License compliance suite gains enhanced UI
Sep 25, 2006 — by LinuxDevices Staff — from the LinuxDevices Archive — 4 viewsBlack Duck Software is readying a new version of its software license compliance management suite. ProtexIP 4.0, expected in November, will implement a more visual, more responsive UI, along with search engine improvements and a new SDK (software development kit) for easier integration with enterprise… applications, according to the company.
ProtexIP targets Linux device developers and other commercial open-source software users. Black Duck says the product can be used by developers, attorneys, and managers to avoid licensing complications when capitalizing on component-based software development.
ProtexIP 4.0 features a re-written user interface said to offer greater responsiveness, especially when navigating large code bases, thanks to the use of AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML).
![](../ldfiles/misc/blackduck-analysis-300-rev3-sm.jpg)
![](../ldfiles/misc/blackduck-bom-add-component-popup-300-sm.jpg)
Screenshots from ProtexIP 4.0
(Click to enlarge)
Other new interface features include:
- A “visual representation” of the compliance management process, including “project management,” “code identification,” “component review,” and “approval and reporting;” the steps are said to be based on best practices in use at customer sites
- Executive Dashboard — Shows status for all development project compliance reviews
- Bill of Materials (shown in screenshots above) — Summarizes components included in the project, their licenses, the approval status of each component, and whether the use of the component causes a company or license policy violation
- Code navigator — Shows all project code, and can be used to highlight apparent open source code code of unknown provenance, and code containing policy violations
- Obligation fulfillment checklist — Lists project-wide license obligations, and can be extended with customer-specific compliance checks
Touted non-interface improvements and features include:
- Support for larger projects
- Continously growing KnowledgeBase of open source projects
- “Precision” filtering technology surfaces relevant matches from within pool of raw matches
- Dependency analysis to identify components such as libraries that may be missing from a project's BOM
- Archive analysis extracts complete source archives, in search of reused components within zip files, JARs, etc
- SDK supports integration with existing systems
Availability
ProtexIP/development 4.0 will ship in mid-November, direct from Black Duck and its authorized resellers, the company says. Annual subscriptions start at about $10,000, with pricing based on the number of users and the size of the managed code base. The SDK is priced at $10,000.
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