Model Element Automatons for Software Tool Integration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing software product family engineering systems face challenges in seamlessly integrating various software development tools and artifacts across the full lifecycle, leading to reduced conceptual clarity and increased complexity due to the need for additional indirection and translation layers.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of model element automatons that serve as proxies for real model elements, allowing for uniform support of arbitrary software artifact types and enabling automated product instantiation, feature variations, and feature profiles, thereby simplifying the integration of software development tools and artifacts into a unified software product family engineering system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If data exchange records and translation layers are used to interoperate with tools from multiple lifecycle stages, then interoperability between tools is achieved, but conceptual clarity is reduced and system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by creating a unified model element automaton framework that can represent and manage software artifacts from multiple different tools and lifecycle stages through a common abstraction layer. This allows the system to interact with various tools (requirements management, test management, model-driven development) without requiring separate integration mechanisms for each tool type, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining broad interoperability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses model element automatons as intermediaries between the software product family engineering system and various tool artifacts. These automatons serve as standardized proxies that mediate communication between the unified system and diverse tool representations, eliminating the need for multiple translation layers and data exchange records while preserving tool-specific functionality and semantics.
2Adaptability or versatility
If traditional software development approaches are used for each individual product, then product customization is achieved, but development time and effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the software product family into shared common artifacts and product-specific variations. Model element automatons enable the system to identify and separate invariant portions (common to all products) from variable portions (specific to each product), allowing developers to maintain a single unified model and only customize the necessary variations, thereby reducing development time while preserving full product customization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining model element automatons with their variability characteristics and inheritance relationships before actual product development. This allows the system to automatically generate and configure product-specific artifacts by instantiating pre-prepared automaton templates, eliminating the need for manual creation of similar artifacts for each product and significantly reducing development effort.
3Adaptability or versatility
If cloned models are created for each software product, then product-specific customization is achieved, but model maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the management of multiple product-specific models into a single unified model through the model element automaton framework. By representing all products as variations of a common automaton hierarchy, the system consolidates what would otherwise be separate cloned models into one maintainable structure, reducing model maintenance complexity while preserving the ability to customize each product specifically through the automaton inheritance mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
Presented is a system and method for the integration of existing software development tools into a software customization system, where each software development tool has its own model of its software artifacts. The invention allows models in an external software development tool to become software artifacts within a software customization system, and also allows the model elements of the existing tools to become automatons.