System and method for automatically determining relationships between software artifacts using multiple evidence sources

• US 9,430,591 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2015
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Klinger, Tamir, Tarr, Peri L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao, Thuy
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Ben C
• Application Number:
  US14/614,864
• Publication Number:
  US 20150149983A1
• Time in Patent Office: 572 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/74 Reverse engineering; Extracting design information from source code
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/75 Structural analysis for program understanding

Abstract

A method (which can be computer implemented) for inferring whether at least a first relationship exists between at least first and second entities includes the steps of applying a first assessor to obtain a first confidence level pertaining to putative existence of said at least first relationship between said at least first and second entities, applying a second assessor to obtain a second confidence level pertaining to putative existence of said at least first relationship between said at least first and second entities, and combining said first and second confidence levels to obtain an overall inference whether said at least first relationship exists between said at least first and second entities.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory;

a first creation component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the first creation component is configured to create a first element;

a second creation component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the second creation component is configured to create a second element;

a third creation component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the third creation component is configured to create a third element;

a first assessor, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the first assessor is configured to obtain a first overall assessment pertaining to putative existence of at least a first relationship between said first and second elements; and

a second assessor, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the second assessor is configured to obtain a second overall assessment pertaining to putative existence of at least a second relationship between said second and third elements;

wherein the first assessor comprises a plurality of first assessment components executed via the at least one processor to obtain a first plurality of respective sub-assessments, wherein the first plurality of respective sub-assessments are combined to yield the first overall assessment;

wherein the second assessor comprises a plurality of second assessment components executed via the at least one processor to obtain a second plurality of respective sub-assessments, wherein the second plurality of respective sub-assessments are combined to yield the second overall assessment;

wherein each of the first plurality of respective sub-assessments are represented as one of two or more discrete logical values, which are logically combined to yield the first overall assessment; and

wherein each of the second plurality of respective sub-assessments are represented as one of the two or more discrete logical values, which are logically combined to yield the second overall assessment.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first relationship is an implements relationship, wherein the second element implements the first element.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the first assessor is an implements assessor and the plurality of first assessment components comprise a name matching assessor, a structural similarity assessor, and a gesture capturing assessor.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the first element is a design, and the second element is a code segment.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the second relationship is a tests relationship, wherein the third element tests the second element.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein the second assessor is a tests assessor and the plurality of second assessment components comprise a create-time assessor, a name matching assessor, and a control flow assessor.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the second element is a code segment, and the third element is a test case.

8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the first element is a design, the second element is a code segment, and the third element is a test case.

9. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a relationship management component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the relationship management component is configured to monitor each of the first, second and third creation components.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the relationship management component includes the first and second assessors.

11. The system according to claim 1, further comprising a third assessor, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the third assessor is configured to obtain a third overall assessment pertaining to putative existence of at least a third relationship between a user and the first element.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the third assessor comprises a plurality of third assessment components executed via the at least one processor to obtain a third plurality of respective sub-assessments, wherein the third plurality of respective sub-assessments are combined to yield the third overall assessment.

13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the third relationship is an expert on relationship.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the third assessor is an expert on assessor and the third plurality of plurality of assessment components comprise a history mining assessor, an artifact author assessor, and a manual capturing assessor.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein the user is an expert, and the first element is a design.

16. The system according to claim 1, the two or more discrete logical values comprise “

definitely,”

“

probably,”

“

possibly,”

“

definitely not,” and

“

inconsistent”

.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein the two or more discrete logical values comprise distinct inquiry conclusions on a varying scale of definiteness.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the two or more discrete logical values further comprise a value for an inconsistent conclusion.

19. A system, comprising:

a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory;

a first creation component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the first creation component is configured to create a first element;

a second creation component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the second creation component is configured to create a second element;

a third creation component, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the third creation component is configured to create a third element;

a first assessor, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the first assessor is configured to obtain a first overall assessment pertaining to putative existence of at least a first relationship between said first and second elements; and

a second assessor, executed via the at least one processor, wherein the second assessor is configured to obtain a second overall assessment pertaining to putative existence of at least a second relationship between said second and third elements;

wherein the first assessor comprises a plurality of first assessment components executed via the at least one processor to obtain a first plurality of respective sub-assessments, wherein the first plurality of respective sub-assessments are combined to yield the first overall assessment;

wherein the second assessor comprises a plurality of second assessment components executed via the at least one processor to obtain a second plurality of respective sub-assessments, wherein the second plurality of respective sub-assessments are combined to yield the second overall assessment;

wherein each of the first plurality of respective sub-assessments are represented as a first set of weighted values between 0 and 1, which are combined by performing a summation of the first set of weighted values to yield the first overall assessment;

wherein each of the second plurality of respective sub-assessments are represented as a second set of weighted values between 0 and 1, which are combined by performing a summation of the second set of weighted values to yield the second overall assessment.