基于UML用例图的软件产品线需求建模方法

软件产品线方法是一种面向特定领域的、大规模、大粒度的软件复用技术。明确建模和描述软件产品线需求是软件产品线开发的关键问题之一。而传统的UML用例图等方法不足以完整描述产品线需求,特别是其变化性。通过分析软件产品线开发过程和软件产品线需求建模的特殊性,采用扩展UML用例图标签的方法,实现对软件产品线需求的明确描述。以网络图书销售软件产品线为例,进行具体说明。     

基于软件产品线的需求分析研究

软件产品线方法是一种面向特定领域的、大规模、大粒度的软件复用技术.在软件产品线的开发过程中,产品线需求分析是软件产品线开发的关键活动之一,软件产品线需求分析奠定了产品线构架的基础.通过分析软件产品线开发过程和软件产品线需求分析的特点,阐述了软件产品线需求分析方法以及软件产品线需求分析的实践风险.以领域分析和建模为切入点,对软件产品线的领域分析、需求建模和用例建模等关键方法和技术进行了重点的研究.     

基于场景元模型的软件产品线追踪方法

针对软件产品线需求追踪方法进行了研究,基于软件产品线领域需求分析、设计、实现三个阶段的信息传播,提出了一种基于场景元模型的多层次软件产品线追踪模型,完整描述了追踪信息变化的整体框架;建立了需求—用例追踪矩阵、用例—动作追踪矩阵、动作—构件追踪矩阵;根据矩阵运算,描述了具体追踪实现过程,通过一个ATM案例验证了该方法对于软件产品线领域需求获取以及需求变更等问题的解决有较好的效果。     

办公自动化软件产品线的研究与设计

软件产品线是一组具有可管理的公共特性的产品集合。选取网络办公自动化（OA）系统作为特定的研究领域，在分析此领域中产品的共性后，给出了OA系统软件产品线的实现方法。具体描述了OA系统产品线的需求工程，OA系统产品线核心资产的提取，并以科技项目管理系统为例说明了如何将核心资产应用到具体的产品开发中。     

产品线可变性的需求方法研究

软件产品线领域需求记录了不同软件产品的共性和可变性。在现有需求过程框架下,对产品线需求获取方法与需求分析方法进行了研究,完善了产品线需求可变性的管控机制。以原子需求为视点,提出了利用需求场景获取产品线领域需求的方法;通过原子需求构建的产品需求矩阵与用例需求矩阵,分析得出需求资源的可变性关系;通过可变性关系的形式化描述,建立产品线可变性用例模型。     

两阶段过程模型下的产品线复用策略优化

考虑了软件产品线工程中各软件模块复用策略的选择问题. 在建立软件产品线开发两阶段过程模型的基础上, 归纳出6种典型的复用策略及其实现方式, 提出考虑开发成本、工时、故障率的情况下进行复用策略的选择优化模型, 解决在满足可获得预算、开发周期、系统可靠性需求的约束下产品线质量最优问题. 并基于贝叶斯理论构建易测试函数, 为产品线开发中领域测试强度的估算提供了方法. 最后, 以邮箱服务系统为实例说明该模型的有效 性.     

一种基于UML的软件产品线可变性建模方法

将UML引入到软件产品线开发中,在产品线可变性分析的基础上,提出了一种基于UML的产品线可变性建模方法。该方法不仅支持可选、多选一等可变点类型的描述,还支持软件产品线可变性的约束建模。在此基础上,还通过一个手机应用软件的产品线可变性建模实例验证了该方法的有效性。     

面向方面的软件产品线需求建模

为了将软件产品线的横切关注点在开发的早期阶段分离出来,完成系统分析向设计阶段的顺利过渡,提出了一种面向方面的软件产品线需求分析模型,并给出该模型需求分析的基本步骤.通过冷库管理系统的实例,给出了识别和描述功能需求、非功能需求和横切关注点的方法,利用UML类图完成方面和功能整合,在此基础上介绍了用关系矩阵和合并非功能需求集合的方法来描述非功能需求.实验结果表明,该方法能够有效简化软件产品线需求建模的复杂性.     

面向软件产品线的多维分层需求过程及其应用

准确获取产品线需求、识别需求的共性和可变性,是软件产品线(SPL)成功的关键。该文提出一个多维分层需求过程,利用分层思想划分SPL分析空间,从不同维度观察产品需求特性,采用需求-上下文矩阵保证领域需求分析的客观性,为产品线需求工程实践提供了借鉴。     

从传统制造业的发展看软件产品线方法

本文在考察了传统制造业的发展情况后,阐述了软件产品线的概念、基本活动、建立方式以及软件企业实施软件产品线所要面临的问题.目前我们的软件产业规模、水平、可重复性远没达到传统制造业发展的水平,希望软件产品线能从大规模定制模式的实践和基本理论中获得有益的借鉴.     

Feature-Oriented Nonfunctional Requirement Analysis for Software Product Line

Domain analysis in software product line (SPL) development provides a basis for core assets design and implementation by a systematic and comprehensive commonality/variability analysis. In feature-oriented SPL methods, products of the domain analysis are domain feature models and corresponding feature decision models to facilitate application-oriented customization. As in requirement analysis for a single system, the domain analysis in the SPL development should consider both functional and nonfunctional domain requirements. However, the nonfunctional requirements (NFRs) are often neglected in the existing domain analysis methods. In this paper, we propose a context-based method of the NFR analysis for the SPL development. In the method, NFRs are materialized by connecting nonfunctional goals with real-world context, thus NFR elicitation and variability analysis can be performed by context analysis for the whole domain with the assistance of NFR templates and NFR graphs. After the variability analysis, our method integrates both functional and nonfunctional perspectives by incorporating the nonfunctional goals and operationalizations into an initial functional feature model. NFR-related constraints are also elicited and integrated. Finally, a decision model with both functional and nonfunctional perspectives is constructed to facilitate application-oriented feature model customization. A computer-aided grading system (CAGS) product line is employed to demonstrate the method throughout the paper. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 60703092 and 90818009, the National High Technology Research and Development 863 Program of China under Grant No. 2007AA01Z125.     

Heuristic and exact algorithms for product configuration in software product lines

Software product line (SPL) is a set of software applications that share a common set of features satisfying the specific needs of a particular market segment. SPL engineering is a paradigm to develop software applications that commonly use a feature model to capture and document common and variable features, and their relationships. A big challenge is to derive one product among all possible products in the SPL, which satisfies the business and customer requirements. This task is known as product configuration. Although product configuration has been extensively investigated in the literature, customer's preferences are frequently neglected. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to configure a product that considers both qualitative and quantitative feature properties. We model the product configuration task as a combinatorial optimization problem, and heuristic and exact algorithms are proposed. As far as we are concerned, this proposal is the first work in the literature that considers feature properties in both leaf and nonleaf features. Computational experiments showed that the best of our heuristics found optimal solutions for all instances where those are known. For the instances where optimal solutions are not known, our heuristic outperformed the best solution obtained by a one‐hour run of the exact algorithm by up to 67.89%.     

Multi-level feature trees

Feature modeling has become a popular technique for domain analysis and variability management. However, it is still a considerable challenge to apply this technique to product families and organizational contexts of high complexity like the product range of a global automotive corporation. Managing everything as a single product family with a global feature tree is virtually impossible owing to the enormous complexity, but if the product range is split up into several smaller, independent product lines with separate feature models, systematic reuse and strategic variability management across these portions is lost. In this article, we present multi-level feature trees, which offer a compromise between a single global and several smaller, independent feature trees. Other development artifacts may also be arranged in this way if the multi-level concept is adapted to them. This is shown exemplarily for requirements artifacts in Telelogic Doors. Finally, we describe scenarios showing how this concept can be put into practice. Work presented here was performed at TU-Berlin.     

Comparing practices for reuse in integration‐oriented software product lines and large open source software projects

This article compares the organization and practices for software reuse in integration‐oriented software product lines (SPLs) and open source software projects. The main observation is that both approaches are successful regarding large variability and reuse, but differ widely in their practices and organization. To capture practices in large open source projects, we describe an open compositional model, which reflects their more decentralized organization of software development. We capture key practices and organizational forms for this and validate these by comparing four case studies of this model. Two of these studies are based on published SPL case studies, for the other two we analyze the practices in two large and successful open source projects based on their published developer documentation. Our analysis highlights key differences between the practices in the two open source organizations and the more integrational practices used in the other two cases. Finally, we discuss which practices are successful in which environment and how the current practices can move towards more open, widely scoped and distributed software development. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A systematic mapping study of software product lines testing

Context

In software development, Testing is an important mechanism both to identify defects and assure that completed products work as specified. This is a common practice in single-system development, and continues to hold in Software Product Lines (SPL). Even though extensive research has been done in the SPL Testing field, it is necessary to assess the current state of research and practice, in order to provide practitioners with evidence that enable fostering its further development.

Objective

This paper focuses on Testing in SPL and has the following goals: investigate state-of-the-art testing practices, synthesize available evidence, and identify gaps between required techniques and existing approaches, available in the literature.

Method

A systematic mapping study was conducted with a set of nine research questions, in which 120 studies, dated from 1993 to 2009, were evaluated.

Results

Although several aspects regarding testing have been covered by single-system development approaches, many cannot be directly applied in the SPL context due to specific issues. In addition, particular aspects regarding SPL are not covered by the existing SPL approaches, and when the aspects are covered, the literature just gives brief overviews. This scenario indicates that additional investigation, empirical and practical, should be performed.

Conclusion

The results can help to understand the needs in SPL Testing, by identifying points that still require additional investigation, since important aspects regarding particular points of software product lines have not been addressed yet.     

从领域需求到产品线体系结构的映射——一种面向特征的方法

领域需求之间的依赖关系对软件产品线的体系结构有很大的影响,在已有的面向特征的管理产品线需求依赖的方法中很少有研究从需求到产品线体系结构的映射.基于一种特征依赖的分类方法,提出了从领域需求到特征,以及从特征到产品线体系结构的映射规则.通过这些映射规则,一致的需求通过映射得到一致的产品线核心资产,从而减少产品线中核心资产的不一致性并增加产品线的复用程度.用金融领域的现货交易产品线作为实例说明这个方法的实用性.     

Using a multi-method approach to understand Agile software product lines

ContextSoftware product lines (SPLs) and Agile are approaches that share similar objectives. The main difference is the way in which these objectives are met. Typically evidence on what activities of Agile and SPL can be combined and how they can be integrated stems from different research methods performed separately. The generalizability of this evidence is low, as the research topic is still relatively new and previous studies have been conducted using only one research method.ObjectiveThis study aims to increase understanding of Agile SPL and improve the generalizability of the identified evidence through the use of a multi-method approach.MethodOur multi-method research combines three complementary methods (Mapping Study, Case Study and Expert Opinion) to consolidate the evidence.ResultsThis combination results in 23 findings that provide evidence on how Agile and SPL could be combined.ConclusionAlthough multi-method research is time consuming and requires a high degree of effort to plan, design, and perform, it helps to increase the understanding on Agile SPL and leads to more generalizable evidence. The findings confirm a synergy between Agile and SPL and serve to improve the body of evidence in Agile SPL. When researchers and practitioners develop new Agile SPL approaches, it will be important to consider these synergies.     

A parallel portfolio approach to configuration optimization for large software product lines

Software product line (SPL) engineering demands for optimal or near‐optimal products that balance multiple often competing and conflicting objectives. A major challenge for large SPLs is to efficiently explore a huge space of various products and satisfy a large number of predefined constraints simultaneously. To improve the optimality and convergence speed, we propose a parallel portfolio approach, called IBEAPORT, which designs three algorithm variants by incorporating constraint solving into the indicator‐based evolutionary algorithm in different ways and performs these variants by utilizing parallelization techniques. Our approach utilizes the exploration capabilities of different algorithms and improves optimality as far as possible within a limited time budget. We evaluate our approach on five large‐scale real‐world SPLs. Empirical results demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms the state of the art for all five SPLs on a quality indicator and a diversity indicator. Moreover, IBEAPORT quickly converges to a relatively stable hypervolume value even for the largest SPL with 6888 features.