Design frameworks have become an important infrastructure for building complex design systems. This text presents a state-of-the-art review of the latest research results covering this topic; results which are also of value for other design frameworks. The book contains the selected proceedings of the Fourth International Working Conference on Electronic Design Frameworks, organized by the International Federation for Information Processing and held in Gremado, Brazil, in November 1994. A broad range of relevant topics in the field of electronic design automation frameworks are covered. These include: transaction management; design management and tool integration; data types; federated studies; communication and distribution; design management; case studies of design environments; relevant standards and design representation. In addition, there is a glossary of relevant terms - the first widely published glossary for the electronic design automation area. All those concerned with electronic design automation frameworks should find this book of interest, especially electronic design automation engineers, advanced electronic design automation users and graduate students. This book should be of interest to graduate students; EDA engineers; advanced EDA users.