ARTICULATED CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

Abstract

AbstractArticulated Configuration Management is a system that provides a backplane for status accounting, source code control, embedded processes, and project management. It does this by automating and linking the processes that previously were manual evolutions.The implementation, and indeed the definition, of Configuration Management varies widely among both Department of Defense and civilian activities. Some possible scenarios are presented in the hope that new technology may provide a better solution and definition for all concerned.This paper discusses the evolution of Configuration Management systems of the past into new technology that fully automates and articulates the Software Engineering Environment. It is presented and demonstrated in partnership with SQL Software Inc. of Vienna, VirginiaIn its purest form, Configuration Management has always been viewed as the process of tracking change. The change vehicle itself goes by many names within the industry. It may be called a bug report, trouble report, change proposal or a multitude of other names. For the purpose of this paper, I will refer to the change vehicle as a change document.Historically, Configuration Management and its associated change documents have been paper forms or manually updated forms within a database. This traditional Configuration Management very rarely had a meaningful connection to the source code modification it was supposed to track. The advent of state of the art Configuration Management systems now provides us with the capability to join or articulate the change document with the modified code and its outputs.Configuration Management systems are usually predicated on the development, baseline, and release philosophy of an organization. This philosophy generally is implemented in one or more of the following three scenarios.