Component Composition Using Feature Models

Abstract

In general, components provide and require services and two components are bound if the first component provides a service required by the second component. However, certain variability in services – w.r.t. how and which functionality is provided or required – cannot be described using standard interface description languages. If this variability is relevant when selecting a matching component then human interaction is required to decide which components can be bound. We propose to use feature models for making this variability explicit and (re-)enabling automatic component binding. In our approach, feature models are one part of service specifications. This enables to declaratively specify which service variant is provided by a component. By referring to a service’s variation points, a component that requires a specific service can list the requirements on the desired variant. Using these specifications, a component environment can then determine if a binding of the components exists that satisfies all requirements. The prototypical environment Columbus demonstrates the feasibility of the approach.