Combining Exception Handling and Replication for Improving the Reliability of Agent Software

Abstract : Exception handling and replication are two complementary mechanisms that increase software reliability. Exception handling helps programmers in controlling situations in which the normal execution flow of a program cannot continue. Replication handles system fail- ures through redundancy. Combining both techniques is a first step to- wards building a trustworthy software engineering framework. This paper presents some of the results from the Facoma project. It proposes the specification of an exception handling system for replicated agents as an adaptation of the Sage proposal. It then describes its implementation in the Dimax replicated agent environment.