Abstract
To analyse the behaviour of reactive systems formally, it is necessary to build a model. At the very beginning of the development, typically only natural language requirements are documented. We present a formal model, named Data-Flow Reactive Systems (DFRS), which can be automatically obtained from natural language requirements that may also describe temporal properties. We prove that a DFRS can be mapped to a timed input-output transition system, which is widely used to characterise conformance relations for timed reactive systems. To validate the proposed model as well as the mechanisation developed to support its analysis, we consider two toy examples and two examples from the aerospace and automotive industry. Test cases are independently created and we verify that they are all compatible.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bajwa, I., Bordbar, B., Anastasakis, K., Lee, M.: On a chain of transformations for generating alloy from NL constraints. In: International Conference on Digital Information Management, pp. 93–98 (2012)
Blackburn, M., Busser, R., Fontaine, J.: Automatic Generation of Test Vectors for SCR-style Specifications. In: Annual Conference on Computer Assurance (1997)
Blackburn, M.R., Busser, R., Nauman, A.: Removing Requirement Defects and Automating Test. In: International Conference on Software Testing Analysis & Review (2001)
Boddu, R., Guo, L., Mukhopadhyay, S., Cukic, B.: RETNA: from Requirements to Testing in a Natural Way. In: IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference, pp. 262–271 (2004)
Brottier, E., Baudry, B., Le Traon, Y., Touzet, D., Nicolas, B.: Producing a Global Requirement Model from Multiple Requirement Specifications. In: Entreprise Distributed Object Computing Conference, pp. 390–401 (2007)
Carvalho, G., Barros, F., Lapschies, F., Schulze, U., Peleska, J.: Model-Based Testing from Controlled Natural Language Requirements. In: Artho, C., Ölveczky, P.C. (eds.) FTSCS 2013. CCIS, vol. 419, pp. 19–35. Springer, Heidelberg (2014)
Carvalho, G., Carvalho, A., Rocha, E., Cavalcanti, A., Sampaio, A.: Z Definition, Algorithms and Proofs for Data-Flow Reactive Systems. Tech. rep., UFPE (2014), http://www.cin.ufpe.br/~ghpc/
Carvalho, G., Falcão, D., Barros, F., Sampaio, A., Mota, A., Motta, L., Blackburn, M.: Test Case Generation from Natural Language Requirements based on SCR Specifications. In: Symposium on Applied Computing, vol. 2, pp. 1217–1222 (2013)
Carvalho, G., Falcão, D., Barros, F., Sampaio, A., Mota, A., Motta, L., Blackburn, M.: NAT2TEST SCR : Test case generation from natural language requirements based on SCR specifications. Science of Computer Programming (2014)
Carvalho, G., Sampaio, A., Mota, A.: A CSP Timed Input-Output Relation and a Strategy for Mechanised Conformance Verification. In: Groves, L., Sun, J. (eds.) ICFEM 2013. LNCS, vol. 8144, pp. 148–164. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)
Cavada, R., Cimatti, A., Mariotti, A., Mattarei, C., Micheli, A., Mover, S., Pensallorto, M., Roveri, M., Susi, A., Tonetta, S.: Supporting Requirements Validation: The EuRailCheck Tool. In: International Conference on Automated Software Engineering, pp. 665–667 (2009)
FAA: Requirements Engineering Management Findings Report. Tech. rep., U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Aviation Administration (2009)
Fillmore, C.J.: The Case for Case. In: Bach, H. (ed.) Universals in Linguistic Theory, pp. 1–88. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York (1968)
Heninger, K., Parnas, D., Shore, J., Kallander, J.: Software Requirements for the A-7E Aircraft - TR 3876. Tech. rep., U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (1978)
ISO: Z formal specification notation (ISO/IEC 13568). Tech. rep., International Organization for Standardization (2002)
Larsen, K., Mikucionis, M., Nielsen, B.: Online Testing of Real-time Systems using Uppaal: Status and Future Work. In: Perspectives of Model-Based Testing - Dagstuhl Seminar, vol. 04371 (2004)
Li, J., Pu, G., Wang, Z., Chen, Y., Zhang, L., Qi, Y., Gu, B.: An Approach to Requirement Analysis for Periodic Control Systems. In: Annual IEEE Software Engineering Workshop, pp. 130–139 (2012)
Peleska, J., Vorobev, E., Lapschies, F., Zahlten, C.: Automated Model-Based Testing with RT-Tester. Tech. rep., Universität Bremen (2011)
Saaltink, M.: The Z/EVES System. In: Till, D., Bowen, J.P., Hinchey, M.G. (eds.) ZUM 1997. LNCS, vol. 1212, pp. 72–85. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)
Santiago Junior, V., Vijaykumar, N.L.: Generating Model-based Test Cases from Natural Language Requirements for Space Application Software. Software Quality Journal 20, 77–143 (2012)
Schmaltz, J., Tretmans, J.: On Conformance Testing for Timed Systems. In: Cassez, F., Jard, C. (eds.) FORMATS 2008. LNCS, vol. 5215, pp. 250–264. Springer, Heidelberg (2008)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Carvalho, G., Carvalho, A., Rocha, E., Cavalcanti, A., Sampaio, A. (2014). A Formal Model for Natural-Language Timed Requirements of Reactive Systems. 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_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11737-9_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-11736-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-11737-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)