How to let a consumer select specific 3party provider

What could be a good osgi implementation of the scenario below ?

I have a general algorithm which is divided in multiple modules. The idea is that each module could be extended by third party with specific configuration needs. My main algorithm is configured by a user mainly to select which module to include. As this configuration file could be difficult to write, I want to create a workbench that help him to do that.

My first idea was to consider my main algorithm as a consumer of multiple module providers using DS. The use case is: the user configure the main algorithm and the submodules he want to use; then when he runs the algorithm I want that the workbench creates the main algorithm service with the good configuration. But if I understand, services in osgi are designed to be provider independent. Does services are useful in my case?

Solution

Doing what you want they way you just described will cause you much heartache and issues. Instead I'd suggest you use a more hands-on approach:

Define interfaces in your bundles that define the ways that your algorithm can be extended
Use the service layer of OSGi to collect the implementations of the interfaces (DS can help you here)
Have a configuration class/object that defines which of the above are selected/activated for a specific instance
When you algorithm is executed, look up the necessary services from the service layer and use them.

Also, if you are going to have a full workbench, you could directly use extensions and extension points that help coordinate a bit.