The term framework is often misused for integrated systems which do not at all exhibit an application-framework architecture. In essence, the application-framework architecture distinguishes between the specialized, classical point tools (the applications) which perform specific simulations, and the integrating software (the framework) which provides generic services and ties together all tools to solve actual TCAD design tasks.
A framework has to contain
a data level, a task level, and a presentation
level. For reasons of application integration effort,
an 
converter-based solution is not
acceptable for a framework data level.
Additional criteria to distinguish framework approaches from
ordinary integrated systems are the
re-use and utilization of framework services by applications (these
are typically common libraries),
the generic functionality provided by the framework,
ease of customization, and framework extension.