In this paper, Sarkar and Verma introduce the technical design assistant tool (TDAT), a tool that incorporates a knowledge base elicited from experienced software application designers. It includes such important features as software architecture styles, technical capabilities, and commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) options, which are integrated to build business applications.

After establishing a foundation for the project, a key section addresses the issues of formal representation of relevant knowledge. Several helpful figures illustrate the structure of the TDAT model. Another section discusses the actual application of TDAT. Sarkar and Verma build on a broad range of previous work by others, and their work represents an interesting next step in tool building and knowledge engineering.

The paper is well written and well organized. For whatever reason, the eight figures are not referenced in numerical order. The material reflects a conceptual model, as well as work-in-progress on the implementation of the model. Readers who are interested in knowledge-based computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools for developing business applications will benefit from this paper.