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Debugging Non-ground ASP Programs: Technique and Graphical Tools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2019

CARMINE DODARO Open the ORCID record for CARMINE DODARO [Opens in a new window] ,
PHILIP GASTEIGER ,
KRISTIAN REALE ,
FRANCESCO RICCA Open the ORCID record for FRANCESCO RICCA [Opens in a new window]  and
KONSTANTIN SCHEKOTIHIN Open the ORCID record for KONSTANTIN SCHEKOTIHIN [Opens in a new window]
CARMINE DODARO
Affiliation:
DIBRIS, University of Genova, Genova, Italy (e-mail: dodaro@dibris.unige.it)
PHILIP GASTEIGER
Affiliation:
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria (e-mail: philip.gasteiger@gmail.com)
KRISTIAN REALE
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy (e-mails: reale@mat.unical.it, ricca@mat.unical.it)
FRANCESCO RICCA
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy (e-mails: reale@mat.unical.it, ricca@mat.unical.it)
KONSTANTIN SCHEKOTIHIN
Affiliation:
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria (e-mail: konstantin.schekotihin@aau.at)
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Abstract

Answer set programming (ASP) is one of the major declarative programming paradigms in the area of logic programming and non-monotonic reasoning. Despite that ASP features a simple syntax and an intuitive semantics, errors are common during the development of ASP programs. In this paper we propose a novel debugging approach allowing for interactive localization of bugs in non-ground programs. The new approach points the user directly to a set of non-ground rules involved in the bug, which might be refined (up to the point in which the bug is easily identified) by asking the programmer a sequence of questions on an expected answer set. The approach has been implemented on top of the ASP solver wasp. The resulting debugger has been complemented by a user-friendly graphical interface, and integrated in aspide, a rich integrated development environment (IDE) for answer set programs. In addition, an empirical analysis shows that the new debugger is not affected by the grounding blowup limiting the application of previous approaches based on meta-programming.

Keywords

answer set programmingdebugginggraphical user interface
Type
Original Article
Information
Theory and Practice of Logic Programming , Volume 19 , Special Issue 2: User-Oriented Logic Programming and Reasoning Paradigms , March 2019 , pp. 290 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

This paper includes parts and significantly extends our previous work (Dodaro et al. 2015). The authors are grateful to Marc Deneker and Ingmar Dasseville for the fruitful discussions about debugging for logic programs and FO(ID) theories, and in particular for the useful suggestion improving the handling of bugs caused by atoms missing a supporting rule. The authors are also grateful to Roland Kaminski for providing gringo without simplifications.

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