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International Conference on Formal Engineering Methods

ICFEM 2014: Formal Methods and Software Engineering pp 251–266Cite as

A Formula-Based Approach for Automatic Fault Localization of Imperative Programs

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 8829))

Abstract

Among various automatic fault localization methods, two of them are specifically noticed, coverage-based and formula-based. While the coverage-based method relies on statistical measures, the formula-based approach is an algorithmic method being able to provide fine-grained information account for identified root causes. The method combines the SAT-based formal verification techniques with the Reiter’s model-based diagnosis theory. This paper adapts the formula-based fault localization method, and improves the efficiency of computing the potential root causes by using the push & pop mechanism of the Yices solver. The technique is particularly useful for programs with multiple faults. We implemented the method in a tool, SNIPER, which was applied to the TCAS benchmark. All single and multiple faults were successfully identified and discriminated by using the original test cases of the TCAS.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Japan

    Si-Mohamed Lamraoui & Shin Nakajima

  2. National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, Japan

    Si-Mohamed Lamraoui & Shin Nakajima

Authors
  1. Si-Mohamed Lamraoui
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  2. Shin Nakajima
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inria Nancy - Grand Est, 615 rue du Jardin Botanique, 54602, Villers-lès-Nancy, France

    Stephan Merz

  2. Université du Luxembourg, 6 rue Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, 1359, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    Jun Pang

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Lamraoui, SM., Nakajima, S. (2014). A Formula-Based Approach for Automatic Fault Localization of Imperative Programs. In: Merz, S., Pang, J. (eds) Formal Methods and Software Engineering. ICFEM 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8829. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11737-9_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11737-9_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-11736-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-11737-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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