An agent system for collaborative version control in engineering

In this paper we present a system of distributed co‐operating agents whose goal is to manage change and organise version sets in an engineering environment. The agents are designed for full lifecycle support and inter‐operation across heterogeneous networks. The agent communication is based on common object request broker architecture (CORBA) but an extra messaging layer is developed which utilises a language built in Vienna development method‐specification language (VDM‐SL). Problems encountered in the use of engineering database management systems are investigated and solutions are proposed in the context of agents. A version model is presented in two ways; informally based on our assumptions on a general design process and formally in VDM‐SL. An industrial case study is presented and preliminary results shown.