SCR*: A toolset for specifying and analyzing software requirements

Abstract

A controversial issue in the formal methods community is the degree to which mathematical sophistication and theorem proving skills should be needed to apply a formal method and its support tools. This paper describes the SCR (Software Cost Reduction) tools, part of a "practical" formal method - a method with a solid mathematical foundation that software developers can apply without theorem proving skills, knowledge of temporal and higher order logics, or consultation with formal methods experts. The SCR method provides a tabular notation for specifying requirements and a set of "light- weight" tools that detect several classes of errors automatically. The method also provides support for more "heavy-duty" tools, such as a model checker. To make model checking feasible, users can automatically apply one or more abstraction methods.