#+TITLE: Common output options for automata #+EMAIL: spot@lrde.epita.fr #+OPTIONS: H:2 num:nil toc:t #+LINK_UP: tools.html Spot supports different output syntaxes for automata. This page documents the options, common to all tools where it makes sense, that are used to specify how to output of automata. * Common output options All tools that can output automata implement the following options: #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports results ltl2tgba --help | sed -n '/Output format:/,/^$/p' | sed '1d;$d' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example -8, --utf8 enable UTF-8 characters in output (ignored with --lbtt or --spin) --dot[=c|h|n|N|s|t|v] GraphViz's format (default). Add letters to chose (c) circular nodes, (h) horizontal layout, (v) vertical layout, (n) with name, (N) without name, (s) with SCCs, (t) always transition-based acceptance. -H, --hoaf[=s|t|m|l] Output the automaton in HOA format. Add letters to select (s) state-based acceptance, (t) transition-based acceptance, (m) mixed acceptance, (l) single-line output --lbtt[=t] LBTT's format (add =t to force transition-based acceptance even on Büchi automata) --name=FORMAT set the name of the output automaton -q, --quiet suppress all normal output -s, --spin Spin neverclaim (implies --ba) --spot SPOT's format --stats=FORMAT output statistics about the automaton #+end_example The main three output formats (that can also been used as input to some of the tools) are [[http://adl.github.io/hoaf/][HOAF]] (activated by =-H= or =--hoaf=), [[http://www.tcs.hut.fi/Software/lbtt/doc/html/Format-for-automata.html][LBTT]] (activated by =--lbtt=), or spin [[http://spinroot.com/spin/Man/never.html][never claims]] (activated by =-s= or =--spin=). These three formats also support *streaming*, i.e., you can concatenate multiple automata (and even mix these three formats in the same stream), and the tools will be able to read and process them in sequence. The other possible outputs are [[http://www.graphviz.org/][GraphViz]] output (=--dot=), Spot's historical by deprecated format (=--spot=), various statistics (=--stats=), or nothing at all (=--quiet=). Of course it may seem strange to ask a tool to not output anything, but it can make sense if only the exit status matters (for instance using [[file:autfilt.org][=autfilt=]] to check whether an input automaton has some property) or if we are only doing some timing. * HOAF output The [[http://adl.github.io/hoaf/][HOAF]] output should be the preferred format to use if you want to pass automata between different tools. This format can be requested using the =-H= option. Here is an example where [[file:ltl2tgba.org][=ltl2tgba=]] is used to construct two automata: one for =a U b= and one for =(Ga -> Gb) W c=. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba -H 'a U b' '(Ga -> Gb) W c' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example HOA: v1 name: "a U b" States: 2 Start: 1 AP: 2 "a" "b" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels state-acc deterministic --BODY-- State: 0 {0} [t] 0 State: 1 [1] 0 [0&!1] 1 --END-- HOA: v1 name: "(Gb | F!a) W c" States: 5 Start: 1 AP: 3 "b" "a" "c" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels trans-acc --BODY-- State: 0 [0] 0 {0} State: 1 [0&1&!2] 0 [!1&!2] 1 {0} [1&!2] 2 [2] 3 State: 2 [!1&!2] 1 {0} [1&!2] 2 [!1&2] 3 [1&2] 4 State: 3 [t] 3 {0} State: 4 [!1] 3 [1] 4 --END-- #+end_example The above output contains to automata, named after the formulas they represent. Here is a picture of these two automata: #+NAME: hoafex #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports none ltl2tgba --dot=cn '(Ga -> Gb) W c' 'a U b' | dot | gvpack | perl -pe 's/\\\n//g;s/\\/\\\\/g;s/graph G/graph cluster/g' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: hoafex #+begin_example digraph root { graph [bb="0,0,425,231.06", labelloc=t, lheight=0.21, rankdir=LR ]; node [label="\\N", shape=circle ]; subgraph cluster { graph [bb="", label="(Gb | F!a) W c", labelloc=t, lheight=0.21, lp="196.5,196.66", lwidth=1.14, rankdir=LR ]; node [height="", label="\\N", pos="", shape=circle, style="", width="" ]; edge [label="", lp="", pos="" ]; I [height=0.013889, label="", pos="1,49.162", style=invis, width=0.013889]; 1 [height=0.5, label=1, pos="56,49.162", width=0.5]; I -> 1 [pos="e,37.942,49.324 1.1549,49.324 2.6725,49.324 15.097,49.324 27.628,49.324"]; 1 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\\n{0}", lp="56,100.32", pos="e,62.379,66.361 49.621,66.361 48.319,76.181 50.445,85.324 56,85.324 59.472,85.324 61.604,81.752 62.398,76.677"]; 0 [height=0.5, label=0, pos="189,121.16", width=0.5]; 1 -> 0 [label="a & b & !c", lp="122.5,113.82", pos="e,171.82,115.02 70.135,60.558 76.501,65.71 84.4,71.688 92,76.324 114.85,90.263 142.72,102.89 162.53,111.19"]; 2 [height=0.5, label=2, pos="189,34.162", width=0.5]; 1 -> 2 [label="a & !c", lp="122.5,64.823", pos="e,174.09,44.491 73.626,53.241 93.026,57.118 125.9,61.52 153,54.324 157.19,53.213 161.39,51.47 165.37,49.466"]; 3 [height=0.5, label=3, pos="375,34.162", width=0.5]; 1 -> 3 [label=c, lp="240.5,9.8235", pos="e,359.03,25.984 66.028,34.328 72.163,25.634 81.128,15.425 92,10.324 114,0 275.42,0.3271 310,7.3235 323.76,10.107 338.24,15.942 349.94,21.478"]; 0 -> 0 [label="b\\n{0}", lp="189,172.32", pos="e,197.63,137.24 180.37,137.24 178.11,147.47 180.99,157.32 189,157.32 194.26,157.32 197.3,153.08 198.14,147.27"]; 2 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\\n{0}", lp="122.5,35.324", pos="e,68.596,36.184 172.36,26.591 166.44,24.064 159.55,21.586 153,20.324 126.38,15.197 117.5,11.13 92,20.324 86.432,22.331 81.123,25.651 76.398,29.343"]; 2 -> 2 [label="a & !c", lp="189,77.824", pos="e,197.63,50.24 180.37,50.24 178.11,60.474 180.99,70.324 189,70.324 194.26,70.324 197.3,66.082 198.14,60.273"]; 2 -> 3 [label="!a & c", lp="292,105.82", pos="e,363.94,48.712 202.25,46.94 217.46,61.618 244.99,85.026 274,94.324 289.24,99.207 295.12,100.21 310,94.324 329.12,86.764 345.87,70.495 357.43,56.803"]; 4 [height=0.5, label=4, pos="292,34.162", width=0.5]; 2 -> 4 [label="a & c", lp="240.5,41.824", pos="e,273.78,34.324 207.13,34.324 222.59,34.324 245.58,34.324 263.59,34.324"]; 3 -> 3 [label="1\\n{0}", lp="375,85.324", pos="e,382.03,50.988 367.97,50.988 366.41,60.949 368.75,70.324 375,70.324 379,70.324 381.4,66.475 382.2,61.092"]; 4 -> 3 [label="!a", lp="333.5,41.824", pos="e,356.85,34.324 310.18,34.324 320.81,34.324 334.69,34.324 346.8,34.324"]; 4 -> 4 [label=a, lp="292,77.824", pos="e,299.03,50.988 284.97,50.988 283.41,60.949 285.75,70.324 292,70.324 296,70.324 298.4,66.475 299.2,61.092"]; } subgraph cluster_gv1 { graph [bb="", label="a U b", labelloc=t, lheight=0.21, lp="80.5,88.5", lwidth=0.43, rankdir=LR ]; node [height="", label="\\N", peripheries="", pos="", shape=circle, style="", width="" ]; edge [label="", lp="", pos="" ]; I_gv1 [height=0.013889, label="", pos="261,156.16", style=invis, width=0.013889]; "1_gv1" [height=0.5, label=1, pos="316,156.16", width=0.5]; I_gv1 -> "1_gv1" [pos="e,297.94,156.16 261.15,156.16 262.67,156.16 275.1,156.16 287.63,156.16"]; "1_gv1" -> "1_gv1" [label="a & !b", lp="316,199.66", pos="e,322.38,173.2 309.62,173.2 308.32,183.02 310.44,192.16 316,192.16 319.47,192.16 321.6,188.59 322.4,183.51"]; "0_gv1" [height=0.72222, label=0, peripheries=2, pos="399,156.16", width=0.72222]; "1_gv1" -> "0_gv1" [label=b, lp="355.5,163.66", pos="e,376.81,156.16 334.18,156.16 343.61,156.16 355.6,156.16 366.64,156.16"]; "0_gv1" -> "0_gv1" [label=1, lp="399,203.66", pos="e,406.68,177.15 391.32,177.15 390.37,187.25 392.93,196.16 399,196.16 402.89,196.16 405.34,192.5 406.35,187.22"]; } } #+end_example #+BEGIN_SRC dot :file hoafex.png :cmdline -Tpng :var txt=hoafex :exports results $txt #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: [[file:hoafex.png]] The [[http://adl.github.io/hoaf/][HOA format]] support both state and transition-based acceptance. Although Spot works only with transition-based acceptance, its output routines default to state-based acceptance whenever possible (this is the case in the first of these two automata) and use transition-based acceptance otherwise. You can change this behavior using =-Hs= (or =--hoaf=s=), =-Ht=, or =-Hm=. Option =s= corresponds to the default to use state-based acceptance whenever possible. Option =t= forces transition-based acceptance. For instance compare this output to the previous one: #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba -Ht 'a U b' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example HOA: v1 name: "a U b" States: 2 Start: 0 AP: 2 "a" "b" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels trans-acc deterministic --BODY-- State: 0 [1] 1 [0&!1] 0 State: 1 [t] 1 {0} --END-- #+end_example Option =m= uses mixed acceptance, i.e, some states might use state-based acceptance while other will not: #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba -Hm '(Ga -> Gb) W c' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example HOA: v1 name: "(Gb | F!a) W c" States: 5 Start: 1 AP: 3 "b" "a" "c" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels --BODY-- State: 0 {0} [0] 0 State: 1 [0&1&!2] 0 [!1&!2] 1 {0} [1&!2] 2 [2] 3 State: 2 [!1&!2] 1 {0} [1&!2] 2 [!1&2] 3 [1&2] 4 State: 3 {0} [t] 3 State: 4 [!1] 3 [1] 4 --END-- #+end_example It is also possible to output each automaton on a single line, in case the result should be used with line-based tools or embedded into a CSV file... Here is an example using both transition-based acceptance, and single-line output: #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba -Htl 'a U b' '(Ga -> Gb) W c' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : HOA: v1 name: "a U b" States: 2 Start: 1 AP: 2 "a" "b" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels trans-acc deterministic --BODY-- State: 0 [t] 0 {0} State: 1 [1] 0 [0&!1] 1 --END-- : HOA: v1 name: "(Gb | F!a) W c" States: 5 Start: 1 AP: 3 "b" "a" "c" acc-name: Buchi Acceptance: 1 Inf(0) properties: trans-labels explicit-labels trans-acc --BODY-- State: 0 [0] 0 {0} State: 1 [0&1&!2] 0 [!1&!2] 1 {0} [1&!2] 2 [2] 3 State: 2 [!1&!2] 1 {0} [1&!2] 2 [!1&2] 3 [1&2] 4 State: 3 [t] 3 {0} State: 4 [!1] 3 [1] 4 --END-- * LBTT output The [[http://www.tcs.hut.fi/Software/lbtt/doc/html/Format-for-automata.html][LBTT]] output has two flavors: state-based (which is used to output Büchi automata or monitors) or transition-based (for TGBA). #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba --ba --lbtt 'p0 U p1' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : 2 1 : 0 1 -1 : 1 p1 : 0 & p0 ! p1 : -1 : 1 0 0 -1 : 1 t : -1 If you want to request transition-based output even for Büchi automata, use =--lbtt=t=. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba --ba --lbtt=t 'p0 U p1' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : 2 1t : 0 1 : 1 -1 p1 : 0 -1 & p0 ! p1 : -1 : 1 0 : 1 0 -1 t : -1 Note that the [[http://www.tcs.hut.fi/Software/lbtt/doc/html/Format-for-automata.html][LBTT]] output generalizes the format output by [[http://www.tcs.hut.fi/Software/maria/tools/lbt/][LBT]] with support for transition-based acceptance. Both formats however are restricted to atomic propositions of the form =p0=, =p1=, etc... In case other atomic propositions are used, Spot output them in double quotes. This other extension of the format is also supported by [[http://www.ltl2dstar.de/][ltl2dstar]]. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba --ba --lbtt 'a U b' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : 2 1 : 0 1 -1 : 1 "b" : 0 & "a" ! "b" : -1 : 1 0 0 -1 : 1 t : -1 * Spin output Spin [[http://spinroot.com/spin/Man/never.html][never claims]] can be requested using =-s= or =--spin=. They can only represent Büchi automata, so these options imply =--ba=. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba -s 'a U b' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : never { : T0_init: : if : :: ((b)) -> goto accept_all : :: ((a) && (!(b))) -> goto T0_init : fi; : accept_all: : skip : } * Dot output The =--dot= option (which usually is the default) causes automata to be output in GraphViz's format. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both ltl2tgba '(Ga -> Gb) W c' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example digraph G { rankdir=LR I [label="", style=invis, width=0] I -> 1 0 [label="0"] 0 -> 0 [label="b\n{0}"] 1 [label="1"] 1 -> 0 [label="a & b & !c"] 1 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\n{0}"] 1 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 1 -> 3 [label="c"] 2 [label="2"] 2 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\n{0}"] 2 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 2 -> 3 [label="!a & c"] 2 -> 4 [label="a & c"] 3 [label="3"] 3 -> 3 [label="1\n{0}"] 4 [label="4"] 4 -> 3 [label="!a"] 4 -> 4 [label="a"] } #+end_example This output should be processed with =dot= to be converted into a picture. For instance use =dot -Tpng= or =dot -Tpdf=. #+NAME: oaut-dot1 #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports none ltl2tgba '(Ga -> Gb) W c' | sed 's/\\/\\\\/' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: oaut-dot1 #+begin_example digraph G { rankdir=LR I [label="", style=invis, width=0] I -> 1 0 [label="0"] 0 -> 0 [label="b\\n{0}"] 1 [label="1"] 1 -> 0 [label="a & b & !c"] 1 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\\n{0}"] 1 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 1 -> 3 [label="c"] 2 [label="2"] 2 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\\n{0}"] 2 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 2 -> 3 [label="!a & c"] 2 -> 4 [label="a & c"] 3 [label="3"] 3 -> 3 [label="1\\n{0}"] 4 [label="4"] 4 -> 3 [label="!a"] 4 -> 4 [label="a"] } #+end_example #+BEGIN_SRC dot :file oaut-dot1.png :cmdline -Tpng :var txt=oaut-dot1 :exports results $txt #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: [[file:oaut-dot1.png]] This output can be customized by passing optional characters to the =--dot= option. For instance =v= requests a vertical layout (instead of the default horizontal layout), =c= requests circle states, =s= causes strongly-connected components to be displayed, and =n= causes the name (see below) of the automaton to be displayed. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports code ltl2tgba --dot=vcsn '(Ga -> Gb) W c' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example digraph G { label="(Gb | F!a) W c" labelloc="t" node [shape="circle"] I [label="", style=invis, height=0] I -> 1 subgraph cluster_0 { 0 [label="0"] } subgraph cluster_1 { 3 [label="3"] } subgraph cluster_2 { 4 [label="4"] } subgraph cluster_3 { 1 [label="1"] 2 [label="2"] } 0 -> 0 [label="b\n{0}"] 1 -> 0 [label="a & b & !c"] 1 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\n{0}"] 1 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 1 -> 3 [label="c"] 2 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\n{0}"] 2 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 2 -> 3 [label="!a & c"] 2 -> 4 [label="a & c"] 3 -> 3 [label="1\n{0}"] 4 -> 3 [label="!a"] 4 -> 4 [label="a"] } #+end_example #+NAME: oaut-dot2 #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports none ltl2tgba --dot=vcsn '(Ga -> Gb) W c' | sed 's/\\/\\\\/' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: oaut-dot2 #+begin_example digraph G { label="(Gb | F!a) W c" labelloc="t" node [shape="circle"] I [label="", style=invis, height=0] I -> 1 subgraph cluster_0 { label="" 0 [label="0"] } subgraph cluster_1 { label="" 3 [label="3"] } subgraph cluster_2 { label="" 4 [label="4"] } subgraph cluster_3 { label="" 1 [label="1"] 2 [label="2"] } 0 -> 0 [label="b\\n{0}"] 1 -> 0 [label="a & b & !c"] 1 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\\n{0}"] 1 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 1 -> 3 [label="c"] 2 -> 1 [label="!a & !c\\n{0}"] 2 -> 2 [label="a & !c"] 2 -> 3 [label="!a & c"] 2 -> 4 [label="a & c"] 3 -> 3 [label="1\\n{0}"] 4 -> 3 [label="!a"] 4 -> 4 [label="a"] } #+end_example #+BEGIN_SRC dot :file oaut-dot2.png :cmdline -Tpng :var txt=oaut-dot2 :exports results $txt #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: [[file:oaut-dot2.png]] * Statistics The =--stats= option takes format string parameter to specify what and how statistics should be output. Most tool support a common set of statistics about the output automaton (like =%s= for the number of states, =%t= for transitions, =%e= for edges, etc.) Additional statistics might be available depending on what the tool does (for instance [[file:autfilt.org][=autfilt=]] also has =%S=, =%T=, and =%E= to display the same statistics about the input automaton). All the available statistics are displayed when a tool is run with =--help=. For instance here are the statistics available in [[file:randaut.org][=randaut=]]: #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports results randaut --help | sed -n '/ sequences:/,/^$/p' | sed '1d;$d' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example %% a single % %a number of acceptance sets %c number of SCCs %d 1 if the output is deterministic, 0 otherwise %e number of edges %F seed number %L automaton number %m name of the automaton %n number of nondeterministic states in output %p 1 if the output is complete, 0 otherwise %r processing time (excluding parsing) in seconds %s number of states %t number of transitions %w one word accepted by the output automaton #+end_example In most tools =%F= and =%L= are the input filename and line number, but as this makes no sense in =randaut=, these two sequences emit numbers related to the generation of automata. For instance let's generate 100 random automata with 10 states and density 0.2, and just count the number of edges in each automaton. Then use =R= to summarize the distribution of these values: #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both randaut -d 0.2 -S 10 -n 1000 a --stats %e > size.csv R --slave -e "summary(read.csv('size.csv', header=FALSE, col.names='edges'))" #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : edges : Min. :17.00 : 1st Qu.:25.00 : Median :28.00 : Mean :27.96 : 3rd Qu.:30.00 : Max. :42.00 For $S=10$ states and density $D=0.2$ the expected degree of each state $1+(S-1)D = 1+9\times 0.2 = 2.8$ so the expected number of edges should be 10 times that. * Naming automata Automata can be given names. This name can be output in GraphViz output when =--dot=n= is given, and is also part of the HOA format (as activated by =-H=). By default, =ltl2tgba= will use the input format as name. Other tools have no default name. This name can be changed using the =--name= option, that takes a format string similar to the one of =--stats=. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports code ltl2tgba --name='TGBA for %f' --dot=n 'a U b' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: #+begin_example digraph G { rankdir=LR label="TGBA for a U b" labelloc="t" I [label="", style=invis, width=0] I -> 1 0 [label="0", peripheries=2] 0 -> 0 [label="1"] 1 [label="1"] 1 -> 0 [label="b"] 1 -> 1 [label="a & !b"] } #+end_example #+NAME: oaut-name #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports none ltl2tgba --name='TGBA for %f' --dot=n 'a U b' | sed 's/\\/\\\\/' #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: oaut-name #+begin_example digraph G { rankdir=LR label="TGBA for a U b" labelloc="t" I [label="", style=invis, width=0] I -> 1 0 [label="0", peripheries=2] 0 -> 0 [label="1"] 1 [label="1"] 1 -> 0 [label="b"] 1 -> 1 [label="a & !b"] } #+end_example #+BEGIN_SRC dot :file oaut-name.png :cmdline -Tpng :var txt=oaut-name :exports results $txt #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: [[file:oaut-name.png]] If you have an automaton saved in the HOA format, you can extract its name using =autfilt --stats=%M input.hoa=. The =%M= escape sequence is replaced by the name of the input automaton. Here is a pipeline of commands that generates five LTL formulas $\varphi$ such that both $\varphi$ and $\lnot\varphi$ are translated into a 3-state TGBA by [[file:ltl2tgba.org][=ltl2tgba=]]. It starts by generating an infinite stream of random LTL formulas using =a= and =b= as atomic propositions, then it converts these formulas as TGBA (in the HOA format, therefore carrying the formula as name), filtering only the TGBA with 3 states and outputting =!(%M)= (that is the negation of the associated formula), translating the resulting formulas as TGBA, again retaining only the names (i.e. formulas) of the automata with 3 states, and finally restricting the output to the first 5 matches using =autfilt -n5=. #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results verbatim :exports both randltl -n -1 a b | ltl2tgba -H -F- | autfilt --states=3 --stats='!(%M)' | ltl2tgba -H -F- | autfilt --states=3 --stats=%M -n5 #+END_SRC #+RESULTS: : G(F!a & XF(a | G!b)) : GFb | G(!b & FG!b) : !a & F((a | b) & (!a | !b)) : !a | (b R a) : !b & X(!b U a) # LocalWords: num toc html syntaxes ltl tgba sed utf UTF lbtt SCCs # LocalWords: GraphViz's hoaf HOA LBTT's neverclaim ba SPOT's Gb cn # LocalWords: GraphViz autfilt acc Buchi hoafex gvpack perl pe bb # LocalWords: labelloc rankdir subgraph lp pos invis gv png cmdline # LocalWords: Tpng txt Hs Hm CSV Htl LBT dstar init goto fi Tpdf XF # LocalWords: oaut vcsn randaut nondeterministic filename csv hoa # LocalWords: varphi lnot GFb FG