WComp

WComp is a prototyping and dynamic execution environment for context-aware applications. It is an implementation of the Service Lightweight Component Architecture SLCA model. SLCA uses lightweight components to manage dynamic orchestrations of Web service for device like UPnP or DPWS services discovered in the software infrastructure.

The Aspect of Assembly (AA) compositional adaptation paradigm is used to reactively adapt the applications when the set of discovered services changes. According to contexts and available devices, different aspects can be selected, applied and then woven to adapt the application.

The WComp Architecture is organised around what we call Containers and Designers:

• The purpose of the Containers is to provide non-functional services required by Components of an assembly during runtime: instantiation, destruction of software components and connectors.
• The purpose of the Designers is to manipulate and adapt assemblies executed by containers. Several types of designers exist, the two main being:

1. A graphical designer such as the SharpWComp SharpDevelop's AddIn enables to manually compose assembly of components according to a graphical representation of the event flow. It is particularly adapted to the description of the application.
2. A designer based on Aspects of Assembly (called ISL4WComp) allows to describe interaction patterns, based on an evolution of ISL (Interaction Specification Language). Interaction patterns are then selectable, applicable and woven. They allow adapting dynamically the application to its context.