Title: Configuration Management Models in Commercial Environments

Author(s): Peter H. Feiler

Number: CMU/SEI-91-TR-7 ESD-9-TR-7

Abstract: A number of advances can be observed in recent commercial software development environments in support of configuration management (CM). These advances include: configurations as managed objects; transparent access to repositories; and, in addition to the familiar checkout/checkin model, three CM models based on configurations. These CM models are the composition model, the long transaction model, and the change set model. Typically, one or two of the models can be found in a system. This report analyzes the models with respect to their potential impact on the software development process, resulting in several observations. Some of the models exist in a number of variations, each impacting the software process differently. CM capabilities can be found not only in CM tools and environment frameworks, but also in development tools. Integration of such tools into environments raises the need for different CM models to interoperate. Therefore, it is desirable to evolve to a unified CM model that encompasses the full range of CM concepts and can be adapted to different process needs.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Checkout/Checkin Model
  • Concepts in the Checkout/Checkin Model
    • Version Branching and Merging
    • Concurrency Control
  • The Checkout/Checkin Model in Use
    • System Structure
    • Developer Work Area
    • Change in Context
    • Concurrent Logical Changes
    • Version and Variant Selection
    • Scopes of Visibility
  • Summary of the Checkout/Checkin Model
• The Composition Model
  • Concepts in the Composition Model
    • System Models and Consistent Configurations
    • Version Selection Rules
    • Configurations as Working Context
  • The Composition Model in Use
    • Versioning of Configurations
    • Evolution and Selection Rules
    • Cooperation Through Shared Work Areas
    • Managing Logical Changes
  • Summary of the Composition Model
• The Long Transaction Model
  • Concepts in the Long Transaction Model
    • Workspaces
    • Workspace Management
    • Concurrency Control Schemes
  • The Long Transaction Model in Use
    • Transactions as Repository
    • Promotion and Propagation of Changes
    • Transactions and Composition
    • Variant Management
  • Summary of the Long Transaction Model
• The Change Set Model
  • The Change Set Concept
    • Version Naming Versus Change Set Naming
    • Change Set Tracking
    • Consistent Combination of Change Sets
  • The Change Set Model in Use
    • Change Set Creation
    • Granularity of Changes
    • Promotion of Changes
    • Support for System Families
    • Distributed Concurrent Change
  • Summary of the Change Set Model
• Summary and Conclusions
• Acknowledgements
• References

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Copyright 2007 by Carnegie Mellon University
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Last Modified: 11 January 2007