Software Component Re-engineering for their Runtime Structural Adaptation

Adapting software components to be used in a particular application is a crucial issue in software component-based technology. In fact, software components can be used in contexts with characteristics different from those envisaged when designing the component. To deal with this issue, we propose in this paper an approach aiming at adapting a software component structure in order to preserve service continuity. This adaptation, achieved by component fragmentation, allows its structure reconfiguration and its redeployment while preserving its behavior and its services. The structural adaptation process is based on two phases. The first one consists of the component re-engineering in order to introduce runtime adaptation facilities. The second phase, achieved since runtime, aims at reconfiguring the component structure according to the user needs.