SCQL: a formal model and a query language for source control repositories

Source Control Repositories are used in most software projects to store revisions to source code files. These repositories operate at the file level and support multiple users. A generalized formal model of source control repositories is described herein. The model is a graph in which the different entities stored in the repository become vertices and their relationships become edges. We then define SCQL, a first order, and temporal logic based query language for source control repositories. We demonstrate how SCQL can be used to specify some questions and then evaluate them using the source control repositories of five different large software projects. Categories and Subject Descriptors D.2.7 [Software Engineering]: Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement—Version Control; D.2.8 [Software Engineering]: Metrics—Process metrics

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: MSR
• Authors: Abram Hindle, Daniel M. Germán
• Keywords: Generalized Formal Model, MSR 2005, Software Projects, Source Control Repositories