Expressing Feature-Based Variability in Structural Models

Software product line engineering aims at reducing development time, effort, cost, and complexity by taking advantage of the commonality within a portfolio of similar products. The effectiveness of a software product line approach directly depends on how well feature variability within the portfolio is implemented and managed throughout the development lifecycle, from early analysis through maintenance and evolution. This paper presents a tool-supported approach that improves variability management and tracing by providing means to express feature-based variability on model level. Features are separated in models and automatically composed. The approach supports both positive variability, i.e. adding optional parts to a model, as well as negative variability, i.e. removing parts from a model. Tools are provided that implement the presented concepts. The approach is illustrated with a case study of a home automation system.