Systems, methods and computer program products for end-to-end software development process automation

• US 6,336,217 B1
• Filed: 12/30/1998
• Issued: 01/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Percival, Lynn Cleveland III, DʼAnjou, James F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Powell, Mark R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khatri, Anil
• Application Number:
  US09/223,253
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 717/11, 717/1, 707/100, 707/500, 707/511, 707/1, 707/10, 707/203
• US Class Current: 717/121
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/73 Program documentation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99954 Version management

Abstract

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided which provide an end-to-end software development tracking system including a software change management system which manages software versions and releases. A document management system tracks documentation related to software development and provides data associated with documents in the document management system to the software change management system. The document management system also receives data from the software change management system so as to track changes in the software versions and releases associated with documents in the document management system.

Claims

1. An end-to-end software development tracking system comprising:

a software change management system which manages software versions and releases;

a document management system which tracks documentation related to software development and which provides data associated with documents in the document management system to the software change management system and receives data from the software change management system so as to track changes in the software versions and releases associated with documents in the document management system; and

wherein the document management system comprises;

a plurality of document databases; and

a template for encapsulating the plurality of document databases so as to coordinate the plurality of document databases as a single documentation database.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of document databases comprises:

a requirements documents database;

a design documents database; and

a test documents database.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the software change management system is TeamConnection.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the document library comprises:

a Lotus Notes template; and

a plurality of Lotus Notes databases generated according to the Lotus Notes template.

5. A method of tracking development documentation and software development comprising:

generating a requirements document, wherein the requirements documents provides information about a feature of a software product;

storing the requirements document in a document library system;

generating a first feature request to a software change management system based on the generated requirements document; and

associating the first feature request with the stored requirements document.

6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

generating a design document related to the stored requirements document, wherein the design document provides information as to the design of software related to a feature of the requirements document;

storing the generated design document in the document library system; and

associating the stored design document with the stored requirements document and with the first feature request.

7. A method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

generating a second feature request to the software change management system based on the generated design document; and

associating the second feature request with the design document.

8. A method according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of:

generating a test case document, wherein the test case document provides information regarding testing of software associated with the generated design document;

generating an execution record associated with the generated test document, wherein the generated execution record corresponds to the status of the testing of the software generated test case document.

9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

generating a defect request to the software change management system based on the generated execution record; and

associating the defect request with the execution record.

10. A method according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

generating a defect document corresponding to the defect request;

obtaining status of the defect request from the software change management system and

updating the generated defect document with the status of the defect request.

11. A method according to claim 5, further comprising the steps of:

generating a feature document corresponding to the first feature request;

obtaining status of the first feature request from the software change management system; and

updating the generated feature document with the status of the first feature request.

12. A method according to claim 5, wherein the software change management system comprises a TeamConnection management system.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the step of generating a requirements document comprises generating a Lotus Notes requirement document and wherein the step of storing the requirements document comprises storing the requirements document in a LotusNotes database.

14. A system according to claim 13, further comprising:

means for generating a design document related to the stored requirements document, wherein the design document provides information as to the design of software related to a feature of the requirements document;

means for storing the generated design document in the document library system; and

means for associating the stored design document with the stored requirements document and with the first feature request.

15. A system according to claim 14, further comprising:

means for generating a second feature request to the software change management system based on the generated design document; and

means for associating the second feature request with the design document.

16. A system according to claim 14, further comprising:

means for generating a test case document, wherein the test case document provides information regarding testing of software associated with the generated design document;

means for generating an execution record associated with the generated test document, wherein the generated execution record corresponds to the status of the testing of the software generated test case document.

17. A system according to claim 16, further comprising:

means for generating a defect request to the software change management system based on the generated execution record; and

means for associating the defect request with the execution record.

18. A system according to claim 17, further comprising:

means for generating a defect document corresponding to the defect request;

means for obtaining status of the defect request from the software change management system and

means for updating the generated defect document with the status of the defect request.

19. A system for tracking development documentation and software development comprising:

means for generating a requirements document, wherein the requirements documents provides information about a feature of a software product;

means for storing the requirements document in a document library system;

means for generating a first feature request to a software change management system based on the generated requirements document; and

means for associating the first feature request with the stored requirements document.

20. A system according to claim 19, further comprising:

means for generating a feature document corresponding to the first feature request;

means for obtaining status of the first feature request from the software change management system; and

means for updating the generated feature document with the status of the first feature request.

21. A system according to claim 19, wherein the software change management system comprises a TeamConnection management system.

22. A system according to claim 21, wherein the means for generating a requirements document comprises means for generating a Lotus Notes requirement document and wherein the means for storing the requirements document comprises means for storing the requirements document in a LotusNotes database.

23. A computer program product according to claim 22, further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for generating a design document related to the stored requirements document, wherein the design document provides information as to the design of software related to a feature of the requirements document;

computer-readable program code means for storing the generated design document in the document library system; and

computer-readable program code means for associating the stored design document with the stored requirements document and with the first feature request.

24. A system according to claim 23, further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for generating a second feature request to the software change management system based on the generated design document; and

computer-readable program code means for associating the second feature request with the design document.

25. A computer program product according to claim 23, further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for generating a test case document, wherein the test case document provides information regarding testing of software associated with the generated design document;

computer-readable program code means for generating an execution record associated with the generated test document, wherein the generated execution record corresponds to the status of the testing of the software generated test case document.

26. A computer program product according to claim 25, further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for generating a defect request to the software change management system based on the generated execution record; and

computer-readable program code means for associating the defect request with the execution record.

27. A computer program product according to claim 26, further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for generating a defect document corresponding to the defect request;

computer-readable program code means for obtaining status of the defect request from the software change management system and

computer-readable program code means for updating the generated defect document with the status of the defect request.

28. A computer program product according to claim 27, further comprising:

computer-readable program code means for generating a feature document corresponding to the first feature request;

computer-readable program code means for obtaining status of the first feature request from the software change management system; and

computer-readable program code means for updating the generated feature document with the status of the first feature request.

29. A computer program product for tracking development documentation and software development comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code means embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code means comprising;

computer-readable program code means for generating a requirements document, wherein the requirements documents provides information about a feature of a software product;

computer-readable program code means for storing the requirements document in a document library system;

computer-readable program code means for generating a first feature request to a software change management system based on the generated requirements document; and

computer-readable program code means for associating the first feature request with the stored requirements document.

30. A computer program product according to claim 29, wherein the software change management system comprises a TeamConnection management system.

31. A computer program product according to claim 30, wherein the computer-readable program code means for generating a requirements document comprises computer-readable program code means for generating a Lotus Notes requirement document and wherein the computer-readable program code means for storing the requirements document comprises computer-readable program code means for storing the requirements document in a LotusNotes database.