Definitions of Tool Integration for Environments

Tool integration is not a property of a single tool, but of its relationships with other elements in the environment, chiefly other tools, a platform, and a process. Tool integration is about the extent to which tools agree. The subject of these agreements may include data format, user-interface conventions, use of common functions, or other aspects of tool construction. A framework that determines how well tools are integrated into an environment and that defines integration independently of the mechanisms and approaches used to support integration is proposed. Process, data, control, and presentation integration properties are described separately so as to identify them as clearly and independently as possible. Emphasis is placed on definitions of integration properties on relationships between tools rather than on the specific integration-support mechanisms.<<ETX>>