JBTools: an experimental platform for the formal B method

ABSTRACT

The B method, developed by Jean-Raymond Abrial, is a formal method which enables an incremental development process (also known as the refinement process). The distribution of the B Method and the creation of experimental research tools face constraints of the market for existing tools: cost, limited access, and limited number of systems (hardware and software) requiring this kind of support. The purpose of the jBTools project is to solve this problem by proposing an open-source platform. In this article, we will present the architecture of the platform, the available base tools (User Interface, Parser, Type Checker) producing an XML format and the optimized code generator for the French project RNTL BOM².

REFERENCES

• 1: J.-R. Abrial, The B-book: assigning programs to meanings, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 1996
• 2: {Ttat01a} B. Tatibouët, J.C. Voisinet - jBTools and B2UML: a platform and a tool to provide a UML Class Diagram since a B specification - ICSSEA'2001, 14th International Conference on Software & Systems Engineering and Their Applications. Vol 2, Formal Methods Session, France, Paris (4--6 december 2001).
• 3: {Tat01b} B. Tatibouët - La plate form jBTools - Journées outils pour et author de B, France, Lille (INRETS), 15--16 octobre 2001.
• 4: {Buc98}: M. Büchi - The Bbank: A complete case study - Turku center for computer science - ICFEM, pp. 190--199, IEEE Press, December 1998.
• 5: Denis Sabatier , Pierre Lartigue, The Use of the B Formal Method for the Design and the Validation of the Transaction Mechanism for Smart Card Applications, Formal Methods in System Design, v.17 n.3, p.245-272, Dec. 2000 [doi>10.1023/A:1026538301096]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.4 Software/Program Verification
          Subjects: Formal methods

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Cost estimation

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.7 DOCUMENT AND TEXT PROCESSING
      I.7.2 Document Preparation
          Subjects: Standards
          Nouns: XML

General Terms:
Algorithms, Documentation, Theory