Date of Award

12-1991

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

David R. Luginbuhl, PhD

Abstract

This study investigated the requirement for documentation during the maintenance phase of the software life cycle. Without proper documentation, maintenance personnel are not able to effectively understand the design of a software system and spend many hours performing design recovery before any type of maintenance can be performed. A review of existing information showed a wide range of opinion among the experts in the field of software maintenance and was not conclusive. A survey of Air Force software maintenance personnel was then conducted to determine the need, availability, and tailoring results of the documents listed on DOD-STD 2167A. The analysis of this survey data showed that 11 of the 18 documents are required for maintenance. These include the specifications, design documents, user's manuals and programmer's manuals. Plans, reports and background information should be provided to the management of the maintenance organization for initial planning of the maintenance activity. The only documents deemed not needed during the maintenance phase are those that are eventually incorporated into other documents that will be provided to the maintenance organization. The response to tailoring questions was insufficient and could not be used for a conclusive analysis.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GSS-ENG-91D-9

DTIC Accession Number

ADA246716

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted.

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