Formal Methods Z notation B User Group

Next conference: ZB2000, York, UK, 29 August - 2 September 2000.

The B-Method has been developed by Jean-Raymond Abrial - also originator of the Z notation - and others. B is a formal method for the development of program code from a specification in the Abstract Machine Notation. It includes tool support and has been used in some significant industrial applications (e.g., by GEC Alsthom).

• On-line resources
• Publications
• Tool support
• Projects
• Meetings

On-line resources

B User Group (BUG).

See also BUG phone book and FTP site.

Email listserv@estas1.inrets.fr with the message "subscribe bug" to join the BUG mailing list. Contact Georges Mariano on mariano@terre.inrets.fr for further BUG information.

Atelier-B, France.

B software development environment. See the boiler case study.

Information also available in French. See La Lettre B newsletter.

B-Core (UK) Limited, UK.

Markets the B-Toolkit.

Email Ib.Sorensen@comlab.ox.ac.uk for further information.

Teesside B-Resource.

Provides much on-line information concerning B, including information on the various B-Technologies

A mailing list for discussion about B has been established. Send an email message containing "subscribe b-talk" to b-talk-request@tees.ac.uk to join.

Publications

Bibliographies

A list of references relevant to B is available on-line from the Z bibliography.

Both bibliographies are in BibTeX format suitable for use with the LaTeX document preparation system.

Books

• The B-Book: Assigning Programs to Meanings, J.-R. Abrial, Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-521-49619-5. 850 pages. UK Price £40.00.

  Contents: Mathematical reasoning; Set notation; Mathematical objects; Introduction to abstract machines; Formal definition of abstract machines; Theory of abstract machines; Construction large abstract machines; Example of abstract machines; Sequencing and loop; Programming examples; Refinement; Construction large software systems; Example of refinement;

  Appendices: Summary of the most current notations; Syntax; Definitions; Visibility rules; Rules and axioms; Proof obligations.

  Book Review by Jonathan Bowen: B-hold the Future of Software Development. The Times Higher Education Supplement, Multimedia computer books, 1267:30, 14 February 1997.

• Software Engineering with B, John Wordsworth, Addison Wesley Longman, 1996. ISBN 0-201-40356-0. US Price $50.82.

• The B Language and Method: A Guide to Practical Formal Development, Kevin Lano, Springer-Verlag, FACIT series, 1996. ISBN 3-540-76033-4. UK Price £29.50.

• Specification in B: An Introduction using the B Toolkit, Kevin Lano, World Scientific Publishing Comany, Imperial College Press, 1996. ISBN 1-86094008-0.

Tool support

Atelier B, a tool supporting the Abstract Machine Notation (AMN), is available under licence. from Digilog, France. Features include syntax, type and static semantics checking, proof support, refinement, a graphical interface and pretty-printing. An animator is planned. Test case generation is not supported. Contact Francois Bustany on digilog@dialup.francenet.fr (tel: +33 42 39 93 19, fax: +33 42 24 38 06).

Further information: Atelier B is composed of a complete set of integrated tools enabling the development of applications using the method invented by Jean-Raymond Abrial, the B-Method. Atelier B assists developers in the formalization of their aplications, performing automatically on specifications and their refinements, syntax analysis, type checking, generation and demonstration of proof obligations. Extra components are supplied such as translators into current computer programming languages (C, Ada, ...), a mathematical editor, libraries of predefined machines and various project analysis tools. Access to Atelier B software tools is by a graphical MOTIF interface or by a batch language; in each mode it manages multi-users projects. Atelier B has been designed by Digilog and GEC Alsthom Transport in close collaboration with Jean-Raymond Abrial. The first version of Atelier B will be upgraded in 1995 with an animator of specifications, a new generation of prover, a powerful project documentation generator and various interfaces with standard tools (SGML, Interleaf, ...). Atelier B is sponsored by RATP, SNCF and INRETS and developed with their technical co-operation.

See also:

• Tools supporting B/Abstract Machine Notation listed in the FME Tools Database.

• A B editor for Unix/Motif on HP/Sun/SGI/DEC/Linux (information in French).

• B fonts: True Type (zip format, for Windows) and PCF (tar format for Unix) from Bruno Tatibouët.

• B parser (in Java).

• csp2B tool. Combination of CSP and B specifications by Michael Butler.

Projects

Meetings

1. 1st B Conference, Nantes, France, 25-27 November 1996. See photographs.

2. B'98: 2nd International B Conference, Montpellier, France, 22-24 April 1998. See photographs.

3. FM'99: B-Method mini-track and User Group Meeting, Toulouse, France, 20-24 September 1999.

4. ZB2000: International Conference of B and Z Users, York, UK, 28 August - 2 September 2000.

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   See also:
   • Z notation and VDM (Vienna Development Method) for formal specification and development.

   • A Comparison of Z and VDM with B/AMN (Abstract Machine Notation).

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   Last updated by Jonathan Bowen, 18 July 2000.
   Further information for possible inclusion is welcome.

   Part of the OUCL archive.