Using Integer Constraint Solving in Reuse Based Requirements Engineering

TL;DR

This paper explores the use of integer constraint programming to specify constraints in Product Line engineering, demonstrating its flexibility and ability to handle complex constraints beyond traditional modeling languages.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach using integer constraint programming for Product Line constraints and implements a prototype tool to validate its effectiveness.

Findings

Constraint programming can model various PL languages.

Integer constraints enable complex constraint specification.

The approach is effective in real case scenarios.

Abstract

Product Lines (PL) have proved an effective approach to reuse-based systems development. Several modeling languages were proposed so far to specify PL. Although they can be very different, these languages show two common features: they emphasize (a) variability, and (b) the specification of constraints to define acceptable configurations. It is now widely acknowledged that configuring a product can be considered as a constraint satisfaction problem. It is thus natural to consider constraint programming as a first choice candidate to specify constraints on PL. For instance, the different constraints that can be specified using the FODA language can easily be expressed using boolean constraints, which enables automated calculation and configuration using a SAT solver. But constraint programming proposes other domains than the boolean domain: for instance integers, real, or sets. The integer domain was, for instance, proposed by Benavides to specify constraints on feature attributes. This paper proposes to further explore the use of integer constraint programming to specify PL constraints. The approach was implemented in a prototype tool. Its use in a real case showed that constraint programming encompasses different PL modeling languages (such as FORE, OVM, or else), and allows specifying complex constraints that are difficult to specify with these languages.