Software Development: Tools and Processes Lecture - 13: Software - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Software Development: Tools and Processes

Lecture - 13: Software Configuration Management

Software configuration management

• What is Configuration Management?
• Configuration Management is the art of

identifying, organizing, and controlling modifications to the software being built by a programming team.

• Objectives of SCM
• Identify Change
• Control Change
• Ensure proper implementation of Change
• Report all the Changes

Software Configuration Management (SCM) is umbrella activity that is applied throughout the software process.

Sources of Change

• New business or market conditions
• New customer needs
• Change in project priorities by the customer
• Change in the software engineering team
• Budgetary or scheduling constraints

Software configuration management

• What is Software Configuration?
• The items that comprise all information produced as part of the

software process are collectively called a Software Configuration

• Software Configuration Item:
• Any artifact which is put under the configuration control
• Example of SCM item
• System Specifications
• Software project Plan
• SRS
• Design Specifications
• User Manual
• Test Specifications – test cases, test plan
• Executable programs
• Maintenance Documents

Software configuration management

Base-Lines? A baseline is a SCM concept that helps us to control change without seriously impeding justifiable change. IEE definition: “A specification or product that has been formally reviewed and agreed upon, that thereafter serves as the basis for further development, and that can be changed

• nly through formal change control procedures”

When items are put under Configuration control ? The items which are formally designed and reviewed and have become baselines.

Before a SCM item becomes a baseline, a change can be made quickly. However, when a baseline is established, we have to follow more stringent procedure to make a change

Configuration Management Process

Major SCM tasks

– Identification – Version control – Change control – Configuration auditing – reporting

Configuration Management Process

• Identification
• Each item must be separately named and then
• rganized
• Each item has set of distinct features that identify it

uniquely:

• Name – Description – Resources - relationships
• Description – SCI type (doc, program etc), Project

identifier, version information and change information

• Resources – entities processed, referenced or required

by object. Example: resources of programs include variables, functions etc.

• Relationship with other items.

Configuration Management Process

• Version control
• Management of different versions of

configuration items.

• Versions are represented by

evolution graph

• Each version may be composed of

different variants

• Variant example: There are five

different modules in a software called 1,2,3,4, & 5. Now 4 and 5 are mutually exclusive. Then one variant of software is 1,2,3,5 and

• ther is 1,2,3,4.

1.0 1.1 1.1.1 1.2 1.0 1.1.1. 2

Configuration Management Process

• Change Control
• Combines human procedure and automated tools
• Need for change is recognized
• Change request from user
• Request evaluated by developer
• Change report is generated
• Change control authority decides to: deny or accept the request
• Request is queued for action
• job to assigned individuals
• Changes incorporated, reviewed and tested
• New versions are built

Configuration Management Process

• Configuration Audit
• To ensure that change have been properly

implemented

• FTRs
• Software configuration audits - complete process
• Status Reporting
• What happened
• Who performed the job
• When was it performed
• What will be affected.

Configuration management & CMMI

• SP 1.2-1 – Establish a configuration management system
• Dynamic systems
• Master systems
• Static systems

Configuration Management Process

Support required from SCM Tool

• Get Latest Version of a Program
• Get any previous version of a program
• Obtain the Delta between two different versions
• Identify version related to a particular delivery
• Handle Concurrent Update Requests
• Undo a Program Change
• Prevent Unauthorized Changes or Deletions
• Ability to archive selected versions
• Implement complete change control process

Version control tool: VSS

• Visual source safe is free ware by

Microsoft

• VSS manages versions of different

software artifacts

Configuration management tool: CRTS

• Developed to manage the change control

process

• Tracks the modification history and reasons for

modifications

• Helps to clearly identify the delta between two

different versions