Jan Madey

Functional documents for computer systems

Although software documentation standards often go into great detail about the format of documents, describing such details as paragraph numbering and section headings, they fail to give precise descriptions of the information to be contained in the documents. This paper does the opposite; it defines the contents of documents without specifying their format or the notation to be used in them. We describe documents such as the “System Requirements Document”, the “System Design Document”, the “Software Requirements Document”, the “Software Behaviour Specification”, the “Module Interface Specification”, and the “Module Internal Design Document” as representations of one or more mathematical relations. By describing those relations, we specify what information should be contained in each document.

Precise documentation of well-structured programs

Describes a new form of program documentation that is precise, systematic and readable. This documentation comprises a set of displays supplemented by a lexicon and an index. Each display presents a program fragment in such a way that its correctness can be examined without looking at any other display. Each display has three parts: (1) the specification of the program presented in the display, (2) the program itself, and (3) the specifications of programs invoked by this program. The displays are intended to be used by software engineers as a reference document during inspection and maintenance. This paper also introduces a specification technique that is a refinement of H.D. Millss (1975) functional approach to program documentation and verification; programs are specified and described in tabular form. >

Documentation of requirements for computer systems

A functional approach to specifying the requirements of a computer system is discussed. The method allows system requirements to be documented, whether the system is implemented using a computer and peripheral devices, or, for example, relays and analog components. The method is a refinement of the method used in the A-7 aircraft software requirements model document. The approach is illustrated with examples derived from a software requirements document for a water level monitoring system.<<ETX>>

A Formal Approach to Computer Systems Requirements Documentation

This paper demonstrates how the extended duration calculus [4] can be used to support the approach to documentation of computer systems presented by in [1]. This approach uses the general concept of mathematical relations to specify properties, while the calculus of durations provides the means to reason about such specifications, and in particular, prove formally that a design implies the requirements. The presentation is based on an example originally presented in [2], and later reformulated in [3] following the approach described on [1]. In the present paper we introduce all needed relations, express them in terms of duration calculus, and formally verify software design acceptability.

Functional approach to protocols specification

This paper investigates the applicability of the functional documentation approach, and in particular the trace assertion method, to specification of modern communication systems. As an example a class of communication protocols known as sliding window protocols was chosen.

Trace Specifications of Non-Deterministic Multi-Object Modules

The Trace Assertion Method (in short: TAM) is a formal method for abstract specification of interfaces of software modules being designed according to the “information hiding” principle. A trace specification is a “black-box” specification, i.e., it describes only those features of a module that are externally observable. The method was introduced by W. Bartusek and D.L. Parnas some 15 years ago and since then has undergone many modifications. In recent years there has been an increased interest in TAM. Software tools supporting practical usage of TAM for software engineering projects are under development, the method is being tested on different applications, its foundations are being studied.

Software Engineering Issues Emerged from Critical Control Applications

Abstract This paper describes a software engineering project which evolved from certain critical control applications. Its goal is to improve a professional practice in the design and implementation of safe, reliable computer systems. This is to be achieved by development of a proper methodology together with supporting software tools. Since this methodology is addressed to practitioners, it must be not “too academic” but at the same time theoretically sound.

Edison-N—an Edison implementation for a network of microcomputers

This paper describes an experimental implementation of the Edison programming language for a network of microcomputers based on the Z‐80 microprocessor. The resulting Edison‐N system allows parallel execution of concurrent processes. Its aim is to assist in teaching the principles of concurrent programming.