From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.5 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,TO_NO_BRKTS_PCNT autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 1108a1,bc2eee38e1670e1e,start X-Google-Attributes: gid1108a1,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,bc2eee38e1670e1e,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: ff6c8,bc2eee38e1670e1e,start X-Google-Attributes: gidff6c8,public X-Google-Thread: f43e6,bc2eee38e1670e1e,start X-Google-Attributes: gidf43e6,public X-Google-Thread: 10db24,bc2eee38e1670e1e,start X-Google-Attributes: gid10db24,public From: cseic@sw-eng.falls-church.va.us (CFCSEIC) Subject: CFCEIC News Briefs Week Ending February 13, 1998 Date: 1998/02/13 Message-ID: <6c2cv1$e3t@ns1.sw-eng.falls-church.va.us> X-Deja-AN: 324864866 Content-Type: Text/Plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Organization: Center For Computer Systems Engineering Information Clearinghouse Mime-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.sw.components,comp.object,comp.software-eng,comp.edu Date: 1998-02-13T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Center for Computer Systems Engineering News Briefs Week Ending: February 13, 1998 ****************************************************************************** CONTENTS: NEW MATERIALS ON THE Y2K WEB SITE WRAPPERS AND LEGACY SOFTWARE NEXT COMMON SOFTWARE RELEASE FROM DISA DUE IN APRIL EMBEDDED CHIPS ADD TO Y2K PROBLEM NEW Y2K WEB SITE FOCUSES ON EMBEDDED SYSTEMS 90% OF NETWORKS VULNERABLE TO Y2K BUG DATA COLLECTION SHOULD BE BY-PRODUCT OF ROUTINE OPERATIONS **************************************************************************** NEW MATERIALS ON THE Y2K WEB SITE Topic: Y2K Two new links have been added to the Y2K tool page, http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/y2k-testing/tools/, under "vendors & services": http://y2k.policyworks.gov/ Federal Year 2000 Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Product Database, a centralized registry of information to all Federal Agencies, which will speed the research and investigation of products being done by each agency. http://www.monmouth.army.mil/y2k/cots.htm Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Software, a list compiled by the U.S Army and organized by software name, version, Y2K compliance, what's needed to get Y2K compliant, information source, and comments. ****************************************************************************** WRAPPERS AND LEGACY SOFTWARE Topic: Reuse This article from the Dec. '97 issue of Object Magazine provides a common framework for developing and using wrappers to migrate legacy software into the world of component technology, and discusses the impact that architecture and process have on "maximizing the gains and minimizing the pains" of wrappers. The authors' step-by-step methodology explores the challenges of clarifying architectural context, addressing business requirements, identifying legacy system key abstractions, assessing changes to requirements, preparing legacy software for wrapping, and designing effective wrappers. SOURCE: Paul Allen and Stuart Frost, "Fitting Legacy Assets into the World of Components", Object Magazine, Dec. 1997 7(10), pp. 39-43. http://www.objectmagazine.com ***************************************************************************** NEXT SOFTWARE RELEASE FROM DISA DUE IN APRIL Topic: DII COE The next release in the Defense Information Infrastructure Common Operating Environment (DII COE), version 3.3, will focus on tactical extensions. Version 3.2, released late last year, included configuration definition support and enhanced network management. Future versions will achieve parity between the Unix and Windows NT platforms, and will support real-time extensions for selected platforms. According to DISA officials, DII COE's shared applications capability offers new user communities an opportunity to provide additional growth and functional expansion. More information about DII COE is available on the WWW at http://www.disa.mil and http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/coe/. SOURCE: John Rhea, "Common software release from DISA due in April", Military & Aerospace Electronics, February 1998, v9, n2, p. 5. http://www.pennwell.com/aero.html ***************************************************************************** EMBEDDED CHIPS ADD TO Y2K PROBLEM Topic: Y2K Julia Vowler, in her article in Computer Weekly's October 23 issue, explores the impact of embedded chips on the Y2K problem. A number of millennium project managers are beginning to pay close attention to the fact that many embedded processor suppliers use third-party components, which makes it difficult to estimate the probability of failure of embedded processors that have been fixed. Two machines may appear to be identical, but one may be compliant while the other is not. Each component must be tested separately. According to Ms. Vowler and other experts, this problem could create a demand for parts and installation personnel that may be difficult to meet. Source: Julia Vowler, "Why the embedded chips are the enemy within", Computer Weekly, Oct. 23, 1997, pp. 20-21. http://www.computerweekly.co.uk ***************************************************************************** NEW Y2K WEB SITE FOCUSES ON EMBEDDED SYSTEMS Topic: Y2K The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a Palo Alto, CA-based research facility for electric utilities, launched a Y2K project to share information about technical issues in embedded systems. EPRI's website is located at http://www.epri.com/year2000/. SOURCE: "Y2K Web sites", Computerworld, Feb. 9, 1998, v32, n6, p. 39. http://www.computerworld.com ***************************************************************************** 90% OF NETWORKS VULNERABLE TO YK2 BUG? Topic: Y2K This article in the Nov. 10 issue of Internet Week discusses the fact that 90% of the network devices made before 1996, including bridges, routers, gateways, multiplexes, DNS, and e-mail servers, could experience the same Year 2000 problems as mainframes and other legacy systems. The author examines how some companies are dealing with this situation and highlights Bell Atlantic Network Integration (BANI)'s database of 800+ at-risk network devices (http://www.bani.com). SOURCE: Tim Wilson, "Is network gear Y2K vulnerable? You bet.", Internet Week, Nov. 10, 1997, n689, pp. 20-21. http://www.internetwk.com ***************************************************************************** DATA COLLECTION SHOULD BE BY-PRODUCT OF ROUTINE OPERATIONS Topic: Ada In his article in the Nov. 24th issue of PCWeek, Peter Coffee states that "one of the biggest problems in workgroup computing is the time wasted worrying about the 'right' and 'wrong' ways to do things." Lost opportunities to collect data as a by-product of routine operations are a "cardinal sin". Programming languages that use abstract data types with strong type safety, such as Eiffel or Ada, help overcome this problem. According to Coffee, if attention is paid to fundamentals such as the cost and accuracy of the collection process, the applications will emerge. SOURCE: Peter Coffee, "Don't get sidetracked by trifling differences", PCWeek, Nov. 24, 1997, v14, n49, pp. 32. http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/ **************************************************************************** The DISA CFCSEIC welcomes suggestions for and pointers to software engineering-related articles. 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