Searching and Matching Software Components with Multiple Interfaces

L. Iribarne and A. Vallecillo.

CBD Workshop at TOOLS Europe'2000. France, June 2000.

Abstract

Currently there is an increasing interest in the use of COTS components for building software applications. Component search and service matching are two of the issues involved in this process. Traditional proposals to deal with these problems are based on the simplistic assumption that components present only one interface with the services they offer, and that matching is done on a one-to-one basis. This work presents an extension of those approaches in which components offer several interfaces, and not only their {\em supported} services are contemplated, but also the external services they may require from other components to operate. In this context, some of the traditional component operators are extended --composition, substitutability, and equivalence-- so they can deal with multiple interfaces. In addition, the problems arising in this new setting are discussed, and some of the possible solutions presented.