Visual Expert: Difference between revisions

VISUAL EXPERT
Developer(s)	Novalys
Initial release	1995
Written in	C#
Operating system	Windows
Available in	English, Japanese, Spanish, French
Type	Code analysis tools
License	Proprietary
Website	https://www.visual-expert.com/

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Visual Expert

Visual Expert is a static program analyzer, extracting design and technical information from software source code by reverse-engineering, used by programmers for software maintenance ^[1] , modernization^[2] or optimization.

Features

Code exploration: call graphs, CRUD matrix, cross-references, dependency graphs ^[3] ^[4].
Software documentation: a documentation generator produces technical documentation ^[4] and low-level design descriptions^[5].
Code comparison: finds differences between several versions of the same code.
Automated code review: calculates software metrics and source lines of code ^[6]. Finds unused objects and methods. Identifies duplicate objects. Controls naming conventions.

Usage

Visual Expert is used in several contexts:

Change impact analysis: evaluating the consequences of a change in the code or in a database. Avoiding negative side effects when evolving a system.
Program comprehension: helping programmers understand and maintain existing code, or modernize legacy systems. Transferring knowledge of the code, from one programmer to another.
Software sizing: calculating the size of an application, or a piece of code, in order to estimate development efforts.
Code review: auditing source code, in order to discover issues, such as dead code, code causing poor performances or violations of programming conventions.

Limitations

As a static code analyzer, Visual Expert is limited to the programming languages supported by its code parsers - Oracle PL/SQL, SQL Server Transact-SQL, PowerBuilder.
A preliminary reverse engineering is required, with a duration depending on the size of the code parsed. Users must wait for the parsing completion prior to using the features, or schedule it in advance.
Visual Expert is based on a client/server architecture: the code analysis is running on a windows PC - preferably a server. The information extracted from the code is stored in a RDBMS, communicating with a client application installed on the programmer’s computer - no web client available. This implies that the code, the parsers, the RDBMS and the programmers’ computers are connected to the same LAN or VPN.

History

1995- 1998 - Prog and Doc - Initial version distributed on the French market ^[7]
2001 - Visual Expert 4.5^[5]
2003 - Visual Expert 5 ^[6]
2007 - Visual Expert 5.7^[3]^[8]^[9]
2010 - Visual Expert 6.0^[10]
2015 - Visual Expert 2015 - Server component added to schedule code analyses^[11]
2016 - Visual Expert 2016 - New Oracle PL/SQL code parser^[11]
2017 - Visual Expert 2017 - Code comparison, CRUD matrix, SQL Server T-SQL code parser^[11]

References

^ Dr Kankey, Roland D (19 October 1989). "The challenge of software maintenance costing" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ "Essential guide to application modernisation". Computer Weekly. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ ^a ^b "Visual Expert for PowerBuilder". PowerBuilder Guru. 15 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ ^a ^b Mikhailovsky, George. "Become familiar with a new application!". www.powerbuildertv.com. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ ^a ^b Green, Bill (1 September 2002). "Visual Expert v4.5 Review". {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ ^a ^b Aumen, Bill (9 May 2005). "Visual Expert In the Real World". www.powerbuildercentral.com. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ "Prog & Doc (french page from Web Archive)". Eurelys. 7 July 1997. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ Pollach, Chris (April 23, 2007). "Visual expert 5.7 released". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ Armstrong, Bruce (April 27, 2007). "Visual Expert 5.7". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ "Novalys introduces Visual Expert 6.0". DBTA. 23 April 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
^ ^a ^b ^c Novalys. "Visual Expert Update List". Visual Expert. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

External links

[1] Dr Kankey, Roland D (19 October 1989). "The challenge of software maintenance costing" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[2] "Essential guide to application modernisation". Computer Weekly. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[:1-3] "Visual Expert for PowerBuilder". PowerBuilder Guru. 15 October 2008. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[:3-4] Mikhailovsky, George. "Become familiar with a new application!". www.powerbuildertv.com. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[:0-5] Green, Bill (1 September 2002). "Visual Expert v4.5 Review". {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[:4-6] Aumen, Bill (9 May 2005). "Visual Expert In the Real World". www.powerbuildercentral.com. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[7] "Prog & Doc (french page from Web Archive)". Eurelys. 7 July 1997. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[8] Pollach, Chris (April 23, 2007). "Visual expert 5.7 released". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[9] Armstrong, Bruce (April 27, 2007). "Visual Expert 5.7". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[10] "Novalys introduces Visual Expert 6.0". DBTA. 23 April 2009. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

[:2-11] Novalys. "Visual Expert Update List". Visual Expert. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

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-= Visual Expert =
+== Visual Expert ==
 Visual Expert is a [[Static program analysis|static program analyzer]], extracting design and technical information from software [[source code]] by [[Reverse engineering|reverse-engineering]], used by programmers for software maintenance <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a213470.pdf|title=The challenge of software maintenance costing|last=Dr Kankey|first=Roland D|date=19 October 1989|website=|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> , modernization<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.computerweekly.com/essentialguide/Essential-guide-to-application-modernisation#guideSection2|title=Essential guide to application modernisation|last=|first=|date=|website=Computer Weekly|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref> or optimization.