>On Wed, 06 Oct 1999 16:44:38 +0100, "Peter Hornsby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >wrote: > >Capturing why a change has been made to a given code fragment (or design, >or interface) can be very useful. Gerhard Fischer did some work on this >with a system which captured the contextual rationale for network design >within an organisation, identifying particular 'special cases' and how >these were addressed. My approach to the problem you describe would >capture the 'old' code and the 'new' code together with the relevant design >information about what both code fragments are intended to do - hence we >have 2 alternate solutions. Rather than require the developer to do >additional work to get the potential for reuse, I believe that having a >tool operating in the background which captures design information and >makes suggestions to the developer is more useful (and more likely to be >used when we throw it over the wall!). Pete, Following the discussion on design context, I can add some info derived from my own Ph.D. which provides an alternative point of view. My interest (as you know) lies on design rationale as a source of information that facilitates communication of designs. Although my thesis mostly makes theoretical points on design re-use, as a more practical example I can point to Roger Goodwin's thesis entitled "An integrated framework for representing design history", Loughborough University, 1997 as a source of hints for elements that can provide a good source of design contextual information. Roger has a build a system that claims to guide design evolution through manipulation of argumentative structures, like alternatives, assessments, etc. That's the first attempt -to my knowledge- to tailor design rationale languages to specific design tasks and indeed applications - I personally found it very inspiring. Although the title "design history" may remind a post-hoc approach to design, it certainly provides methodological elements, i.e. ways to decompose complex problems, and it blends the "system" and "rhetorical" perspectives in a single (and realistic) process. Giorgos
