Connecting architecture reconstruction frameworks

A number of standalone tools are designed to help developers understand sof tware systems. These tools operate at different levels of abstraction, from low level source code to software architectures. Although recent proposals have suggested how code-level frameworks can share information, little att ention has been given to the problem of connecting software architecture le vel frameworks. In this paper, we describe the TA Exchange Format (TAXForm) exchange format for frameworks at the software architecture level. By defi ning mappings between TAXForm and formats that are used within existing fra meworks, we show how TAXForm can be used as a "binding glue" to achieve int eroperability between these frameworks without having to modify their inter nal structure. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.