Property Specification Made Easy: Harnessing the Power of Model Checking in UML Designs

Abstract

Developing correct concurrent software is challenging. Design errors can result in deadlocks, race conditions and livelocks, and discovering these is difficult. A serious obstacle for an industrial uptake of rigorous analysis techniques such as model checking is the learning curve associated to the languages -typically temporal logics -used for specifying the application-specific properties to be checked. To bring the process of correctly eliciting functional properties closer to software engineers, we introduce PASS, a Property ASSistant wizard as part of a UML-based front-end to the mCRL2 toolset. PASS instantiates pattern templates using three notations: a natural language summary, a µcalculus formula and a UML sequence diagram depicting the desired behavior. Most approaches to date have focused on LTL, which is a state-based formalism. Conversely, µ-calculus is event-based, making it a good match for sequence diagrams, where communication between components is depicted. We revisit a case study from the Grid domain, using PASS to obtain the formula and monitor for checking the property.

Verifying System-Wide Properties of Industrial Component-Based Software

“…A possible solution is to supply developers with natural-language templates in which they enter the correct action names. The corresponding formula will then be generated from the template [16].…”

Massivizing Computer Systems: a Vision to Understand, Design, and Engineer Computer Ecosystems through and beyond Modern Distributed Systems

“…Designing benchmarks using a choke-point analysis [141] could expose performance and functionality issues in key components of a system. Another useful approach is model-checking, where specialized tools exist for checking both the design [142] and the implementation [143] of (distributed) systems.…”

Multiple Analyses, Requirements Once: simplifying testing & verification in automotive model-based development

“…The SESAMM specifier has been integrated into an industrial toolchain in the automotive domain. The tool PASS (Property ASSistant) [20] guides the user by a set of questions towards a suitable pattern from which a µ-calculus formula and a UML sequence diagram can be generated. The tool PROPEL [21] represents patterns in natural language and by finite-state automata.…”