A Comparison of Three Model Checkers Applied to a Distributed Database Problem

Increasingly model checking is being applied to more abstract problem domains than the traditional protocol analysis. The extent to which such an approach is able to provide useful insight into the problem domain depends to a large degree on the nature of the tool used. This paper reports the results of a study using three different model checkers which differ widely in their specification language internal implementation and facilities for specifying correctness properties. An abstract model of an industrial distributed database application has been studied using the three tools. A detailed model of the application using each of the tools is presented and the extent to which each tool allows us to investigate interesting properties of the problem domain is compared. Some conclusions are drawn regarding the usefulness of model checking at an abstract level and the importance of selecting a tool appropriate to the nature of the problem.