4Sight Application Analysis Tool Overview

All extracted information is also hyper-linked to its original location in the source document for immediate viewing of the original code in 4Sight’s Workbench.  A separate pane can immediately show a cross-reference of any selected entity, such as a file, data item, or paragraph.  This shows all references to the entity, including its definition, and each entry in turn, is also hyper-linked to its original source.

Complementing the flexible information structure of 4Sight is a powerful query function.  Because software is best constructed as a nested set of components, the query facility, to be most useful, must support recursive search. A simple example of this kind of query is

“Which programs ultimately call program ‘XYZ’ ?”

4Sight queries can be constructed from existing queries and use wildcard values allowing recursion and data selection facilities that exceed that of today’s typical relational databases.  The results of the query can be retained as part of the collection allowing historical tracking of system changes or output to a spreadsheet.

Using 4Plot, a result can be automatically presented graphically in one of two formats. This will permit better visualization of the relationships involved.

The 4Sight inventory viewer enables an in-depth exploration of any and all entity interdependencies.

The many benefits obtained by using these 4Sight tools include:

• Quick and accurate visibility of software assets
• Identification of redundant code
• Examination and analysis of critical code
• Component dependency tracking
• Analysis of logic used in business rules to aid auditing
• Change impact analysis
• Real time source code and system documentation
• Maintenance acceleration through program understanding

What is a Collection?

4Sight maintains collections of XML files. It uses XML as its prime import, output and storage format. This self-describing format allows the collection to be very adaptive to the customer’s needs.

The 4Sight parser applies a set of modifiable patterns, adjusted for the specific user, to the source documents kept in a specific location, in order to recognize and tag key information in the document.

Accuracy of the representation of a software system is improved if the source inventory to be parsed includes:

• The full body of code that constitutes the system
• Only a single version of each constituent entity
• The version of each entity that is consistent throughout the inventory

These issues need to be resolved before a definitive analysis can be achieved and the creation of a meaningful document, which is a collection, that will provide a consistent and accurate representation of the software system.  Then the source documents for the system need to be maintained in a fixed location and updated to remain current.

The collection is stored as a repository of XML files. There will typically be at least one such file for each source document.  Each collection can be an arbitrary mixture of local files and shared network files.

When the timestamp changes on any document, only its file in the collection needs to be refreshed, and this can be an automated process, provided the source location remains fixed.

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