Sharing the design information in a distributed concurrent development of large-scale software systems

The paper analyzes the characteristics of the design information in a distributed concurrent development of large-scale software systems, and proposes a method for the classification and management based on the concept of structuredness in terms of structural and temporal characteristics of the design information. With the classification method, we discovered that many pieces of design information involved in the upper processes are semi-structured. To share and manage the semi-structured design information, we developed a wide area information network (WAIN) on our intranet. It was also possible to verify the changes in those pieces of design information requiring a strict change management.