Validation of formal specifications through transformation and animation

A significant impediment to the uptake of formal refinement-based methods among practitioners is the challenge of validating that the formal specifications of these methods capture the desired intents. Animation of specifications is widely recognized as an effective way of addressing such validation. However, animation tools are unable to directly execute (and thus animate) the typical uses of several of the specification constructs often found in ideal formal specifications. To address this problem, we have developed transformation heuristics that, starting with an ideal formal specification, guide its conversion into an animatable form. We show several of these heuristics and address the need to prove that the application of these transformations preserves the relevant behavior of the original specification. Portions of several case studies illustrate this approach.