A Building Block Approach to Detecting and Resolving Feature Interactions

This paper presents a methodology we envision for detecting and resolving feature interactions. The methodology is based on a building block approach, in which features and their operating contexts are building blocks that can be composed in any combination to detect and resolve their interactions. This methodology is applicable to the phases in the software life cycle that address the creation of new features such as requirements, specification, and verification. By creating a well defined process for determining feature compatibility, with clearly defined steps and appropriate techniques/tools, it will then be possible to systematically model features, and detect and resolve interactions among features. The primary goal is to provide a support environment which feature designers can use to specify and verify the requirements of a feature, detect its possible interactions with other features, and finally verify the resolution of any detected interactions. As an ongoing effort at Bellcore, the paper also reports our current status of experiments with this methodology.