Toward a software information system

A software information system collects information about large software systems in knowledge and data bases. It includes applications built on these bases to provide easy access to software information or to automate elements of the software development process. Work in this area is proceeding at AT&T Bell Laboratories in three related directions. The C Information Abstraction system automatically extracts information from C language programs and stores it in a relational database. It includes a growing collection of applications of this information. The MView system provides graphical views of interrelated software and lets a user quickly browse software systems. The LaSSIE system represents large amounts of software information in a formal language and provides intelligent assistance in retrieving software components. Progress in these three directions is reviewed in this paper.