Integrated development environment for managing software licensing restrictions

• US 20060242077A1
• Filed: 04/21/2005
• Published: 10/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kolz, Daniel P., Dettinger, Richard D., Rath, Cale T., Wenzel, Shannon E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,552,429 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/12 Protecting executable software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

The present invention generally provides methods, systems, and articles of manufacture that provide a managed software development environment. In one embodiment, software programmers interact with the managed software development environment to develop a target software application. Embodiments of the invention prevent source code from being included in the target software application if the license for the project is incompatible with either the license under which the source code is available or with company policy. Embodiments of the invention further prevent linking to a library file if the library file is available under a license that is incompatible with the intended license of the target software application.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of managing a software development project that incorporates code objects subject to licensing restrictions, comprising:

controlling the association of a code object with the software development project, wherein the controlling comprises;

identifying a target software license associated with the software development project;

identifying a license associated with the code object; and

allowing the code object to be included in the software development project only if the license associated with the code object is compatible with the target software license.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, if the code object is included in the software development project, updating the target software license associated with the software development project based on a requirement of the license under which the code object is available.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the requirement is an attribution requirement t, or wherein the requirement is a distribution requirement restricting how a software application corresponding to the software development project may be distributed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the code object comprises a selection of source code or comprises a library that may be linked to by another code object associated with the software development project.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the license associated with the code object comprises an open source license.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is associated with the software development project as a read only object, thereby prohibiting a user from modifying a version of the code object included in the software development project

7. A computer readable medium containing a program, which when executed on a processor, performs operations, comprising:

identifying a plurality of code objects associated with a software development project;

associating a target software license with the software development project; and

controlling the association of an additional code object with the software development project, wherein the controlling comprises;

determining a license, under which the additional code object is available; and

allowing the additional code object to be included in the software development project only if the target software license and the license under which the additional code object is available are compatible with one another.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise, if the licenses are compatible, updating the target software license based on a requirement of the license under which the additional object is available.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the requirement is an attribution requirement, or wherein the requirement is a distribution requirement restricting how a software application corresponding to the software development project may be distributed.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the code object comprises a selection of source code, or comprises a library that may be linked to by another code object associated with the software development project.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein determining a license, under which the additional code object is available comprises, parsing a text file associated with the additional code object that contains a text based description of the license under which the additional code object is available.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein determining a license under which the additional code object is available comprises prompting a user requesting to include the additional code object to identify the license under which the additional code object is available to be included in the software development project.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the license associated with the additional code object comprises an open source license.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the additional code object is associated with the software development project as a read only object, thereby prohibiting a user from modifying a version of the object included in the software development project.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising:

if the license associated with the additional code object is incompatible with the target software license, presenting a message that allows a user to include the additional code object in the software development project, despite the license incompatibility.

16. A system comprising an integrated development environment, comprising:

a text editor configured to manipulate a plurality of code objects associated with a software development project;

a license manager configured to control the association of an additional code object with the software development project, wherein the controlling comprises;

determining a license, under which the additional code object is available; and

allowing the additional code object to be included in the software development project only if the target software license and the license under which the additional code object is available are compatible with one another.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the additional code object comprises a selection of source code or comprises a library that may be linked to by another code object associated with the software development project.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the controlling further comprises, if the licenses are compatible, updating the target software license based on a requirement of the license under which the additional code object is available.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein determining a license, under which the additional code object is available comprises, parsing a text file associated with the additional code object that contains a text based description of the license under which the additional code object is available.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein determining a license under which the additional code object is available comprises prompting a user requesting to include the additional code object to identify the license under which the additional code object is available to be included in the project.

21. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

if the license associated with the additional code object is incompatible with the target software license, presenting a message that allows a user to include the additional code object in the software development project despite the license incompatibility.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the license manager is configured to determine the target software license and the license under which the additional code object is available are compatible with one another by referencing a license data table indicating what licenses are compatible with the target software license.