Generalised test tables: A practical specification language for reactive systems

Bernhard Beckert, Suhyun Cha, Mattias Ulbrich, Birgit Vogel-Heuser, Alexander Weigl

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

In industrial practice today, correctness of software is rarely verified using formal techniques. One reason is the lack of specification languages for this application area that are both comprehensible and sufficiently expressive. We present the concepts and logical foundations of generalised test tables – a specification language for reactive systems accessible for practitioners. Generalised test tables extend the concept of test tables, which are already frequently used in quality management of reactive systems. The main idea is to allow more general table entries, thus enabling a table to capture not just a single test case but a family of similar behavioural cases. The semantics of generalised test tables is based on a two-party game over infinite words. We show how generalised test tables can be encoded into verification conditions for state-of-the-art model checkers. And we demonstrate the applicability of the language by an example in which a function block in a programmable logic controller as used in automation industry is specified and verified.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntegrated Formal Methods - 13th International Conference, IFM 2017, Proceedings
EditorsSteve Schneider, Nadia Polikarpova
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages129-144
Number of pages16
ISBN (Print)9783319668444
DOIs
StatePublished - 2017
Event13th International Conference on Integrated Formal Methods, IFM 2017 - Turin, Italy
Duration: 20 Sep 201722 Sep 2017

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume10510 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference13th International Conference on Integrated Formal Methods, IFM 2017
Country/TerritoryItaly
CityTurin
Period20/09/1722/09/17

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Generalised test tables: A practical specification language for reactive systems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this