JP2014106564A - Software development support device, software development support method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To output association among functions of software without imposing a burden on a developer.SOLUTION: A functional related extracting part 142 of a software development support device 1 extracts a keyword (a function name and a data name) from a description of specification data of each function of software stored in a specification storage 131. A functional association extracting part 142 distinguishes a function associated with each other based on the extracted result, and displays the distinguished association among the functions on an output part 12 in a mode which a user can recognize.

Description

  The present invention relates to a software development support apparatus, a software development support method, and a program that output a relationship between functions of software.

  When developing software, it is important to work while grasping the relationship between the functions of this software. In Patent Document 1, information for associating the items to be described in the specifications between the specifications is registered in the patent document 1, and the location where the change is propagated when the specifications are changed is analyzed and displayed. The method is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-116228

  In the method described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary for a developer to manually analyze information for associating functions by analyzing specifications prepared so far in advance. Therefore, the developer needs an extra work other than software development, which is troublesome.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a software development support apparatus, a software development support method, and a program capable of outputting a relationship between software functions without burdening the developer. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the software development support apparatus of the present invention provides:
Specification storage means for storing specification data of each function of the software;
Extraction means for extracting keywords from the specification data;
Based on the extraction result by the extracting means, function relation determining means for determining the relation between the functions;
A function-related display means for displaying the relation between the functions determined by the function-related determining means in a manner that the user can recognize;
It is characterized by providing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to output a relationship between software functions without imposing a burden on the developer.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the software development assistance apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a chain related registration screen. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the function relevant extraction process in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the specification data to which the tag showing a function name and a data name is attached | subjected. It is a figure which shows the example of specification data. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between functions. It is a figure which shows the example of specification data. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between functions. It is a figure which shows the example of specification data. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between functions. It is a figure which shows the example of specification data. It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between functions. It is a figure which shows the example of a function related display screen. It is a figure which shows the structure of the software development assistance apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a function related display screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a function related display screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a function related display screen. It is a figure which shows the example of a function related display screen.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

<< First Embodiment >>
A software development support apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. The software development support apparatus 1 outputs various information to a developer who develops software, and supports the developer's work. The software development support apparatus 1 is a computer such as a PC (Personal Computer), and includes an input unit 11, an output unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a control unit 14, as shown in FIG.

  The input unit 11 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, a touch pad, a touch panel, and the like, receives an operation from the user, and transmits a signal corresponding to the content of the operation to the control unit 14.

  The output unit 12 includes a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays various types of information to the user based on the control of the control unit 14. For example, the output unit 12 displays a screen showing a relationship between software functions.

  The storage unit 13 serves as a so-called secondary storage device (auxiliary storage device), and is, for example, a readable / writable nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk drive or a flash memory. The storage unit 13 stores various control programs and various data used when executing each program. In addition, the storage unit 13 includes a specification document storage unit 131, a chain related storage unit 132, and a related result storage unit 133.

  The specification storage unit 131 stores the specification data of the function for each function of the software to be developed. The specification data is, for example, text data, in which data accessed by the corresponding function, the data name of the function, the function name, and the like are described.

  The chain-related storage unit 132 stores chain-related information that defines a set of data and functions that are chain-related and affected by changes and the like. For example, the chain-related information is a list of data and function identification information (data name, function name) that are linked to each other.

  Here, the case of supporting the development of software for controlling the operation of the air conditioner will be described in detail as an example of the chain related information. In this software, control is performed to change the range of the data “set temperature” in accordance with the value of the data “operation mode” (cooling, heating, dehumidification, etc.). Therefore, in this case, the data “set temperature” and the data “operation mode” are data related in a chained manner. Therefore, a list of data names of data “set temperature” and data “operation mode” is stored in the chain related storage unit 132 as chain related information.

  The related result storage unit 133 stores function related information that defines a set of functions determined to be related to each other in the function related extraction process described later. For example, the function related information is a list of identification information (function name) of related functions.

  The control unit 14 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and executes a control program stored in the storage unit 13 to thereby implement a software development support apparatus. Control one whole. In addition, the control unit 14 functionally includes a chain related registration unit 141 and a function related extraction unit 142.

  The chain relation registration unit 141 creates chain relation information based on an instruction from the user, and registers it in the chain relation storage unit 132. For example, the chain related registration unit 141 displays a screen for chain related registration (chain related registration screen) on the output unit 12 and accepts an operation on the chain related registration screen via the input unit 11. Then, the chain relation registration unit 141 creates chain relation information based on the received content, and registers it in the chain relation storage unit 132.

  Here, an example of the chain related registration screen is shown in FIG. The chain related registration screen includes a chain related data / function display area 100A, a data / function name list display area 100B, a setting button 100C, a release button 100D, and a registration button 100E. The user operates the input unit 11, selects any data / function from the data / functions displayed in the data / function list display area 100B, and presses the setting button 100C. In response to this operation, the chain-related registration unit 141 moves the selected data name / function name to the chain-related data / function display area 100A. Further, the user operates the input unit 11 to select any data / function from the data / functions displayed in the chain related data / function display area 100A and presses the release button 100D. In response to this operation, the chain-related registration unit 141 moves the selected data name / function name to the data / function name list display area 100B. Then, after such operations are repeated to display each data / function to be linked in the chain related data / function display area 100A, the user presses the registration button 100E. In response to this operation, the chain relation registration unit 141 registers the list of data names / function names displayed in the chain relation data / function display area 100A in the chain relation storage unit 132 as chain relation information. It should be noted that such operations may be repeated to register a plurality of chain related information in the chain related storage unit 132.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the function-related extraction unit 142 extracts keywords (data name and function name) from the description of each specification data stored in the specification storage unit 131. Then, the function relation extraction unit 142 discriminates functions that are related to each other among the functions of the software based on the extracted result, and displays the relation between the functions on the output unit 12 in a manner that the user can understand. Execute. Details of the function related extraction process will be described later.

(Function-related extraction processing)
Next, the operation of the function related extraction process performed by the software development support apparatus 1 will be described. It is assumed that specification data relating to each function of software to be developed is registered in the specification storage unit 131 in advance. Further, it is assumed that appropriate chain-related information is stored in the chain-related storage unit 132 by the prior setting process.

  The user operates the input unit 11 to perform an operation such as clicking a specific icon displayed on the output unit 12. In response to this operation, the function-related extraction unit 142 executes the function-related extraction process shown in FIG.

  First, the function-related extraction unit 142 analyzes the description of each specification data stored in the specification storage unit 131 by a predetermined method, and extracts a function name and a data name (step S11).

  It should be noted that various methods (algorithms) can be employed for extracting the function name and data name from the specification data. For example, dictionary data in which function names and data names to be extracted are registered in advance in the storage unit 13. Then, the function related extraction unit 142 may extract the function name and data name registered in the dictionary data from the description of each specification data.

  Alternatively, the function name / data name may be extracted from the specification data by creating the specification data with a syntax rule that allows the data name and the function name to be easily distinguished. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the specification data, a tag of <$ to $> is assigned to the function name and a tag of <<<> to the data name, and these tags are detected. , Function names / data names enclosed in tags may be extracted.

  Returning to FIG. 3, subsequently, the function-related extracting unit 142 determines a set of functions related to each other based on the extraction result of Step S11 (Step S12). Specifically, the function-related extraction unit 142 may determine that the functions corresponding to the specification data from which the same data name / function name is extracted are related to each other.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, consider a case where the data name “operation mode” is commonly described in the specification data of function A and the specification data of function B. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, it can be seen that the function A and the function B commonly access the data “operation mode”. Therefore, the function relation extraction unit 142 determines that the function A and the function B are related to each other.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, consider a case where the function name “function X” is commonly described in the specification data of function A and the specification data of function B. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, it can be seen that function A and function B access function X in common. Therefore, the function relation extraction unit 142 determines that the function A and the function B are related to each other.

  Alternatively, the function related extraction unit 142 may determine that the function extracted from the specification data and the function described in the specification data are related to each other. For example, consider the case where the function name “function B” is described in the specification data of function A as shown in FIG. In this case, as shown in FIG. 10, it can be seen that the function A accesses the function B. Therefore, the function relation extraction unit 142 determines that the function A and the function B are related to each other.

  6, 8, and 10, the function is represented by a solid rectangle, and the data is represented by a dotted rectangle. In addition, access to other functions and data is represented by a dotted line, and the relationship between functions is represented by a solid double arrow line. The same applies to FIG. 12 described later.

  Returning to FIG. 3, subsequently, the function-related extracting unit 142 refers to the chain-related information stored in the chain-related storage unit 132, and determines functions that are related to each other other than the determination in step S <b> 12. (Step S13). Specifically, the function-related extraction unit 142 refers to the chain-related information stored in the chain-related storage unit 132, and adds the data name / function name of the chain-related data / function to the specification data extracted. It is determined that the corresponding functions are related to each other.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the data name “operation mode” is described in the specification data of function A and the specification data of function B, and only the data name “set temperature” is included in the specification data of function C. Consider the case described. It is assumed that chain-related information indicating that the data “operation mode” and the data “set temperature” are chain-related is stored in the chain-related storage unit 132 in advance. In this case, the specification data of the function A and the function B and the specification data of the function C do not have a common data name / function name, but data names “operation mode”, “ "Set temperature" is described. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, it is understood that the functions A to C commonly access the data “operation mode” and “set temperature” that are linked to each other. Therefore, the function-related extraction unit 142 determines that the functions A to C are related to each other.

  Returning to FIG. 3, subsequently, the function-related extracting unit 142 stores the function-related information that defines the set of related functions determined in Step S12 and Step S13 in the related result storage unit 133 (Step S14). For example, when related functions are determined as shown in FIG. 12, the function related extraction unit 142 generates function related information including a list of function names of the functions A, B, and C, and the related results. What is necessary is just to store in the storage part 133. FIG.

  Subsequently, the function relation extraction unit 142 causes the output unit 12 to display a function relation display screen indicating a relation between functions based on the function relation information stored in the relation result storage unit 133 (step S15).

  Here, an example of a function-related display screen is shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 13, the relationship between functions is shown by connecting the specification data of the related functions with a solid line. The user can easily understand that the function A, the function B, and the function C are related to each other by checking the function related display screen. The function-related extraction process ends here.

  As described above, the software development support apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment extracts keywords (function names and data names) from the description of the usage manual data for each function of the software. Then, the related functions are determined based on the extracted result, and the relationship between the determined functions is output. Further, this series of processing is executed without requiring input of data from the user. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to output the relationship between software functions without placing a burden on the developer.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, a chain-related function or data set that is easily affected by a change or the like is registered in advance as chain-related information. When determining the relationship between functions, the related function is also determined with reference to the chain related information. Therefore, the same data / function is not directly accessed, but it is also possible to determine the relationship between functions that are indirectly accessed via linked data, and the relationship between functions can be determined with high accuracy. It becomes possible.

In the above embodiment, the function relation extracting unit 142 extracts the data name and the function name from the specification data, and determines the relation between the functions based on the extraction result. However, the function relation extraction unit 142 may extract a keyword such as a specific term or program name other than the data name or function name, and determine the relation between functions from the extraction result.
In the above embodiment, in step S12 of the function related extraction process, it is determined that the functions corresponding to the specification data from which the same keyword (data name / function name) is extracted are related to each other. In step S13, it is determined that the functions corresponding to the specification data from which the linked keywords are extracted are related to each other. However, when another keyword related to the chain is set to the keyword extracted from the specification data, the function related extraction unit 142 only displays each function corresponding to the specification data in which all the keywords related to the chain are described. It may be determined that there is a relationship. For example, the data name “AA” is described in the specification data “α”, and the data name “AA” and the data names “BB”, “CC”, and “DD” are chained in the chain related storage unit 132. Let us consider a case in which chain-related information indicating association is registered. In this case, the specification data describing only the same data name “AA” is not determined to be related to the specification data “α”. Only the specification data in which all of the data names “BB”, “CC”, and “DD” are described is determined to be related to the specification data “α”.

<< Second Embodiment >>
Next, the software development support apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment will be described. In the software development support apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, it is basically determined that the functions from which the same keyword (function name / data name) is extracted among the specification data are related to each other. However, in the specification data, even though the data and functions are the same due to each developer's habit, etc., there is a problem of fluctuation of the notation, and it is described with different keywords (data name, function name). There may be. The present embodiment is characterized by supporting correction of specification data in which such notation fluctuation occurs.

  FIG. 14 shows the configuration of the software development support apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment. Compared to the software development support device 1 according to the first embodiment, the software development support device 2 includes the storage unit 13 including the notation fluctuation storage unit 134 and the control unit 14 includes the notation shake correction support unit 143.

  In the notation fluctuation storage unit 134, groups of keywords (data names, function names) having the same meaning are registered, such as the data name “suction temperature” and the data name “suction temperature”, although the notations are different. The group of data names and function names registered in the notation fluctuation storage unit 134 may be registered in advance by the user before software development, or registered when describing in the specification data. May be. Alternatively, the software development support apparatus 1 may analyze each input specification data at an arbitrary timing to determine a group of similar keywords and automatically register it in the notation fluctuation storage unit 134.

  The notation fluctuation correction support unit 143 refers to the notation fluctuation storage unit 134 and performs processing for urging correction of the notation fluctuation seen during the description of the specification data. For example, the notation fluctuation correction support unit 143 monitors the specification data being created, performs predictive conversion of the data name and function name being input, and stores the data name / function name stored in the notation fluctuation correction support unit 143. The process of popping up the candidates for is performed. Further, the notation fluctuation correction support unit 143 refers to the notation fluctuation storage unit 134, and among the descriptions of the specification data stored in the specification document storage unit 131, the same data or function has a plurality of data names and functions. A part described by a name is specified, and the part is underlined to display the part in a distinguishable manner from other parts.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if the specification data is written in a distorted notation, the user can display the swaying of the notation by, for example, displaying the portion where the swaying of the notation is distinguishable. It becomes possible to support correction. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the quality of the specification data, and to perform function-related extraction with higher accuracy.

≪Modification≫
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, the function-related display screen displayed in step S15 of the function-related extraction process can employ various display formats as long as the user can recognize the relationship between functions. For example, a function related display screen in which only the function names of the related functions are connected by a solid line, or a function related display screen in which the relationship between functions is indicated only by text may be displayed. Alternatively, if information about functions such as priority and activation frequency is stored in advance, as shown in FIG. 15, the function-related display screen may also be displayed in the form of the information written together with the specification data. Good. In this way, the user can list and verify the priority and start timing of each function, and if there is a conflicting function, the user can review and adjust the specifications to avoid the conflict. It becomes easy, and it becomes possible to improve development efficiency and design quality.

  In each of the above embodiments, in the function relation extraction process, the relation between functions (direct relation) determined based on the extraction result from the specification data in step S12 and the chain relation information in step S13 are also used. The function-related display screen is displayed in a manner that does not distinguish between the relations between functions (indirect relations). However, the direct relationship and the indirect relationship between the determined functions may be displayed in a distinguishable manner. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a function related display screen in which the direct association is represented by a straight line and the indirect association is represented by a wavy line. From this screen, the user understands that function A and function B are strongly related to each other, but not so strongly related to function C, and provides useful information rather than simply showing the relationship between functions. It can be shown to the user.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, the relationship between functions was only displayed on the function related display screen. However, as shown in FIG. 17, it may be displayed what kind of data the functions are associated with. For example, from this function related display screen, the user can understand that the function A and the function B are related through the data “operation mode”. Therefore, it is possible to show the user information that is more useful than simply showing the relationship between functions. Such display is performed by, for example, associating created function related information (a list of function names of related functions) with a data name extracted for discrimination of the function related in the function related extraction process. This can be realized by memorizing them.

  In each of the above embodiments, if the data name can be extracted from the specification data in the function-related extraction process, it is determined that the function corresponding to the specification data accesses the data indicated by the data name, and the same The function of each specification data from which data was extracted was determined to be related. However, it is also possible to determine whether the function has write access or read access to the data from the description of the specification data, and display the function related display screen in such a manner that the determination result can be understood. An example of the function related display screen in this case is shown in FIG. In this function related display screen, whether the function has write access or read access to data is indicated by the direction of the arrow. Therefore, from this function related display screen, the user not only knows that the functions A and B are related via the data “operation mode”, but also the function A writes and accesses the data “operation mode”. It can also be seen that the function B reads and accesses the data “operation mode”. Therefore, it is possible to show more useful information to the user.

Note that the above-described determination as to whether the access is a read access or a write access may be performed using a known semantic analysis process or using one of the following determination methods 1 and 2.
Judgment method 1: When a data name is detected from the specification data, if a character such as “read” or “read” is detected within a predetermined character range before and after the detection position, the data of the data name When a character such as “write” or “write” is detected, it is determined that the access is a write access to the data of the data name.
Judgment method 2: Specification data is created in advance with a syntax rule that assigns different tags to data to be accessed for writing and data to be accessed for reading. By detecting this tag, data is accessed for reading or reading. Determine whether to do.

  In addition, for example, by applying an operation program that defines the operation of the software development support apparatuses 1 and 2 according to the present invention to an existing personal computer, an information terminal device, or the like, the personal computer or the like is supported by the software development support according to the present invention. It is also possible to function as the devices 1 and 2.

  Further, the distribution method of such a program is arbitrary. For example, the program can be read by a computer such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read-Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an MO (Magneto Optical Disk), or a memory card. It may be distributed by storing in a recording medium, or distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

  1, 2 software development support device, 11 input unit, 12 output unit, 13 storage unit, 131 specification storage unit, 132 chain related storage unit, 133 related result storage unit, 134 notation fluctuation storage unit, 14 control unit, 141 chain Related registration unit, 142 Function related extraction unit, 143 Notation fluctuation correction support unit

Claims (8)

Specification storage means for storing specification data of each function of the software;
Extraction means for extracting keywords from the specification data;
Based on the extraction result by the extracting means, function relation determining means for determining the relation between the functions;
A function-related display means for displaying the relation between the functions determined by the function-related determining means in a manner that the user can recognize;
A software development support apparatus comprising: It further comprises chain-related storage means for storing chain-related information that defines chain-related data and functions,
The function relation determining means determines a relation between the functions based on the chain relation information.
The software development support apparatus according to claim 1. The function related display means displays the relationship between the functions determined based on the chain related information in a manner distinguishable from other determined relationships.
The software development support apparatus according to claim 2. The function related display means displays in a manner that allows the user to recognize via which data the function is related.
The software development support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The function-related display means displays the function in a distinguishable manner indicating whether the function has read access to data or write access.
The software development support apparatus according to claim 4. A notation fluctuation correction support means for supporting correction of the notation fluctuation of the keyword described in the specification data;
6. The software development support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the software development support apparatus is a software development support apparatus. An extraction step in which the extraction means extracts keywords from the specification data of each function of the software;
A function relation determination unit that determines a relation between the functions based on an extraction result in the extraction step;
A software development support method, comprising: a function relation display step in which a function relation display means displays a relation between the functions determined in the function relation determination step in a manner in which a user can recognize. Computer
Specification storage means for storing specification data of each function of the software,
Extraction means for extracting keywords from the specification data;
A function relation determining means for determining a relation between the functions based on an extraction result by the extracting means;
A function-related display means for displaying the relation between the functions determined by the function-related determining means in a manner in which the user can recognize;
Program to function as.

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