A Revised Textual Tree Trace Notation for Prolog

This paper describes a ''textual tree trace'' (TTT) notation for representing the execution of Prolog programs. Compact, textual and non-linear, it provides detailed information about variable binding and execution history, and distinguishes several modes of goal failure. The revised form given here, yet to be empirically tested, is partly informed by Paul Mulholland's empirical comparisons of Prolog trace notations, in which an earlier version of the TTT notation was amongst those studied and criticised. The work presented here is an updated version of a previous workshop paper (Taylor, du Boulay, & Patel, 1994).