Publications in Scientific Journals:
A. Falkner, I. Feinerer, G. Salzer, G. Schenner:
"Computing Product Configurations via UML and Integer Linear Programming";
International Journal of Mass Customisation (invited),
3
(2010),
4;
351
- 367.
English abstract:
The Unified Modeling Language (UML) can be used to specify complex systems: Component types are modelled as classes, interdependencies as associations with multiplicities and labels. This paper describes how to handle constraints on associations and multiplicities declaratively by translating them to inequalities over integers without adding complexity. This method provides a well-defined semantics and allows for efficient algorithms for reasoning tasks like detecting inconsistencies. We identify some challenges arising from the use of class diagrams for product configuration, and propose solutions for some of them. The paper concludes with the discussion of an example derived from a real-world configuration problem in the railway domain.
Keywords:
product configuration, consistency, UML class diagrams, integer linear programming, light-weight formal methods
"Official" electronic version of the publication (accessed through its Digital Object Identifier - DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJMASSC.2010.037650
Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.