Debugging Unsatisfiable Constraint Models

The first constraint model that you write for a new problem is often unsatisfiable, and constraint modelling tools offer little support for debugging. Existing algorithms for computing Minimal Unsatisfiable Subsets (MUSes) can help explain to a user which sets of constraints are causing unsatisfiability. However, these algorithms are usually not aimed at high-level, structured constraint models, and tend to not scale well for them. Furthermore, when used naively, they enumerate sets of solver-level variables and constraints, which may have been introduced by modelling language compilers and are therefore often far removed from the user model.

[1]  Mark H. Liffiton,et al.  Enumerating Infeasibility: Finding Multiple MUSes Quickly , 2013, CPAIOR.

[2]  Jennifer Ryan,et al.  Identifying Minimally Infeasible Subsystems of Inequalities , 1990, INFORMS J. Comput..

[3]  Karem A. Sakallah,et al.  Refinement strategies for verification methods based on datapath abstraction , 2006, Asia and South Pacific Conference on Design Automation, 2006..

[4]  Fahiem Bacchus,et al.  Finding a Collection of MUSes Incrementally , 2016, CPAIOR.

[5]  Joao Marques-Silva,et al.  Fast, flexible MUS enumeration , 2015, Constraints.

[6]  Christian Artigues,et al.  The resource-constrained modulo scheduling problem: an experimental study , 2013, Comput. Optim. Appl..

[7]  Barry O'Sullivan,et al.  Generating Corrective Explanations for Interactive Constraint Satisfaction , 2005, CP.

[8]  Karem A. Sakallah,et al.  Algorithms for Computing Minimal Unsatisfiable Subsets of Constraints , 2007, Journal of Automated Reasoning.

[9]  Guido Tack,et al.  Multi-Pass High-Level Presolving , 2015, IJCAI.

[10]  Peter J. Stuckey,et al.  MiniZinc: Towards a Standard CP Modelling Language , 2007, CP.

[11]  Ulrich Junker Conflict Detection for Arbitrary Constraint Propagation Algorithms , 2001 .

[12]  Christian Bessiere,et al.  Proceedings of the 13th international conference on Principles and practice of constraint programming , 2007 .

[13]  Peter J. Stuckey,et al.  Propagation = Lazy Clause Generation , 2007, CP.

[14]  Joyce van Loon Irreducibly inconsistent systems of linear inequalities , 1981 .

[15]  Narendra Jussien,et al.  User-friendly explanations for constraint programming , 2001, WLPE.

[16]  Peter J. Stuckey,et al.  Lazy Clause Generation Reengineered , 2009, CP.

[17]  Toby Walsh,et al.  CSPLIB: A Benchmark Library for Constraints , 1999, CP.

[18]  Warwick Harvey,et al.  Essence: A constraint language for specifying combinatorial problems , 2007, Constraints.

[19]  Arnaud Gotlieb,et al.  A CP framework for testing CP , 2012, Constraints.

[20]  Peter J. Stuckey,et al.  Philosophy of the MiniZinc challenge , 2010, Constraints.

[21]  James Bailey,et al.  Discovery of Minimal Unsatisfiable Subsets of Constraints Using Hitting Set Dualization , 2005, PADL.

[22]  Patrice Boizumault,et al.  k-relevant Explanations for Constraint Programming , 2003, FLAIRS.

[23]  Ian P. Gent Proceedings of the 15th international conference on Principles and practice of constraint programming , 2009 .

[24]  María Teresa Gómez López,et al.  NMUS: Structural Analysis for Improving the Derivation of All MUSes in Overconstrained Numeric CSPs , 2007, CAEPIA.