CAME

Abstract

In Object-Oriented software development, complexity metrics help software engineers to identify the deficiencies in the design of the software system that are likely to become problem points in the subsequent phases of the SDLC, like testing and maintenance. Metrics for Component Based Software Development (CBSD) have also been proposed by the researchers. Lately the emphasis has been on metrics that are applicable during early phases of the SDLC. The XML Meta Data Interchange (XMI) standard has been implemented in most of the commercial and open source UML tools. It is now possible to automate the metrics extraction procedure right from the UML design documents. Detection of design deficiencies early in the design phase saves a lot of time and effort and results in a more maintainable design. In the present paper, we discuss the design and implementation of a metrics tool for CBSD. We have implemented component based metrics in a parserbased tool, which hereafter we refer to as CAME (Component Assembly Metrics Extraction), to calculate metrics from UML design documents. CAME is capable of generating software metrics proposed by researchers for Component Based Software Systems. We demonstrate our tool using UML component assembly diagrams for a University Case Registration System (UCRS) and its representation in UML and metrics extraction procedure.