Design information management system, and design information management method

Abstract

To identify the location of a factor of mismatching among specifications.SOLUTION: A design information management system comprises a specifications check system and a specifications storage system. The specifications check system comprises a mismatching check unit which checks mismatching when specifications are combined, a mismatching factor location identification unit, and a data input / output unit which outputs a check result by the mismatching check unit and an identified result of the mismatching factor location identification unit. The mismatching factor location identification unit refers to a first element in a first source code created on the basis of first specifications, a second element in a second source code created on the basis of second specifications, and a combination of verified third specifications and verified fourth specifications, and identifies the location of a factor of mismatching generated in the combination of the first specifications and the second specifications, on the basis of relation between the first element in the first source code of an old version created on the basis of the third specifications and a second element in the second source code of the old version created on the basis of the fourth specifications.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a design information management system and a design information management method for detecting inconsistencies between software-related specifications. [Background technology]

[0002] In large-scale software development, inconsistencies may arise between multiple software specifications, and it is necessary to detect and correct such inconsistencies early in the development process.

[0003] As a background technique in this field, there is Patent Document 1 (International Publication No. 2015 / 145556). Patent Document 1 discloses a software specification inter-consistency verification device having a specification structure analysis unit that acquires a corresponding software specification and extracts each specification item whose relative position in the software specification is set in advance according to the hierarchical structure, a specification item matching unit that uses a matching rule that describes a dependency relationship that should be established between corresponding specification items to determine whether or not there is a dependency relationship between each specification item, a dependency information generation unit that extracts dependency information that specifies a combination of specification items that is determined to have a dependency relationship, a dependency verification unit that determines whether the consistency condition is satisfied based on the dependency information extracted by a verification rule including a consistency condition that should be satisfied for a combination of specific specification items, and outputs the dependency relationship as inconsistency information if it is determined that the consistency condition is not satisfied, and a verification result visualization unit that outputs the inconsistency information by a predetermined user interface. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2015 / 145556 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Generally, when software is created by combining multiple source codes, a design document is created for each source code, and the consistency between the design documents is checked. In addition, when design documents created by multiple suppliers are mutually referenced or combined to create a single design document, the consistency of the contents between the combined design documents is checked. The supplier who created the design document thought to be the cause of the detected inconsistency is then notified of the inconsistency and asked to resolve it. At this time, the person in charge refers to the old version of the design document to identify the cause of the inconsistency.

[0006] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for verifying dependencies between specifications, but does not consider a method for identifying the cause of an inconsistency when an inconsistency is detected, or a method for reducing the effort required to identify the cause of the inconsistency.

[0007] The present invention aims to identify the cause of an inconsistency between design documents and provide information for eliminating the inconsistency. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, for example, the configuration described in the claims is adopted. The present application includes a plurality of means for solving the above problem, and an example thereof is a design information management system comprising a design document check system for checking inconsistencies in cross-references of combinations of design documents and identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency, and a design document storage system for storing design documents, the design document check system having an inconsistency check unit for checking inconsistencies when the design documents are combined, an inconsistency cause location identification unit for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency, and a data input / output unit for outputting the check result by the inconsistency check unit and the identification result by the inconsistency cause location identification unit, The inconsistency cause location identification unit refers to a first element in a first source code created based on a first design document, a second element in a second source code created based on a second design document, and a combination of a verified third design document and a verified fourth design document, and identifies the location of a cause of inconsistency that occurs in the combination of the first design document and the second design document based on a relationship between a first element in an old version of the first source code created based on the third design document and a second element in an old version of the second source code created based on the fourth design document. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to identify the cause of an inconsistency in a design document. Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a design information management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram showing a data flow in the design information management system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 11 is a flowchart for identifying the location of the cause of inconsistency when there is inconsistency in overlapping definitions in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4]13 is a flowchart for identifying the location of the cause of inconsistency when there is an undefined inconsistency in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 13 is a flowchart for identifying the location of the cause of inconsistency when there is an unreferenced inconsistency in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence between conditions for identifying the location of a cause of inconsistency and results in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when importing a design document according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when checking for inconsistencies in a design document according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when identifying the location of the cause of inconsistency in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a design information management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when a list of causes of inconsistency by supplier is output in the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a data flow diagram showing a data flow in a design information management system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0012] <Example 1> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a design information management system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] The design information management system of this embodiment checks for inconsistencies in a design document and enables the location of the cause of the inconsistency to be identified. The design information management system is composed of three systems: an end user terminal 101, a design document check system 104, and a design document information storage system 110. The design document check system 104 and the design document information storage system 110 are configured on a server 103. The end user terminal 101 and the server 103 are connected via a network 109. Note that the design document check system 104 and the design document information storage system 110 may be constructed on different servers.

[0014] The design document information storage system 110 has a design document element definition database 111, a design document element reference database 112, a design document combination database 113, and a design document basic information database 114. The design document element definition database 111 is a database system that stores element definition information 203 of a design document. The design document element reference database 112 is a database system that stores element reference information 204 of a design document. The design document combination database 113 is a database system that stores combination information of design documents (e.g., hierarchical relationships between design documents, etc.). The design document basic information database 114 is a database system that stores basic information of design documents. The design document basic information is, for example, information on the supplier who created the design document, attribute information of the design document, and version information of the design document.

[0015] The design document check system 104 has a data input unit 108, an inconsistency check unit 107, an inconsistency cause location identification unit 106, and a data output unit 105. The data input unit 108 accepts data from the end user terminal 101 via a network 109. The inconsistency check unit 107 checks for inconsistencies in the data accepted by the data input unit 108, and outputs the inconsistencies and the causes of the inconsistencies.

[0016] Here is an example of a design document inconsistency: When design documents A and B are combined, if variable X is defined in both design documents A and B, the definition of variable X in design document A will be inconsistent with the definition of variable X in design document B, since the definition of variable X is not unique in the combination of design documents A and B.

[0017] Here is an example of checking for inconsistencies in design documents. When design documents A and B, which define variable X, are combined, a check is made to see if variable X is also defined in design document B. If variable X is also defined in design document B, it is determined that there is an inconsistency in the combination of design documents A and B, since the definition of variable X is not unique in the combination of design documents A and B. Whether the cause of this inconsistency lies in design document A, design document B, or the combination of them is identified by inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106, which will be described later.

[0018] The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 identifies the location of the inconsistency cause by referring to the design document information storage system 110. The data output unit 105 outputs the location of the inconsistency cause identified by the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 to the end user terminal 101 via the network 109.

[0019] The server 103 of this embodiment is configured by a computer having a processor (CPU), a memory, an auxiliary storage device, and a communication interface. The server 103 may have an input interface and an output interface.

[0020] The processor is a calculation device that executes programs stored in the memory. The processor executes various programs to realize the functions of each functional unit of the server 103 (e.g., data output unit 105, inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106, inconsistency check unit 107, data input unit 108, etc.). Note that some of the processes performed by the processor by executing the programs may be executed by other calculation devices (e.g., hardware such as ASIC and FPGA).

[0021] Memory includes ROM, which is a non-volatile storage element, and RAM, which is a volatile storage element. ROM stores unchanging programs (e.g., BIOS), etc. RAM is a high-speed, volatile storage element such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and temporarily stores programs executed by a processor and data used when executing the programs.

[0022] The auxiliary storage device is, for example, a large-capacity, non-volatile storage device such as a magnetic storage device (HDD) or a flash memory (SSD). The auxiliary storage device also stores data used by the processor when executing a program, and the program executed by the processor. That is, the program is read from the auxiliary storage device, loaded into the memory, and executed by the processor to realize each function of the server 103.

[0023] The communication interface is a network interface device that controls communications with other devices according to a predetermined protocol.

[0024] The input interface is an interface that receives input from a user, such as a keyboard or a mouse. For example, the input interface receives input of a file in which cost data is recorded and stored in an auxiliary storage device. The input interface may also provide a GUI and receive input of cost data from a user.

[0025] The output interface is an interface that outputs the execution result of a program in a format that can be viewed by a user, such as a display device or a printer. For example, in the server 103 of this embodiment, the output interface outputs the execution result of the program. The output interface may also be a data output port that outputs the execution result of the program in a format that can be viewed by a user.

[0026] Note that a terminal connected to the server 103 via the network 109 may provide the input interface and the output interface.

[0027] The programs executed by the processor are provided to the server 103 via a removable medium (such as a CD-ROM or a flash memory) or a network 109, and are stored in a non-volatile auxiliary storage device that is a non-transitory storage medium. For this reason, the server 103 may have an interface for reading data from the removable medium.

[0028] The server 103 is a computer system configured on one physical computer, or on multiple logically or physically configured computers, and may operate on a virtual computer constructed on multiple physical computer resources. For example, the design document check system 104 and the design document information storage system 110 may operate on separate physical or logical computers, or may be combined to operate on a single physical or logical computer.

[0029] The end user terminal 101 has a data input / output unit 102. The data input / output unit 102 receives operations from a user and transmits / receives various data to / from a design document check system 104 via a network 109. The data input / output unit 102 is generally implemented as application software.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a data flow diagram showing the flow of data in the design information management system of this embodiment.

[0031] The end user terminal 101 transmits design document information and design document combination data to the inconsistency check unit 107. The inconsistency check unit 107 checks for inconsistencies in the design document. Inconsistencies are classified into three categories according to their contents: overlapping definition, undefined, and unreferenced.

[0032] For the three categories of inconsistencies, examples are given for when design document A and design document B are combined.

[0033] If variable X is defined in both design document A and design document B, there is an inconsistency between design documents A and B because the definition of variable X is not unique in the combination of design documents A and B. This type of inconsistency is classified as a duplicate definition inconsistency.

[0034] If design document A references variable X, and variable X is not defined in either design document A or design document B, the definition of variable X cannot be obtained, and there is an inconsistency between design documents A and B. This type of inconsistency is classified as an undefined inconsistency.

[0035] If a variable X is defined in design document A and is not referenced in either design document A or design document B, there is an inconsistency between design documents A and B because there is no need to define variable X. This type of inconsistency is classified as an unreferenced inconsistency.

[0036] The inconsistency check unit 107 transmits the inconsistency check result to the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 as inconsistency data.

[0037] The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 identifies the location of the cause of the inconsistency by using the old version information of the design document and the old version information of the combination of the design documents read from the design document information storage system 110. Next, the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 transmits the identification result data of the identified cause location to the end user terminal 101. Note that the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 has three identification flows corresponding to the three classifications of inconsistency (duplicate definition, undefined, unreferenced) in order to identify the location of the cause of the inconsistency. Each of the three identification flows will be described later with reference to Figures 3, 4, and 5.

[0038] An example of a flowchart for identifying the location of the cause of inconsistency in the case of inconsistency in duplicated definitions in the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Note that the processes of S301 to S305 are executed by the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106. Here, in the case of a combination of design documents A, B, and C, in which a variable X is defined in both design documents A and B and there is an inconsistency in duplicated definitions, an example is shown in which the location of the cause of inconsistency is identified using the old version of design document A, the old version of design document B, the old version of design document C, and the old version of the combination thereof. Note that in this example, variable X is the duplicated element in Fig. 2.

[0039] The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 first reads element definition information 203 of the old version of design document A, the old version of design document B, and the old version of design document C from the design document information storage system 110. Next, the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 reads information 205 of the old version of the combination from the design document information storage system 110, and starts processing to identify the location of the inconsistency cause.

[0040] Step S301: The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 determines whether or not the variable X is defined in the old version of the design document A, using the element definition information 203 of the old version of the design document A in which the inconsistency has occurred, read from the design document information storage system 110. If the variable X is not defined in the old version of the design document A, it is presumed that the cause is a change in the definition of the variable X between the old and new versions of the design document A, and the process of S303 is executed. If the variable X is defined in the old version of the design document A, the process of step S302 is executed.

[0041] Step S302: The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 determines whether or not a variable X is defined in the old version of design document B, using the element definition information 203 of the old version of design document B read from the design document information storage system 110. If the variable X is defined in the old version of design document B, the process of step S305 is executed. If the variable X is not defined in the old version of design document B, it is presumed that the cause is a change in the definition of variable X between the old and new versions of design document B or design document C, and the process of step S304 is executed.

[0042] Step S303: From the judgment result of step S301, it is determined that the cause of the inconsistency is the newly defined variable X in the design document A, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits the cause location identification result information 206 for the inconsistency in the design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0043] Step S304: From the result of the judgment in step S302, it is determined that there is a cause of inconsistency in which variable X is newly defined in design document B or design document C that was referenced in the old version of the combination, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits cause location identification result information 206 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0044] Step S305: From the judgment result of step S302, it is determined that there is a cause of inconsistency in the combination of design document A and design document B, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits cause location identification result information 206 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0045] The process of identifying the location of the cause of inconsistency in the case of overlapping definitions is completed by outputting the identification results shown in steps S303, S304, and S305.

[0046] With reference to Fig. 4, an example of a flowchart for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency in the case of an undefined inconsistency in the first embodiment will be described. The processes of S401 to S405 are executed by the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106. Here, in a combination of design documents A, B, and C, when a variable X referenced in design document A is an undefined inconsistency that is not defined in any of design documents A, B, and C, an example is shown in which the location of the cause of the inconsistency is identified using the old version of design document A, the old version of design document B, the old version of design document C, and the old version of the combination thereof. In this example, variable X is an undefined element in Fig. 2.

[0047] The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 first reads element definition information 203 and element reference information 204 of each of the old versions of design document A, design document B, and design document C from the design document information storage system 110. Next, the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 reads information 205 of the old version of the combination from the design document information storage system 110, and starts processing to identify the location of the inconsistency cause.

[0048] Step S401: The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 determines whether or not the variable X is referenced in the old version of the design document A, using the element reference information 204 of the old version of the design document A in which an inconsistency has occurred, read from the design document information storage system 110. If the variable X is not referenced in the old version of the design document A, it is presumed that the cause is a change in the reference of the variable X between the old and new versions of the design document A, and the process of step S403 is executed. If the variable X is referenced in the old version of the design document A, the process of step S402 is executed.

[0049] Step S402: The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 uses the information 205 of the old version of the combination read from the design document information storage system 110 to determine whether or not a design document that defined variable X in the old version of the combination is combined. If a design document that defined variable X in the old version of the combination is combined in the combination, that is, the same design document as the old version of the combination is combined, it is estimated that the cause is a change in the definition of variable X between the old and new versions of design document B or design document C, and the process of S405 is executed. If a design document that defined variable X in the old version of the combination is not combined in the combination, that is, a design document different from the old version of the combination is combined, the process of step S404 is executed.

[0050] Step S403: From the judgment result of step S401, it is determined that the cause of the inconsistency is that variable X has not been newly referenced in design document A, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits the cause location identification result information 207 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0051] Step S404: From the judgment result of step S402, it is determined that there is a cause of inconsistency in the combination of design document A and design document B, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits cause location identification result information 207 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0052] Step S405: From the result of the judgment in step S402, it is determined that the cause of the inconsistency is that variable X is not defined in design document B or design document C, which was defined in the old version of the combination, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits the cause location identification result information 207 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0053] The process of identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency in the undefined case is completed by outputting the identification results shown in steps S403, S404, and S405.

[0054] With reference to Fig. 5, an example of a flowchart for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency in the case of an unreferenced inconsistency in the first embodiment will be described. The processes of S501 to S505 are executed by the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106. Here, in a combination of design documents A, B, and C, when a variable X defined in design document A is an unreferenced inconsistency that is not referenced in any of design documents A, B, and C, an example is shown in which the location of the cause of the inconsistency is identified using the old version of design document A, the old version of design document B, the old version of design document C, and the old version of the combination thereof. In this example, variable X is an unreferenced element in Fig. 2.

[0055] The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 first reads element definition information 203 and element reference information 204 of each of the old versions of design document A, design document B, and design document C from the design document information storage system 110. Next, the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 reads information 205 of the old version of the combination from the design document information storage system 110, and starts processing to identify the location of the inconsistency cause.

[0056] Step S501: The inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 determines whether or not the variable X is defined in the old version of the design document A, using the element definition information 203 of the old version of the design document A in which the inconsistency has occurred, read from the design document information storage system 110. If the variable X is not defined in the old version of the design document A, it is presumed that the cause is a change in the definition of the variable X between the old and new versions of the design document A, and the process of step S503 is executed. If the variable X is defined in the old version of the design document A, the process of step S502 is executed.

[0057] Step S502: Using the information 205 of the old version of the combination that the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 reads from the design document information storage system 110, it is determined whether or not a design document that referenced variable X in the old version of the combination has been combined. If a design document that referenced variable X in the old version of the combination has been combined in the combination, that is, if the same design documents as in the old version of the combination have been combined, it is estimated that the cause is a change in the reference to variable X between the old and new versions of design document B or design document C, and the process of S505 is executed. If a design document that referenced variable X in the old version of the combination has not been combined, that is, if a design document different from the old version of the combination has been combined, the process of step S504 is executed.

[0058] Step S503: From the judgment result of step S501, it is determined that the cause of the inconsistency is the newly defined variable X in design document A, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits the cause location identification result information 208 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0059] Step S504: From the judgment result of step S502, it is determined that there is a cause of inconsistency in the combination of design document A and design document B, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits cause location identification result information 208 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0060] Step S505: From the result of the judgment in step S502, it is determined that the cause of the inconsistency is that variable X is not referenced in design document B or design document C, which were referenced in the old version of the combination, and the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 transmits cause location identification result information 208 for the inconsistency in design document A to the end-user terminal 101.

[0061] With the output of the identification results shown in steps S503, S504, and S505, the process of identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency in the unreferenced case is completed.

[0062] 6 shows an example of the correspondence between the identifying conditions and the identifying results when the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 identifies the location of the inconsistency cause. The identifying result 603 is identified by identifying condition A 602a and identifying condition B 602b for the cause location according to the inconsistency classification 601.

[0063] An example of a user operation in the design information management system of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0064] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when a user imports a design document on a design document check screen 701 output by the data input / output unit 102 of the end-user terminal 101. As shown in FIG.

[0065] When the user inputs a combination name in a combination name input field 702 , selects a folder in which the design documents are placed in a folder input field 703 , and operates a design document import button 704 , a list of the design documents is displayed in a design document list area 710 .

[0066] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when a user checks for inconsistencies in a design document on the design document check screen 701 output by the data input / output unit 102 of the end-user terminal 101. As shown in FIG.

[0067] When the user operates the inconsistency check button 705 , the inconsistency check unit 107 executes processing, and the results of the inconsistency check are displayed in the inconsistency list area 801 .

[0068] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when the user specifies the location of the cause of the inconsistency on the design document check screen 701 output by the data input / output unit 102 of the end-user terminal 101.

[0069] When the user operates the cause location identification button 706 , the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 executes processing, and the result of identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency is displayed in the inconsistency cause location identification list area 901 .

[0070] An example of a process for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency in the first embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The example illustrates a case where inconsistencies are checked for design documents A, B, C, and their combinations, and the location of the cause of the inconsistency is identified.

[0071] When the user specifies a folder in which design documents A, B, and C are stored in the folder input field 703 in Figure 7 and operates the design document import button 704, the end-user terminal 101 sends design document A information 201a, design document B information 201b, and design document C information 201c to the inconsistency checking unit 107.

[0072] When the user operates the inconsistency check button 705 in Figure 8, the inconsistency check unit 107 checks for inconsistencies between design document A, design document B, and design document C, and generates inconsistency information 209 of overlapping definitions, inconsistency information 210 of undefined definitions, and inconsistency information 211 of unreferenced inconsistency information for each of design documents A, B, and C.

[0073] As an example of a method for checking inconsistencies, a case where an inconsistency of overlapping definitions, an inconsistency of undefined definitions, and an inconsistency of unreferenced will be checked will be illustrated.

[0074] The inconsistency check unit 107 first reads combination information of the design documents from the end user terminal 101. Then, it reads information on the design documents (in this example, design document A, design document B, and design document C) corresponding to the read combination from the end user terminal 101. The design document information includes an element identifier (such as an element name), a relationship between the design document and the element (whether the design document defines the element or references the element), and an attribute of the element (whether it is subject to inconsistency check or not).

[0075] The attributes of each element in the read design documents A, B, and C are referenced, and if any are subject to inconsistency checking, the next check process is carried out.

[0076] First, the element to be checked is checked for inconsistencies in duplicate definitions. If the element to be checked is defined in multiple design documents, it is determined that there is an inconsistency in duplicate definitions, and duplicate definition inconsistency information 209 is generated. For example, if the element to be checked is referenced in design document A but is not defined in design documents B and C, it is determined that there is an inconsistency in duplicate definitions.

[0077] Next, the element to be checked is checked for an undefined inconsistency. If the element to be checked is referenced in any design document and is not defined in any of the design documents, it is determined to be an undefined inconsistency, and undefined inconsistency information 210 is generated. For example, if the element to be checked is referenced in design document A and is not defined in design document B and design document C, it is determined to be an undefined inconsistency.

[0078] Finally, the element to be checked is checked for an inconsistency of not being referenced. If the element to be checked is defined in any design document and not referenced in any design document, it is determined to be an inconsistency of not being referenced, and unreferenced inconsistency information 211 is generated. For example, if the element to be checked is defined in design document A and not referenced in design document B and design document C, it is determined to be an inconsistency of not being referenced.

[0079] If the inconsistency check by the inconsistency check unit 107 determines that there is no inconsistency, the inconsistency information is not generated.

[0080] When the user operates the cause location identification button 706 in FIG. 9, the inconsistency check unit 107 transmits the inconsistency information 209 of overlapping definitions, the inconsistency information 210 of undefined inconsistencies, and the inconsistency information 211 of unreferenced inconsistencies, respectively, for design document A, design document B, and design document C, to the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106.

[0081] The inconsistency cause location identification unit 106, which receives each piece of information from the inconsistency check unit 107, first identifies the location of the cause of the inconsistency using the old version's element definition information 203 and old version's element reference information 204 of each of the design documents A, B, and C read from the design document information storage system 110, and the combined old version's information 205.

[0082] Next, the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106 transmits, via the data input unit 108, to the end user terminal 101, information 206 on the identification result of the cause location for the inconsistency of overlapping definitions in each of the design documents A, B, and C, information 207 on the identification result of the cause location for the undefined inconsistency, and information 208 on the identification result of the cause location for the unreferenced inconsistency. As shown in Fig. 9, the information 206-208 on the identification result of the cause location for the inconsistency transmitted to the end user terminal 101 includes the name of the design document in which the inconsistency occurs, the classification of the inconsistency, the element in which the inconsistency occurs, the identification result of the cause location of the inconsistency (cause, higher-level design document), and the basis for identifying the cause location of the inconsistency (the determination result of the logic that determined the location of the cause).

[0083] The end-user terminal 101 displays the result information 206 of identifying the cause location for an inconsistency due to overlapping definitions, the result information 207 of identifying the cause location for an inconsistency due to undefined inconsistencies, and the result information 208 of identifying the cause location for an inconsistency due to unreferenced inconsistencies received from the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 in the inconsistency cause location identification list area 901 on the design document check screen 701.

[0084] As described above, according to the design information management system of the first embodiment, it is possible to check for inconsistencies in a design document and identify the location of the cause of the inconsistency.

[0085] <Example 2> Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 10, Fig. 11, and Fig. 12. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the design document check system 104 in the system configuration has a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generation unit 1001. Other configurations and processes are the same as those of the first embodiment, so their description will be omitted.

[0086] In this embodiment, the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generating unit 1001 outputs a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202 in order to instruct the supplier who created the design document or combination of design documents that is the cause of the inconsistency to resolve the inconsistency.

[0087] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the configuration of a design information management system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0088] The design information management system of the second embodiment is composed of three systems: an end-user terminal 101, a design document check system 104, and a design document information storage system 110. The design document information storage system 110 has a design document element definition database 111, a design document element reference database 112, a design document combination database 113, and a design document basic information database 114. The design document check system 104 has a data input unit 108, an inconsistency check unit 107, an inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106, a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generating unit 1001, and a data output unit 105. The supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generating unit 1001 generates and outputs a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202. The other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment described above.

[0089] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an operation screen when the user outputs a list of causes of inconsistencies by supplier on the design document check screen 701 output by the data input / output unit 102 of the end-user terminal 101. As shown in FIG.

[0090] When the user operates the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list output button 1101 , the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generation unit 1001 executes processing and outputs a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202 .

[0091] FIG. 12 is a data flow diagram showing the flow of data in the design information management system of this embodiment.

[0092] An example of a process for outputting the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 12. A case in which the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202 is output for a combination of design documents A, B, and C will be illustrated.

[0093] After the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 has identified the inconsistency cause through the process described in the first embodiment, when the user operates supplier-specific inconsistency cause list output button 1101 in FIG. 11 , the inconsistency cause location identification unit 106 sends to the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generation unit 1001 the identification result information 206 of the cause location for the inconsistency of overlapping definitions in each of design documents A, B, and C, the identification result information 207 of the cause location for the undefined inconsistency, and the identification result information 208 of the cause location for the unreferenced inconsistency.

[0094] When the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generating unit 1001 receives various data from the inconsistency cause location identifying unit 106, it reads the design document, combination and supplier association data 1201 from the design document information storage system 110, creates a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202, and outputs it to the end user terminal 101 via the data input unit 108. The supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202 sent to the end user terminal 101 includes, for each supplier, the name of the design document in which the inconsistency has occurred, the classification of the inconsistency, the element in which the inconsistency has occurred, the identification result of the location of the cause of the inconsistency (cause, higher-level design document), and the basis for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency (the determination result of the logic that determined the location of the cause) (see FIG. 9).

[0095] As described above, according to the design information management system of the second embodiment, the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generation unit 1001 can create and output the supplier-specific inconsistency cause list 1202 in order to instruct the supplier who created the design document or combination of design documents that is the cause of the inconsistency to resolve the inconsistency, and the location of the cause of the inconsistency can be identified.

[0096] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modified examples and equivalent configurations within the spirit of the appended claims. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the configurations described. Furthermore, a part of the configuration of one embodiment may be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment. Furthermore, the configuration of another embodiment may be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, a part of the configuration of each embodiment may be added, deleted, or replaced with another configuration.

[0097] In addition, each of the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in hardware, for example by designing some or all of them as an integrated circuit, or may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

[0098] Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in a storage device such as a memory, a hard disk, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or in a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0099] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines necessary for implementation. In reality, it can be considered that almost all components are connected to each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0100] 101 End user terminal 102 Data input / output section 103...Server 104 Design document check system 105 Data output section 106... Inconsistency factor location identification unit 107 Inconsistency check section 108 Data input section 109 Network 110 Design document information storage system 111...Design document element definition database 112 Design document element reference database 113 Design document combination database 114···Design Document Basic Information Database 201a...Design document A information 201b...Design B information 201c...Design C information 203, 204: Element reference information for previous versions of design documents 205···Combination old version information 206... Information on the result of identifying the cause of inconsistent data with duplicate definitions 207... Information on the result of identifying the cause of undefined inconsistent data 208... Information on the result of identifying the cause of unreferenced inconsistent data 209...Inconsistent information on duplicate definitions 210...Undefined inconsistent information 211...Unreferenced inconsistent information

Claims

1. A design information management system, A design document checking system that checks for inconsistencies in cross-references between design document combinations and identifies the causes of the inconsistencies; A design document storage system for storing the design document, The design document checking system includes: An inconsistency check unit that checks for inconsistencies when the design documents are combined; an inconsistency cause location identifying unit that identifies the cause of the inconsistency; a data input / output unit that outputs a check result by the inconsistency check unit and an identification result by the inconsistency cause identification unit; a first element in a first source code created based on a first design document, a second element in a second source code created based on a second design document, and a combination of a verified third design document and a verified fourth design document, and identifies the location of a cause of inconsistency that occurs in the combination of the first design document and the second design document based on a relationship between a first element in an old version of the first source code created based on the third design document and a second element in an old version of the second source code created based on the fourth design document.

2. 2. The design information management system according to claim 1, A design information management system characterized in that the information output by the data input / output unit includes the name of the design document in which the inconsistency occurs, a classification of the inconsistency, the element in which the inconsistency occurs, the result of identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency, and the basis for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency.

3. 2. The design information management system according to claim 1, The design document check system includes a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generating unit that generates a list of inconsistency causes for each supplier, a supplier-specific inconsistency cause list generation unit that generates information for each supplier to instruct a supplier that created a design document or a combination of design documents that is a cause of an inconsistency to resolve the inconsistency based on the results identified by the inconsistency cause location identification unit, the design documents stored in the design document storage system, and information relating the design documents to suppliers.

4. 4. The design information management system according to claim 3, A design information management system characterized in that the information for instructing the resolution of an inconsistency output by the data input / output unit includes, for each supplier, the design document in which the inconsistency occurs, a classification of the inconsistency, the element in which the inconsistency occurs, the result of identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency, and the basis for identifying the location of the cause of the inconsistency.

5. 2. The design information management system according to claim 1, The third design document is a design document whose consistency has been verified with an older version of the first design document, The fourth design document is a design document whose consistency has been verified with an older version of the second design document.

6. 6. The design information management system according to claim 5, The inconsistency cause identifying unit is classifying an inconsistency occurring when the first element is defined in both the first design document and the second design document as a duplicate definition of an element; classifying a case where the first element is not defined in either the first design document or the second design document, but the first element is referenced in the first design document, as an element being undefined; classifying a case in which the first element is defined in the first design document but is not referenced in either the first design document or the second design document as an element not being referenced; A design information management system characterized in that a cause of the inconsistency is identified under conditions corresponding to the inconsistencies of the three categories.

7. 7. The design information management system according to claim 6, Regarding the inconsistency of the above overlapping definitions, The inconsistency cause identifying unit is If the overlapping element is not defined in the old version of the first design document, it is determined that the first design document is the cause of the inconsistency; If the overlapping element is defined in the old version of the first design document and is not defined in the old version of the second design document, it is determined that the second design document is the cause of the inconsistency; a design information management system that determines that there is a cause of inconsistency in the combination of the first design document and the second design document if an overlapping element is defined in an older version of the first design document and an older version of the second design document.

8. 7. The design information management system according to claim 6, Regarding the undefined inconsistency, The inconsistency cause identifying unit is If the undefined element is not referenced in the old version of the first design document, it is determined that the first design document is the cause of the inconsistency; If an undefined element is referenced in the old version of the first design document and a design document different from the combination of the old version of the design document is combined, it is determined that there is a cause of inconsistency in the combination of the design documents; A design information management system characterized in that, if an undefined element is referenced in an older version of the first design document and the same design documents are combined as in the combination of the older versions of the design documents, it is determined that the second design document contains a cause of inconsistency.

9. 7. The design information management system according to claim 6, Regarding the unreferenced inconsistency, The inconsistency check unit If the unreferenced element is not defined in the old version of the first design document, it is determined that the first design document is the cause of the inconsistency; If an unreferenced element is defined in an old version of the first design document and a design document different from the combination of the old version of the design document is combined, it is determined that there is a cause of inconsistency in the combination of the first design document and the second design document; A design information management system characterized in that, if an unreferenced element is defined in an older version of the first design document and the same design documents are combined as in the combination of the older versions of the design documents, it is determined that the second design document contains a cause of inconsistency.

10. A design information management method executed by a design document check system, comprising: The design document checking system is configured by a computer having a computing device that executes a predetermined calculation process and a storage device that can be accessed by the computing device, The design information management method includes: an inconsistency check procedure in which the arithmetic device checks for inconsistencies when combining design documents; a step of identifying the cause of the inconsistency by the computing device; the arithmetic device has a data input / output procedure for outputting a check result in the inconsistency check procedure and a determination result in the inconsistency cause location determination procedure; a first element in a first source code created based on a first design document, a second element in a second source code created based on a second design document, and a combination of a verified third design document and a verified fourth design document, and identifies the location of a cause of inconsistency that occurs in the combination of the first design document and the second design document based on a relationship between a first element in an old version of the first source code created based on the third design document and a second element in an old version of the second source code created based on the fourth design document.

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