A tool for reusable software component retrieval via normalized specifications

Introduces the concept of reusable software component retrieval using normalized formal specifications. Reusable Ada software components are stored in a software base that supports a rapid prototyping system called CAPS (Computer Aided Prototyping System). Each component in the software base has a corresponding formal specification. A query in the form of a formal specification is used to search for candidate components that satisfy the requirements of the query. The specification languages used are the Prototype System Description Language (PSDL) and OBJ3. Each specification is normalized to facilitate component retrieval. This paper describes the software base model, syntactic and semantic normalization, and the component retrieval mechanisms