SDLC & Distribution Pipeline

How ConstructiVision moves from code change to customer delivery — covering the full software development lifecycle, validation process, and Autodesk App Store distribution path.

Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) — CDOV Framework. ConstructiVision is a safety-adjacent construction tool — miscalculated lift points or incorrect weld connections can cause tilt-up panel failures. Quality is built in at every stage, not bolted on at the end. Every output is traceable to a requirement, every failure mode is predicted before it occurs, and every test validates against a specification.

Development Lifecycle — CDOV Phases

Six sequential phases aligned to the Creveling/Slutsky/Antis CDOV model (Concept → Design → Optimize → Verify). Each phase has a defined quality gate before promotion.

1. Baseline ✓ Complete

Establish reference environments representing known-good states before making any changes.

  • VM 102 (XP SP3) — v11 reference build, passes full AutoIT validation suite
  • VM 103 (XP SP3) — v7.0 master copy, read-only production baseline
  • Source inventory: 134 files in PB11-00 vs 195 files in TB11-01 (active build)
  • Total Uninstall registry + filesystem captures from VM 102 and VM 103
  • v3.60 source recovery: 12 missing modules recovered and archived

Gate: VM 102 runs full validation script end-to-end with all screenshots captured.

2. Develop ✓ Ongoing

Fix bugs and implement changes in the TB11-01 test build. Production builds are read-only.

  • All changes to src/x32/TB11-01x32/ — never to PB11-00 or VM 103
  • Atomic commit-push workflow: git add → commit → pull --rebase → push
  • VMs pull nightly at 22:00 via scheduled task; manual pull available via git-pull.bat
  • 35+ bugs fixed across Bugs 1–38; Bug 18 (progcont routing reconstruction) is the primary active workstream
  • Configuration fixes must be implementable in AutoLISP (acaddoc.lsp) — external scripts are deployment aids only

Gate: Code loads without error in AutoCAD 2000 on target VM. Every fix links to a bug number and DFMEA row.

3. Validate ▶ Active

Measure outputs against specification using automated testing and alpha user testing.

  • AutoIT automationcv-menu-validation.au3 (572 lines) exercises every menu command on XP VMs, captures BMP screenshots
  • OCR pipelinescripts/ocr-screenshots.py converts BMPs → PNGs → Tesseract OCR text, compared against VM 102 golden baseline at ≥95% character match
  • Multiple VM configs — XP SP3 (VMs 102/104), Win10 x32 (VM 108), Win10 x64 (VM 109); P0 Steps 0–2 pass on 5 of 6 configs
  • Alpha users — Greater Seattle Concrete engineers do real estimating work on VMs 201/202, catching issues scripted automation cannot
  • Log is unreliable — the AutoIT log marks error dialogs as PASS; OCR screenshot comparison is the only source of truth

Gate: All screenshots pass OCR comparison against golden (VM 102/103) at ≥95% character match with no instant-fail indicators.

4. Analyze ✓ Ongoing

Every failure is traced to its root cause, logged in the bug tracker, and linked to a DFMEA failure mode.

  • Bug tracker: 38 bugs cataloged with root cause, fix, severity, and DFMEA cross-reference
  • DFMEA RPN scoring: Severity × Occurrence × Detection — items over RPN 100 are priority
  • New failure modes not predicted by DFMEA get new rows added — bidirectional traceability
  • Example: Bug 19 (registry menu keys, RPN 168), Bug 20 (VLX startup crash, RPN 216), Bug 21 (project path missing, RPN 126)

Gate: Every bug has DFMEA cross-reference. Open critical issues have explicit waiver rationale before promotion.

5. Optimize ▶ Active

Drive RPN values down by improving detection controls and eliminating occurrence of high-risk failure modes.

  • Progcont routing reconstruction (Bug 18) — restores VLX-mode dialog routing in source mode
  • Deployment script hardening — Configure-ConstructiVision.ps1 prevention checks for each fix
  • AutoLISP configuration primacy — every config fix must work in acaddoc.lsp without external tools
  • Improvement backlog: GH Issues #42–49 (error handlers, undo boundaries, hardening)

Gate: RPN for all critical DFMEA rows reduced below 100 or explicit acceptance recorded.

6. Deploy ⬜ Q4 2026

Package for Autodesk App Store submission. All five release gates must pass before promotion.

  • Assemble .bundle + PackageContents.xml from validated TB11-01 build
  • Run full mandatory OCR validation on all target VMs and publish report to reports/
  • Finalize App Store listing: description, screenshots, release notes, EULA, support contact
  • OV code signing certificate required for SmartScreen trust
  • Submit to Autodesk App Store; triage review feedback and resubmit as needed

Gate: All five release gates below pass. Explicit go/no-go sign-off recorded.

Release Gates — All Five Required for GA

Gate 1 — Build Integrity

Bundle contents match intended version. Manifest references correct modules. No missing runtime dependencies.

Gate 2 — Functional Validation

Mandatory OCR workflow executed. No instant-fail indicators. Source/VLX behavior differences documented and accepted.

Gate 3 — Stability & Safety

No open critical issues for release workflows. Startup, routing, and file-open paths verified on all target OSes.

Gate 4 — Support Readiness

Known issues list updated. Rollback path documented. Support handoff notes prepared.

Gate 5 — Submission Readiness

Listing content finalized. EULA and privacy policy links valid. Submission checklist complete with all screenshots and release notes.

Distribution Channels

Channel Format Status Use Case
Autodesk App Store .bundle + PackageContents.xml Q4 2026 Primary channel — discovery, install, and update for all AutoCAD users
Direct / Enterprise XCopy + Configure-ConstructiVision.ps1 Available Now Contingency for environments that cannot use App Store (SCCM, Group Policy)
Alpha VM Access Git sparse checkout, nightly pull Active Alpha/beta validation and support triage (GSC engineers, VMs 201/202)
Web Application (v12) Browser-based, no AutoCAD required 2027 Full panel design workflow without AutoCAD; planned post-GA

MSI/WiX installer permanently sidelined. Autodesk App Store accepts compiled VLX uploads directly with a wizard-based submission process. No standalone MSI installer is needed. Total distribution cost: ~$200/year (OV code signing only).

Platform Compatibility (Validated)

OSAutoCAD 2000ConstructiVisionNotes
Windows XP SP3Full support — primary dev/test environment
Windows VistaValidated Feb 2026
Windows 7⚠️BHF bug — limited support
Windows 10 32-bitFull support
Windows 10 64-bitRequires Wow6432Node COM fix; Win11 x64 compatible

Licensing & Monetization Architecture

Note: No runtime licensing or metering is implemented in the current build. This section describes the planned architecture for post-GA releases.

Website Deployment (simplestruct.com)

The product website deploys separately from the AutoCAD plugin via an automated CI/CD pipeline.

Code Push
GitHub main
GitHub Actions
OIDC auth
S3 Sync
Private bucket
CloudFront
Cache invalidate
Live
~2–3 min

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