Software development system that presents a logical view of project components, facilitates their selection, and signals missing links prior to compilation

• US 6,487,713 B1
• Filed: 09/24/1999
• Issued: 11/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Phoenix Technologies Limited (Pharaoh Acquisition LLC)
• Original Assignee: Phoenix Technologies Limited (Pharaoh Acquisition LLC)
• Inventors: Sandusky, Marc Shane, Cohen, Frances, Bombet, Marc Abraham, Lusinsky, Robert Dennis, Lewis, Timothy Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Morse, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZHEN, WEI Y
• Application Number:
  US09/404,298
• Time in Patent Office: 1,159 Days
• Field of Search: 717/105, 717/100-104, 717/106-123, 345/700-866, 345/967, 713/1, 713/100
• US Class Current: 717/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management

Abstract

A software development system develops a product from core library of source code elements, the core library being categorized into components having one or more features. A configurator develops configuration state data based on a designated platform type and the source code elements. A graphical user interface displays a visual and logical representation of the product according to the configuration state data, includine visual indications of any unresolved dependencies. A product make routine then generates the product from the source code elements according to the configuration state data.

Claims

1. A software development system for developing a finished product comprising:

a source code library containing source code elements that include interfaces and dependencies, said interfaces and dependencies including names and class designations and other information, said source code library being organized into objects;

a configurator for developing configuration state data defining the configuration of the finished product based on product configuration data, data scanned from the elements of said source code, including the names and classes and other information relating to dependencies and interfaces, and data about objects and their appropriate use;

a graphical user interface for presenting a visual, logical representation of the product organized in part by class and object, and displaying the configuration data in an expandible tree, the elements of the tree including source code elements, their interfaces and their dependencies, options, indications of any missing elements or linkages graphically, and indications of graphically selected and deselected objects, said graphical user interface accepting commands to select and deselect objects and to adjust options, the effects of the commands being recorded in said configuration state data and in said product configuration data; and

a product make routine for generating the finished product from said source code elements under the guidance of said configuration state data.

2. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 which further includes, as part of the data associated with at least some dependencies, object specification data, wherein the object specification data causes the corresponding dependency to be linked to an interface in a source code element included with the specified object in preference to other interfaces having identical identifiers.

3. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 which includes source code elements which must run in a RAM free environment, wherein the product make routine, when modifying such source code elements at call or jump dependencies, sets up a dummy return stack that does a register branch following a return, and at the point of a call or jump, generates and inserts code that loads the immediate address into said register and then produces a jump to the specified interface.

4. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the configurator, when encountering a dependency that depends upon the presence of an unselected object with a corresponding interface, automatically selects said object for inclusion in the finished product.

5. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said other information for at least some interfaces and dependencies includes version numbers, and wherein said graphical user interface gives visual indication of any version incompatibiliy.

6. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said other information for at least some interfaces may optionally include an intercept designation, and wherein said configurator associates a dependency with an interface having an intercept designation in preference over other identically named interfaces.

7. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said product make routine, when confronted with at least some dependencies for which there is no corresponding interface due to the non-selection of an object, and where this is not an error condition, modifies the source code element by removing the dependency from the source code element.

8. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said configurator may cause the graphical user interface to give a visual error indication with respect to at least some dependencies for which there is no interface.

9. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said product make routine converts class and name references for at least some dependencies into name and library address references as it modifies the source code elements.

10. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein at least some of said source code elements contain list elements, and wherein said product make routine modifies the source code elements by bringing those list elements together and inserts them into the final product at a designated point.

11. A software development system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the data about the appropriate use of objects, in at least some cases, includes an indication that the selection of one object is triggered by the selection of another object;

and wherein said configurator, when encountering such data, selects said another object whenever said one object is also selected.