"Many of the software requirements for a decision support system (DSS) are not specific to an application (e.g., database management and report generation). Developing the software to provide such general capabilities might take more effort than developing the software for the specific application. In order to facilitate the building of the Air Force's Enlisted Force Management System, a general-purpose off-the-shelf software package (called a DSS generator) was acquired in which the specific system models could be embedded. This report explains how the DSS generator was obtained. It presents the objectives that were defined for the generator and the requirements that were derived from these objectives. It then describes the structured evaluation process that led to the ultimate selection."--Rand abstracts