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[lichter}@cs.rwth-aachen.de](lichter}@cs.rwth-aachen.de)  \nResearch Group Software Construction  \nRWTH Aachen  \nAbstract  \nSoftware Product Lines are characterized through common and variable parts. Modeling variability isone of the most important tasks during the analysis phase. In order to guarantee that domain experts and developers understand each other variability has to be modeled explicitly. In this paper we present and examine the different types of variability. We analyze and assess UML Use Case diagrams in detail with respect to their capability to express variability, with the result, that they only provide poor assistance. Consequently we introduce an enhancement of the Use Case meta-model to overcome this deficiency by integrating new modeling elements that allow to express the identified types of variability.  \n1 Introduction  \nModeling variability is an essential task in developing Software Product Lines [PLP01] . Variability means that beside the common parts that are shared by all members of a Software Product Line, each product has its own specific parts. Defining the commonality and the variable parts of a Software Product Line is mainly done during product line scoping [Sch00] . But, variability exists and must be modeled in every phase of the product line development process which means in the requirements analyzing and in the design phase. Variability is finally realized in the implementation phase.  \nBesides considering variability in different phases it is very important to take into account that different types of variability exist. Halmans [Hal02] differentiates between technical variability, comprising all kinds of variability that exist in the system infrastructure, concretion and realization of the product line and functional variability, defining functional and quality characteristics of the system. Technical variability is defined in terms of “how” a product line can be implemented; functional variability is defined in terms of“what” the product line should be capable of.  \nThe analysis of functional variability is necessary to identify characteristics that are mandatory, that means that they are common, and characteristics that are variable, that means, they are not mandatory but can be considered in a specific context or not. To communicate and negotiate common and variable characteristics with the stakeholders an appropriate notation must be chosen to guarantee that domain experts and developers understand each other.  \nIn the next section we describe which types of variability exist and list requirements on a notation for modeling variability. Section 3 gives a brief overview on the feature based modeling approach and considers UML Use Cases in the context of modeling functional variability. In section 4 we present an extension of the UML Use Case meta-model, integrating variability-modeling elements. Finally, we draw some conclusionsand give a brief outlook on our future research.  \n2 Modeling Functional Variability  \n2.1 Types of variability  \nVariable system characteristics are defined by means of so called variation points (see [Jac97]) . At a variation point different specific variants can be chosen for each family member to resolve this variation point. The following types of functional variability must be considered:  \n• Options  \nOptional characteristics of a system can be integrated or not. That means from a set of optional characteristics, any quantity of these characteristics can be chosen, including none or all. We distinguish between options that can only be chosen if a specific condition holds and options where one has a free choice to integrate them or not. Hence, optional aspects can be modeled by means of an or-relationship.  \n• Alternatives  \nFrom a set of alternative characteristics, only one characteristic can be chosen -defining an exclusive  \nProceedings of International Worksh","cbCaiuUi8S2vSszK","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiuUi8S2vSszK","pdf",99774,"English","# Introduction\n# Modeling Functional Variability\n## Types of variability\n## Levels of variability\n## Requirements on a modeling notation","[{\"question\":\"Why is modeling variability important in Software Product Lines?\",\"answer\":\"Variability must be modeled explicitly so domain experts and developers can understand common versus variable aspects throughout requirements analysis and design, and later realize it in implementation.\"},{\"question\":\"What functional variability types are discussed?\",\"answer\":\"The paper describes options, alternatives, and optional alternatives at variation points, distinguishing cases like conditional choice and exclusive or/xor selection.\"},{\"question\":\"How do UML Use Case diagrams relate to variability modeling?\",\"answer\":\"The paper analyzes UML Use Case diagrams and finds they provide poor assistance in expressing variability, motivating an extension of the Use Case meta-model with new elements to capture variability types.\"}]","Modeling Variability by UML Use Case Diagrams - Research Paper | PDF",18]