Tool information can come in many forms: tools, tool mentors, examples, templates, supporting materials, capability patterns, white papers, etc.

In the Unified Method Framework (UMF), tool information is defined in multiple plug-ins.

Tools (the standard categories) are defined in the Core in a Tool Definition Base plug-in where they can be shared between Practices.

Other tool information is defined according to its scope:

• General tool information (as opposed to practice-specific tool information) is defined in the Tool Definition Base plug-in.
• Practice-specific tool information is defined in the Practice Base (or Extend) plug-in. 

The UMF does NOT implement a Delayed Assignment approach for tools because the assignment of tool mentors to tools does not change (tool mentors are written for a specific tool). Thus:

• Tool guidance is assigned to tasks in the Practice Base (or Extend) plug-in where the task is defined. The assignment is done directly in the task definition.
• Tool mentors are assigned to the appropriate Tool standard categories in the plug-in where the tool mentors are defined. The assignment is done by defining a contributor to the Tool standard category (defined in a Tool Definition plug-in) and then assigning the tool mentor to the Tool in the contributor. 

For more information on Tool Definition and Practice plug-ins, see Concept: Practice Library Plug-In Types. For more information on Base and Extend plug-ins, see Concept: Practice Library Plug-In Parts. 

For an example of how tools are implemented in the UMF, see UMF Tool Information Example.