FasTLInC: A Constraint-based Tracing Approach

In an approach to software monitoring called Dynamic Monitoring with Integrity Constraints (DynaMICs), integrity constraints are used to monitor program behavior at runtime. The constraints capture domain knowledge, limitations imposed by the design, and assumptions made by programmers. This paper introduces Fast Tracing with Links using Integrity Constraints (FasTLInC), a component of DynaMICs, that manages integrity-constraint specifications, software artifacts, and program state information, permitting tracing of constraints and artifacts, specifically requirements and source code. Because DynaMICs verifies that a program behaves in accordance to constraints, the traceability provided by FasTLInC is significant since the monitor targets the detection of faults that result from ambiguity and changes in requirements, conflicts among requirements, and change in program use. The automated identification of bi-directional links between constraints and code eliminates the laborious task of managing links, which can be problematic because of the evolutionary nature of code