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A Folding Algorithm for Eliminating Existential Variables from Constraint Logic Programs

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Logic Programming (ICLP 2008)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 5366))

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Abstract

The existential variables of a clause in a constraint logic program are the variables which occur in the body of the clause and not in its head. The elimination of these variables is a transformation technique which is often used for improving program efficiency and verifying program properties. We consider a folding transformation rule which ensures the elimination of existential variables and we propose an algorithm for applying this rule in the case where the constraints are linear inequations over rational or real numbers. The algorithm combines techniques for matching terms modulo equational theories and techniques for solving systems of linear inequations. We show that an implementation of our folding algorithm performs well in practice.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DISP, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, I-00133, Rome, Italy

    Valerio Senni & Alberto Pettorossi

  2. IASI-CNR, Viale Manzoni 30, I-00185, Rome, Italy

    Maurizio Proietti

Authors
  1. Valerio Senni
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  2. Alberto Pettorossi
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  3. Maurizio Proietti
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Clayton School of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia

    Maria Garcia de la Banda

  2. Department of Computer Science, New Mexico State University, NM 88003, Las Cruces, USA

    Enrico Pontelli

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Senni, V., Pettorossi, A., Proietti, M. (2008). A Folding Algorithm for Eliminating Existential Variables from Constraint Logic Programs. In: Garcia de la Banda, M., Pontelli, E. (eds) Logic Programming. ICLP 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5366. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89982-2_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-89982-2_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-89981-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-89982-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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