CASE stands for Computer Aided Software Engineering.

It means, development and

maintenance of software projects with help of various automated software tools.

CASE Tools

CASE tools are set of software application programs, which are used to automate SDLC activities.
CASE tools are used by software project managers, analysts and engineers to develop software
system.
There are number of CASE tools available to simplify various stages of Software Development
Life Cycle such as Analysis tools, Design tools, Project management tools, Database
Management tools, Documentation tools are to name a few.
Use of CASE tools accelerates the development of project to produce desired result and helps
to uncover flaws before moving ahead with next stage in software development.

Components of CASE Tools

CASE tools can be broadly divided into the following parts based on their use at a particular SDLC
stage:
• Central Repository - CASE tools require a central repository, which can serve as a source
of common, integrated and consistent information. Central repository is a central place
of storage where product specifications, requirement documents, related reports and
diagrams, other useful information regarding management is stored. Central repository
also serves as data dictionary.

• Upper Case Tools - Upper CASE tools are used in planning, analysis and design stages of
SDLC.
 • Lower Case Tools - Lower CASE tools are used in implementation, testing and
maintenance.
• Integrated Case Tools - Integrated CASE tools are helpful in all the stages of SDLC, from
Requirement gathering to Testing and documentation.
CASE tools can be grouped together if they have similar functionality, process activities and
capability of getting integrated with other tools.

Scope of Case Tools

The scope of CASE tools goes throughout the SDLC.

Case Tools Types

Now we briefly go through various CASE tools

Diagram tools

These tools are used to represent system components, data and control flow among various
software components and system structure in a graphical form. For example, Flow Chart Maker
tool for creating state-of-the-art flowcharts.

Process Modeling Tools

Process modeling is method to create software process model, which is used to develop the
software. Process modeling tools help the managers to choose a process model or modify it as
per the requirement of software product. For example, EPF Composer

Project Management Tools

These tools are used for project planning, cost and effort estimation, project scheduling and
resource planning. Managers have to strictly comply project execution with every mentioned
step in software project management. Project management tools help in storing and sharing
project information in real-time throughout the organization. For example, Creative Pro Office,
Trac Project, Basecamp.

Documentation Tools

Documentation in a software project starts prior to the software process, goes throughout all
phases of SDLC and after the completion of the project.
Documentation tools generate documents for technical users and end users. Technical users are
mostly in-house professionals of the development team who refer to system manual, reference
manual, training manual, installation manuals etc. The end user documents describe the
functioning and how-to of the system such as user manual. For example, Doxygen, DrExplain,
Adobe RoboHelp for documentation.

Analysis Tools

These tools help to gather requirements, automatically check for any inconsistency, inaccuracy
in the diagrams, data redundancies or erroneous omissions. For example, Accept 360, Accompa,
CaseComplete for requirement analysis, Visible Analyst for total analysis.

Design Tools

These tools help software designers to design the block structure of the software, which may
further be broken down in smaller modules using refinement techniques. These tools provides
detailing of each module and interconnections among modules. For example, Animated
Software Design

Configuration Management Tools

An instance of software is released under one version. Configuration Management tools deal
with –

• Version and revision management

• Baseline configuration management
• Change control management
CASE tools help in this by automatic tracking, version management and release management.
For example, Fossil, Git, Accu REV.

Change Control Tools

These tools are considered as a part of configuration management tools. They deal with changes
made to the software after its baseline is fixed or when the software is first released. CASE tools
automate change tracking, file management, code management and more. It also helps in
enforcing change policy of the organization.

Programming Tools

These tools consist of programming environments like IDE (Integrated Development

Environment), in-built modules library and simulation tools. These tools provide comprehensive
aid in building software product and include features for simulation and testing. For example,
Cscope to search code in C, Eclipse.

Prototyping Tools
Software prototype is simulated version of the intended software product. Prototype provides
initial look and feel of the product and simulates few aspect of actual product.
Prototyping CASE tools essentially come with graphical libraries. They can create hardware
independent user interfaces and design. These tools help us to build rapid prototypes based on
existing information. In addition, they provide simulation of software prototype. For example,
Serena prototype composer, Mockup Builder.

Web Development Tools

These tools assist in designing web pages with all allied elements like forms, text, script, graphic
and so on. Web tools also provide live preview of what is being developed and how will it look
after completion. For example, Fontello, Adobe Edge Inspect, Foundation 3, Brackets.

Quality Assurance Tools

Quality assurance in a software organization is monitoring the engineering process and methods
adopted to develop the software product in order to ensure conformance of quality as per
organization standards. QA tools consist of configuration and change control tools and software
testing tools. For example, SoapTest, AppsWatch, JMeter.

Maintenance Tools

Software maintenance includes modifications in the software product after it is delivered.

Automatic logging and error reporting techniques, automatic error ticket generation and root
cause Analysis are few CASE tools, which help software organization in maintenance phase of
SDLC. For example, Bugzilla for defect tracking, HP Quality Center.

CASE- The term CASE was originally coined by software company, Nastec Corporation of
Southfield, Michigan in 1982 with their original integrated graphics and text editor GraphiText,
which also was the first microcomputer-based system to use hyperlinks to cross-reference text
strings in documents — an early forerunner of today's web page link. GraphiText's successor
product, DesignAid was the first microprocessor-based tool to logically and semantically evaluate
software and system design diagrams and build a data dictionary. The next entrant into the
market was Excelerator from Index Technology in Cambridge, Mass. While DesignAid ran on
Convergent Technologies and later Burroughs Ngen networked microcomputers, Index launched
Excelerator on the IBM PC/AT platform. While, at the time of launch, and for several years, the
IBM platform did not support networking or a centralized database as did the Convergent
Technologies or Burroughs machines, the allure of IBM was strong, and Excelerator came to
prominence. Hot on the heels of Excelerator were a rash of offerings from companies such as
Knowledgeware, Texas Instrument's IEF and Accenture's FOUNDATION toolset (METHOD/1,
DESIGN/1, INSTALL/1, FCP)
.

Introduction

Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) technologies are tools that provide automated
assistance for software development . The goal of introducing CASE tools is the reduction of the
time and cost of software development and the enhancement of the quality of the systems
developed. The interest in CASE tools and environments is based on expectations about
increasing productivity, improving product quality, facilitating maintenance, and making
software engineers' task less odious and more enjoyable. A survey of the CASE tool
market showed that the annual worldwide market for CASE fools was $4.8 billion in 1990 and
grew to $12.11 billion in 1995. Behind such a prosperous CASE market, however, another result
gained from the real investigation about the use of CASE tools revealed that CASE tools seem to
be sparsely used after being bought in many enterprises.

CASE is the use of computer-based support in the software development process; a CASE tool is
a computer-based product aimed at supporting one or more software engineering activities
within a software development process; a CASE environment is a collection of CASE tools and
other components together with an integration approach that supports most or all of the
interactions that occur among the environment components, and between the users of the
environment and the environment itself.

Are CASE Tools being used?

Many prior studies have reported limited use of CASE tools. In a survey of 53 companies, found
that 39 (73.5%) had never used CASE. Of the 14 companies who had tried CASE, five had
subsequently abandoned use of the tools. People within these fourteen companies believed
that use of CASE tools improved documentation quality, improved analysis, and resulted in
systems that were easier to test and maintain. However, they also found use of CASE tools
difficult and time consuming. In another cross organization survey, found that only 24% of
companies were using CASE tools. In a follow-up survey of thirteen managers who had been
using CASE tools two years earlier, reported that continued CASE use could only be verified for
four managers. The reasons for abandonment included cost, lack of measurable turns, and
unrealistic expectations. Looking within organizations that used CASE tools it was found that
large numbers of their systems developers were not using CASE tools.

Popular features of CASE tools

The term Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) encompasses many different products
with different functionalities. In the International Workshop on Computer-Aided Software
Engineering (IWCASE) definition of CASE very broad terms are used: “...tools and methods to
support engineering approach to systems development at all stages of the process”. When the
term CASE is used, it is important to clarify what is being discussed. Most classifications of CASE
tools start by considering whether the tool is upper CASE, lower CASE, or integrated CASE [3].
An upper CASE tool (front end CASE) provides support for the early stages in the systems
development life cycle such as requirements analysis and design. A lower CASE tool (back end
CASE) provides support for the later stages in the life cycle such as code generation and testing.
Integrated CASE tools support both the early and later stages. Further classifications usually list
which functionalities are supported by the tool, such as data flow diagrams, entity relationships
data models, etc. provides a different type of model of CASE functionality which helps organize
CASE tools.

Automated Diagram Support

CASE Tools offer an excellent array of features that support the development and business
community through its Automated Diagram Support feature. The various popular features that
aid the development community are listed below:
• Checks for syntactic correctness
• Data dictionary support
• Checks for consistency and completeness
• Navigation to linked diagrams
• Layering
• Requirements traceability
• Automatic report generation
• System simulation
• Performance analysis

CASE Tools and its scope

CASE technology is the automation of step by step methodologies for software and system
development. CASE tools are characterized by the stage or stages of software development life
cycle on which they focus. Since different tools covering different stages share common
information, it is required that they integrate through some central repository system (data
dictionary) to have a consistent view of such information. In phases of software development
life cycle integrated through a central data dictionary. Case Tools are used in many ways in our
organizations. Case tools can be broadly classed into these broader areas:
• Requirement Analysis Tool
• Structure Analysis Tool
• Software Design Tool
• Code Generation Tool
 • Test Case Generation Tool
• Document Production Tool
• Reverse Engineering Tool

While many organizations still use the SDLC methodology, it is often supplemented with other
methods. Many systems developers use the CASE tools in various stages of the Software
Development Life Cycle. They mainly use it while developing the following methodologies:
• Life Cycle
• Object-oriented Approach
• Rapid Applications Development (RAD)
• Prototyping
• Joint Applications Development (JAD)

The job of a systems developer may contain requirements analysis, process design, data design,
and programming among other activities. But, not all systems developers do the same
activities. One may spend most of his or her time on analysis; another, on design. The various
activities that the system developers involve include Systems Analysis (including feasibility
studies and requirements definition), Systems Design (including user interface, data, and
process design), Programming (or generating code),
Testing, Supervisory or other management tasks and Maintenance. CASE tools play an
important role in helping the system developers to perform the task efficiently.