S2T2-Configurator: interactive support for configuration of large feature models

S2T2-Configurator is a visual tool for con guration of fea- ture models. In this tool paper, we focus on interactive techniques that support the con guration of large and complex models

Integrating automated product derivation and individual user interface design

Software Product Lines, in conjunction with modeldriven product derivation, are successful examples for extensive automation and reuse in software development. However, often each single product requires an individual, tailored user interface of its own to achieve the desired usability. Moreover, in some cases (e.g., online shops, games) it is even mandatory that each product has an individual, unique user interface of its own. Usually, this results in manual user interface design independent from the model-driven product derivation. Consequently, each product configuration has to be mapped manually to a corresponding user interface which can become a tedious and error-prone task for large and complex product lines. This paper addresses this problem by integrating concepts from SPL product derivation and Model-based User Interface Development. This facilitates both (1) a systematic and semi-automated creation of user interfaces during product derivation while (2) still supporting for individual, creative design

Interactive techniques to support the configuration of complex feature models.

Whenever a software engineer derives a product from a product line, he has to resolve variability by making con guration decisions. This con guration process can become rather complex because of depen- dencies within the variability model and knock-on e ects and dependencies in other related artefacts. Because of the limited cognitive capacity of the human engineer, this complexity limits the ability of handling product lines with large con guration spaces. To address this problem we focus on techniques that support the interactive con guration of larger feature models, including (1) visual interaction with a formal reason- ing engine, (2) visual representation of multiple interrelated hierarchies, (3) indicators for con guration progress and (4) ltering of visible nodes. The concepts are demonstrated within S2T2 Con gurator, an interactive feature con guration tool. The techniques are discussed and evaluated with feature models, however, we believe they can be generalised to other models that describe con guration choices, e.g., variability models and decision models

Model-driven development and evolution of customized user interfaces

One of the main benefits of model-driven development of User Interfaces (UIs) is the increase in efficiency and consistency when developing multiple variants of a UI. For instance, multiple UIs for different target users, platforms, devices, or for whole product families can be generated from the same abstract models. However, purely generated UIs are not always sufficient as there is often need for customizing the individual UI variants, e.g., due to usability issues or specific customer requirements. In this paper we present a model-driven approach for the development of UI families with systematic support for customizations. The approach supports customizing all aspects of a UI (UI elements, screens, navigation, etc.) and storing the customizations in specific models. As a result, a UI family can be evolved more efficiently because individual UI variants can be re-generated (after some changes have been applied to the family) without losing any previously made customizations. We demonstrate this by thirty highly customized real-world products from a commercial family of web information systems called HIS-GX/QIS

Model-driven development of interactive and integrated 2D and 3D user interfaces using MML

While there is a lot of research done in the area of 2D or 3D user interfaces (UIs) construction, comparatively little is known about systematic approaches to designing and developing integrated 2D/3D UIs and applications. The previously developed multimedia modeling language (MML) provides a top down approach for a model driven development of 2D/3D UIs and applications. The MML structure model and media components provide support for including X3D based content and automatic generation of application skeletons. We use a work instruction manual for a woodchipper as an example to illustrate how to apply MML. We discuss the ramifications of this approach and opportunities for some improvements

User interface engineering for software product lines:the dilemma between automation and usability

Software Product Lines (SPL) are systematic approach to develop families of similar software products by explicating their commonalities and variability, e.g., in a feature model. Using techniques from model-driven development, it is then possible to automatically derive a concrete product from a given configuration (i.e., selection of features). However, this is problematic for interactive applications with complex user interfaces (UIs) as automatically derived UIs often provide limited usability. Thus, in practice, the UI is mostly created manually for each product, which results in major drawbacks concerning efficiency and maintenance, e.g., when applying changes that affect the whole product family. This paper investigates these problems based on real-world examples and analyses the development of product families from a UI perspective. To address the underlying challenges, we propose the use of abstract UI models, as used in HCI, to bridge the gap between automated, traceable product derivation and customized, high quality user interfaces. We demonstrate the feasibility of the approach by a concrete example implementation for the suggested model-driven development process

Model-driven support for product line evolution on feature level

Software Product Lines (SPL) are an engineering technique to efficiently derive a set of similar products from a set of shared assets. In particular in conjunction with model-driven engineering, SPL engineering promises high productivity benefits. There is however, a lack of support for systematic management of SPL evolution, which is an important success factor as a product line often represents a long term investment. In this article, we present a model-driven approach for managing SPL evolution on feature level. To reduce complexity we use model fragments to cluster related elements. The relationships between these fragments are specified using feature model concepts itself leading to a specific kind of feature model called EvoFM. A configuration of EvoFM represents an evolution step and can be transformed to a concrete instance of the product line (i.e., a feature model for the corresponding point in time). Similarly, automatic transformations allow the derivation of an EvoFM from a given set of feature models. This enables retrospective analysis of historic evolution and serves as a starting point for introduction of EvoFM, e.g., to plan future evolution steps

A case study on variability in user interfaces

Software Product Lines (SPL) enable e cient derivation of products. SPL concepts have been applied successfully in many domains including interactive applications. However, the user interface (UI) part of applications has barely been addressed yet. While standard SPL concepts allow derivation of functionally correct UIs, there are additional nonfunctional requirements, like usability, which have to be considered. This paper presents a case study investigating UI variability found in variants of the commercial web-based information system HIS-GX/QIS. We analyze which aspects of a UI vary and to which degree. The results show that just tweaking the nal UI (e.g., using stylesheets) is not su cient but there is a need for more customization which must be supported by, e.g., UI-speci c models

4th International workshop on product line approaches in software engineering

This paper summarizes PLEASE 2013, the fourth edition of the PLEASE workshop series. The main goal of PLEASE is to encourage and promote the adoption of Software Product Line Engineering. To this end, we aim at bringing together researchers and industrial practitioners involved in developing families of related products in order to (1) facilitate a dialogue between these two groups and (2) initiate and foster long-term collaborations

EvoFM: feature-driven planning of product-line evolution

Companies successfully applying product line approaches often follow a long-term strategy and need to plan product portfolios years ahead. For instance in the automotive industry, managers constantly make decisions about future product evolution, like \the LED tail lights will be introduced with the next facelift and the LED front lights two years later". With a raising number of features, feature changes, and evolution steps, a systematic approach for evolution planning becomes essential. However, there is only very little support for such evolution in model-based product line engineering so far. This paper presents an approach for extending modeldriven product line engineering towards automated and toolsupported techniques for product line evolution. We provide a feature-based approach to model the variability over time and a catalogue of change operators for feature models