Reconciling software configuration management and product data management

Abstract

Product Data Management (PDM) and Software Configuration Management (SCM) are the disciplines of building and controlling the evolution of a complex artifacts; either physical or software. Surprisingly, these two fields have evolved independently; their respective solutions to the same problems are incompatible and their properties are different. PDM is good at modeling while SCM is good at building and supporting concurrent engineering. From a software engineering perspective, the challenge is to take the full potential of strong modeling capabilities, while preserving good concurrent engineering support. The paper shows that rich modeling, flexible evolution, and concurrent engineering supports have conflicting requirements and that a solution requires rethinking the concepts of evolution, versioning and modeling. We have developed a system, called CADSE (Computer Aided Domain Specific Environment), in which a product (software, physical or both) is modeled in a way similar to PDM and in which concurrent engineering and evolution is supported in the SCM way. To that end, the system is driven by models; evolution alone being defined through different models. The paper describes our system and discusses the early lessons of its first years of practical use.