The command-line version of ProB, called probcli, offers many of the feature of the standalone Tcl/Tk Version via the command-line. As such, you can run ProB from your shell scripts or in your Makefiles.
These pages refer to version 1.3.4 and 1.3.5 of ProB. Some features are only available in the nightly build of ProB. You can run probcli –help to find out which commands are supported by your version of ProB. For Bash users we provide command completion support.
Note: the order of commands is not relevant for probcli (except within groups of commands such as -p MAXINT 127). Every argument that is not recognised by probcli is treated as a filename to be analysed.
The following conventions are used in this guide:
| <replaceme> | All values that should be replaced with some value are shown withing < > |
| line breaks | Command synopsis for command may be broken up on several lines. When typing commands enter all option on the same line. |
probcli [--help] <filename> [ <options> ]
Note that the stand-alone Tcl/Tk version also supports a limited form of command-line preferences:
However, the comand-line version of ProB, called probcli, provides more features. It also does not depend on Tcl/Tk and can therefore be run on systems without Tcl/Tk.
Description
| model check; checking at most <nr> states |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 100
Note: with a value of nr=1 ProB will only inspect the "virtual" root node (and compute its outgoing transitions). Also see the related options -nodead, -noinv, -nogoal, -noass to influence which kinds of errors are reported by -mc. You can also set a target goal predicate using the -goal "PRED" command and limit the scope of the model checking using the -scope "PRED" command.
The same as -mc but without a limit on the number of nodes checked. ProB will run until the entire state space is explored.
Description
| restrict errors reported by model checking with <x>=dead,inv,goal,ass
-nodead : do not report deadlocks -noinv : do not report invariant violations -nogoal : do not stop if a state satisfying the GOAL predicate has been found -noass : do not report assertion violations |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 -nodead -nogoal
Description
| proceed breadth-first |
Example
probcli my.mch -bf -mc 1000
Description
| proceed depth-first |
Example
probcli my.mch -df -mc 1000
Description
| Global timeout in ms for model checking and refinement checking.
This does not influence the timeout used for computing individual transitions/operations. This has to be set with the -p TIME_OUT <N>. See the description of the -p option. |
Example
probcli my.mch -timeout 10000
Description
| trace check (associated .trace file must exist) |
Example
probcli my.mch -t
Description
| initialise specification |
Example
probcli my.mch -init nr_of_components(1) % checking_component_properties(1,[]) % enumerating_constants_without_constraints([typedval(fd(_24428,ID),global(ID),iv)]) % grounding_wait_flags grounding_component(1) grounding_component(2) % found_enumeration_of_constants(0,2) % backtrack(found_enumeration_of_constants(0,2)) % found_enumeration_of_constants(0,1) % backtrack(found_enumeration_of_constants(0,1)) <- 0: SETUP_CONSTANTS :: root % Could not set up constants with parameters from trace file. % Will attempt any possible initialisation of constants. | 0: SETUP_CONSTANTS success -->0 - <- 1: INITIALISATION :: 0 % Could not initialise with parameters from trace file. % Will attempt any possible initialisation. ALL OPERATIONS COVERED - | 1: INITIALISATION success -->2 - - SUCCESS
Description
| constraint-based invariant checking for an operation (also use <OPNAME>=all) |
Example
probcli my.mch -cbc all
Description
| Perform constraint-based deadlock checking (also use -cbc_deadlock_pred PRED) |
This will try to find a state which satisfies the invariant and properties and where no operation/event is enabled. Note: if ProB finds a counter example then the machine cannot be proven to be deadlock free. However, the particular state may not be reachable from the initial state(s). If you want to find a reachable deadlock you have to use the model checker.
Description
| Constraint-based deadlock finding given a predicate |
This is like -cbc_deadlock but you provide an additional predicate. ProB will only find deadlocks which also make this predicate true.
Example
probcli my.mch -cbc_deadlock_pred "n=15"
Description
| Constraint-based checking of assertions on constants |
This will try and find a solution for the constants which make an assertion (on constants) false.
You can use the command -cbc_output_file FILE to write the result of this check to a file.
Description
| Constraint-based searching for a sequence of operation names (separated by semicolons) |
This will try and find a solution for the constants, initial variable values and parameters which make execution of the given sequence of operations possible.
Example
probcli my.mch -cbc_sequence "op1;op2"
Description
| raise error if mc finds counter example or trace checking fails |
Example
probcli my.mch -t -strict
Description
| expect error to occur (<ERR>=cbc,mc,ltl,...)
Tell ProB that you expect a certain error to occur. Mainly useful for regression tests (in conjunction with the -strict option). |
Example
probcli examples/B/Benchmarks/CarlaTravelAgencyErr.mch -mc 1000 -expcterr invariant_violation -strict
Description
| random animation (max Nr steps) |
Animates the machine randomly, maximally Nr of steps. It will stop if a deadlock is reached and report an error. You can also use the command -animate_all, which will only stop at a deadlock (and not report an error). Be careful: -animate_all could run forever.
Example
probcli my.mch -animate 100
Description
| check if animation steps are deterministic |
Checks if every step of the animation is deterministic (i.e., only one operation is possible, and it can only be executed in one possible way as far as parameters and result is concerned). Currently this option has only an effect for the -animate <Nr> and the -init commands.
Example
probcli my.mch -animate 100 -det_check
Description
| check if animation steps are deterministic |
Checks if the SETUP_CONSTANTS step is deterministic (i.e., only one way to set up the constants is possible). Currently this option has only an effect for the -animate <Nr> and the -init commands.
Example
probcli my.mch -init -det_constants
Description
| save animation history to a file |
Save the animation (or model checking) history to a text file. Operations are separated by semicolons. The output can be adapted using the -his_option command. With -his_option show_states the -his command will also write out all states to the file (in the form of comments before and after operations). With -his_option show_init only the initial state is written out. The -his command is executed after the -init, -animate, -t or -mc commands. See also the -sptxt command to only write the current values of variables and constants to a file.
Example
probcli -animate 5 -his history.txt supersimple.mch
Additionally we can have the initialised variables and constants:
probcli -animate 5 -his history.txt -his_option show_init supersimple.mch
And we can have in addition the values of the variables in between (and at the end):
probcli -animate 5 -his history.txt -his_option show_states supersimple.mch
With -his_option trace_file as only option, probcli will write the history in Prolog format, which can later be used by the -t command.
Description
| interactive animation |
After performing the other commands, ProB stays in interactive mode and allows the user to manually animate the loaded specification.
Example
probcli my.mch -i
Description
| start interactive read-eval-print-loop |
Example
probcli my.mch -p CLPFD TRUE -repl
A list of commands can be obtained by typing :help (just help for versions 1.3.x of probcli). The interactive read-eval-print-loop can be exited using :q (just typing a return on a blank line for versions 1.3.x of probcli).. If in addition you want see a graphical representation of the solutions found you can use the following command and open the out.dot file using dotty or GraphViz:
probcli -repl -evaldot ~/out.dot
You can also use the -eval command to evaluate specific formulas or expressions:
probcli -eval "1+2"
Description
| print coverage statistics |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 -c
You can also use the longer name for the command:
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 --coverage
There is also a version which prints a shorter summary (and which is much faster for large state spaces):
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 --coverage_summary
Description
| print and check coverage statistics
Print coverage statistics and check that the given number of nodes and transitions have been computed. |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 -cc 10 25
Description
| Set <PREFERENCE> to <VALUE>. For more information about preferences please have a look at Preferences |
You can also use --pref instead of -p. Example
probcli my.mch -p TIME_OUT 8000 -p CLPFD TRUE -mc 10000
Description
| Set preferences from preference file <FILE>. The file should be created by the Tcl/Tk version of ProB; this version automatically creates a file called ProB_Preferences.pl. For more information about preferences please have a look at Preferences |
Example
probcli my.mch -prefs ProB_Preferences.pl
Description
| set cardinality (scope in Alloy terminology) of a B deferred set. This overrides the default cardinality (which can be set using -p DEFAULT_SETSIZE <VAL>). |
Example
probcli my.mch -card PID 5
Description
| set GOAL predicate for model checker |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 10000000 -goal "n=18" -strict -expcterr goal_found
Description
| set SCOPE predicate for model checker; states which do not satisfy the SCOPE predicate will be ignored (invariant will not be checked and no outgoing transitions will be computed) |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 10000000 -scope "n<18"
Description
| start socket server on given port |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| start socket server on port 9000 |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| start socket server on some free port |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| save constants and variables to a file |
Save the values of constants and variables to a text file in classical B syntax. The -sptxt command is executed after the -init, -animate, -t or -mc commands. The values are fully written out (some sets, e.g., infinite sets may be written out symbolically).
See also the -his command.
Example
probcli -animate 5 -sptxt state.txt supersimple.mch
This will write the values of all variables and constants to the file state.txt after animating the machine 5 steps.
Description
| save constants (and in future also variables) to a file to avoid recomputation |
This commands saves the values of constants for the current B machine and puts those values into files in the specified directory. The command will also tell ProB to try and reuse constants saved for subsidiary machines (included using SEES for example) whenever possible. The purpose of the command is to avoid recomputing constants as much as possible, as this can be very time consuming. This also works for values of variables computed in the initialisation or even using operations. However, we do not support refinements at the moment.
Note: this command can also be used when starting up the ProB Tcl/Tk version.
Description
| log activities in <LogFile> |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 -l my.log
Description
| log activities in /tmp/prob_cli_debug.log |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 -ll
Description
| analyse <LogFile> using gnuplot |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| pretty-print internal representation to <FILE> |
Example
probcli my.mch -pp my_pp.mch
Description
| pretty-print internal representation to <FILE>, force printing of all type infos |
Example
probcli my.mch -ppf my_ppf.mch
Description
| set ProB into verbose mode |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 1000 -v
Description
| print version information |
There is also an alternate command called -svers which just prints the version number of ProB. Example
probcli -version ProB Command Line Interface VERSION 1.3.4-rc1 (9556:9570M) $LastChangedDate: 2011-11-16 18:36:18 +0100 (Wed, 16 Nov 2011) $ Prolog: SICStus 4.2.0 (x86_64-darwin-10.6.0): Mon Mar 7 20:03:36 CET 2011 Application Path: /Users/leuschel/svn_root/NewProB
probcli -svers VERSION 1.3.4-rc1 (9556:9570M)
Description
| check ASSERTIONS of your machine
If you provide the -t switch, the ASSERTIONS will be checked after executing your trace. Otherwise, they will be checked in an initial state. ProB will automatically initialize the machine if you have not provide the -init or -t switch. You can also use -main_assertions to check only the ASSERTIONS found in the main file. If your ASSERTIONS are all static (i.e., make no reference to variables), then ProB will remove all CONSTANTS and PROPERTIES from your machine which are not linked (directly or indirectly) to the ASSERTIONS. This optimization will only be made if you provide no other switch, such as -mc or -animate which may require the computation of the variables. |
Example
probcli my.mch -init -assertions
Description
| check PROPERTIES
Note: you should probably first initialise the machine (e.g., with -init). If the constants have not yet been set up, probcli will debug the properties. |
Example
probcli my.mch -init -properties
Description
| define path for generation of dot files for false properties or assertions |
This option is applicable to -properties and -assertions. It will result in individual dot files being generated for every false or unknown property or assertion. Assertions are numbered A0,A1,... and properties P0,P1,... You can also force to generate dot files for all properties (i.e., also the true ones) using the -dot_all command-line flag.
Example
probcli my.mch -init -properties -dot_output somewhere/
This will generate files somewhere/my_P0_false.dot, somewhere/my_P1_false.dot, ...
Description
| runtime checking of types/pre-/post-conditions |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| check LTL formulas in file <FILE> |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| check LTL assertions (in DEFINITIONS) |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| explore at most <LIMIT> states when model-checking LTL |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| save state space for later refinement check |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Description
| refinement check against previous saved state space |
Example
probcli my.mch ...
Generate test cases for the given specification. Each test case consists of a sequence of operations resp. events (a so-called trace) that
The user can specify what requested operations/events are with the option -mcm_cover.
ProB uses a "breadth-first" approach to search for test cases. When all requested operations/events are covered by test cases within maximum length M, the algorithm will explore the complete state space with that maximum distance M from the initialisation. It outputs all found traces that satisfy the requirements above.
The algorithm stops if either
The required parameters are:
Example
probcli my.mch -mcm_tests 10 2000 "EndStateVar=TRUE" testcases.xml -mcm_cover op1,op2
generates test cases for the operations op1 and op2 of the specification my.mch. The maximum length of traces is 10, at most 2000 states are explored. Each test case ends in a state where the predicate EndStateVar=TRUE holds. The found test cases are written to a file testcases.xml.
Specify an operation or event that should be covered when generating test cases with the -mcm_test option. Multiple operations/events can be specified by seperating them by comma or by using -mcm_cover several times.
See -mcm-tests for further details.
Description
| Write graph of the state space to a dot <FILE> |
Example
probcli my.mch -mc 100 -spdot my_statespace.dot
Generate test cases by constraint solving with maximum length Depth, the last state satisfies EndPredicate and the test cases are written to File. If the predicate is the empty string we assume truth. If the filename is the empty string no file is generated. See also the page on Test_Case_Generation.
When generating CB test cases, Operation should be covered. The option can be given multiple times to specify several operations.
Alternatively, multiple operations can be separated by a comma. You can also use the option
-cbc_cover_match PartialName
to match all operations whose name contains PartialName. See also the page about Test_Case_Generation.
Read the options for constraint based test case generation from File.
| Run the bounded model checker until maximum trace depth <Depth> specified. Looks for invariant violations using the constraint-based test case generation algorithm. |
Example
probcli my.mch -bmc 20
Use the CSP File File to guide the B Machine ("CSP||B"). (This feature is included since version 1.3.5-beta7.)
You can use these preferences within the command:
-p <PREFERENCE> <VALUE>
| <PREFERENCE> | <VALUE> |
|---|---|
| MAXINT | nat ==> MaxInt, used for expressions such as xx::NAT (2147483647 for 4 byte ints) |
| MININT | neg ==> MinInt, used for expressions such as xx::INT (-2147483648 for 4 byte ints) |
| DEFAULT_SETSIZE | nat ==> Size of unspecified deferred sets in SETS section. Will be used if a set s is neither enumerated, has no no card(s)=nr predicate in the PROPERTIES and has no scope_s == Nr DEFINITION. |
| MAX_INITIALISATIONS | nat ==> Max Number of Initialisations and ways to setup constants computed |
| MAX_OPERATIONS | nat ==> Max Number of Enablings per Operation Computed |
| ANIMATE_SKIP_OPERATIONS | bool ==> Animate operations which are skip or PRE C THEN skip |
| COMPRESSION | bool ==> Use more aggressive COMPRESSION when storing states |
| EXPAND_CLOSURES_FOR_STATE | bool ==> Convert lazy form back into explicit form for Variables, Constants, Operation Arguments. ProB will sometimes try to keep certain sets symbolic. If this preference is TRUE then ProB will try to expand those sets for variables and constants after an operation has been executed. |
| SYMBOLIC | bool ==> Lazy expansion of lambdas and set comprehensions. By default ProB will keep certain sets symbolic (e.g., sets it knows are infinite). When this preference is set to TRUE then all set comprehensions and lambda abstractions will at first be kept symbolic and only expanded into explicit form if needed. |
| CLPFD | bool ==> Use CLP(FD) solver for B integers (restricts range to -2^28..2^28-1 on 32 bit computers). Setting this preference to TRUE should substantially improve ProB's ability to solve complicated predicates involving integers. However, it may cause CLP(FD) overflows in certain circumstances. |
| SMT | bool ==> Enable SMT-Mode (aggressive treatment of : and /: inside predicates). With this predicate set to TRUE ProB will be better at solving certain constraint solving tasks. It should be enabled when doing constraint-based invariant or deadlock checking. ProB Tcl/Tk will turn this preference on automatically for those checks. |
| STATIC_ORDERING | bool ==> Use static ordering to enumerate constants which occur in most PROPERTIES first |
| SYMMETRY_MODE | [off,flood,nauty,hash] ==> Symmetry Mode: off,flood,canon,nauty,hash |
| TIME_OUT | nat1 ==> Time out for computing enabled transitions (in ms) |
| PROOF_INFO | bool ==> Use Proof Information to restrict invariant checking to affected unproven clauses. Most useful in EventB for models exported from Rodin. |
| TRY_FIND_ABORT | bool ==> Try more aggressively to detect ill-defined expressions (e.g. applying function outside of domain), may slow down animator |
| NUMBER_OF_ANIMATED_ABSTRACTIONS | nat ==> How many levels of refined models are animated by default |
| ALLOW_INCOMPLETE_SETUP_CONSTANTS | bool ==> Allow ProB to proceed even if only part of the CONSTANTS have been found. |
| PARTITION_PROPERTIES | bool ==> Partition predicates (PROPERTIES) into components |
| USE_RECORD_CONSTRUCTION | bool ==> Records: Check if axioms/properties describe a record pattern |
| OPERATION_REUSE | bool ==> Try and reuse previously computed operation effects in B/Event-B |
| SHOW_EVENTB_ANY_VALUES | bool ==> Show top-level ANY variable values of B Operations without parameters as parameters |
| RANDOMISE_OPERATION_ORDER | bool ==> Randomise order of operations when computing successor states |
| EXPAND_FORALL_UPTO | nat ==> When analysing predicates: max. domain size for expansion of forall (use 0 to disable expansion) |
| MAX_DISPLAY_SET | int ==> Max size for pretty-printing sets (-1 means no limit) |
| CSP_STRIP_SOURCE_LOC | bool ==> Strip source location for CSP; will speed up model checking |
| WARN_WHEN_EXPANDING_INFINITE_CLOSURES | int ==> Warn when expanding infinite closures if MAXINT larger than: |
| TRACE_INFO | bool ==> Provide various tracing information on the terminal/console. |
| DOUBLE_EVALUATION | bool ==> Evaluate PREDICATES positively and negatively when analyzing assertions or properties |
| RECURSIVE | bool ==> Lazy expansion of *Recursive* set Comprehensions and lambdas |
| IGNORE_HASH_COLLISIONS | bool ==> Ignore Hash Collisions (if true not all states may be computed, visited states are not memorised !) |
| FORGET_STATE_SPACE | bool ==> Do not remember state space (mainly useful in conjunction with Ignore Hash Collisions) |
| NEGATED_INVARIANT_CHECKING | bool ==> Perform double evaluation (positive and negative) when checking invariants |
Example
probcli my.mch -p TIME_OUT 5000 -p CLPFD TRUE -p SYMMETRY_MODE hash -mc 1000
To load a file My.mch, setup the constants and initialize it do:
probcli -init My.mch
To load a file M.mch, setup the constants, initialize and then check all assertions with Atelier-B's default values for MININT and MAXINT and an increased timeout of 5 seconds do:
probcli -init -assertions -p MAXINT 2147483647 -p MININT -2147483647 -p TIME_OUT 5000 M.mch
To model check a specification M.mch while trying to minimize memory consumption and using symmtery reduction (and accepting hash collisions) do:
probcli -p IGNORE_HASH_COLLISIONS TRUE -p FORGET_STATE_SPACE TRUE -p SYMMETRY_MODE hash -mc 999999 M.mch
Please help us to improve this documentation by providing feedback in our bug tracker, asking questions in our prob-users group or sending an email to Michael Leuschel.