Detecting and Explaining Conflicts in Attributed Feature Models

Abstract

Product configuration systems are often based on a variability model. The development of a variability model is a time consuming and error-prone process. Considering the ongoing development of products, the variability model has to be adapted frequently. These changes often lead to mistakes, such that some products cannot be derived from the model anymore, that undesired products are derivable or that there are contradictions in the variability model. In this paper, we propose an approach to discover and to explain contradictions in attributed feature models efficiently in order to assist the developer with the correction of mistakes. We use extended feature models with attributes and arithmetic constraints, translate them into a constraint satisfaction problem and explore those for contradictions. When a contradiction is found, the constraints are searched for a set of contradicting relations by the QuickXplain algorithm.Comment: In Proceedings FMSPLE 2015, arXiv:1504.0301

Análisis Automático de Modelos de Variabilidad : el Proceso SeVaTax

“…Las operaciones son, por ejemplo, todos los productos (retornando todos los productos representados por un modelo de características); o cantidad de productos (retornando la cantidad de productos representados por un modelo de características). Además de las operaciones, las propiedades no deseadas han sido clasificadas en diferentes trabajos de la literatura [15,41,56,59,90,92] de acuerdo a los diferentes escenarios posibles que pueden encontrarse cuando se modela variabilidad. De esos trabajos, resumimos a continuación los escenarios asociados a tres problemas principales [92]:…”

“…En el Capítulo anterior comparamos las anomalías o incompatibilidades más comunes definidas en la literatura, las cuales se utilizaron para mostrar el soporte que proveían los estudios primarios seleccionados. Analizamos particularmente los trabajos en la literatura definidos en [15,41,56,59,90,92], los cuales, algunos de ellos, son propuestas especificas sobre inconsistencias en modelos de características [15,56,85,90,92]; y otros son parte de los estudios primarios seleccionados [41,59].…”

Analysis of Feature Models Using Alloy: A Survey

“…The review begins by considering existing surveys (e.g. [4,16,24]) and searching the following terms using a logical and operator for the combination, in the abstract and keyword lists of the following scientific databases: Search terms: Feature Model, Alloy, analysis, software product line, verification Data sources: IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, ISI Web of Knowledge…”

“…Thus, we omit any paper that uses alternative formalisms (e.g. constraint programming or description logic) or any other propositional logic provers [4,16].…”

“…There are 3 surveys [4,16,24] which have systematically studied the state-of-the-art on FM analysis. Most of the high level findings related to tools support and capability of executing analysis operations have been documented in those surveys, but with no specific focus towards using Alloy as the analysis tool.…”