Obsolescence

As computer applications are maintained some objects become obsolete in ways that are not necessarily obvious. Object functionality may be transferred to new objects with different names, and processes can be altered which circumvent object use. Furthermore, an object's obsolescence may not occur in a single maintenance project. Instead, a series of projects over an extended time may slowly render objects obsolete.

Obsolete objects are not merely a storage problem. As new projects are undertaken obsolete objects cloud the issue and valuable developer time can be spent investigating objects that are no longer part of the application.

Before beginning major projects that deal with large numbers of objects it is worth considering an automated approach to clearing out obsolete objects.

SuperVisor provides a safe way of archiving obsolete objects. SuperVisor performs a comprehensive analysis to insure that objects are indeed obsolete. Furthermore, obsolete objects can be stored off-line, and restored if deemed useful at a later time. An important feature of SuperVisor's approach is that a record of archived objects is maintained on-line and an automated approach to restoring archived objects is included.