The major problem addressed in this thesis is the definition of a new SPLE methodology that covers both phases of the SPLE process and focuses on the derivation of behavioral models of SPL products. In Chapter 2 three research areas scope context of this thesis: Software Product Lines, Business Processes, and Model-Driven Engineering. Throughout Chapter 3, we propose a new SPLE methodology that focuses on the derivation of product behavior. We first describe the main flow of the methodology, and then detail the individual steps. In chapter 4 we propose a new domain specific language called CBPF created for modeling composable business process fragments. A model driven approach is followed for creating CBPF: definition of the abstract syntax, graphical concrete syntax and translational semantics. In Chapter 5 we propose several types of verifications that can be applied to business processfragments to determine their "correctness". For structural verification we definine a set of fragment consistency rules that should be valid for every business process fragment created with CBPF. To check behavioral correctness we first transform the business process fragment into an equivalent HCPN. We can then check generic properties but also define aset of fragment specific properties. In chapter 6 we exemplify the proposed SPL methodology by applying it to a case study from the crisis management system domain. We also propose a tool suite that supports our methodology. Chapter 7 describes possible improvements and extensions to the contributions of this thesis. We conclude the thesis in Chapter 8 and draw some conclusions.
