Patent ID: 7949993

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for providing a visual context for a software development process, the method comprising: providing a unified architectural diagram, wherein the diagram links at least two kinds of information including standardized development architectural information and non-standardized development architectural information, the diagram including a storage and a stencil area representing components and links to different kinds of information, and for generating a unified view of each represented component, wherein the represented components and links are dragged and dropped into the storage area, wherein functionality of the diagram is enhanced by linking information to each of the represented components wherein there is a hierarchy of the software development process and links assigned to relevant information, and wherein a content of the software development process is published as a standard, wherein the diagram comprises a source map for delivering information to a wide audience and a series of focused maps, wherein a delivery method for each of the focused maps comprises a pointer to a specific Uniform Resource Locator (URL) path and a maintenance mechanism for maintaining the source map, and a mechanism for securing access to the source map and to the information linked in each focused map.