# -*- coding: utf-8 -*- #+TITLE: Working with LTL formulas with finite semantics #+DESCRIPTION: Code example for using Spot to translate LTLf formulas #+INCLUDE: setup.org #+HTML_LINK_UP: tut.html The LTL operators used by Spot are defined over infinite words, and the various type of automata supported are all \omega-automata, i.e., automata over infinite words. However there is a trick we can use in case we want to use Spot to build a finite automaton that recognize some LTLf (i.e. LTL with finite semantics) property. The plan is as follows: #+name: from_ltlf #+begin_src sh :results verbatim :exports none :var f="bug" ltlfilt --from-ltlf -f "$f" #+end_src 1. Have Spot read the input formula as if it were LTL. 2. Rewrite this formula in a way that embeds the semantics of LTLf in LTL. First, introduce a new atomic proposition =alive= that will be true initially, but that will eventually become false forever. Then adjust all original LTL operators so that they have to be satisfied during the =alive= part of the word. For instance the formula =(a U b) & Fc= would be transformed into call_from_ltlf(f="(a U b) & Fc"). 3. Convert the resulting formula into a Büchi automaton: #+name: tut12a #+begin_src sh :results verbatim :exports none ltlfilt --from-ltlf -f "(a U b) & Fc" | ltl2tgba -B -d #+end_src #+BEGIN_SRC dot :file tut12a.svg :var txt=tut12a :exports results $txt #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: [[file:tut12a.svg]] 4. Remove the =alive= property, and, while we are at it, simplify the Büchi automaton: #+name: tut12b #+begin_src sh :results verbatim :exports none ltlfilt --from-ltlf -f "(a U b) & Fc" | ltl2tgba -B | autfilt --remove-ap=alive -B --small -d #+end_src #+BEGIN_SRC dot :file tut12b.svg :var txt=tut12b :exports results $txt #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: [[file:tut12b.svg]] 5. Interpret the above automaton as finite automaton. (This part is out of scope for Spot.) The above sequence of operations was described by De Giacomo & Vardi in their [[https://www.cs.rice.edu/~vardi/papers/ijcai13.pdf][IJCAI'13 paper]] and by Dutta & Vardi in their [[https://www.cs.rice.edu/~vardi/papers/memocode14a.pdf][Memocode'14 paper]]. However, beware that the LTLf to LTL rewriting suggested in theorem 1 of the [[https://www.cs.rice.edu/~vardi/papers/ijcai13.pdf][IJCAI'13 paper]] has a typo (=t(φ₁ U φ₂)= should be equal to =t(φ₁) U t(φ₂ & alive)=) that is fixed in the [[https://www.cs.rice.edu/~vardi/papers/memocode14a.pdf][Memocode'14 paper]], but that second paper forgets to ensure that =alive= holds initially, as required in the first paper... * Shell version The first four steps of the the above sequence of operations can be executed as follows. Transforming LTLf to LTL can be done using [[file:ltlfilt.org][=ltlfilt=]]'s =--from-ltlf= option, translating the resulting formula into a Büchi automaton is obviously done with [[file:ltl2tgba.org][=ltl2tgba=]], and removing an atomic proposition from an automaton can be done using [[file:autfilt.org][=autfilt=]]'s =--remove-ap= option (adding =--small= will also simplify the automaton). Interpreting the resulting Büchi automaton as a finite automaton is out of scope for Spot. #+begin_src sh :exports both :results verbatim ltlfilt --from-ltlf -f "(a U b) & Fc" | ltl2tgba -B | autfilt --remove-ap=alive -B --small #+end_src #+RESULTS: #+begin_example HOA: v1 States: 4 Start: 1 AP: 3 "b" "a" "c" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels state-acc deterministic properties: very-weak --BODY-- State: 0 [!2] 0 [2] 3 State: 1 [0&!2] 0 [!0&1&!2] 1 [!0&1&2] 2 [0&2] 3 State: 2 [!0&1] 2 [0] 3 State: 3 {0} [t] 3 --END-- #+end_example Use =-B -D= instead of =-B= if you want to ensure that a deterministic automaton is output. * Python version In Python, we use the =from_ltlf()= function to convert from LTLf to LTL and translate the result into a Büchi automaton using =translate()= [[file:tut10.org][as usual]]. Then we need to use the =remove_ap()= object, which we must first setup with some atomic propositions to remove. Finally we call the =postprocess()= function for automata simplifications. (Note that =postprocess()= is already called by =translate()=, but in this case removing the atomic proposition allows more simplification opportunities.) #+begin_src python :results output :exports both import spot # Translate LTLf to Büchi. aut = spot.from_ltlf('(a U b) & Fc').translate('ba') # Remove "alive" atomic proposition rem = spot.remove_ap() rem.add_ap('alive') aut = rem.strip(aut) # Simplify result and print it. Use postprocess('ba', 'det') # if you always want a deterministic automaton. aut = spot.postprocess(aut, 'ba') print(aut.to_str('hoa')) #+end_src #+RESULTS: #+begin_example HOA: v1 States: 4 Start: 1 AP: 3 "b" "a" "c" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels state-acc deterministic properties: very-weak --BODY-- State: 0 [!2] 0 [2] 3 State: 1 [0&!2] 0 [!0&1&!2] 1 [!0&1&2] 2 [0&2] 3 State: 2 [!0&1] 2 [0] 3 State: 3 {0} [t] 3 --END-- #+end_example * C++ version The C++ version is straightforward adaptation of the Python version. The Python functions =translate()= and =postprocess()= are convenient wrappers around the =spot::translator= and =spot::postprocessor= objects that we need to use here. #+begin_src cpp :results verbatim :exports both #include #include #include #include #include #include int main() { spot::parsed_formula pf = spot::parse_infix_psl("(a U b) & Fc"); if (pf.format_errors(std::cerr)) return 1; spot::translator trans; trans.set_type(spot::postprocessor::BA); trans.set_pref(spot::postprocessor::Small); spot::twa_graph_ptr aut = trans.run(spot::from_ltlf(pf.f)); spot::remove_ap rem; rem.add_ap("alive"); aut = rem.strip(aut); spot::postprocessor post; post.set_type(spot::postprocessor::BA); post.set_pref(spot::postprocessor::Small); // or ::Deterministic aut = post.run(aut); print_hoa(std::cout, aut) << '\n'; return 0; } #+end_src #+RESULTS: #+begin_example HOA: v1 States: 4 Start: 1 AP: 3 "b" "a" "c" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels state-acc deterministic properties: very-weak --BODY-- State: 0 [!2] 0 [2] 3 State: 1 [0&!2] 0 [!0&1&!2] 1 [!0&1&2] 2 [0&2] 3 State: 2 [!0&1] 2 [0] 3 State: 3 {0} [t] 3 --END-- #+end_example * Final note Spots only deal with infinite behaviors, so if you plan to use Spot to perform some LTLf model checking, you should stop at step 3. Keep the =alive= proposition in your property automaton, and also add it to the Kripke structure representing your system. Alternatively, if your Kripke structure is already equiped with some =dead= property (as introduced by default in our [[https://spot.lrde.epita.fr/ipynb/ltsmin-dve.html][=ltsmin= interface]]), you could replace =alive= by =!dead= by using ~ltlfilt --from-ltl="!dead"~ (from the command-line), a running =from_ltlf(f, "!dead")= in Python or C++.