Abstract
Within the design process, a high-level specification is subject to two conflicting tensions. It is used as a vehicle for validating the requirements, and also as a first step of the refinement process. Whilst the structuring mechanisms available in the B method are well-suited for the latter purpose, the rich type constructions of VDM are useful for the former.
In this paper we propose a method which synthesises a structured B design from a flat VDM specification by analysing how type definitions are used within the VDM state in order to generate a corresponding B machine hierarchy.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
J-R. Abrial, The B-Book: Assigning Programs to Meaning, Cambridge University Press, 1996.
J.C. Bicarregui, and B. Ritchie, Invariants, frames and preconditions: a comparison of the VDM and B notations, in Proceedings of Formal Methods Europe'93, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Vol. 670, ed. J. Woodcock and P G Larsen, Springer-Verlag 1993.
J.C. Bicarregui, A.J.J. Dick, B.M. Matthews, and E. Woods, Making the most of formal specification through Animation, Testing and Proof, Science of Computer Programming 29 (1–2) p.55–80 Elsevier-Science, (June 1997)
R.F. Docherty, Translation from Z to AMN, proceedings 7th International Conference on Putting into Practice Methods and Tools for Information System Design, ed. H. Habrias, ISBN 2-906082-19-8, 1995.
J. Draper (ed), Industrial benefits of the SPECTRUM approach, Spectrum Project External Deliverable 1.3, 1997.
ISO, “ISO/IEC 13817-1 Information Technology — Programming Languages, their environments and system software interfaces — Vienna Development Method — Specification Language. Part 1:Base Language”, 1996.
C.B. Jones, Systematic Software Development Using VDM, 2nd Edition, Prentice-Hall, 1990.
K. Lano, The B Language and Method: a guide to practical formal development, Springer-Verlag 1996.
B. Ritchie, J.C. Bicarregui, and H. Haughton, Experiences in Using the Abstract Machine Notation in a GKS Case Study, Proceeding of Formal Methods Europe '94, Naftalin, Denvir, Bertran (Eds), LNCS 873, Springer-Verlag, 1994.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Matthews, B., Ritchie, B., Bicarregui, J. (1998). Synthesising structure from flat specifications. In: Bert, D. (eds) B’98: Recent Advances in the Development and Use of the B Method. B 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1393. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0053359
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0053359
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-64405-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69769-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive