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SMCHR: Satisfiability modulo constraint handling rules

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2012

GREGORY J. DUCK
GREGORY J. DUCK*
Affiliation:
School of Computing, National University of Singapore (e-mail: gregory@comp.nus.edu.sg)
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Abstract

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Constraint Handling Rules (CHRs) are a high-level rule-based programming language for specification and implementation of constraint solvers. CHR manipulates a global store representing a flat conjunction of constraints. By default, CHR does not support goals with a more complex propositional structure including disjunction, negation, etc., or CHR relies on the host system to provide such features. In this paper we introduce Satisfiability Modulo Constraint Handling Rules (SMCHR): a tight integration of CHR with a modern Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solver for quantifier-free formulae with an arbitrary propositional structure. SMCHR is essentially a Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) solver where the theory T is implemented in CHR. The execution algorithm of SMCHR is based on lazy clause generation, where a new clause for the SAT solver is generated whenever a rule is applied. We shall also explore the practical aspects of building an SMCHR system, including extending a “built-in” constraint solver supporting equality with unification and justifications.

Keywords

CHRsatisfiability modulo theorieslazy clause generation

Information

Type
Regular Papers
Information
Theory and Practice of Logic Programming , Volume 12 , Issue 4-5: 28th International Conference on Logic Programming , July 2012, pp. 601 - 618
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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