SUPPORTING A WORK PACKET REQUEST WITH A SPECIFICALLY TAILORED IDE

• US 20100031234A1
• Filed: 07/31/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: CHAAR, JARIR K., HUCHEL, JOSEPH P., JOBSON, THOMAS A. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,336,026 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/113
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/00 Arrangements for software engineering testing or debugging G06F11/36; administrative, planning or organisation aspects of software project management G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design

Abstract

A method, system, and computer-readable medium for aiding a user who is servicing a work packet request in a software factory. A full work packet-aware Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is created and sent to the user. This full work packet-aware IDE provides specifically tailored access to all hardware, software, licenses, normative guidance and other resources that are needed by the user to service the work packet request.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of supporting a user who is servicing a work packet request within a software factory, the computer-implemented method comprising:

establishing a needed tooling environment that is necessary to service a work packet request in a software factory;

creating a full work packet-aware Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is specific for a work packet that is identified by the work packet request, wherein the full work packet-aware IDE provides specifically tailored access to all resources that are needed to service the work packet request;

transmitting the full work packet-aware IDE and an associated Graphical User Interface (GUI) to a user who has been assigned to service the work packet request; and

interactively supplying the user with resources depicted in the GUI.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the IDE includes a pre-populated window of Instant Messaging (IM) users, wherein the IM users are on a same team as the user for launching a project that utilizes the work packet.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the IDE includes a hardware resource window, wherein the hardware resource window is pre-populated with access to hardware resources that are required to service the work packet request, and wherein requisite hardware resources depicted in the hardware resource window are automatically brought on line with the IDE in response to the user selecting one or more of the requisite hardware resources.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the IDE includes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol window, wherein, in response to the user clicking an icon which represents a particular listed software resource in an LDAP tree, includes automatically pulling the particular listed software resource up.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein operations within the software factory further comprise:

collecting a plurality of software artifacts that have been archived during an assembly of previous work packets;

collecting a plurality of metrics that have been utilized during the assembly of previous work packets;

defining a template for a new work packet, wherein the template for the new work packet is created by a packet definition process that defines attributes that are needed in the new work packet;

under a control of the packet definition process, selecting requisite software artifacts from the plurality of software artifacts;

under the control of the packet definition process, selecting requisite metrics from the plurality of metrics; and

sending the template, requisite software artifacts and requisite metrics to a packet assembly process, wherein the packet assembly process assembles, under the control of the template and the requisite metrics, the requisite software artifacts to create the new work packet.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the software factory further comprises:

a software factory governance section that evaluates a project proposal for acceptance by the software factory; and

an assembly line and job shop that receive and execute the work packets to create the deliverable software.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the assembly line and job shop further comprise:

a published set of services and a published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop, wherein the published set of services and the published set of requirements for the assembly line and job shop are published to the design center, and wherein the published set of services describes what assembly services for assembling work packets are offered by the assembly line and job shop, and wherein the published set of requirements describes what execution environment must be used by work packets that are provided by the design center for assembly in the assembly line and job shop.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the work packets include governance procedures, standards, reused assets, work packet instructions, integration strategy, schedules, exit criteria and artifact checklist templates for Input/Output routines.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the assembly line and job shop include software that automatically recognizes a project type for the project proposal, and wherein the assembly line and job shop assemble the work packets into the deliverable software in accordance with the project type that is recognized by the assembly line and job shop.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the assembly line and job shop conduct an integration test, a system test, a system integration test and a performance test of the deliverable software, wherein the integration test tests the deliverable software for compatibility with the client'"'"'s system, the system test checks the client'"'"'s system to ensure that the client'"'"'s system is operating properly, the system integration test tests for bugs that may arise when the deliverable software is integrated into the client'"'"'s system, and the performance test tests the deliverable software for defects as it is executing in the client'"'"'s system.

11. A system comprising:

a processor;

a data bus coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the data bus; and

a tangible computer-usable medium on which is stored computer program code, the computer program code comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured supporting a user who is servicing a work packet request within a software factory by performing the steps of;

establishing a needed tooling environment that is necessary to service a work packet request in a software factory;

creating a full work packet-aware Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is specific for a work packet that is identified by the work packet request, wherein the full work packet-aware IDE provides specifically tailored access to all resources that are needed to service the work packet request;

transmitting the full work packet-aware IDE and an associated Graphical User Interface (GUI) to a user who has been assigned to service the work packet request; and

interactively supplying the user with resources depicted in the GUI.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the IDE includes a pre-populated window of Instant Messaging (IM) users, wherein the IM users are on a same team as the user for launching a project that utilizes the work packet.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the IDE includes a hardware resource window, wherein the hardware resource window is pre-populated with hardware resources that are required to service the work packet request, and wherein requisite hardware resources depicted in the hardware resource window are automatically brought on line with the IDE in response to the user selecting one or more of the requisite hardware resources.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the IDE includes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol window, wherein, in response to the user clicking an icon which represents a particular listed software resource in an LDAP tree, includes automatically pulling the particular listed software resource up.

15. A tangible computer-readable storage medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions configured for supporting a user who is servicing a work packet request within a software factory by performing the steps of:

establishing a needed tooling environment that is necessary to service a work packet request in a software factory;

creating a full work packet-aware Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that is specific for a work packet that is identified by the work packet request, wherein the full work packet-aware IDE provides specifically tailored access to all resources that are needed to service the work packet request;

transmitting the full work packet-aware IDE and an associated Graphical User Interface (GUI) to a user who has been assigned to service the work packet request; and

interactively supplying the user with resources depicted in the GUI.

16. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the IDE includes a pre-populated window of Instant Messaging (IM) users, wherein the IM users are on a same team as the user for launching a project that utilizes the work packet.

17. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the IDE includes a hardware resource window, wherein the hardware resource window is pre-populated with hardware resources that are required to service the work packet request, and wherein requisite hardware resources depicted in the hardware resource window are automatically brought on line with the IDE in response to the user selecting one or more of the requisite hardware resources.

18. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the IDE includes a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol window, wherein, in response to the user clicking an icon which represents a particular listed software resource in an LDAP tree, automatically pulling the particular listed software resource up.

19. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a component of a remote server, and wherein the computer executable instructions are deployable to a supervisory computer from the remote server.

20. The tangible computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the computer executable instructions are capable of being provided by a service provider to a customer on an on-demand basis.