Traceability in Software Architecture Decisions Based on Notes about Documents

Abstract

In general, the results of a software architecture project are a great deal of heterogeneous artifacts in its final version. In order to improving and make a more efficient process of software architecture definition, architects in charge require to understand the ways as it was defined and the justifications for each item and element. During the development of each iteration intermediate versions are documented about artifacts that serve architects to exchange opinions, concerns, directions, possible alternatives, tradeoffs of the architectural advances. Such considerations are a fundamental piece of knowledge for improving the process. Nevertheless, many of those are verbal, they are not documented and therefore they are forgotten with the pass of time. A strategy is proposed in this research work for knowledge management to capture, represent, formalize, code and trace design considerations expressed as notes in documents. By using ontologies, architects apply and reuse knowledge obtained in Notes. This strategy is validated through a software architecture project belonging to the digital printing sector.