Overview
ISO/IEC 26558:2017 - "Software and systems engineering - Methods and tools for variability modelling in software and systems product line" defines a comprehensive framework for variability modelling across software and systems product lines. The standard specifies terms and definitions, prescribes processes for variability modelling, variability model management and variability model support across the product line lifecycle, and describes required method and tool capabilities. It is expressly focused on families of products (product lines), not single-system variability.
Key topics and requirements
- Terminology and scope: Provides standardized terms and definitions specific to variability modelling for software and systems product lines.
- Process-oriented approach: Processes are described in terms of purpose, inputs, tasks and outcomes to guide repeatable variability modelling activities.
- Variability model management: Covers planning, enabling and managing variability models - including strategy, responsibilities, QA measures, mobilization of roles, issue control and improvement actions.
- Variability modelling activities: Distinguishes domain variability modelling and application variability modelling, with tasks such as construct, annotate, verify and optimize variability models.
- Relating models to artefacts and mechanisms: Defines processes to relate variability models to design/implementation artefacts, to application artefacts, and to variability mechanisms (e.g., implementation techniques), including annotations and constraint management.
- Binding decision support & configuration: Addresses support for tracing binding decisions, maintaining binding decision tables, and providing views of variability models at different binding stages.
- Quality assurance: Specifies objective evaluation of modelling activities and work products, noncompliance handling and record-keeping.
- Method and tool capabilities: Specifies capabilities that methods must support and tool features that should automate or semi-automate tasks (e.g., traceability, model validation, decision tracing).
- Informative annexes: Includes meta-models and examples (e.g., variability meta model, orthogonal variability model, decision tables) to support implementation.
Applications and users
ISO/IEC 26558:2017 is valuable for:
- Product line organizations adopting Software and Systems Product Line (SSPL) engineering to manage variability across families of products.
- Systems and software architects, domain engineers and application engineers who construct domain and application variability models.
- Tool and method providers designing variability modelling tools, traceability solutions, and configuration/binding decision support.
- Quality assurance and configuration management teams implementing objective evaluation and maintaining binding decisions.
Practical uses include selecting and evaluating variability modelling tools, defining variability modelling strategy and governance, improving traceability from variability models to artefacts, and supporting application configuration and product derivation.
Related standards
ISO/IEC 26558:2017 is part of the ISO/IEC 26550 family addressing product line engineering. Related documents include:
- ISO/IEC 26551 (requirements), 26552 (design), 26553 (realization), 26554 (testing), 26555–26563 (management, variability mechanisms, traceability, product/configuration management, etc.).