Open source license management company Protecode Inc. has announced that its Library Auditor offering has achieved a "Ready for Rational" software validation by IBM. The product now integrates with IBM's Rational ClearCase version control tool to provide developers using IBM Rational methodologies with build auditing for managing open source and third-party code within their software libraries.

Claiming that license management is increasingly becoming an integral part of software development, Protecode says that compliance with licensing obligations will now be easier with Library Auditor's integration with IBM's industry-standard Source Control Management solutions.

Protecode's technology proposition hinges around the provision of automated tools as part of its System 4 open source license management product line, which is designed to ensure legal compliance with open source licensing obligations at different stages of a quality product development process.

"Library Auditor's 'Ready for Rational' validation is part of Protecode's plan to expand its partnership with IBM to ensure license compliance can be achieved at multiple points during development," said Kamal Hassin, director of product management at Protecode. "Integration with ClearCase will ensure that license incompatibilities will be detected early in the software development process."

Working closely with IBM's ClearCase solution, Library Auditor is notified whenever new files have been committed to a pre-defined portion of the repository. Once notified, it automatically performs an analysis using the services of System 4 Enterprise Server. Analysis includes querying the Protecode IP Signatures database to determine its associated licensing obligations. Violations against the established licensing policy are then reported. Library Auditor is lightweight, easy to deploy, and works with all other reporting and management capabilities of Protecode System 4 components.