Automated analysis and construction of feature models in a relational database using web forms

Abstract

The Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) approach introduced the feature model abstraction to represent software product lines. However, these abstractions are often difficult for mainstream developers to specify and maintain because most tools rely on specialized theories, notations, or technologies. To address this issue, we propose a design that uses mainstream Web technologies to enable users to construct syntactically and semantically correct feature models and mainstream relational database technologies to encode the models as directed acyclic graphs. The Web interface and relational database designs can form parts of a comprehensive, interactive environment that enables mainstream developers to specify, store, and update feature models and use them to configure members of product families.