Configuration Management with Feature Logics

Feature logics, when used in a software configuration management system, can be used to identify and select versions by their respective features, unifies variant and revision handling, helps detecting configuration conflicts and allows dealing with incomplete configuration specifications. In our model, components are tagged with feature terms, describing their features (or nonfeatures) and identifying both revisions and variants. Selection is done by specification and incremental refinement of the desired features. When a system is to be composed, feature unification infers the set of valid configurations. This set may be presented as an interactive control panel for selecting the final configuration. A prototype, using the C Preprocessor representation for smooth transition from “classical” approaches, has been implemented as part of the NORA software development system.