Abstract: A computer implemented method for monitoring an overall health of a software project. The method includes: providing a plurality of business process checkers; storing a plurality of criteria, wherein each of the plurality of criteria measures an aspect of the software project process; storing an upper bound parameter and a lower bound parameter for each business process checker; assimilating data from one or more data sources related to aspects of the software project process; calculating, by each business process checker, a score for each criterion responsive to said upper bound and lower bound parameters and said data from said one or more data sources; calculating an overall health score for the software project from each calculated score for each criterion; and displaying an indication of the overall health of the software project responsive to the calculated overall health score.

Abstract: A method and system for testing a computer software system based on execution paths including: executing the computer program to obtain an execution path in the computer software; recording the execution path; modifying variables in the recorded execution path to create one or more perturbed paths; analyzing the one or more perturbed paths to detect potential errors; and generating unit tests for the one or more perturbed paths having the detected potential errors. The created test units may then be executed to test the computer software.

Abstract: A method for enforcing business rules in a computer program, using static analysis. The method includes: storing a plurality of business rules corresponding to a plurality of business processes representing a behavior of an enterprise; parsing a representation of business processes in the computer program to create a parse tree; extracting execution paths from the parse tree; creating control flow graphs and data flow graphs from the extracted execution paths, wherein the created control flow graphs and data flow graphs adhere to one or more of the stored business rules; following the created control flow graphs and data flow graphs; applying said one or more of the stored business rules to the created control flow graphs and data flow graphs; and reporting whether any of the applied rules is violated.

Abstract: A method and system for testing a physical system including a number of input channels for receiving physical inputs, using load testing, comprising: intercepting at least a portion of the input channels; replacing at least a portion of the physical inputs of the intercepted input channels with one or more emulation programs, wherein the emulation programs include parameters which allow to control outputs of the one or more emulation programs to the intercepted input channels; configuring a functional test in a load testing software tool to drive execution of the one or more emulation programs; randomly generating outputs simulating the physical inputs, from the one or more emulation programs, by executing the load testing software tool; collecting data from the execution of the one or more emulation programs as the load testing software tool executes; and analyzing the collected data for presence or absence of deadlocks or race conditions.

Abstract: A method and system for assessing effect of a change in a computer software including a plurality of requirements and a plurality of test cases. The method and system include: changing a requirement from the plurality of requirements; correlating the computer software with the changed requirement to identify a portion of the computer software that is affected by the changed requirement; and correlating one or more of the test cases with the portion of the computer software that is affected to identify one or more of the test cases that is affected by the changed requirement. Additionally, the computer software may be changed and the effect of that change on the requirements and the test cases may then be determined.

Abstract: A system and method for collecting and correlating information about development of a computer software, including software tools reports. The system and method provides overview of entire software development lifecycle, provides decision support engine for project management, allows estimation of project timelines based upon empirical data, allows evaluation of project quality based upon empirical data, and correlates information from previous projects to estimate progress of current project (confidence factors). The system and method for collecting and correlating information about development of a computer software include collecting data from a plurality of software tools during each point in lifecycle of the computer software; storing the collected data in a database; and correlating the stored collected data to monitor the development of the computer software.

Abstract: A method and system for efficient code review performed during the software development. The method and system include storing information about a plurality of authors and reviewers; detecting code to be reviewed by analyzing a code repository with respect to recent code modifications; creating a code review invitation according to the stored information about a plurality of authors and reviewers; distributing the code review invitation to a respective reviewer; recording comments for review code from the respective reviewer; measuring coverage of the reviewed code; applying metrics to the code review invitations and the comments; measuring code review characteristics based on the applied metrics.

Abstract: A system and method for identifying errors in a computer software include: identifying a potential problem in the computer software; triggering a portion of the computer software by the identified potential problem; determining a control flow graph and a data flow graph for the triggered portion of the computer software originating at the identified potential problem; and analyzing the control flow graph and the data flow graph to verify that the identified potential problem is an actual error. The potential problem may be identified using test tools such as a static analysis tool or a unit test tool.

Abstract: A method and system for enforcing functionality in computer software through policy including converting a natural language policy to sample code, wherein the natural language policy is represented by logical patterns; creating one or more static analysis rules from the sample code to enforce the natural language policy at a centralized location of the computer software; and enforcing the created one or more static analysis rules for the computer software.

Abstract: A computer system representing user preferences in an N-dimensional preference topography and making recommendations based on such topography. The preference topography depicts user ratings of products in a recommendation database. Each product is represented by a product vector associated with N objectively measurable characteristics. The user rating of a product, therefore, represents the user's preference for the particular combination of the N objectively measurable characteristics making up the product. In making a recommendation of products to the user, the system assigns a rating to each product in the recommendation database based on the preference topography. The system then selects a plurality of maximally unique choices from the rated products for recommendation to the user. These maximally unique choices are calculated to be as diverse from one another as possible but still to the user's liking.

Abstract: In one embodiment, the present invention is a method for automatically preventing errors in computer software. The method includes storing the computer software in a code repository; executing a plurality of software verification tools to verify the computer software, wherein each of the plurality of software verification tools automatically generates one or more test cases; generating verification results responsive to executing the plurality of software verification tools and the automatically generated test cases; processing the verification results for generating an objective criterion of quality of the computer software; and customizing the scope of one or more of the plurality of verification tools responsive to the objective criterion of quality of the computer software.

Abstract: A computer system representing user preferences in an N-dimensional preference topography and making recommendations based on such topography. The preference topography depicts user ratings of products in a recommendation database. Each product is represented by a product vector associated with N objectively measurable characteristics. The user rating of a product, therefore, represents the user's preference for the particular combination of the N objectively measurable characteristics making up the product. In making a recommendation of products to the user, the system assigns a rating to each product in the recommendation database based on the preference topography. The system then selects a plurality of maximally unique choices from the rated products for recommendation to the user. These maximally unique choices are calculated to be as diverse from one another as possible but still to the user's liking.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating and simplifying testing and debugging of computer programs. is described A computer program is broken down to smaller components, such as, classes, functions, or objects, and then those smaller components are tested individually. Accordingly, specific aspects of the computer program can be effectively tested. The user can automatically perform a range of tests on a class or method when the class or method is compiled without integrating the class or method into a larger project.

Abstract: In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and system for testing databases and database oriented applications through analyzing database contents and structure. The method and system provide a framework for various tests, which can be deployed against the database structure or contents. The system provides a set of ready to use tests, however, custom tests can also be written using system API. Tests used within the framework constitute test suits. Test suits can be used during database oriented application development process for regression testing, verifying newly added functionality, re-testing of existing and modified functionality, deploying new versions of an application. Test suits can also be used for database monitoring and database cleaning.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating and simplifying testing and debugging of computer programs. is described A computer program is broken down to smaller components, such as, classes, functions, or objects, and then those smaller components are tested individually. Accordingly, specific aspects of the computer program can be effectively tested. The user can automatically perform a range of tests on a class or method when the class or method is compiled without integrating the class or method into a larger project.

Abstract: User input buttons are displayed as part of a graphical user interface by showing the buttons as multiple oval shapes and including shading and highlighting to indicate different states of the buttons. The buttons appear to the user as three dimensional simulated mechanical buttons because of the shape, shading, and temporal states used to represent them. States of the buttons include inactive, active, entered and pressed, each state having its own bitmap image to represent it on the computer display.

Abstract: A method and system for graphically generating user-defined rules to be used for checking the quality of a language. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) with a plurality of menus provides easy and effective means for generating user-defined rules. Generally, each rule comprises a node type associated with a matching function. Nodes and their properties are graphically generated and connected to construct rules. In one embodiment, the present invention graphically generates user-defined rules to be used for checking the quality of a computer programming language. Each instruction in a computer programming language is represented by at least one node of a particular type stored in a parse tree for describing dependencies between such nodes. Both the parse tree and the rules are stored in the computer. The parse tree is searched beginning from a root node indicating an entry point into the parse tree for at least one of the nodes having such a particular type matching one of the node types.

Abstract: An automated recommendation system keeps track of the needs and preferences of the user through a user preference vector. Each field of the user preference vector represents the user's preference for a specific item attribute. Item attributes are defined by a systems programmer. The systems programmer also creates product vectors of items in the recommendation database. A user preference vector is compared against a product vector to determine if the product is suitable for recommendation. A recommended item may be purchased by the user by submitting a purchase request over a network connection. The user preference vector is constantly refined through feedback from the user about the recommended items.

Abstract: An automatic maid performs all of the selection and organization tasks involved with family meal planning. The automatic maid keeps track of the needs and preferences of all users. User needs and preferences are constantly refined through questions about foods both eaten and rejected. The automatic maid keeps track of household inventory and can order additional supplies. The automatic maid uses the preferences of the users and its knowledge of the household inventory to select the most compatible meals. It gives instruction on food preparation, can activate appliances, and can order food. The automatic maid can be accessed from a remote location and can update its recipes over a network or the Internet.