From Goal Models to Feature Models: A Rule-Based Approach for Software Product Lines

Identifying features and creating a feature model during the process of software product line engineering is time-consuming and requires substantial effort from modelers. In recent years, a number of approaches that map goal models to feature models have been proposed so as to avoid creating the feature model from scratch. However, these approaches can only map part of the elements, such as the goals. The question of how to map the dependencies among actors to the feature model remains an open problem. In this paper, we exploit the standard goal-oriented framework, i.e., the i* framework, for constructing a more complete domain feature model. In particular, we propose mapping rules as well as an algorithm for mapping dependencies among actors to the feature model. In addition, we seek to customize the application products using the i* model evaluation approach during the application engineering phase. The case shows that our approach is practical and efficient.