Constraints over finite sequences of variables are ubiquitous in sequencing
and timetabling. Moreover, the wide variety of such constraints in practical
applications led to general modelling techniques and generic propagation
algorithms, often based on deterministic finite automata (DFA) and their
extensions. We consider counter-DFAs (cDFA), which provide concise models for
regular counting constraints, that is constraints over the number of times a
regular-language pattern occurs in a sequence. We show how to enforce domain
consistency in polynomial time for atmost and atleast regular counting
constraints based on the frequent case of a cDFA with only accepting states and
a single counter that can be incremented by transitions. We also prove that the
satisfaction of exact regular counting constraints is NP-hard and indicate that
an incomplete algorithm for exact regular counting constraints is faster and
provides more pruning than the existing propagator from [3]. Regular counting
constraints are closely related to the CostRegular constraint but contribute
both a natural abstraction and some computational advantages.Comment: Includes a SICStus Prolog source file with the propagato