scholarly journals Program Verification using Constraint Handling Rules and Array Constraint Generalizations

10.29007/dkxs ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele De Angelis ◽  
Fabio Fioravanti ◽  
Alberto Pettorossi ◽  
Maurizio Proietti
Keyword(s):  
Data Structures ◽  
Program Verification ◽  
Linear Constraints ◽  
Constraint Handling ◽  
Logic Programs ◽  
Replacement Strategy ◽  
Partial Correctness ◽  
Transformation Rules ◽  
Constraint Logic Programs ◽  
Additional Constraints

The transformation of constraint logic programs (CLP programs)has been shown to be an effective methodologyfor verifying properties of imperative programs.By following this methodology, we encode the negationof a partial correctness property of an imperativeprogram prog as a predicate incorrect defined by a CLP program P, and we show thatprog is correct by transforming P intothe empty program through the applicationof semantics preserving transformation rules.Some of these rules perform replacements of constraintsthat encode properties of the data structures manipulatedby the program prog.In this paper we show that Constraint Handling Rules (CHR)are a suitable formalism for representing and applyingconstraint replacements during the transformation of CLP programs.In particular, we consider programs that manipulate integerarrays and we present a CHR encoding of a constraint replacementstrategy based on the theory of arrays.We also propose a novel generalization strategy forconstraints on integer arrays that combinesthe CHR constraint replacement strategywith various generalization operator for linear constraints,such as widening and convex hull.Generalization is controlled by additional constraintsthat relate the variable identifiers in the imperativeprogram and the CLP representation of their values.The method presented in this paper has been implemented andwe have demonstrated itseffectiveness on a set ofbenchmark programs taken from the literature.

scholarly journals Verification of Imperative Programs through Transformation of Constraint Logic Programs

10.29007/163x ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emanuele De Angelis ◽  
Fabio Fioravanti ◽  
Alberto Pettorossi ◽  
Maurizio Proietti
Keyword(s):  
Program Transformation ◽  
Program Verification ◽  
Order Logic ◽  
Initial Configuration ◽  
First Order Logic ◽  
Logic Programs ◽  
Partial Correctness ◽  
First Order ◽  
Transformation Rules ◽  
Constraint Logic Programs

We present a method for verifying partial correctness properties of imperative programs by using techniques based on the transformation of constraint logic programs (CLP). We consider: (i) imperative programs that manipulate integers and arrays, and (ii) first order logic properties that define <i>configurations</i> of program executions. We use CLP as a metalanguage for representing imperative programs, their executions, and their properties. First, we encode the correctness of an imperative program, say Prog, as the negation of a predicate 'incorrect' defined by a CLP program T. By construction, 'incorrect' holds in the least model of T if and only if the execution of Prog from an initial configuration eventually halts in an error configuration. Then, we apply to program T a sequence of transformations that preserve its least model semantics. These transformations are based on well-known transformation rules, such as unfolding and folding, guided by suitable transformation strategies, such as specialization and generalization. The objective of the transformations is to derive a new CLP program TransfT where the predicate 'incorrect' is defined either by (i) the fact `incorrect.' (and in this case Prog is incorrect), or by (ii) the empty set of clauses (and in this case Prog is correct). In the case where we derive a CLP program such that neither (i) nor (ii) holds, we iterate the transformation. Since the problem is undecidable, this process may not terminate. We show through examples that our method can be applied in a rather systematic way, and is amenable to automation by transferring to the field of program verification many techniques developed in the field of program transformation.

scholarly journals Predicate Pairing for program verification

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMANUELE DE ANGELIS ◽  
FABIO FIORAVANTI ◽  
ALBERTO PETTOROSSI ◽  
MAURIZIO PROIETTI
Keyword(s):  
Crucial Role ◽  
Program Verification ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Satisfiability Problem ◽  
Predicate Abstraction ◽  
Transformation Technique ◽  
Partial Correctness ◽  
Relational Properties ◽  
Transformation Rules ◽  
Horn Clauses

AbstractIt is well-known that the verification of partial correctness properties of imperative programs can be reduced to the satisfiability problem for constrained Horn clauses (CHCs). However, state-of-the-art solvers for constrained Horn clauses (or CHC solvers) based onpredicate abstractionare sometimes unable to verify satisfiability because they look for models that are definable in a given class 𝓐 of constraints, called 𝓐-definable models. We introduce a transformation technique, calledPredicate Pairing, which is able, in many interesting cases, to transform a set of clauses into an equisatisfiable set whose satisfiability can be proved by finding an 𝓐-definable model, and hence can be effectively verified by a state-of-the-art CHC solver. In particular, we prove that, under very general conditions on 𝓐, the unfold/fold transformation rules preserve the existence of an 𝓐-definable model, that is, if the original clauses have an 𝓐-definable model, then the transformed clauses have an 𝓐-definable model. The converse does not hold in general, and we provide suitable conditions under which the transformed clauses have an 𝓐-definable modelif and only ifthe original ones have an 𝓐-definable model. Then, we present a strategy, called Predicate Pairing, which guides the application of the transformation rules with the objective of deriving a set of clauses whose satisfiability problem can be solved by looking for 𝓐-definable models. The Predicate Pairing (PP) strategy introduces a new predicate defined by the conjunction of two predicates occurring in the original set of clauses, together with a conjunction of constraints. We will show through some examples that an 𝓐-definable model may exist for the new predicate even if it does not exist for its defining atomic conjuncts. We will also present some case studies showing that Predicate Pairing plays a crucial role in the verification ofrelational properties of programs, that is, properties relating two programs (such as program equivalence) or two executions of the same program (such as non-interference). Finally, we perform an experimental evaluation of the proposed techniques to assess the effectiveness of Predicate Pairing in increasing the power of CHC solving.

scholarly journals Shape Neutral Analysis of Graph-based Data-structures

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 470-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
GREGORY J. DUCK ◽  
JOXAN JAFFAR ◽  
ROLAND H. C. YAP
Keyword(s):  
Data Structure ◽  
Data Structures ◽  
Program Analysis ◽  
Constraint Handling ◽  
C Programs ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Target Program ◽  
Target Data ◽  
Structure Graph ◽  
Structure Properties

AbstractMalformed data-structures can lead to runtime errors such as arbitrary memory access or corruption. Despite this, reasoning over data-structure properties for low-level heap manipulating programs remains challenging. In this paper we present a constraint-based program analysis that checks data-structure integrity, w.r.t. given target data-structure properties, as the heap is manipulated by the program. Our approach is to automatically generate a solver for properties using the type definitions from the target program. The generated solver is implemented using a Constraint Handling Rules (CHR) extension of built-in heap, integer and equality solvers. A key property of our program analysis is that the target data-structure properties are shape neutral, i.e., the analysis does not check for properties relating to a given data-structure graph shape, such as doubly-linked-lists versus trees. Nevertheless, the analysis can detect errors in a wide range of data-structure manipulating programs, including those that use lists, trees, DAGs, graphs, etc. We present an implementation that uses the Satisfiability Modulo Constraint Handling Rules (SMCHR) system. Experimental results show that our approach works well for real-world C programs.

scholarly journals A backward analysis for constraint logic programs

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 517-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDY KING ◽  
LUNJIN LU
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Abstract Interpretation ◽  
Logic Program ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Logic Programs ◽  
Abstract Domains ◽  
Constraint Logic Programs ◽  
Backward Analysis ◽  
Computational Properties

One recurring problem in program development is that of understanding how to re-use code developed by a third party. In the context of (constraint) logic programming, part of this problem reduces to figuring out how to query a program. If the logic program does not come with any documentation, then the programmer is forced to either experiment with queries in an ad hoc fashion or trace the control-flow of the program (backward) to infer the modes in which a predicate must be called so as to avoid an instantiation error. This paper presents an abstract interpretation scheme that automates the latter technique. The analysis presented in this paper can infer moding properties which if satisfied by the initial query, come with the guarantee that the program and query can never generate any moding or instantiation errors. Other applications of the analysis are discussed. The paper explains how abstract domains with certain computational properties (they condense) can be used to trace control-flow backward (right-to-left) to infer useful properties of initial queries. A correctness argument is presented and an implementation is reported.

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