TERM PAPER

OF

CSE-314
TOPIC: CASE TOOLS

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Mr. V. Kubera Samrat Abhinav Mahajan

(LECTURER OF CSE/IT) B.Tech-M.Tech (IT)-A

B2702

307007070116

Roll no= 44
 Acknowledgement

First and foremost I would like to thank my teacher Mr. Kubera Samrat, lecturer in Principles
of Software Engineering, Lovely Professional University, who has assigned me this term
paper to bring out my creative capabilities.

I would like to acknowledge the assistance provided to me by the library staff of ‘Lovely
Professional University’ and other facilities provided to us by the university.

A heartfelt gratitude to my friends, for helping me to complete my work in time.

Abhinav Mahajan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 Introduction

 General Defination of CASE

 What is a CASE tool?

 Categories of CASE tools

 Benefits of Computer Assisted tools

 Weakness of CASE

 Applications of CASE tools

 Conclusion

 References
 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays everything has to go faster. Because of the increasing speed of changing market-
demands new products replace old ones much earlier than before, so the development of new
products has to go faster. Thus the production lines have to be developed faster, too. A very
important role in this development is software engineering because many production
processes are 'computer aided', so software has to be designed for this production system. It
seems very important to do the software engineering right and fast. In the past, software
systems were build using traditional development techniques, which relied on hand-coding
applications. Software engineers had to design software without help of computers, by
programming each step at one time. This way is much too costly and time-consuming. In
order to speed up the process the bottlenecks in building software systems are to be found.
This is hard to do because of the increasing role of computers in our society. Technology is
developed further every day, so faster and bigger computers enter the scene. The software
running on these computers can be more extensive because they can handle more information
in the same time, so there is an increasing amount of data to go with it. Finding the right data
out of this increasing amount of information is getting harder and harder, so finding the
bottleneck is harder to do.

To speed up the software system building process, a new concept of designing software is
introduced in the '70s, called Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE).

Some of the most commonly cited benefits of using tools are:

o Improved productivity-through automation of tasks.

o Improved effectiveness- tools suggest procedures leading to the use of more effective
processes that is tools can suggest the right way to approach a task. Effective
decisions about using tools saves resources that is people, time and money.

o Improved quality-because automated tools check for completeness, consistency, and

contradictions.

o Better and more consistent documentation-because the tools make it easier to create
and assemble consistent, high-quality documentation.

To help systems analysts better perform system modeling, the industry developed automated
tools called CASE TOOLS.
General Definition of CASE

Many definitions and descriptions of CASE exist.

CASE is the use of computer-based support in the software development process.

This definition includes all kinds of computer-based support for any of the managerial,
administrative, or technical aspects of any part of a software project.

But over here the CASE refers to:

Computer aided system engineering or “Computer –Aided Software Engineering”.

What Is a CASE Tool?

CASE tools are a class of software that automates many of the activities involved in various
life cycle phases.

(CASE) tools were developed to support the professional system developer and improve their
productivity in the complex task of developing large information systems.

Compilers, structured editors, source-code control systems, and modeling tools are all, strictly
speaking, CASE tools. They keep programmers from having to deal with the naked hardware
and allow them to work in higher-level abstraction in defining a software system that then
will be built.

In the last 15 years or so CASE has become associated with some very specific families of
tools that help define and validate the specification of a system or automate the build process
for that software. The current generations of CASE tools are whole systems of software unto
themselves that comprise many, many tools to help software teams design software much in
the way an architect would plan a building or a downtown area.

There are CASE tools for almost any kind of specialization one can think of, from database
design to data warehousing, from documentation generation to the development of embedded
systems like cell phones and set-top boxes.
Categories of CASE tools:
• Front-End tools
• Back-End tools
• Integrated tools

Tools are generally classified as high –level tools, which refer to analysis and design tasks, or
low-level tools, which refer to those that, assist the conversion of designs into working
computer code. So Automated or CASE tools are typically grouped into the categories as
mentioned below:

Front-end development Back-end development

Challenge:

Integration of front and back

G
Analysis Construction
A Implementation
Design
P

High-level tools Low-level tools

-Analysis tools -Generator tools

-Design tools -Translation tools

-Specification tools -Testing tools

Front and back end development activities

Front End Analysis Tools
Front end analysis tools automate the early activities in the system development process.
Front end tools often support the development of graphic models of systems and processes.
Front end often supports the development of graphic models of system and processes.

Data flow diagrams (DFD) are representative of this type of front end tool.

Example of DFD:
Back End Tools
Back end tools are aimed at assisting the analyst in the formulation of program logic,
processing algorithms, and physical descriptions o data, device interaction etc.

These activities convert software logic design into the actual program code that brings the
application into existence.

Back end tools are often referred to as computer aided programming because of there use for
software construction.

Integrated Tools
Integrated tools seek to link the front and back end activities in a way that automates the
entire process of systems development and, for that matter, the life of the application. High
and low level specifications characterize the kinds of information assembled during front and
back end activities. Currently, however, most tools are not yet integrated. Because typically
there is a gap between front end and back end tools, the analyst must link the different
activities through manual means.

Integrated tools provide an environment that automates key tasks throughout the entire
development process. They span the application life, not just the development process.

They span the application life, not just the development process. While such tools include
both Front-end and back-end capabilities, they also facilitate design, management and
maintenance of code. In addition, they provide an efficient environment for the creation,
storage, management, manipulation, and documentation of systems.
 Low Level Tools

High level Tools • Flowcharts

• DFD’S • Code generators
• Structure Charts
• Third generation languages
• Entity relationship diagrams
• Fourth generation
• Data Structure diagrams languages

• Reusable software

• Prototyping tools

• Specification languages

Software

High and low level development tools

Benefits of Computer Assisted Tools

The benefits that may accrue from the use of such tools are many:
 From a developer’s viewpoint, they provide support for modeling aspects of the
system using a variety of notations and techniques: from diagrams to mathematics and
text, producing prototype code, and even verifying the correctness of the system
design.
 They often allow the creation and management of a central repository of documents
and other artifacts. This is useful both for communication within a development team,
and for project management and decision tracking.
 Importantly, they improve the quality of the development processes by supporting,
and to a large extent enforcing, a standard methodology and sound design principles.
 Forward engineering (code generation)
 Reverse engineering of existing code
 Support for changing levels of abstraction (e.g. from requirements to analysis to
design to code)
 Testing of the consistency and validity of your models
 Synchronization of models with delivered code
 Support for different views and/or potential solutions to a problem
 Generation of documentation

 Decrease Elapsed time: CASE Tools improve speed and reduce the elapsed time
needed to accomplish a development task. An analyst trained in the use of tools is
essential for obtaining acceptable results.
 Automate Tedious task: The development of DFD’S that is an integral part of the
structured analysis method can be very time consuming to automated data flow tools
makes it possible to turn the drawing process over to computer software. They
sometimes automate tedious process of writing system documentation and keeping it
up to date.
 Ensure Consistent procedures: Automating the process will ensure that the
evaluations are performed consistently each and every time.
 Capture System Data: A distinct advantage of many automated systems is the
capture, storage, processing and retrieval of information system details.

Weakness of CASE
 CASE tools also have significant weakness, ranging from reliance on structured
methods to limited scope that threatens to undermine the potential benefits outlined
previously.

 Reliance on Structured methods

Many CASE tools are built on a foundation of structured methodologies and the
traditional system development life cycle. The single feature may be their most
limiting aspect, since not all organizations use structured analysis methods.
Approximately half of all organizations in the United States have used these methods.
Yet, if the organization or the analyst does not use the structured analysis method and
is unwilling to consider its use, the value of CASE will be reduced. In some instances,
analysts will avoid CASE tools altogether.

 Conflicting Use of Diagrams

Tools vary in their use of diagrams. Some are essentially graphic only tools, focusing
on diagrams for input and analysis. These may constrain an organizations normal
development process or an individual’s natural working style.

 Diagrams Not Used

CASE products generally use graphics for modeling and reporting on analysis and
development throughout the system development process.

 Limited Function

Although a tool may generally support several phases of the system development life
cycle or fit with several development methodologies, its primary emphasis may be on
one specific phase or method.

 Limited Scope

Even though many computer based tools include the capabilities of checking
incomplete or inconsistent specifications, virtually no analysis of application
requirement occurs. The scope of development activities associated with current
automated tools are thus quite limited.
APPLICATIONS OF CASE TOOLS

All aspects of the software development life cycle can be supported by software tools, and so
the use of tools from across the spectrum can be described as CASE; from project
management software through tools for business and functional analysis, system design, code
storage, compilers, translation tools, test software, and so on.

However, it is the tools that are concerned with analysis and design, and with using design
information to create parts (or all) of the software product, that are most frequently thought of
as CASE tools. CASE applied, for instance, to a database software product, might normally
involve:

• Modelling business / real world processes and data flow

• Development of data models in the form of entity-relationship diagrams
• Development of process and function descriptions
• Production of database creation SQL and stored procedures.
• Support iterative development process.
• In most of the countries big branches of organizations depends on these CASE tools
for increasing there development process.
• It is used while making a DFD which includes lot of steps to provide more efficiency
to it.
• Using A CASE Tool:

We will use Excelerator as a vehicle to demonstrate how data are entered and reported. This
display screens shown throughout this section are the actual ones you see when sitting in front
of a personal computer running Excelerator software.
 FACILITY FUNCTIONS APPLICATIONS
1.Graphics Draw 6 different *Analyst can see system logic at
types of diagrams various levels of abstraction.
& charts for *Facilitates communication among
analysis/design. team & with clients
2.Xldictionary Accesses to Coordination of all information
Excelerator’s required to build a system Project
core: the project management.
dictionary
Catalog &
maintain data,
processes,
graphs, screens
reports.

3.Screens and Design reports & Prototyping Client feedback.

reports Screens Test
input screens &
reports.
4.Analysis Create modify, Locate errors early in project
print lists of Check for duplicates data.
dictionary
entities. Produce
reports of
project.

To connect two objects, representing the flow of data, the analyst selects the CONNECT
command and points to the two objects to be connected. The connecting lines between objects
can include arrows to indicate the direction of data flow. Excelerator will automatically
determine the path of the connecting lines and the side of each object. Or, the analyst can
create the connection manually. The same procedure applies to all processes, data storage,
and source/sink objects. So this way we use Excelerator to draw the data flow diagram.

• With the CASE tools we can draw any complicated DFD which is difficult to draw
manually.
CONCLUSION:
CASE tools offer a wide range of benefits that can increase the ability of analysis to meet user
requirements. However, organisations in systems development or whether they wish to
modify their methods to obtain CASE benefits. In the end, however, the skills and capabilities
of the analyst remain the most important elements in the development process. Tools assist
but do not replace them.

REFERENCES

www.wikipedia.com

www.google.com

BOOKS

Analysis and Design of Information System by: James A Senn

System Analysis and Design methods by: Jeffrey l. whiten

Software Engineering by: Roger S Pressman