Skip to main content

EZ: A system for automatic prototyping of Z specifications

  • Papers
  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover VDM'91 Formal Software Development Methods (VDM 1991)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 551))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Prototyping formal specifications can help capture accurately the requirements of real-world problems. We present a software system, called EZ, that generates executable prototypes directly from certain Z specifications. We first describe how nonmodular Z specifications can be mapped to search systems in C-Prolog. We then add modularity (schema referencing) and other features. A short comparison is made to other existing Z prototyping systems, with possibilities for future work being suggested.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. A. Barr and E. A. Feigenbaum, editors. The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, volume 1. William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981.

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. Cohen. Constraint logic programming languages. Communications of the ACM, 33(7):52–68, July 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  3. A. Dick, P. Krause, and J. Cozens. Computer aided transformation of Z into Prolog. FACS FACTS, Series II, 1(1):17–22, April 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  4. V. Doma. EZ: A tool for automatic prototyping of Z specifications. MSc. Project Report, Computer Science Department, The University of Western Ontario, May 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  5. V. Doma and R. Nicholl. Technical report on prototyping Z specifications with EZ. Computer Science Department, The University of Western Ontario, forthcoming 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  6. P. King. Prototyping Z specifications. In G. Rose and I. Hayes, editors, Second Half-yearly Report, UQ/OTC Collaborative Programme in Formal Description Techniques, pages 5.1–5.23. Dept. of Computer Science, University of Queensland, February 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  7. P. King. Printing Z and Object-Z LATEX documents. A description of a public domain Z style option “oz.sty” for LATEX, March 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  8. R. Knott and P. J. Krause. Approach to animating Z using Prolog. Report A1.1, Alvey Project SE/065, Dept. Maths, University of Surrey, July 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  9. R. Knott and P. J. Krause. Library system: An example of the rapid prototyping of a Z specification in Prolog. Report A1.2, Alvey Project SE/065, Dept. Maths, University of Surrey, June 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  10. R. Knott and P. J. Krause. On the derivation of an effective animation: Telephone network case study. Report A1.3, Alvey Project SE/065, Dept. Maths, University of Surrey, November 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  11. L. Lamport. LATEX: A Document Preparation System. Addison-Wesley, 1986.

    Google Scholar 

  12. N. J. Nilsson. Principles of Artificial Intelligence. Tioga Publishing Co., 1980.

    Google Scholar 

  13. A. Sampaio and S. Meira. Modular extensions to Z. In D. Bjorner, C. Hoare, and H. Langmaack, editors, VDM '90, VDM and Z — Formal Methods in Software Development, volume 428 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Springer-Verlag, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  14. J. M. Spivey. Printing Z with LATEX. Programming Research Group, Oxford University, January 1987. A description of a public domain Z style option “zed.sty” for LATEX.

    Google Scholar 

  15. J. M. Spivey. Understanding Z: A Specification Language and its Formal Semantics, volume 3 of Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science. Cambridge University Press, January 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  16. J. M. Spivey. The Z Notation: A Reference Manual. International Series in Computer Science. Prentice-Hall, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  17. B. S. Todd. A model-based diagnostic program. Software Engineering Journal, 2(3):54–63, May 1987.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

S. Prehn W. J. Toetenel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Doma, V., Nicholl, R. (1991). EZ: A system for automatic prototyping of Z specifications. In: Prehn, S., Toetenel, W.J. (eds) VDM'91 Formal Software Development Methods. VDM 1991. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 551. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-54834-3_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-54834-3_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-54834-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46449-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics