Leveraging Cognitive Support in Lotus Notes to build ACRE Tools
Jun Ma,
University of Victoria, Canada
Contents
What is ACRENotes?
ACRENotes is an adoption-centric reverse engineering (ACRE) tool that
is developed with the popular groupware product Lotus Notes. It has
the following components:
- Data Repository
- Data Visualization
- End-User Programming
- Team Cooperation
Why Lotus Notes?
Leverage GUI and metaphors familiar to users
As a successful groupware product, Lotus Notes has been used by millions
of users all over the world. Consequently, Lotus Notes users have become
familiar with its GUI, metaphors, and operation processes. Building
on Lotus Notes, ACRENotes can save users a lot of time and effort compared
to learning a stand-alone software egineering tool.
Utilize built-in document database to efficiently manage data
Both documents and data in Lotus Notes are managed in its own document
database. Documents can be easily selected, browsed, filtered, and
categorized. Furthermore, they can be handled by predefined Agents
and Actions. ACRE leverages Lotus Notes' database: By converting reverse
engineering data (e.g., from GXL) into documents, the users' capability
to directly manipulate reverse engineering data can be maximized. Moreover,
all kinds of artifacts generated by the development team can be managed
easily in this database.
Integrate CSCW support in reverse engineering tools
Lotus Notes' groupware features facilitate cooperation between team
members. They can easily exchange project information in the form of
Lotus Notes documents. Project managers can access information to coordinate
and direct the team's effort. Therefore, people can work on a large
reverse engineering project effectively and efficiently.
Enable end-user programming
Users can access and manipulate their data with the help of scripting
languages embedded in Lotus Notes (e.g., JavaScript). Therefore, tedious
and complex tasks can be efficiently automated.
The ACRENotes Architecture
|
