RE: Rose file format (was Re: (ROSE) M in a circle??)

[Angay, Huseyin (Huseyin)** CTR **]

> ----------
> From:         Arne G. Styve[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Reply To:     Arne G. Styve
> Sent:         15 November 2000 16:34
> To:   Peter Lindgren; rose_forum@Rational. Com
> Subject:      RE: Rose file format (was Re: (ROSE) M in a circle??)
> 
> 
> Hello Peter,
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > To: rose_forum@Rational. Com
> > Subject: Rose file format (was Re: (ROSE) M in a circle??)
> >
> >
> >
> > "Arne G. Styve" wrote:
> > >
> > > >From the first moment I started using Rose (1 1/2 years ago),
> > I was very
> > > surprised to see the way the model is stored. How can you
> > possible be able
> > > to ensure a robust environment for your model when using a standard
> flat
> > > textfile to store the model in !!!!
> >
> > Actually, I'm more confident with a text format file
> > than with a binary format. When something is broken
> > it's a lot easier for a technician to see the fault
> > than with a binary format.
> 
> I was thinking more in the line of a real solid database as a repository
> for
> the model and it's elements. The DB-systems are designed initially for
> multiple users accessing the same set of data, so why re-invent the wheel
> ?
> Also todays DB-systems are very stable, and are highly optimized, so speed
> 
So why on earth tools that have been based on repositories since mid to late
eighties are still slow, unreliable and difficult to use? Nobody can say
that they didn't have the time to get their act together.
These people had "serious" CASE tools when Rose was a toy. So you'd think
they would have got there by now.

> should be of now problem. Using a DB as repository, each element in your
> model can be managed (packages, diagrams, classes, even
> associations/relations, attributes and operations if desired). Say you
> want
> to make changes to a diagram in Package A, and not modify any of the
> classes
> in that package. One of the classes beeing Class C. My collegue, say Jo,
> is
> working on another diagram (say a sequence diagram) in Package B, in which
> the Class C is beeing used. While working in the diagram, Jo needs to add
> a
> method to the Class C. What will you do then ??!?!??
> 
Maybe package your model better?
In every situation where I found many people updating a small group of
classes haphazardly, I came across the same problem: churn. It is not easy
to control large projects in a very fine grained fashion.

> "Hi Arne, can you chek in Package A, caus' I need to update Class
> C"......so
> much for configuration management.....
> 
> So my point is: Flatfiles, no matter on which format, I just can't see any
> benefits at all. Greate, you can read the propriatory petal-file, but if I
> wanted to read a 1000 page pice of text (covering 3 classes...), I would
> have preferred a good book instead.
> 
I used to be able to read Rose's file format, not because of some macho or
maso fixation, but because Rose used to mess its files up quite often and
without provocation. Now that Rose is more stable, I'm rapidly losing that
skill -- it's going the same way as my Cobol and good riddance, too.
    I never had the chance to fix things when Paradigm Plus ploughed through
my models and left a tangled mess behind.

> There are other tools, like CoolJex for instance, which do have a
> DB-repository of the kind I would like to see in Rose. Unfortunally (at
> least what I saw of CoolJex when I last had a peak at it), it lacks the
> "Microsoft Syndrome" when it comes to integrateability and
> userfriendliness.....
> 
You've obviously used CoolJex and got good performance out of it. I'd love
to hear your tips, because my experience with its performance has so far
been very, very negative. It may be ok with teams of 10-12, working from the
same location. Bigger teams really have a hard time of it. (Let's not even
mention its usability.)

Now, Rose takes a few minutes or more to load a full model and eats memory
in large gobfuls. But once you have it going (barring the slightly clunky
checkin/checkout process), it's fast. All the so-called repository based
tools start fast then crawl along every time you do a small task like saving
a single diagram or opening a class's definition.


Regards,
Huseyin Angay
Karabash Ltd.
www.karabash.co.uk

Having slagged off a few tools, a disclaimer is probably wise:
None of this represents Lucent's opinion. Lucent is a client.


> So, it's back to the good old: can't have it both is suppose....
> 
> 
> >
> > It's a trade-off between many things, like speed to
> > load a file etc.
> >
> > As a precaution, set the Rose file extensions to be
> > treated as binaries in your CM tool. Then you are
> > not tempted to merge them outside Rose.
> >
> 
> Thanks for the advice Peter :-) Any ideas of how to make Rose a safer
> multiuser tool are highly appreciated :-)
> 
> Regards Arne
> 
> 
> > /Peter
> > --
> > Peter Lindgren                             Bachelor of Computer
> > Engineering
> > ERIEYE C2 Software Design
> http://www.ericsson.com/erisoft
> Get your own AWACS:
> http://www.ericsson.se/microwave/2-Products/erieye.asp
> --- Opinions above, expressed or implicit, are my personal opinons only
> ---
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