Towards Explanation Generation using Feature Models in Software Product Lines

Dynamic Software Product Line (DSPL) Engineering has gained interest through its promise of being able to unify software adaptation whereby software can be configured at compile time and runtime. Just like conventional adaptive software, software dynamism can confuse the user, and lower user trust. Variability knowledge expressed in a feature model though may not be understandable to the end user. Explanations have been shown to improve intelligibility of the software, and improve user trust. In this work, we consider how explanations can be used in DSPLs, by adding explanatory knowledge to feature models that can be used to generate explanations at runtime.

[1]  Mathieu Acher,et al.  Modeling Context and Dynamic Adaptations with Feature Models , 2009 .

[2]  Jean Vanderdonckt,et al.  Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGCHI symposium on Engineering interactive computing systems , 2010 .

[3]  Anders Kofod-Petersen,et al.  Explanations and Context in Ambient Intelligent Systems , 2007, CONTEXT.

[4]  Agnar Aamodt,et al.  Explanation in Case-Based Reasoning–Perspectives and Goals , 2005, Artificial Intelligence Review.

[5]  Goetz Botterweck,et al.  User interface engineering for software product lines: the dilemma between automation and usability , 2012, EICS '12.

[6]  Sriram Subramanian,et al.  Talking about tactile experiences , 2013, CHI.

[7]  Carlos Parra,et al.  Towards Dynamic Software Product Lines: Unifying Design and Runtime Adaptations , 2011 .

[8]  Anind K. Dey,et al.  Why and why not explanations improve the intelligibility of context-aware intelligent systems , 2009, CHI.

[9]  Barry Smyth,et al.  Advances in Case-Based Reasoning , 1996, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[10]  Antonio Ruiz Cortés,et al.  Automated Reasoning on Feature Models , 2005, CAiSE.

[11]  Tony Clark,et al.  An extensible, self contained, layered approach to context acquisition , 2011, M-MPAC '11.

[12]  Kyo Chul Kang,et al.  Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) Feasibility Study , 1990 .

[13]  Thomas Roth-Berghofer,et al.  Using canned explanations within a mobile context engine , 2012 .

[14]  Miguel Toro,et al.  Automated error analysis for the agilization of feature modeling , 2008, J. Syst. Softw..

[15]  Luís Ferreira Pires,et al.  A SOA-Based Platform-Specific Framework for Context-Aware Mobile Applications , 2009, IWEI.

[16]  Krzysztof Czarnecki,et al.  Formalizing cardinality-based feature models and their specialization , 2005, Softw. Process. Improv. Pract..

[17]  Sergio Segura,et al.  Automated analysis of feature models 20 years later: A literature review , 2010, Inf. Syst..

[18]  Sven Apel,et al.  An Overview of Feature-Oriented Software Development , 2009, J. Object Technol..

[19]  Thomas Roth-Berghofer,et al.  Explanations and Case-Based Reasoning: Foundational Issues , 2004, ECCBR.

[20]  Sooyong Park,et al.  Dynamic Software Product Lines , 2008, Computer.

[21]  Thomas Roth-Berghofer,et al.  Mapping Goals and Kinds of Explanations to the Knowledge Containers of Case-Based Reasoning Systems , 2005, ICCBR.

[22]  Don Batory,et al.  Scaling step-wise refinement , 2003, 25th International Conference on Software Engineering, 2003. Proceedings..