Plug-ins for ISpec

ISpec is an interface specification approach where templates provide slots to write interface requirements. These requirements can be written in various "plugin" formalisms. The practical question how to implement this in a tool is answered for regular expressions as a plug-in language. The requirements expressed by the regular expressions are used to assess the correctness of requirements expressed in sequence diagrams. In fact, an editor is coupled to the tool in which a plug-in language can be defined and a slot in a template can be linked to a particular language. The theoretical question how to formalise plug-ins in a relation calculus framework is investigated

Structured specifications for better verification of heap-manipulating programs

Abstract. Conventional specifications typically have a flat structure that is based primarily on the underlying logic. Such specifications lack structures that could have provided better guidance to the verification process. In this work, we propose to add three new structures to a specification framework for separation logic to achieve a more precise and better guided verification for pointer-based programs. The newly introduced structures empower users with more control over the verification process in the following ways: (i) case analysis can be invoked to take advantage of disjointness conditions in the logic. (ii) early, as opposed to late, instantiation can minimise on the use of existential quantification. (iii) formulae that are staged provide better reuse of the verification process. Initial experiments have shown that structured specifications can lead to more precise verification without incurring any performance overhead.

History, principles and application of the SPRINT method

This paper presents the history and the principles of the SPRINT method and some experiences with its application. It is a method for the development of embedded control software of audio/video systems based on the formal language COLD. The method is developed and used in Philips. It is an integrated approach combining three key techniques in software development: specification, prototyping and reuse