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Version: 2.0.1

📚 Important Concepts

This section introduces the key concepts you’ll find throughout the documentation. Understanding these terms will help you follow the guides and examples more easily.

  • Managed Application
    The SaaS application that integrates SPACE (or another solution) to enable pricing-driven self-adaptation.

    👉 Example: PetClinic is the managed application in our running example.

  • Service
    A distinct component or microservice within the managed application that interacts with the pricing-driven self-adaptation solution.

    Each service can have its own pricing.

    👉 Example: In PetClinic, the Authentication Microservice and Appointment Microservice are separate services.

  • Feature
    Distinctive functionality or capability within the managed application whose presence or absence may guide a user’s decision toward a particular subscription. It can be enabled or disabled based on the user’s subscription. Features are defined in the pricing and may include usage limits.

    👉 Example: "Vet Selection" or "Calendar Integration" in PetClinic.

  • Usage Limit
    A constraint that can be defined to further restrict to which extent a feature can be used.

    Even if a feature is enabled, it might be limited in frequency, volume, or duration.

    👉 Example: "Up to 100 appointments per month".

  • Pricing
    A structure that organizes the features and usage limits of a service into plans and/or add-ons to control users' access to such features. Pricings are versioned, so changes over time (new features, updated limits) can be tracked.

    👉 Example:

    PetClinic Pricing

  • Plan
    A predefined "bundle" of features and usage limits within a pricing.

    👉 Example: BASIC, GOLD and PLATINUM in PetClinic.

  • Add-on
    An optional bundle of features that users can select in addition to their plan. Add-ons provide flexibility for users to customize their subscriptions based on their needs.

    👉 Example: "Pets Dashboard" in PetClinic. It can only be contracted if the user has selected the PLATINUM plan.

    They can also be used to extend usage limits:

    👉 Example: "Extra Pet" in PetClinic allows users to increase their maxPets usage limit by one unit.

  • Subscription
    Represents the choice of a user for a given plan and, optionally, a set of add-ons. It also conforms a core part of the contract between the customer and the provider.

  • Contract
    A formal agreement between a customer and the service provider that includes the selected subscription (plan + add-ons) and the user's acceptance of terms and conditions of service usage.

    It is linked to a specific pricing version.

  • Configuration
    The combination of features and usage limits that results from a user’s subscription within a specific pricing version.

    This is what pricing-driven self-adaptation solutions enforce at runtime.

  • Usage Level
    The current consumption of a feature by a user.

    It is used in pricing-driven self-adaptation to determine if a user can still use a feature or if they have reached their usage limit.

    👉 Example: “User X has already used 85 of their 100 monthly predictions.”

  • Subscription State
    The complete runtime state of a subscription. It includes:

    • Active subscription
    • Current values of usage levels