Documentation of Recovered Architecture for Variability in Legacy Generator Systems

In the 1970s and 1980s many large software systems were developed using macro-based generators that are still in use and thus have to be maintained and adapted to new requirements. Reverse engineering of these generators provides the basis for planning their modernization. We propose the concept of complementary architecture classes in order to support the documentation of the architecture of generators including their variability using known concepts of architecture documentation. We show how legacy generators can be documented using these architecture classes.