Abstract
We propose a general framework for assertion-based debugging of constraint logic programs. Assertions are linguistic constructions for expressing properties of programs. We define several assertion schemas for writing (partial) specifications for constraint logic programs using quite general properties, including user-defined programs. The framework is aimed at detecting deviations of the program behavior (symptoms) with respect to the given assertions, either at compile-time (i.e., statically) or run-time (i.e., dynamically). We provide techniques for using information from global analysis both to detect at compile-time assertions which do not hold in at least one of the possible executions (i.e., static symptoms) and assertions which hold for all possible executions (i.e., statically proved assertions). We also provide program transformations which introduce tests in the program for checking at run-time those assertions whose status cannot be determined at compile-time. Both the static and the dynamic checking are provably safe in the sense that all errors flagged are definite violations of the specifications. Finally, we report briefly on the currently implemented instances of the generic framework.
This work has been supported in part by projects ESPRIT LTR #22532 DiSCiPl and CICYT TIC99-1151 EDIPIA. The authors would also like to thank Jan Małuszyński, Wlodek Drabent and Pierre Deransart for many interesting discussions on assertions.
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Puebla, G., Bueno, F., Hermenegildo, M. (2000). Combined Static and Dynamic Assertion-Based Debugging of Constraint Logic Programs. In: Bossi, A. (eds) Logic-Based Program Synthesis and Transformation. LOPSTR 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1817. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/10720327_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/10720327_16
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