Software Cost Estimation with COCOMO II

COCOMO II/Appendix A/Boehm et al. - 2 -

APPENDIX F

ContentS of Accompanying CD-ROM

F.1 Introduction

Appendix F describes the contents of the CD-ROM that accompanies the book. Sections F.2 through F.9 provide detailed information about the contents of the CD as though it were being explored in a breadth-first search through the displayed screens. Section F.10 describes the most significant files at the outermost directory level of the CD.

In order to use the CD you need a to be running Windows 95 or higher, and for some files a browser like Internet Explorer 4.0 or Netscape 3.0. Your system should have at least 8MB of available RAM. For the spreadsheet models and support software you must have Excel 5.0 or higher or a spreadsheet capable of reading such ".xls" files. Everything else that is needed is either described on the relevant screens or provided on the CD.

F.2 Top Level Screen

The top-level screen of the CD provides an "Introduction and Mapping to Book" page and a greeting and book overview [video clip and presentation] by Barry Boehm. It also allows one to install USC COCOMO II.2000, as explained in Section F.3. There are also links to sub-menus which provide access to the USC COCOMO II.2000 Manuals; the spreadsheet models that are extensions of COCOMO II; Tutorials; other COCOMO II based estimation tools; data collection forms; and Affiliation information.

In addition, there is a section with information on using the CD which explains the how to use the CD including the navigation approach for accessing the contents of the CD. It provides more detailed explanations of the contents of the CD, and repeats some of the README.txt information.

The main page of the CD, and every sub-page, has an Exit ICON, always positioned in the lower right corner. Activating this button/ICON will exit the CD ROM player software and return the user to other running programs on his/her computer.

Since most of the documents included on the CD are PDF, a compatible version of Acrobat Reader is provided on the CD. Similarly, all the videos are provided as ".mov" files for which a compatible QuickTime viewer is supplied. The icons for installing these tools are provided along the bottom of the main screen.

F.3. Install USC COCOMO II.2000

This link on the main screen initiates a self-install program to install the USC COCOMO II.2000 program files, which include USC COCOMO II.exe, COCOMO_charts.xls and the USC COCOMO II.2000 help files. The installation file is a little under 4MB in size, but requires up to 12MB of available temporary disk memory to complete the installation process. The final program files occupy about 4MB after installation.

COCOMO_charts.xls is a spreadsheet-based tool designed to produce most of the typical graphs that management likes to see; its instructions are shown on the first tab of the workbook. The USC COCOMO II.2000 help files are HTML representations of the tool's on-line help, covering both the operation of the software itself and the COCOMO II model.

F.4 COCOMO II.2000 Manuals

The COCOMO II.2000 Manuals sub-menu screen provides access to the USC COCOMO II.2000 Software Reference Manual (PDF format); a Model Definition Manual (PDF format), based on Chapter 2 of the book; and a link to the Center for Software Engineering's COCOMO website, http://sunset.usc.edu/COCOMOII/cocomo.html.

F.5 Spreadsheet Models

The Spreadsheet Models sub-menu screen provides access to the currently implemented extensions to COCOMO II.2000 and a stand-alone copy of COCOMO_chart.xls, a 283KB MS Excel program that uses macros to accomplish many of its tasks.

F.5.1 COPSEMO Spreadsheet Models

This sub-menu provides access to a COPSEMO Summary document, a COPSEMO_README.txt file, COPSEMO.xls which implements the four-phase model described in Chapter 5; a COPSEMO "user manual" document, and a COPSEMO percentage determination aide worksheet.

F.5.2 CORADMO Spreadsheet Models

This sub-menu provides access to a CORADMO Summary document; a CORADMO_README.txt file; CORADMO.xls which implements the Rapid Application Development schedule and effort model described in Chapter 5; a CORADMO "user manual" document; and a CORADMO driver determination aide worksheet.

F.5.3 COPROMO Spreadsheet Models

This sub-menu provides access to a COPROMO Summary document; a COPROMO_README.txt file; COPROMO_03.xls which implements the productivity improvement estimation model described in Chapter 5; a COPROMO "user manual" document; and COPROMO model instruction and description document.

F.6 Tutorials

The Tutorials sub-menu screen provides access to several kinds of tutorial material: an interactive use of COCOMO and several of its extensions, and support for the COCOMO examples from Chapter 3 of the book.

"My 1st COCOMO Run" is a user interactive tutorial. It walks the user through the creation of a simple COCOMO estimate, the generation of a few charts (using COCOMO_charts.xls), and the use of COPSEMO and CORADMO.

The Transaction Processing System (TPS) example from Chapter 3 is supported with a video overview, the video presentation support slides, and the USC COCOMO II.2000 estimate files TPS.est (6.63kb) and TPS1.est (6.63kb).

The Airborne Radar System (ARS) example from Chapter 3 is supported with a video overview, the video presentation support slides, and the USC COCOMO II.2000 estimate files ars_breadboard_9.est (5.44kb), ars_top_level_7.est (5.43kb), and ars_detailed_9.est (14.1kb).

F.7 Commercial COCOMO II Based Tools

The Commercial COCOMO II Based Tools sub-menu screen provides both information and working demonstration copies of commercial implementations of COCOMO II which have been assessed as faithful to the COCOMO II.2000 model. They are COSTAR from SoftStar Systems, Cost Xpert from Marotz, and Estimate_Professional from Software Productivity Centre.

For each we provide 1) a copy of their company's homepage and one tool introduction or explanation page, complete with graphics, etc.; 2) a demonstration or evaluation copy of their software that was provided to us for this purpose; and 3) a link to their web address.

The COSTAR entry includes the "About COSTAR" HTML file as well as image files, COSTAR Demo version [5d], and the COSTAR homepage HTML file with image files. Also provided is the current (at time of printing) of version of SoftStar Systems' Calico, a "calibration" tool made that is available for free.

The Cost Xpert entry includes the "About Cost Xpert" HTML file with image files, the "About Marotz" HTML file with image files, and a self-install file for Cost Xpert – version 2.0.

The Estimate_Professional entry includes the "About Estimate_Professional" HTML file with image files, and "About SPC" HTML file with image files, and a self-installing file for "Estimate_Professional – version 4.1 DEMO" and the associated URL, http://www.spc.ca/products/estimate/index.htm.

F.8 Data Collection Forms

The Data Collection Forms sub-menu screen provides both all the forms from Appendix C, and stand-alone versions of questionnaires that have been developed to gather calibration data for COCOMO II.2000 and its extensions.

Each table and figure from Appendix C is available as a separate pdf file. This was done to make it easier to get the individual forms or instructions since many are used repeatedly during the course of a project.

The Questionnaires are "stand-alone" in that they both define all the items being asked for and provide assistance for how to evaluate the information one has about a given project. There are questionnaires for 1) COCOMO II Cost Estimation combined with COQUALMO, 2) COPSEMO data gathering, CORADMO data gathering, and 3) COCOTS cost estimation survey.

F.9 Affiliation

The Affiliation sub-menu screen provides information on becoming an Affiliate of the Center for Software Engineering, including benefits, costs, and an application.

F.10 CD Top Level Directory Highlights

There are two important files at this level: README.txt and COCOMO II.2000-CD.exe. The latter file brings up the main control program for the CD. It is also identified as the "autorun" file.