Resolving Ambiguities

If a configuration contains several states of the same software component in different compartments, use dependencies between development components can usually no longer be resolved uniquely.

If not specified otherwise, in this case the use is declared as the standard compartment of a software component. If you want to use a different version of the software component, you must resolve the ambiguity by using alias names.

A compartment C1 for a software component SC1 contains a development component DC1, which wants to use a different component DC2 from SC X. For the software component SC X, there are two compartments, SC X_4.0 and SC X_5.0, in the configuration. The use dependency is ambiguous. One of the compartments, SC X_5.0, is defined as standard compartment. This allows you to resolve the ambiguity: DC1 uses DC2 from SC X_5.0.

A compartment can define a unique identifier for every other compartment in the same configuration. Because a compartment always represents a unique state of a software component, this identifier defines a suitable alias for the software component.

A compartment C1 that contains a software component DC1 defines the following aliases:

SC X_OLD ® SC X_4.0

SC X_NEW ® SC X_5.0

A component DC1 can now refer explicitly to one of the two states of the software component. If it accesses a component DC2 under the alias SC X_OLD, then it refers to DC2 from the state SC X_4.0 (even though SC X_5.0 is the standard compartment).