Towards A Shape Analysis for Graph Transformation Systems

Graphs and graph transformation systems are a frequently used modelling technique for a wide range of different domains, covering areas as diverse as refactorings, network topologies or reconfigurable software. Being a formal method, graph transformation systems lend themselves to a formal analysis. This has inspired the development of various verification methods, in particular also model checking tools. In this paper, we present a verification technique for infinite-state graph transformation systems. The technique employs the abstraction principle used in shape analysis of programs, summarising possibly infinitely many nodes thus giving shape graphs. The technique has been implemented using the 3-valued logical foundations of standard shape analysis. We exemplify the approach on an example from the railway domain.