a starting object hierarchy is generated from the object definition file that describes the objects that define the software application e g starting object hierarchy 221 of fig2 at 706 a first rule from a rule engine is applied to the object hierarchy and one or more new objects are generated new objects can include software development process exceptions at 708 an augmented object hierarchy is generated based on the new objects e g augmented hierarchy 218 of fig2 at 710 the next rule from the rule engine is applied new objects are added into an augmented hierarchy and so on until there are no more rules a final object hierarchy such as final object hierarchy 233 of fig2 is then generated at 712 the final object hierarchy is transformed into a predetermined output format such as output formats 230 232 of fig2 and displayed as disclosed embodiments of the present invention perform software application compliance by generating an object hierarchy and applying rules to the hierarchy while modifying the object hierarchy based on the application of the rules this provides for a centralized overview of the development process in as much detail as desired further embodiments can check the compliance of a.