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Computer Aided
Software
Engineering (CASE)
Tools /lec3
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Contents

3 Classification of CASE Systems

1 Upper and Lower CASE

1 Fuggetta’s classification

2 ERD Plus
 Classification of CASE Systems

❖ A number of risks are inherent whenever we attempt to

categorize CASE tools. There is a subtle implication
that to create an effective CASE environment, one must
implement all categories of tools this is simply not true.
Confusion (or antagonism) can be created by placing a
specific tool within one category when others might
believe it belongs in another category.

❖ Some readers may feel that an entire category has

been omitted there by eliminating an entire set of tools
for inclusion in the overall CASE environment. In
addition, simple categorization tends to be flat that is,
we do not show the hierarchical interaction of tools or
the relationships among them.
 Classification of CASE Systems

❖ But even with these risks, it is necessary to create a

taxonomy of CASE tools to better understand the
breadth of CASE and to better appreciate where such
tools can be applied in the software engineering
process.
❖ CASE tools can be classified by function, by their role
as instruments for managers or technical people, by
their use in the various steps of the software
engineering process, by the used type (or kind) of
modeling ,by the environment architecture
(hardware and software) that supports them, or even
by their origin or cost .
 Upper and Lower CASE

The most popular classification of CASE technology and

tools is based on the distinction made between the early
and late stages of systems development.

Many of the current CASE tools deal with the

management of the system specification only by
supporting strategy, planning and the construction of the
conceptual level of the enterprise model.

These tools are often termed upper CASE tools because

they assist the designer only at the early stages of system
development and ignore the actual implementation of the
system.
 Upper and Lower CASE
The emphasis in upper CASE is to describe the mission,
objectives, strategies, operational plans, resources,
component parts etc. of the enterprise and provide
automated support for defining the logical level of the
business, its information needs and designing information
systems to meet these needs.

Upper CASE tools support traditional diagrammatic

languages like Entity Relationship Diagrams, Data Flow
Diagrams, Structure Charts etc. providing mainly draw,
store as well as documentation facilities. They support a
limited degree of verification, validation and integration of
the system specifications due to the inherent lack of formal
foundations for the requirements modelling formalisms.
 Upper and Lower CASE

Other CASE tools deal with the application development

itself with regard to the efficient generation of code. These
are termed lower CASE tools because they assist the
developer at the stage of system generation and ignore
the early stages of system requirements specification.

The starting point of the system development with lower

CASE tools is the conceptual model of the information
system. The conceptual modelling formalism is usually,
based on formal foundations in order to allow for
automatic mapping to executable specifications and
efficient validation and verification of the system
specification itself.
 Upper and Lower CASE

Lower CASE tools employ mapping algorithms to

automatically transform formal specifications into an
executable form. This includes, among others,
transformation of specifications to relational database
schemas, normalization of database relations and SQL
code generation.

The majority of these tools facilitate rapid prototyping of

specifications in terms of the functionality of the system.
They do not support the development process itself but
rather, they offer a powerful tool for making system
design more effective and efficient.
 Upper and Lower CASE

❖ Integrated CASE, or I-CASE, contains functionality

found in both upper CASE and lower CASE tools. They
are helpful in all the stages of SDLC, from Requirement
gathering to Testing and documentation. In this
architecture, the repository plays a more active role in
that all tools can interface and exchange data with it.

❖ A repository, holds data fields and definitions and

ensures that data integrity is maintained throughout the
development lifecycle. As a consequence, ICASE allow
tools to work together relatively seamlessly and
alleviates much of the stop-start nature of non-ICASE
environments. Figure 1.3 illustrate these categories of
CASE tools.
Upper and Lower CASE

Figure 1.3 Categories of CASE tools

 Fuggetta’s classification

Fuggetta’s classification is done on the basis of

CASE-system categories and reflects the degree of
integration on functionality. All observed systems are
divided by him into three groups:

1. "Tools": support only specific tasks in the software

process.

2. "Workbenches": support only one or a few activities.

3. "Environments": support (a large part of) the software

process.
 Fuggetta’s classification- Tools
Tools. A CASE tool is a software component supporting a
specific task in the computer-aided operating organization
and software engineering process:

1. Editing tools (editors): can be classified in two

subclasses: textual editors and graphical editors.

text editor, a software program that allows users to create

or manipulate plain text computer files. They are often
used in the field of computer programming. for
Examples NotePad and WordPad - Microsoft Windows
included text editors.
 Fuggetta’s classification- Tools

A graphical editor is a type of computer program that

allows a user to edit and manipulate graphical images
through a variety of methods. For example Adobe
Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint.

2. Programming tools: these tools are used to support

coding and code restructuring .The four main subclasses,
singled out by us, are coding and debugging, code
generators, code restructures, and code analyzers.

3. Verification and validation tools: this class includes

tools that support program validation and verification.
 Fuggetta’s classification- Tools
Validation aims at ensuring that the product's functions are what
the customer really wants.
while verification aims at ensuring that the product under
construction meets the requirements definition.

4. Configuration management tools: Configuration

Management (CM) techniques coordinate and control the
construction of a system composed of many parts.
CM :is a systems engineering process for establishing
consistency of a product’s attributes throughout its life.
any future changes to these assets are known and tracked.its like
up-to-date inventory for your technology assets.
5. Project-management tools: the three main subclasses,
singled out by us, are execution of specific tasks management
,project management, portfolio of projects management.
 Fuggetta’s classification- Workbenches
Workbenches: They integrate in a single application
several tools supporting specific computer-aided operating
organization and software engineering process activities:

1. Business planning and modeling workbenches: this

class includes products to support the identification and
description of a complex business.

2. Analysis and design workbenches: they automate

most of the analysis and design methodologies.

3.User-interface development workbenches :these

products do not help with specific software-process
activities but rather with user-interface design and
development.
 Fuggetta’s classification- Workbenches
4. Programming and designing of databases and files
workbenches : these workbenches provide integrated
facilities supporting programming.
5. Verification and validation workbenches : this class of
workbenches includes products that help with module and
system testing.
6. Maintenance and reverse-engineering workbenches:
these workbenches provide "forward" ,"reverse" development
of system process.
7. Configuration-management workbenches: the
workbenches in this class integrate tools supporting version
control, configuration building, change control, registration of
the state of configuration management objects, possibility of
development of "client-server" applications of demanded
configuration etc.
 Fuggetta’s classification- Environments
Environments. The given group includes systems of the
following kinds:

1. Toolkits: toolkits are loosely integrated collections of

products easily extended by aggregating different tools and
workbenches.
2. Language-centered: this environments are written in the
language for which they were developed, thus letting users
customize and extend the environment and reuse part of it in
the applications under development.

3. Integrated : they operate using standard mechanisms so

users can integrate tools and workbenches according :
 Fuggetta’s classification- Environments

Platform integration
• Tools run on the same hardware/software platform
Data integration
• Tools operate using a shared data model
Presentation integration
• Tools offer a common user interface

4. Fourth generation: this is sets of tools and workbenches

supporting the development of a specific class of program
electronic data processing and business-oriented
applications.

5. Process-centered : they are based on a formal definition

of the software process.
Fuggetta’s classification

Figure 1.4 Fuggetta’s classification

 Database Diagram Design Tools

A database schema is the blueprints of your database, it

represents the description of a database structure, data
types, and the constraints on the database. And designing
database schemas is one of the very first and important
steps to start developing any software.
1. dbdiagram.io
2. Lucidchart
3. QuickDBD
4. ERD Plus
5. DrawSQL
6. Miro
 ERD Plus
ERD Plus is a basic database modeling tool for creating
Entity Relationship Diagrams, Relational Schemas, Star
Schemas, and SQL DDL statements.

• Automatically convert ER Diagrams into Relational

Schemas
• Export SQL.
• Export diagrams as a PNG.
• Save diagrams safely on our server.
 ERD Plus

• ER Diagram stands for Entity Relationship Diagram, also

known as ERD is a diagram that displays the relationship
of entity sets stored in a database. In other words, ER
diagrams help to explain the logical structure of
databases. ER diagrams are created based on three
basic concepts: entities, attributes and relationships.

• ER Diagrams contain different symbols that use

rectangles to represent entities, ovals to define attributes
and diamond shapes to represent relationships.
 ERD Plus

Following are the main components and its symbols in

ER Diagrams:
Rectangles: This Entity Relationship Diagram symbol
represents entity types
Ellipses : Symbol represent attributes
Diamonds: This symbol represents relationship types
Lines: It links attributes to entity types and entity types with
other relationship types
Primary key: attributes are underlined
Double Ellipses: Represent multi-valued attributes
ERD Plus
 ERD Plus

What is a relational schema?

A relational schema is a blueprint used in database
design to represent the data to be entered into the
database and describe how that data is structured in
tables (called relations in relational schemas). The
schema describes how those tables relate to each other.

Each table in a relational schema is referred to as

a relation. Rows in the table are called tuples, whereas
the table columns are attributes. Tuples can be seen as
the instances of an entity. A table can have many
instances. For example, a school can have several
students enrolled simultaneously. If student is an entity,
then each student's record will be a tuple of that table (or
relation).
ERD Plus
ERD Plus
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