Using parametric set constraints for locating errors in CLP programs

This paper introduces a framework of parametric descriptive directional types for constraint logic programming (CLP). It proposes a method for locating type errors in CLP programs and presents a prototype debugging tool. The main technique used is checking correctness of programs w.r.t. type specifications. The approach is based on a generalization of known methods for proving correctness of logic programs to the case of parametric specifications. Set-constraint techniques are used for formulating and checking verification conditions for (parametric) polymorphic type specifications. The specifications are expressed in a parametric extension of the formalism of term grammars. The soundness of the method is proved and the prototype debugging tool supporting the proposed approach is illustrated on examples. The paper is a substantial extension of the previous work by the same authors concerning monomorphic directional types.Comment: 64 pages, To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programmin

On Language Processors and Software Maintenance

This work investigates declarative transformation tools in the context of software maintenance. Besides maintenance of the language specification, evolution of a software language requires the adaptation of the software written in that language as well as the adaptation of the software that transforms software written in the evolving language. This co-evolution is studied to derive automatic adaptations of artefacts from adaptations of the language specification. Furthermore, AOP for Prolog is introduced to improve maintainability of language specifications and derived tools.Die Arbeit unterstützt deklarative Transformationswerkzeuge im Kontext der Softwarewartung. Neben der Wartung der Sprachbeschreibung erfordert die Evolution einer Sprache sowohl die Anpassung der Software, die in dieser Sprache geschrieben ist als auch die Anpassung der Software, die diese Software transformiert. Diese Koevolution wird untersucht, um automatische Anpassungen von Artefakten von Anpassungen der Sprachbeschreibungen abzuleiten. Weiterhin wird AOP für Prolog eingeführt, um die Wartbarkeit von Sprachbeschreibungen und den daraus abgeleiteten Werkzeugen zu erhöhen

Declarative Specification

Deriving formal specifications from informal requirements is extremely difficult since one has to overcome the conceptual gap between an application domain and the domain of formal specification methods. To reduce this gap we introduce application-specific specification languages, i.e., graphical and textual notations that can be unambiguously mapped to formal specifications in a logic language. We describe a number of realised approaches based on this idea, and evaluate them with respect to their domain specificity vs. generalit