| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for controlling the propagation of changes made to a data file in a system of interrelated data files is described. In one embodiment of the method of the invention, a run-time dependency management facility is provided on the computer system which is effective to generate under computer control a graph indicating relationships among the data files and software tools present on the system. A change is made to at least one of the data files and a determination is made as to whether that change is significant. If a significant change is made, then at least one propagation barrier is provided which is effective to prevent computer-implemented propagation of the change in said data file through at least one data file which is interdependent with the changed data file. In another embodiment, a computer readable medium containing program instructions for providing a run-time dependency management facility on a computer in which the run-time dependency facility is effective to generate under computer control a graph indicating relationships among the data files and the software tools residing on the system. The computer readable medium further includes program instructions for determining under computer control that the change to data in at least one of the data files is not a significant change. Finally the computer readable medium includes program instructions for generating at least one propagation barrier in response to the determination which is effective to prevent propagation of the changes in the data file through at least one data file which is interrelated with the changed data file. The above-described computer readable medium may also include program instructions for a clever tool which can determine whether changes made to the changed data file are significant.
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