Issues of Architectural Description Languages for Handling Dynamic Reconfiguration

Leonardo Minora (1) , Jérémy Buisson (2, 3) , Flavio Oquendo (4, 5) , Thais Batista (6)

1 DIMAp - Departamento de Informática e Matemática Aplicada [Natal]
2 Ecoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan [Guer]
3 ArchWare
4 UBS - Université de Bretagne Sud
5 UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany
6 ConSiste

Dynamic reconfiguration is the action of modifying a software system at runtime. Several works have been using architectural specification as the basis for dynamic reconfiguration. Indeed ADLs (architecture description languages) let architects describe the elements that could be reconfigured as well as the set of constraints to which the system must conform during reconfiguration. In this work, we investigate the ADL literature in order to illustrate how reconfiguration is supported in four well-known ADLs: pi-ADL, ACME, C2SADL and Dynamic Wright. From this review, we conclude that none of these ADLs: (i) addresses the issue of consistently reconfiguring both instances and types; (ii) takes into account the behaviour of architectural elements during reconfiguration; and (iii) provides support for assessing reconfiguration, e.g., verifying the transition against properties.

Mots clés: dynamic reconfiguration; software architecture; architecture description language; ADL; pi-ADL; ACME; C2SADL; Dynamic Wright

Domaines: Génie logiciel [cs.SE]; Recherche d'information [cs.IR]

Leonardo Minora, Jérémy Buisson, Flavio Oquendo, Thais Batista. Issues of Architectural Description Languages for Handling Dynamic Reconfiguration. 6ème Conférence francophone sur les architectures logicielles (CAL'2012), May 2012, Montpellier, France. pp.69-80. ⟨hal-00699895⟩