Transaction Models vers. Behavior Protocols

In this paper, we propose a method of transactional behavior description in component-based software architectures. We fucus on the specification of transactional models employed in components. Especially, we try to specify the creation and canceling dependencies among transactions. For this purpose, we enhance the SOFA software architecture so that it can be dynamic: at runtime, new interface instances can be added or removed, and new components instantiated and tied. Thus, SOFA behavior protocols in such a dynamically reconfiguring architecture are also dynamic. The transaction manager, as the coordinating component, provides an interface for a transaction initiation and completion. If a subtransaction of a transaction is created, a new transactional interface instance is created and a protocol of the parent transaction is modified. The key achievement of the paper is that it introduces a method for semi-formal specification of the transactional model used by a particular component (replacing thus the classical transactional specification in plain English).