Inferring extended finite state machine models from software executions

Abstract

The ability to reverse-engineer models of software behaviour is valuable for a wide range of software maintenance, validation and verification tasks. Current reverse-engineering techniques focus either on control-specific behaviour (e.g., in the form of Finite State Machines), or data-specific behaviour (e.g., as pre / post-conditions or invariants). However, typical software behaviour is usually a product of the two; models must combine both aspects to fully represent the software's operation. Extended Finite State Machines (EFSMs) provide such a model. Although attempts have been made to infer EFSMs, these have been problematic. The models inferred by these techniques can be non-deterministic, the inference algorithms can be inflexible, and only applicable to traces with specific characteristics. This paper presentsWe thank Ivo Krka at the University of Southern California for providing us with some of the traces for the evaluation. Ramsay Taylor and John Derrick are supported by the EU FP7 PROWESS projects. Neil Walkinshaw is grateful for the support provided by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) through the BATS and HASTE projects. Information contained in this document should not be interpreted as representing the views of the MOD, nor should it be assumed that it reflects any current or future MOD policy. The information cannot supersede any statutory or contractual requirements or liabilities and is offered without prejudice or commitment.

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“…The ease of FSM verification, which is the main advantage of their application, contributes to their ability to be the components of reliable software. FSMs can also be used as models of existing software systems [16].…”

“…Request permissions from permissions@acm.org. GECCO'14, July [12][13][14][15][16]2014 Manual FSM construction is usually hard. For example, the optimal FSM for the Artificial Ant problem [11] was found only using automated FSM synthesis [15] with genetic algorithms [11].…”