Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nicolog: A simple yet powerful cc(FD) language

  • Published:
Journal of Automated Reasoning Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this paper, we describe Nicolog, a language with capabilities similar to recently developed constraint logic programming (CLP) languages such as CLP(BNR), clp(FD), and cc(FD). Central to Nicolog are projection constraints (PCs), a sublanguage for compiling and optimizing constraint propagation in numeric and Boolean domains. PCs are an interesting generalization of the indexical constraints introduced in cc(FD) and also found in clp(FD). Nicolog compiles a very general class of built-in constraints into equivalent sets of PCs, allowing an arbitrary mixture of integer (easily extensible to real) and Boolean operations. Nicolog also lets the user program PCs directly, making it possible to implement new sophisticated propagation procedures. We show that PCs are a simple, efficient, and flexible way to implement most of the propagation procedures possible in other FD CLP systems. These include procedures for cardinality, constructive disjunction, implication, and mixed Boolean/numeric constraints. Empirical results with a simple prototype Nicolog implementation based on the WAM architecture show it can solve hard problems with speed comparable to the fastest existing CLP systems.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aggoun, A. and Beldiceanu, N.: Overview of the CHIP compiler system, in Proc. 8th Int. Conf. Logic Programming, Paris, 1991, pp. 775–789.

  2. Aït-Kaci, H.: Warren's Abstract Machine: A Tutorial Reconstruction, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Benhamou, F. and Older, W. J.: Applying Interval Arithmetic to Integer and Boolean Constraints, Technical Report, Bell Northern Res. (June 1992).

  4. Codognet, P. and Diaz, D.: Boolean constraint solving in clp(FD), in Proc. the International Logic Programming Symposium, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Colmerauer, A.: An introduction to prolog III, Commun. ACM 33(7) (1990), 69–90.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Croft, H., Falconer, K., and Guy, R.: Unsolved Problems in Geometry, Springer, New York, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Dechter, R. and Pearl, J.: Tree clustering for constraint networks, Artificial Intelligence 38 (1989), 353–366.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Diaz, D. and Codognet, P.: A minimal extension of the WAM for clp(FD), in Proc. Int. Conf. Logic Programming, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Dincbas, M., Simonis, H., and Hentenryck, P. V.: Solving large combinatorial problems in logic programming, J. Logic Programming 8 (1990), 75–93.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Freuder, E. C.: A sufficient condition for backtrack-free search, J. ACM 29(1) (1982), 24–32.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Freuder, E. C.. A sufficient condition for backtrack-bounded search, J. ACM 32(4) (1985), 755–761.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Graf, T., Van Hentenryck, P., Pradelles, C., and Zimmer, L.: Simulation of hybrid circuits in constraint logic programming, in Proc. Int. Joint Conf. Artificial Intelligence, Detroit, 1989.

  13. Haralick, R. M. and Elliot, G. L.: Increasing tree search efficiency for constraint satisfaction problems, Artificial Intelligence 8 (1980), 263–313.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Havens, W. S.: Intelligent backtracking in the Echidna constraint logic programming system, Int. J. Expert. Systems 54(4) (1992), 319–343.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Havens, W. S., Sidebottom, S., Sidebottom, G., Jones, J., and Ovans, R.: Echidna: a constraint logic programming shell, in Proc. Pacific Rim Int. Conf. Artificial Intelligence, Seoul, Korea, 1992, pp. 165–171.

  16. Heintze, N. C., Michaylov, S., and Stuckey, P. J.: CLP(R) and some electrical engineering problems, in Proc. 4th Int. Conf. Logic Programming, MIT Press, Melbourne, 1987, pp. 657–703.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Jaffar, J. and Lassez, J.-L.: Constraint logic programming, in Proc. 14th ACM Symp. Principles of Programming Languages, Munich, 1987, pp. 111–119.

  18. Jaffar, J. and Michaylov, S.: Methodology and implementation of a CLP system, in Proc. 4th Int. Conf. Logic Programming, Melbourne, Australia, 1987, pp. 111–119.

  19. Lassez, C., McAloon, K., and Yap, R.: Constraint logic programming in options trading, IEEE Expert 4(2) (1987), 11–18.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Lloyd, J. W.: Foundations of logic programming, in D. W. Loveland (ed.), Symbolic Computation, Springer, New York, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Mackworth, A. K.: Consistency in networks of relations, Artificial Intelligence 8 (1977), 99–118.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Nadel, B. A. and Lin, J.: Automobile transmission design: constraint satisfaction formulation and Prolog implementation, Expert Systems: Research and Applications 6(4) (1993), 484–559.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Older, W. and Vellino, A.: Extending Prolog with constraint arithmetic on real intervals, in Proc. Canadian Conf. Computer and Electrical Engineering, Ottawa, 1990.

  24. Sakai, K. and Aiba, A.: CAL: a theoretical background of constraint logic programming and its applications, J. Symbolic Computation 8(6) (1989), 589–603.

    Google Scholar 

  25. San Miguel Aquir, A.: How to use symmetries in Boolean constraint solving, in Proc. Eur. Conf. Artificial Intelligence, 1992.

  26. Sidebottom, G.: A language for optimizing constraint propagation, PhD Thesis, Simon Fraser University, 1993.

  27. Sidebottom, G. and Havens, W. S.: Hierarchical arc consistency for disjoint real intervals in constraint logic programming, Computational Intelligence 8(4) (1992), 601–623.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Simonis, H.: Test generation using the constraint logic programming language CHIP, in Proc. 6th Int. Conf. Logic Programming, Lisbon, Portugal, 1989, pp. 101–112.

  29. Van Hentenryck, P.: Constraint Satisfaction in Logic Programming, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Van Hentenryck, P. and Deville, Y.: The cardinality operator: A new logic connective for constraint logic programming, in Proc. Int. Conf. Logic Programming, MIT Press, Paris, France, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Van Hentenryck, P., Saraswat, V., and Deville, Y.: Constraint Processing in cc(FD), Technical Report, Brown University, 1991.

  32. Van Hentenryck, P., Saraswat, V., and Deville, Y.: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of the Constraint Language cc(FD), Technical Report, Brown University, 1993.

  33. Warren, D. H. D.: An Abstract Prolog Instruction Set, Technical Note 309, SRI International, 1983.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligent Systems Laboratory, Centre for Systems Science, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Gregory Sidebottom & William S. Havens

  2. School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University, V5a 1S6, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Gregory Sidebottom & William S. Havens

Authors
  1. Gregory Sidebottom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. William S. Havens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sidebottom, G., Havens, W.S. Nicolog: A simple yet powerful cc(FD) language. J Autom Reasoning 17, 371–403 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00283135

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00283135

Key words

Search

Navigation