Abstract: Goal-conflict analysis of divergences in requirement engineering aims to identify, assess, and resolve divergences. The divergence is caused, because the mismatch between domain attributes and objectives makes the system unable to satisfy all objectives at the same time under boundary conditions. Boundary conditions describe disagreements in the form of linear temporal logic. Due to the lack of interpretability of arbitrary boundary conditions and the extensive manual evaluation and design required to evaluate and repair divergences, the current definition of boundary conditions is not conducive to efficient and automated evaluation and repair of divergences. Therefore, in this paper, an explainable boundary condition, called lasso boundary condition, is proposed. Lasso boundary condition intuitively describes the situation where the system diverges due to some specific preconditions. Then, a lasso boundary condition identification algorithm (LBC identifier, LBCI) based on gradual weakening is designed. LBCI gradually satisfies the boundary conditions by weakening the linear temporal logic formula. The effectiveness of lasso boundary condition and LBCI are evaluated on a baseline data set. The experimental results show that the lasso boundary condition can enhance the interpretability of the divergences and the guiding role in repairing the divergences.

Key words: goal-conflict analysis, boundary condition, divergence