Automated support for software process reuse: requirements and early experiences with the APSEE model

This paper discusses the need to provide better support for software processes reuse in PSEEs (Process-centered Software Engineering Environments). This discussion is influenced by the recent work on the process reuse field presented in the literature and the experience of the authors in the definition of a meta-model for process modeling, enaction and simulation in an integrated environment (APSEE). This model proposes templates and policies as basic constructs to store generic and reusable knowledge about process models, which are integrated with a search engine based on similarity measurement. The basic set of data types used in the definition of the meta-model is presented. The paper concludes by presenting the proposed functionality to retrieve and adapt reusable process descriptions to a specific context.