The UniForM workbench a higher order tool integration framework

Abstract

The UniForM Workbench is an open ended tool integration framework for developing (formal) Software Development Environments (SDE) from the basis of prefabricated off-the-shelf development tools. The integration framework provides support for data, control and presentation integration as well as utilities for wrapping Haskell interfaces around existing development tools. Entire SDE’s are then glued together on the basis of these encapsulations using Concurrent Haskell as the integration language, thus allowing integration to be done at a level of abstraction that is very close to the one offered by constructive formal specifications. So far, the integration framework has successfully been used to integrate tools for Haskell program development as well as specification and proof tools for Z specifications.