HeteroGenius: A Framework for Hybrid Analysis of Heterogeneous Software Specifications

Nowadays, software artifacts are ubiquitous in our lives being an essential part of home appliances, cars, cell phones, and even in more critical activities like aeronautics and health sciences. In this context software failures may produce enormous losses, either economical or, in the worst case, in human lives. Software analysis is an area in software engineering concerned with the application of diverse techniques in order to prove the absence of errors in software pieces. In many cases different analysis techniques are applied by following specific methodological combinations that ensure better results. These interactions between tools are usually carried out at the user level and it is not supported by the tools. In this work we present HeteroGenius, a framework conceived to develop tools that allow users to perform hybrid analysis of heterogeneous software specifications. HeteroGenius was designed prioritising the possibility of adding new specification languages and analysis tools and enabling a synergic relation of the techniques under a graphical interface satisfying several well-known usability enhancement criteria. As a case-study we implemented the functionality of Dynamite on top of HeteroGenius.Comment: In Proceedings LAFM 2013, arXiv:1401.056

Refinement by interpretation in {\pi}-institutions

The paper discusses the role of interpretations, understood as multifunctions that preserve and reflect logical consequence, as refinement witnesses in the general setting of pi-institutions. This leads to a smooth generalization of the refinement-by-interpretation approach, recently introduced by the authors in more specific contexts. As a second, yet related contribution a basis is provided to build up a refinement calculus of structured specifications in and across arbitrary pi-institutions.Comment: In Proceedings Refine 2011, arXiv:1106.348

Heterogeneous Theories and the Heterogeneous Tool Set

Heterogeneous multi-logic theories arise in different contexts: they are needed for the specification of large software systems, as well as for mediating between different ontologies. This is because large theories typically involve different aspects that are best specified in different logics (like equational logics, description logics, first-order logics, higher-order logics, modal logics), but also because different formalisms are in practical use (like RDF, OWL, EML). Using heterogeneous theories, different formalims being developed at different sites can be related, i.e. there is a formal interoperability among languages and tools. In many cases, specialized languages and tools have their strengths in particular aspects. Using heterogeneous theories, these strengths can be combined with comparably small effort. By contrast, a true combination of all the involved logics into a single logic would be too complex (or even inconsistent) in many cases. We propose to use emph{institutions} as a formalization of the notion of logical system. Institutions can be related by so-called institution morphsims and comorphisms. Any graph of institutions and (co)morphisms can be flattened to a so-called emph{Grothendieck institution}, which is kind of disjoint union of all the logics, enriched with connections via the (co)morphisms. This semantic basis for heterogeneous theories is complemented by the heterogeneous tool set, which provides tool support. Based on an object-oriented interface for institutions (using type classes in Haskell), it implements the Grothendieck institution and provides a heterogeneous parser, static analysis and proof support for heterogeneous theories. This is based on parsers, static analysers and proof support for the individual institutions, and on a heterogeneous proof calculus for theories in the Grothendieck institution. See also the Hets web page: http://www.tzi.de/cofi/het

A New Approach of the Metatheory of Correct Programming. Rationale

This is first of a series of four papers, which are forming a foundation of a mathematical theory and metamathematics of correct computer programming. This papers contains the rationale of the choosing concepts in following three papers

Specifying with syntactic theory functors

We propose a framework, syntactic theory functors (STFs), for creating syntactic structuring mechanisms for specification languages. Good support for common reuse patterns is important for systematically developing specifications for large systems. Though immaterial to foundational theory, lack of support otherwise causes lengthy writing of boilerplate code or repeated adaptation from one context to another. We present STFs in the context of the Goguen & Burstall institution theory. This theory captures the essential structure of ontologies, modelling and formal specifications (OMS). In particular it provides powerful structuring mechanisms that are independent of the specification formalism, i.e., they are institution-independent. The presented STF framework is institution-independent as well. As such it encompasses many approaches to software and information systems. STFs subsume the standard institution-independent structuring mechanisms, and open up new ways of reusing existing and structuring new specifications. In this, STFs subsume and enrich the tool-set of ‘good practices’, which includes separation of concerns, ease of reuse of specification-text, and improved theorem proving support. STFs are aimed at structuring and reuse beyond the classical mechanisms. However, most STFs are institution-specific and support specific reuse patterns in that institution. With such institution-specific STFs it is possible to incrementally grow more complex institutions from simpler ones. This is very much needed when developing ontologies or specification languages for a new domain. In this paper, we motivate STFs with examples in Casl, the common standard algebraic specification language. We further demonstrate how STFs can ease specification through capturing repeated constructions once and for all as patterns formulated as STFs

Encoding hybridised institutions into first order logic

"First published online: 12 November 2014"A ‘hybridization’ of a logic, referred to as the base logic, consists of developing the characteristic features of hybrid logic on top of the respective base logic, both at the level of syntax (i.e. modalities, nominals, etc.) and of the semantics (i.e. possible worlds). By ‘hybridized institutions’ we mean the result of this process when logics are treated abstractly as institutions (in the sense of the institution theory of Goguen and Burstall). This work develops encodings of hybridized institutions into (many-sorted) first order logic (abbreviated FOL) as a ‘hybridization’ process of abstract encodings of institutions into FOL, which may be seen as an abstraction of the well known standard translation of modal logic into first order logic. The concept of encoding employed by our work is that of comorphism from institution theory, which is a rather comprehensive concept of encoding as it features encodings both of the syntax and of the semantics of logics/institutions. Moreover we consider the so-called theoroidal version of comorphisms that encode signatures to theories, a feature that accommodates a wide range of concrete applications. Our theory is also general enough to accomodate various constraints on the possible worlds semantics as well a wide variety of quantifications. We also provide pragmatic sufficient conditions for the conservativity of the encodings to be preserved through the hybridization process, which provides the possibility to shift a formal verification process from the hybridized institution to FOL.We thank both Till Mossakowski and Andrzej Tarlecki for the technical suggestion of using the predicates D. The work of the first author has been supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0439. The work of the second author was funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme, and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through the projects FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028923 and NORTE-01-0124-FEDER-000060