Programming Research Group Technical Monograph PRG-61

Jonathan Bowen, Roger Gimson, Stig Topp-Jorgensen

August 1987, 100 pages, ISBN 0-902928-43-0

The specification language Z has been applied by the Distributed Computing Software Project to the formal specification of network resource managers or "services". The use of a formal language gives a more precise understanding of the behaviour of a service and is a prerequisite for verification of programs which use or implement the service. Additionally, the use of Z combined with informal text is sufficiently readable for the specification to be used for documentation purposes.

An introduction is provided to the style of specification devised for the project. A framework for the specification of a variety of network services has been developed. The framework is presented, and then incorporated into an example illustrating the specification of both the user's view and the implementor's view of a simple service. A discussion of the experience gained from the specification and use of the example service is also included.