Documenting software systems with views II: an integrated approach based on XML

Software engineers rely on program documentation as an aid in understanding the functional nature, high-level design, and implementation details of complex applications. Without such documentation, engineers are forced to rely solely on source code. This is a time-consuming and error-prone process, especially when one considers the amount of information assimilation and domain mapping that is required to understand the architecture of a large-scale software system. This paper describes an integrated approach to documenting software systems based on XML. In particular, the paper focuses on the creation and use of specific Document Type Definitions (DTD) that are defined by MSR as a standard for software documentation. MSR is a consortium of several German automotive companies whose goal is to support cooperative development between car manufacturers and their electronic system suppliers. To illustrate the approach, selected aspects of the document creation process for an engine control system are presented.