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rendering engine to visualize the forest. To implement the 3D
environment, we used the OpenTree library [29]. This library provides 3D
tree generation for real-time applications. OpenTree is a cross-platform
and engine-independent library written in C++ that we used with OpenGL
graphics library to support rendering of the trees [30].
The tool supports maintainers in the exploration of the 3D forests using
the Visual Information Seeking Mantra: overview, zoom and filter, and
details-on-demand [31]:
x
Overview
. The 3D environment supports the visualization of the
entire forest. The overview provides the maintainer with an
interactive visualization of all the classes of a subject system by
using mouse and keyboard. The name of each class is attached as a
label to the corresponding tree. These labels can be hidden if
needed.
x
Zoom and filter
. The environment allows the maintainer to zoom in
from the initial overview refining the current view. If the
maintainer identifies a tree of interest in the overview, this tree can
be selected and explored. The zoom and filter feature is particularly
useful in case of large software.
x
Details-on-demand
. The maintainer can select one tree and show its
properties. Each parameter is labelled with the class membership
and the tree information (i.e., the values for all the metrics used in
the tree rendering) is shown if requested.
Evaluation
To validate our 3D environment and the underlying approach, we
conducted a preliminarily case study on thirty releases of three open
source object oriented software systems implemented in Java:
JFreeChart
1
is a chart library that makes it easy for developers to
display charts in their applications;
x
JEdit
2
is a programmer's text editor with an extensible plug-in
architecture;
x
JHotDraw
3
is a graphical user interface framework for technical
and structured graphics;
x
1. www.jfree.org/jfreechart
2. www.jedit.org
3. www.jhotdraw.org
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