Simplifying data integration: the design of the Desert software development environment

This paper describes the design and motivations behind the Desert environment. The Desert environment has been created to demonstrate that the facilities typically associated with expensive data integration can be provided inexpensively in an open framework. It uses three integration mechanisms: control integration, simple data integration based on fragments, and a common editor. It offers a variety of capabilities including hyperlinks and the ability to create virtual files containing only the portions of the software that are relevant to the task on hand. It does this in an open environment that is compatible with existing tools and programs. The environment currently consists of a set of support facilities including a context database, a fragment database, scanners, and a ToolTalk interface, as well as a preliminary set of programming tools including a context manager and extensions to FrameMaker to support program editing and insets for non-textual software artifacts.