State-based model slicing: a survey

Slicing is a technique, traditionally applied to programs, for extracting the parts of a program that affect the values computed at a statement of interest. In recent years authors have begun to consider slicing at model level. We present a detailed review of existing work on slicing at the level of finite-state-machine-based models. We focus on state-based modeling notations because these have received sufficient attention from the slicing community that there is now a coherent body of hitherto unsurveyed work. We also identify the challenges that state-based slicing presents and how the existing literature has addressed these. We conclude by identifying problems that remain open either because of the challenges involved in addressing them or because the community simply has yet to turn its attention to solving them.