An Internet-based information system for cooperative software reuse

The problems which occur when a company starts to establish mechanisms to realize software reuse are well known. The goal of the RSB (REGINA Software Bibliothek) project (REGINA = REGionaler Industrie-club iNformatik Aachen) is to overcome these problems through a cooperative approach. This paper presents the goals, pitfalls and results of the project, which was carried out together with several industrial partners. In particular, we explain the concepts and the realization of a cooperative software component information system which is currently available on the Internet. It supports software reuse within a consortium of software-producing organizations and specifically addresses the requirements of the industrial partners. Apart from reusable components developed by the project partners, this system also provides information on software components that are available in the public marketplace.