Hierarchical functional and variable composition diagramming of a programming class

A computer system of designing software, comprising:

• a diagramming engine executed by a processor, the diagramming engine:
• (a) receiving user election of a programming object of a program model displayable in a screen view of a software engineering system;
• (b) determining corresponding class of the user elected programming object and determining a class hierarchy, the class hierarchy including the corresponding class and any ancestor classes, wherein the corresponding class and each ancestor class is formed of respective functions and variables;
• and
• (c) generating and outputting display of a diagram depicting the functions as contributed by respective ones of the corresponding class and ancestor classes, such that the diagram illustrates class inheritance of the user elected programming object by depicting which classes in the hierarchy contribute which functions, the generated and displayed diagram including quantitative indications of function- wise contribution made by each class and including visual indications distinguishing functions which are unique, overridden or contributing in different classes of the hierarchy;
• and
• a diagram interface coupled to the diagram as displayed to a user on output, the diagram interface enabling user interaction with the depicted functions in the displayed diagram, and responsively rendering indication of all classes that contribute that function.

A computer program product for designing software comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising:
• computer readable program code configured to:
• (a) receive user election of a programming object of a program model displayable in a screen view of a software engineering system;
• (b) determine corresponding class of the user elected programming object and determine a class hierarchy, the class hierarchy including the corresponding class and any ancestor classes, wherein the corresponding class and each ancestor class is formed of respective functions and variables;
• (c) generate and output display of a diagram depicting the functions as contributed by respective ones of the corresponding class and ancestor classes, such that the diagram illustrates class inheritance of the user elected programming object by depicting which classes in the hierarchy contribute which functions, the generated and displayed diagram including quantitative indications of function-wise contribution made by each class and including visual indications distinguishing functions which are unique, overridden or contribute in different classes of the hierarchy;
• and
• (d) enable user interaction with the depicted functions in the displayed diagram, and responsively render indication of all classes that contribute that function.