ARIFS: an Environment for Incomplete and Formal Specifications

Abstract The selection of appropriate components for satisfying a given equirement is a key problem in software reuse. Although this problem is remarkable in the reuse of software within same domain or application area, which is known as vertical reuse , it is more pronounced in horizontal reuse , that is, the reuse of software elements in different application areas. This paper describes how ARIFS tool (A pproximate R etrieval of I ncomplete and F ormal S pecifications ) provides a suitable reusing environment to classify, retrieve and adapt formal and incomplete requirements specifications. Both classification and retrieval tasks are based on functional similarities according to structural closeness, which provides a suitable basis for horizontal reuse; and semantic closeness, which is more appropriated for vertical reuse. To this effect, we define four partial ordering relations among reusable components and different measures to quantify functional differences among them. By using these measures we are able to offer an approximate and efficient retrieval, without formal proofs, and to predict adaptation efforts to satisfy the required functional specification.