered Software Engineering Environments (PSEE) have recently attracted a large number of researchers. In such environments the software processes are explicitly described and interpreted by the PSEE, allowing software activities to be automated, assisted and enforced. [Lehman and Belady, 1985; Osterweil, 1987] claim that this capability is a central element in a software development environment for the improvement of software product quality and software developers productivity. We have addressed these problems in the framework of the Adele project. The Adele kernel, initially a configuration management system [Estublier et al., 1984], has been extended with respect to 1) modeling and support of complex product models: the Object Manager (OM) 2) modeling and support of software processes: the Activity Manager (AM), and 3) modeling and support of software product evolution: the Configuration Manager (CM). For data and product modelling, an ER/OO model has been implemented including SEE specific features; On top of Adele kernel, which is a commercial product, we developed a Process Manager research prototype, Tempo, [Belkhatir et al., 1993] an enactable formalism based on two major concepts: objects may have a different description (role) depending on the process in which they are used, and processes are synchronized and coordinated by explicit connections. ADL-Tempo is organized around the concepts of software product, Work Environment and software process. The software processes is the set of actions executed in Work Environements and which result in software products. We show how the Adele components: Object Manager, Activity Manager, Configuration Manager and Process Manager contribute, at their respective level of abstraction, to the support of products, work environements and processes and how their 2 THE ADELE-TEMPO experience : an envisynergy provides a framework which simplifies subtentially the building of a process centered SEE.