English as a formal specification language

Rolf Schwitter

doi:10.1109/DEXA.2002.1045903

English as a formal specification language

Rolf Schwitter^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Computing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution

54 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

PENG is a computer-processable controlled natural language designed for writing unambiguous and precise specifications. PENG covers a strict subset of standard English and is precisely defined by a controlled grammar and a controlled lexicon. In contrast to other controlled languages, the author does not need to know the grammatical restrictions explicitly. ECOLE, a look-ahead text editor, indicates the restrictions while the specification is written. The controlled lexicon contains domain-specific content words that can be defined by the author on the fly and predefined function words. Specifications written in PENG can be deterministically translated into discourse representations structures to cope with anaphora and presuppositions and also into first-order predicate logic. To test the formal properties of PENG, we reformulated Schubert's steamroller puzzle in PENG, translated the resulting specification via discourse representation structures into first-order predicate logic with equality, and proved the steamroller's conclusion with OTTER, a standard theorem prover.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA 2002)
Editors	A Min Tjoa, Rol Wagner
Place of Publication	Los Alamitos, USA
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Pages	228-232
Number of pages	5
ISBN (Electronic)	0769516688
ISBN (Print)	0769516688
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/DEXA.2002.1045903
Publication status	Published - 2002
Event	Third International Workshop on Natural Language and Information Systems - Aix-en-Provence, France Duration: 2 Sep 2002 → 6 Sep 2002

Workshop

Workshop	Third International Workshop on Natural Language and Information Systems
City	Aix-en-Provence, France
Period	2/09/02 → 6/09/02

Keywords

Application software
Australia
Formal languages
Formal specifications
Humans
Logic testing
Manuals
Natural languages
Vocabulary
Writing

Access to Document

10.1109/DEXA.2002.1045903

Link to publication in Scopus

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Cite this

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title = "English as a formal specification language",

abstract = "PENG is a computer-processable controlled natural language designed for writing unambiguous and precise specifications. PENG covers a strict subset of standard English and is precisely defined by a controlled grammar and a controlled lexicon. In contrast to other controlled languages, the author does not need to know the grammatical restrictions explicitly. ECOLE, a look-ahead text editor, indicates the restrictions while the specification is written. The controlled lexicon contains domain-specific content words that can be defined by the author on the fly and predefined function words. Specifications written in PENG can be deterministically translated into discourse representations structures to cope with anaphora and presuppositions and also into first-order predicate logic. To test the formal properties of PENG, we reformulated Schubert's steamroller puzzle in PENG, translated the resulting specification via discourse representation structures into first-order predicate logic with equality, and proved the steamroller's conclusion with OTTER, a standard theorem prover.",

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language = "English",

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pages = "228--232",

editor = "Tjoa, {A Min} and Rol Wagner",

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publisher = "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)",

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Schwitter, R 2002, English as a formal specification language. in AM Tjoa & R Wagner (eds), Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA 2002)., 1045903, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Los Alamitos, USA, pp. 228-232, Third International Workshop on Natural Language and Information Systems, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2/09/02. https://doi.org/10.1109/DEXA.2002.1045903

English as a formal specification language. / Schwitter, Rolf.

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications (DEXA 2002). ed. / A Min Tjoa; Rol Wagner. Los Alamitos, USA : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 2002. p. 228-232 1045903.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference proceeding contribution

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