SUPPORTING DISTRIBUTED INDIVIDUAL TASKS IN COOPERATIVE SPECIFICATION DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This paper discusses a supporting tool for developing software specifications in collaboration of a team — for cooperative specification processes. Typical cooperative specification processes consist of three phases — (1) making a working plan by a team in face-to-face session, (2) performing an assigned task, i.e. designing an assigned part by each member in distributed session, and (3) integrating the developed products in face-to-face session. In this paper, we focus on the support for the second phase, i.e. performing the distributed individual task that a team leader has assigned in the first phase. Our supporting tool consists of two parts; one is called method base, a kind of CASE tool for individual use, and the other is a structured E-mail system for communication use. Method base has various catalogued specification and design methods, so a worker can select a suitable method for his problem domain. He can be navigated through the CASE tool, e.g. the diagram editor, that supports the selected method. Method base has information about product structures and the relationships among the product structures of the different methods. Thus method base can integrate the products developed with the multiple methods by different workers into one. The tools for communications among other members are necessary, and especially a kind of structured E-mail system is very useful for the members to communicate with each other in the second phase. Our E-mail system supports (1) sending and receiving the products with messages or with comments by using hyper-link mechanism, (2) composing comprehensive messages easily by using templates, (3) storing messages in structured mail folders and retrieving them, and (4) automatically notifying the modification of products and the progress status of development activities to the workers.