A technique to represent product line core assets in MDA/PIM for automation

Abstract

A Product Line (PL) is a set of products (applications) that share common assets in a domain. Product line engineering (PLE) supports the systematic development of a set of similar software systems by common and distinguishing characteristics. Core assets, the common assets, are created and instantiated to make products in PLE. Model Driven Architecture (MDA) emphasizes its feasibility with an automatically developing product. Therefore, we can get the advantages of two paradigms, PLE and MDA, as core assets are represented as PIM in MDA with a predefined automatic mechanism. The PLE framework in the PIM level has to be interpreted by MDA tools. However, we do not have a standard UML profile for representing core assets. The research representing the PLE framework is not enough to automatically make core assets and products. We represent core assets in the PIM level in terms of architecture, components, and decision models. Core assets are specified with our profile at the level of PIM, where they can be automatically transformed and instantiated. The method of representing the framework with PLE and MDA is used to improve productivity, applicability, maintainability and quality of products. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.