Development of PDM framework and customization environment

Framework is a template for a working program since framework consists of related classes and wired-in interactions among those classes. Reuse by framework is a promising way for improving the productivity and reducing the learning curve of a new domain. So far, many efforts for developing the frameworks have been started and a few real frameworks like CIM framework and domain frameworks were announced. We describe a project for developing a framework in PDM (Product Data Management) domain. PDM can be applied to several application domains, but there are some small differences in each application. Developing the framework is not easy. We discuss the current state and results of our project: 1) the phases of developing our framework, 2) applying design patterns, 3) support environments for customizing the framework, 4) the problems in developing a framework