Meta System for Generating Software Engineering Environments

摘要

TRIAD is a generic meta environment that has a knowledge base of methods from which a user can select a method to customize the TRIAD environment into a specific software environment. When a method is selected to customize the TRIAD environment, it becomes an instantiated method which provides guidelines and enforcement policies for developing and recording project information. The main contribution of this dissertation is in developing a kernel tool for TRIAD. This tool called the tuner can create method representations for the knowledge base of methods and can transform method representations already in the knowledge base of methods. The tuner is a parser generator like tool. However, instead of building representations in a batch and static mode, the tuner is able to create and transform the method representation in an incremental and dynamic way. Even when a method is instantiated and a part of the TRIAD environment, the method representation can be transformed. Methods are modeled by attributed grammar forms. A genesis grammar form was developed which can be used to generate all other grammar forms. The tuner is built upon the model of the genesis grammar form. The tuner is able to reflect experience gained with using a method back into the method by program transformation on the method representation. The power of the tuner is illustrated by three examples discussed in the dissertation. Problems discovered while implementing the three examples that are associated with designing interfaces for software environment are also discussed.