The Cradle Core

Cradle Core provides the framework within which all of the other Cradle modules co-exist.

The key features of the Cradle Core are

• Extensible project database/repository
• Third Party Tool Integration
• Full information Cross referencing.
• Integral Configuration Management
• Access & Security Controls
• Text & Graphics Reporters

Project Database

Cradle is built on an Industry Standard Database. Cradle provides the necessary controls ensuring that full concurrent multi-user access of the database is provided to whichever users require it.

The data model is inherently very simple:

• Any object (we call them Items) in the database has some associated attributes (e.g. Name, Owner, Date Of Creation, Date Last Changed etc...) plus a number of frames of information.
• These frames also have associated attributes and can contain either textual data or binary data (e.g. a Binary Large Object or BLOB).
• If the information is a BLOB which has been created by another application then selection of that frame will invoke the application that created it.
• Any number of frames may be associated with an Item and each of the frames can contain a potentially unlimited amount of data.
• A user can create more frames for an existing Item or can create more Items (System Notes).

Third Party Tool Integration

The Cradle data model is very straightforward and it is easy to extend via the creation of additional frames and data items (System Notes) where necessary.

Third party tools can easily be incorporated via the creation of new frame types and subsequent frames which are linked to the third party tools. Selection of the new frame then invokes the Third Party application. These frames can either be assigned to existing information items or new information Items (System Notes) can be created as appropriate.

The information used by the Third Party Tool can either be stored within the Cradle database (and can therefore be under control of the Cradle Configuration Management System) or can be held elsewhere outside of the Cradle system. For control purposes it would normally be recommended that the information be held within the Project Database.

Of course, any third party information linked to the database can be automatically cross referenced to any other information held within Cradle. This provides for full lifecycle traceability at whatever level of detail is deemed appropriate.

Cross Referencing

All projects divide into phases, each using engineering skills to transform the information provided to it into a new set of information as a deliverable. Over time, the project generates a series of such deliverables. Interdependencies exist between and within these sets of information such that:

• Changes to one item may require consequential changes to other items.
• Items in one deliverable must be completely addressed by items in the next deliverable.
• Items in a deliverable relate only to items in previous deliverables, to avoid over
• engineering.

Cross references are the means to link items together to show the dependencies between them. Each cross reference records an association that is as important as the items linked by it, and which must be subject to the same formal controls.

Only Cradle offers a cross referencing capability viable in both the smallest and largest of projects. By reducing effort by three orders of magnitude over less powerful approaches, Cradle ensures projects are engineered precisely to requirements without being crippled by the cross referencing overhead.

Cradle provides bi-directional, many-to-many cross references between all types of information created throughout the project lifecycle.

All cross references have reason, reference, note and rationale attributes, and history information.

Cross references can be used in either direction, to allow dependencies to be studied forwards or backwards through project phases.

Cradle offers three orders of magnitude fewer cross references than other approaches:

• All items contain user defined frame(s) with infinite amounts of any type of information. This
• eliminates the need to cross reference each item to its associated information.
• Requirements engineering includes the use of models whose graphical notations and
• semantics create automatic links without the need for manual cross references.
• Transitive cross referencing means that direct links do not have to be created between items
• to link them.

The productivity gains and savings in upkeep overhead during system change can be dramatic.

Transitive cross referencing means that linking items A and B and B and C also links A and C. In practice, up to 50 cross reference paths may exist between two types of item. Cradle automatically searches all paths to find linked items. Without transitive cross referencing, the only links found are those actually entered. With it, links can be discovered that otherwise would have not been recognised, and so not explicitly created.

Cradle minimises the creation overhead by itself creating cross references whenever possible, such as copying items or capturing requirements from customer source documents.

Cradle also reduces the maintenance overhead by inheriting cross references between formal project baselines and providing impact and consistency analyses throughout the toolset.

Configuration Management

Cradle has a full but yet easy to use integral configuration management system based upon four basic processes:

• Formal Review
  The person responsible for undertaking the work submits it for review once it has been completed.
  Assigned reviewers then review the work electronically and either approve or reject the work.
  The Project manager can review the status of all information.
• Baseline
  Baselines contain information which has been reviewed. Named Baselines can be Open, Closed, and Restored. A Closed baseline reflects the status of the project at the point where the baseline was closed.
  [Note that the information stored in a baseline is identified at the individual data item level rather than a document level which is the way that most Configuration Management Systems have traditionally worked.]
• Formal Change
  A formal change mechanism allows for the raising and monitoring of Change Requests and Change Tasks
• Full Configuration Log
  A large number of standard reports including a Full Configuration Log is available from within the Configuration Management System. They enable organisations to prove their conformance to ISO 9000 and other appropriate standards. Together with other internal processes they can also be used by organisations aspiring to attain the higher level of the Software Engineering Institute's Capability and Maturity Model (SEI CMM).

Access Controls

A number of different but complementary mechanisms exist within the Cradle System to constrain access to information and functions. These mechanisms are controlled by the project administrator or manager or any designated subordinates.

Every project exists within its own database with its own set of access privileges. Groups of people can be assigned to teams and access controls defined for individuals and for specific teams.

Individuals by names and passwords have access to project information. Individuals will have Read Write Access to any information that they have created provided that it is not being used by somebody else. They may have Read/Write, Read-only, or No access to information held by individuals within the same Team or in different teams. They may have restricted access to functions within the Cradle system

A project-specific list of skills can be defined. If a frame's frame type has a skill, only those users whose accounts contain that skill will have access to the frame, even if they have access to all other frames within the item. This can be used to restrict access to sensitive information or, for example, to ensure only electrical engineers can access frames containing wiring schematics.

Security classifications can be placed upon Items of data. Only those people with the appropriate security clearance will be able to access certain items of information

Text & Graphics Reports

Over two thousand different pre-configured reports (both textual and graphical) may be produced using the standard reports provided as an integral part of the Cradle Core.

A number of different printers and plotters are supported included Postscript and PCL.

In addition, the Cradle Document Composer may be used to create bespoke documents containing text, Cradle graphics, and information held within third party applications.

Frames

To fully address the needs of project staff and so that facilities such as configuration management are truly meaningful, a systems engineering environment must accommodate all conceivable forms of information. Comprehension of this data by the environment is not necessary, nor is the ability to transform it. It is sufficient that the environment is able to manipulate the data within the cross referenced framework of other information and be able to invoke tools to operate on the data.

The user defined frame type mechanism within the Cradle environment satisfies this need. In a Cradle project, information is held as items, each consisting of user defined frames. The data within a frame is determined by the type of frame. These frame types are user definable.

This example shows an example set of frames for a Requirement:

• The Text of the Requirement
• 
  
  
• A Document containing information about the requirement
• 
  
  
• A Video or Picture further defining the Requirement
• 
  
  
• Some History of the requirement
• 
  
  
• The Test criteria
• 
  
  
• A cost/benefit analysis Spreadsheet
• 
  
  

A project's repository contains potentially large numbers of items, each with a unique identity and of a particular type, being either a predefined type that is standard across all projects or a user defined type of system note.

All types of item can contain multiple frames, each holding a potentially unlimited amount of information pertaining to some aspect of the item.

By including the commands to operate on the data, frame types can be defined to store arbitrary information, such as CAD drawings, DTP files, spreadsheets, ECAD or MCAD designs, CNC tool data, PROM download files, or documents. This freedom allows a project to store all information within a single repository and also Cradle's Configuration Management System.

Each frame is a named instantiation of a specific frame type. Frame types are representations of the types of data that a project wishes to store in items' frames. Each frame type is defined by:

• The unique name of the frame type
• The base type as either text or Binary Large Object (BLOB)
• A storage mechanism, as one of:
• • In the project database
  • In an external file whose name is held in the project database
  • In some other environment, the frame records commands to retrieve the data from, and store it into, this environment
• Whether frames of the frame type are to be mandatory by default
• An optional skill required to access frames of the frame type
• A set of user defined commands to perform operations on the contents of frames of the
• frame type

The storage mechanism flexibility ensures that a frame type can be defined for any data that is needed by a project, no matter how it is held.

Frame types can be changed even after items are created with frames of this frame type. The frame type details are held with the frame itself in the database. This ensures that changes in the needs of the project do not affect frames created earlier in the lifecycle.

System Notes

All projects create information of numerous types. Much of this information is specific to the needs of the project or required by the organisation's systems engineering process. Some information, such as unit and integration test records, is frequently mandated by the customer.

If a systems or software engineering environment is to offer a single repository capable of holding all such information within an interlinked framework, it is essential that its database is inherently flexible and extensible. Since the project's needs may change over time, the database must be able to adapt over time as well.

Any new information types required by a project are as important as types common to all projects. Any new information must be similarly tightly integrated into the development environment.

This need is satisfied within the Cradle environment by the System Note mechanism.

System notes are the means for projects to create new types of information, for example:

• FEATURES
• DESIGN PROPOSALS
• SYSTEM TEST REPORTS
• INCIDENT REPORTS
• DEVELOPMENT REQUESTS
• PROGRAMMES
• TIMESHEETS
• PROGRESS REPORTS
• MEETING REPORTS

This is an example of a System Note that may be created for a Meeting:

• The Calling Notice could be sent out to find out who was coming
• The Agenda would determine what would be discussed
• The Attendees could be listed
• A Report might be sent out before the meeting and stored against the meeting
• A Presentation(s) might be given
• Presentation Slides (e.g. Powerpoint) might be created and stored in Cradle
• A Video could be taken of the meeting. It could be digitised and stored in the Cradle database
• Finally, an Action List would be produced.

System notes of any type can be cross referenced to each other to create hierarchical information structures, and can be cross referenced to any other items of information, such as requirements.

System notes can be used by all of the essential Cradle tools, including the configuration management system. As such, items of any and all types of system note can be subject to the same formal review, project baseline, and change control mechanisms as other information types.

An unlimited number of types of system note can be created at any time during the project. Once a new type has been defined, an unlimited number of items of that type can be created.

Each type of system note has a user defined structure represented as a set of frames distinct from all other types of system note. These frames can each contain unlimited quantities of any type of information.

With the frame mechanisms, system notes create a project repository capable of storing any and all information generated by all engineering disciplines throughout the project lifecycle.

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