ECCO
ECCO is a feature-oriented and distributed configuration management and version control system. It makes features, artifacts, traces and variants to first class citizens.
Slides: ecco_slides.pdf
ECCO has many use cases:
- Consolidating a set of individual variants into a common platform representation. For example, reverse engineering a set of individual variants into a Software Product Line (SPL) [SPLC'13][SoSyM'16].
- Supporting ad hoc development of variants (clone and own) as well as their subsequent maintenance [ICSME'14].
- Supporting the evolution of a set of variants and their individual features [SST'15].
- Replacing existing revision control systems (SVN, Git, etc.) [ICSE'16].
Images
This example uses six variants of an image to illustrate ECCO.
Variant 1
person purple shirt
Variant 2
person striped shirt
Variant 3
person purple shirt jacket
Variant 4
person purple shirt jacket glasses
Variant 5
person striped shirt jacket glasses
Variant 6
person striped shirt jacket hat
Given these six variants ECCO automatically computes traces.
Trace 1
person
Trace 2
purple shirt
Trace 3
striped shirt
Trace 4
jacket
Trace 5
glasses
Trace 6
hat
Using these traces ECCO can then compose new variants of the image with a given set of features.
Composed Variant 1
person purple shirt glasses
Composed Variant 2
person purple shirt glasses hat
Simple 3D Models
STEP models.
3D Variant 1: Right Cube
The first variant of the 3D model shows a simple cube.
3D Variant 2: Right Cube, Left Cube
The second variant of the 3D model shows two cubes.
3D Variant 3: Right Cube, Cylinder
The third variant of the 3D model shows a cube and a cylinder.
3D Variant 4: Right Cube, Left Cube, Cylinder
The newly composed fourth variant of the 3D model contains both cubes and the cylinder.
Robot 3D Models
Robot is a set of initially three variants of a 3D CAD model of a simple robot.
Robot Variant 1: Normal Arm, Normal Base
The first variant of the robot features a normal sized base and arms of equal length.
Robot Variant 2: Normal Arm, Greater Base
The second variant of the robot features a greater sized base and arms of equal length.
Robot Variant 3: Smaller Arm, Normal Base
The third variant of the robot features a normal sized base and one shorter arm.
The file format of these variants is STEP. There is currently no plugin for ECCO that supports STEP. However, a plugin exists that applies grammar inference to automatically derive a grammar and construct an ECCO model from sample files. The following shows that ECCO in combination with this plugin already produces useful results even in cases where no specific plugin for certain file types exists. With the first three robot variants as input ECCO can automatically compose a new fourth variant. With a dedicated plugin written specifically for STEP files the result could be improved.
Robot Variant 4: Greater Arm, Smaller Base
The newly composed fourth variant of the robot features a greater sized base and one shorter arm.
Source Code
Java source code of a simple draw application.
Draw Variant 1: Canvas, Line, Wipe
The first variant of the drawing application that supports a basic drawing canvas, drawing lines and wiping the canvas clean.
Draw Variant 2: Canvas, Line, Color
The second variant of the drawing application that supports a basic drawing canvas, drawing lines and choosing a color to draw with.
Draw Variant 3: Canvas, Line, Rectangle, Color
The third variant of the drawing application that supports a basic drawing canvas, drawing lines and rectangles, and choosing a color to draw with.
Newly composed variant initially is incomplete.
Incomplete Draw Variant 4: Line, Rectangle, Wipe
The newly composed, incomplete fourth variant of the draw application.
Fixed new variant.
Complete Draw Variant 4: Line, Rectangle, Wipe
The newly composed, complete fourth variant of the draw application.