Integrating Z into Large Projects Tools and Techniques

Abstract

If we want to use Z to write an overall system specification, we need to integrate it into a rich set of documents written in natural language and domain-specific notations. These documents must be easy to write and read by non-mathematicians.

On a purely practical level, this implies that we want Z to be part of the ordinary documents that are used every day on the project. That means, in practice, that it has to be integrated into Microsoft Word. I describe a tool for writing and checking Z within the Word environment and some progress towards a process for writing the specification and guidelines for its structure.