A semantic web approach to feature modeling and verification

Abstract

Abstract. Feature models are widely used in domain engineering to capture common and variant concepts among systems in a particular domain. However, the lack of a formal semantics of feature models has hindered the development of this area. This paper presents a Semantic Web environment for modeling and verifying feature diagrams using ontologies. We use OWL DL (a decidable dialect of OWL) to precisely capture the relationships among features in feature diagrams and configurations. OWL reasoning engines such as RACER are deployed to check for the inconsistencies of feature configurations fully automatically. As part of the environment, we also develop a CASE tool to facilitate the visual development, interchange and reasoning of feature diagrams represented as ontologies. 1