1993 Reports

Disconnected Operation in a Multi-User Software Development Environment

Skopp, Peter D.; Kaiser, Gail E.

Software Development Environments have traditionally relied upon a central project database and file repository, accessible to a programmer's workstation via a local area network connection. The introduction of powerful mobile computers has demonstrated the need for a new model, which allows for machines with transient network connectivity to assist programmers in product development. We propose a process-based checkout model by which process and product file that may be needed during a planned period of disconnectivity are pre-fetched with minimal user effort. Rather than selecting each file by hand, which is tedious and error-prone, the user only informs the environment of the portion of the software development process intended to be executed while disconnected. The environment is then responsible for pre-fetching the necessary file. We hope that this approach will enable programmers to continue working on a project without network access.