Analyzing logic programs using “ prop”-ositional logic programs and a magic wand

Abstract

This paper illustrates the role of a class of “prop”-ositional logic programs in the analysis of complex properties of logic programs. Analyses are performed by abstracting Prolog programs to corresponding “prop”-ositional logic programs which approximate the original programs and have finite meanings. We focus on a groundness analysis which is equivalent to that obtained by abstract interpretation using the domain Prop. The main contribution is in the ease in which a highly efficient implementation of the analysis is obtained. The implementation is bottom-up and provides approximations of a program's success patterns. Goal-dependent information such as call patterns is obtained using a magic-set transformation. A novel compositional approach is applied so that call patterns for arbitrary goals are derived in a precise and efficient way.