SAVE: Software Architecture Visualization and Evaluation

Fraunhofer SAVE (software architecture visualization and evaluation) is a tool for analyzing and optimizing the architecture of implemented software systems. SAVE is a joint development between Fraunhofer IESE (Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE in Kaiserslautern, Germany) and Fraunhofer Center Maryland (Center for Experimental Software Engineering in College Park, Maryland, USA). In this work we describe the capabilities of the tool to assure compliance of existing systems with their architecture. In particular, we show how compliance checking features of SAVE work to assure compliance with structural and behavioral architectural views, to assure compliance among variants in a product line context, and to incorporate constructive compliance checking to enable built-in compliance during development and evolution.