Tools for the OSGi Framework

Our research of type-based component compatibility verification resulted in the development of several tools relevant for the industrial applications of the OSGi framework and enhancing its capabilities.

The Bundle Compatibility and Java Class Reconstruction libraries

The libraries realize Java type reconstruction from bytecode (JaCC) and type-based bundle compatibility checks (OBCC), and are heavily used in our OSGi-related tools. The libraries are available under Apache software license, see the details on the development site.

Semantic Versioning of OSGi Bundles

OSGi framework resolver relies on version numbers correctly expressing package compatibility. Our automated version identifier generation method ensures that the version IDs are provably correct according to the OSGi semantic versioning scheme, in particular, that they faithfully represent the syntactical differences of public interface between two subsequent component revisions.

We provide a freely accessible service to correctly version OSGi bundles according to the Semantic Versioning specification. The tool uses a representation of the bundle’s surface features called Bundle types with automated reconstruction from the bundle .jar file. The bundle classes are represented and compared by the Java types library.

GUICA – The GUI for Component Administration

Guica is a GUI shell which makes it easy to manage components in a running OSGi framework, effectively replacing (most of) the command line interface. It provides an intuitive GUI and is framework independent.