Variability Visualization of IEC 61131-3 Legacy Software for Planned Reuse

Juliane Fischer, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Jan Wilch, Frieder Loch, Kathrin Land, Ina Schaefer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Automated production systems (aPS) are variant-rich, design-to-order systems and an increasing proportion of their functionality is implemented by control software. In control software development, software reuse is still commonly performed via clone-and-own despite many drawbacks, e.g., copying errors. This unplanned reuse leads to a high amount of historically grown software variants, which contain valuable domain expertise. Therefore, to enable planned reuse of existing control software solutions, an analysis of legacy software, inducing documentation of identified variability, is required. While so-called Software Product Lines enable the documentation of variability, they lack suitable variability visualization tailored to the needs of aPS stakeholders such as application or module developers. To address this gap, this paper introduces a variability visualization concept tailored to the needs of aPS stakeholders with the aim of supporting them in their daily tasks. The concept was evaluated successfully within a master student's course by use of a prototypical implementation of the visualization concept.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2020 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC 2020
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages3760-3767
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781728185262
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 Oct 2020
Event2020 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC 2020 - Toronto, Canada
Duration: 11 Oct 202014 Oct 2020

Publication series

NameConference Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics
Volume2020-October
ISSN (Print)1062-922X

Conference

Conference2020 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC 2020
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityToronto
Period11/10/2014/10/20

Keywords

  • IEC 61131-3
  • automated production systems
  • legacy control software
  • software visualization
  • variant management

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