Python Bindings for Yices 2

As the name indicates, this provides a Python interface to the Yices SMT Solvers.

Installation

Install the Yices SMT Solver first, then, install the python language bindings with:

pip install yices

This will install two python packages and a binary.

• yices_api

  This gives you access to the low-level Yices API from Python. To use this API, you will need to be familiar with ctypes and know the Yices C API, see yices.h. Unless you really need it, we recommend that you use the Pythonesque API below.

• yices

  This a more Pythonesque API that bridges the gap between the low level yices_api and the python user. It provides Python classes to represent Yices context, models, configurations, etc.

• yices_python_info

  The binary yices_python_info prints information about the system:

  > yices_python_info
  Python Yices Bindings. Version 1.1.3
  Yices library loaded from /usr/local/lib/libyices.dylib
  Version: 2.6.2
  Architecture: x86_64-apple-darwin18.7.0 
  Build mode: debug
  Build date: 2020-04-27
  MCSat support: yes
  Thread safe: no
  

Examples

The following three examples show how to use the yices module.

Linear Real Arithmetic

from yices import *

cfg = Config()
cfg.default_config_for_logic('QF_LRA')
ctx = Context(cfg)

real_t = Types.real_type()
x = Terms.new_uninterpreted_term(real_t, 'x')
y = Terms.new_uninterpreted_term(real_t, 'y')

fmla0 = Terms.parse_term('(> (+ x y) 0)')
fmla1 = Terms.parse_term('(or (< x 0) (< y 0))')

ctx.assert_formulas([fmla0, fmla1])

status = ctx.check_context()

if status == Status.SAT:
    model = Model.from_context(ctx, 1)
    model_string = model.to_string(80, 100, 0)
    print(model_string)
    xval = model.get_value(x)
    yval = model.get_value(y)
    print('x = {0}, y = {1}'.format(xval, yval))

The complete file can be found here. Running this example should show this:

> python examples/readme_qf_lra.py
(= x 2)
(= y -1)
x = 2, y = -1

Bit-Vectors

from yices import *

cfg = Config()
cfg.default_config_for_logic('QF_BV')
ctx = Context(cfg)

bv32_t = Types.bv_type(32)
x = Terms.new_uninterpreted_term(bv32_t, 'x')
y = Terms.new_uninterpreted_term(bv32_t, 'y')


zero = Terms.bvconst_integer(32, 0)
fmla0 = Terms.bvsgt_atom(x, zero)
fmla1 = Terms.bvsgt_atom(y, zero)
fmla2 = Terms.bvslt_atom(Terms.bvadd(x, y), x)

ctx.assert_formulas([fmla0, fmla1, fmla2])

status = ctx.check_context()

if status == Status.SAT:
    model = Model.from_context(ctx, 1)
    model_string = model.to_string(80, 100, 0)
    print(model_string)
    xval = model.get_value(x)
    yval = model.get_value(y)
    print('x = {0}\ny = {1}'.format(xval, yval))

The complete file is here.

Non-Linear Real Arithmetic

from yices import *

cfg = Config()
cfg.default_config_for_logic('QF_NRA')
ctx = Context(cfg)

real_t = Types.real_type()
x = Terms.new_uninterpreted_term(real_t, 'x')
y = Terms.new_uninterpreted_term(real_t, 'y')

fmla0 = Terms.parse_term('(= (+ (* x x) (* y y)) 1)')
fmla1 = Terms.parse_term('(= x (* 2 y))')
fmla2 = Terms.parse_term('(> x 0)')

ctx.assert_formulas([fmla0, fmla1, fmla2])

status = ctx.check_context()

if status == Status.SAT:
    model = Model.from_context(ctx, 1)
    model_string = model.to_string(80, 100, 0)
    print(model_string)
    xval = model.get_value(x)
    yval = model.get_value(y)
    print('x = {0}, y = {1}'.format(xval, yval))

The complete file is here.

More Examples

Directory test contains tests of the API routines.

Sudoku

A more advanced example is in directory sudoku. It shows three different ways of solving the same sudoku puzzle using Yices:

• sudoku.ys is a Yices input file

• sudoku.py does the same thing using the Python yices API

• sudoku_api.py does it using the low-level yices_api module and ctypes

SudokuSensei

We keep a GUI-based Sudoku solver written using the Yices Python API in a separate repository.

MC-SAT

Another example in mcsat demonstrates simple use of Yices' non-linear capabilites. Because this example requires the libpoly library, the python code uses the low-level API.

Details

The yices Python API introduces different classes to represent Yices objects such as contexts, models, configurations, and search parameters. Term and type constructors are implemented as static methods of the Python classes Terms and Types, respectively. We do not wrap the Yices notions of terms and types into Python classes. Just as in the C-API, terms and types are represented as integer in Python.

To use the API, it is sufficient to just import the yices module:

from yices import *

This will automatically load the libyices dynamic library. You can also import incrementally if needed:

from yices.Config import Config
from yices.Context import Context
from yices.Constructors import Constructor
from yices.Model import Model
from yices.Parameters import Parameters
from yices.Status import Status
from yices.Types import Types
from yices.Terms import Terms
from yices.YicesException import YicesException
from yices.Yices import Yices
from yices.Yvals import Yval

Most functions in the C-API have a corresponding Python method of the same name, except where this would clash with Python's reserved words. To avoid such a clash, we prepend the function names with 'y'. Currently, this affects a few functions in the Terms class:

Terms.yand([t0, ...., tN])
Terms.yor([t0, ...., tN])
Terms.ynot(t0)
Terms.ylambda(variables, body)

Incompatibility with the pip yices package version 1.0.8

We have made incompatible changes to the low-level yices_api module. In our previous version (pip package version 1.0.8), low-level operations raised exception on error. In the current version (pip package version 1.1.0), we have changed this to return an error code.

We have also changed the module names. What used to be module yices in version 1.0.8 is now called yices_api. So to keep using the low-level Python API, you have to change

import yices

to

import yices_api

and similar variations of the import statement.