Limit MiniSat simplifier only when arrays-uf-always is used

[tautschnig]

MiniSat's SimpSolver runs variable elimination (eliminate()) before every solveLimited/solve call by default. When used incrementally in the all-properties verification loop, this repeated elimination can degrade the solver's ability to prove UNSAT, causing the CDCL search to hang indefinitely.

Fix by passing do_simp=false on all calls after the first. The first call still benefits from the full simplification pass, but subsequent incremental calls skip it, preventing the problematic variable elimination between iterations.

This fixes a hang when running:
cbmc --arrays-uf-always --unwind 1 --32 Array_UF23/main.c

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR fixes a hang in CBMC's incremental SAT solving when using MiniSat's SimpSolver. The issue occurs because MiniSat's simplifier runs variable elimination (eliminate()) before every solveLimited/solve call, which can degrade the solver's ability to prove UNSAT during the all-properties verification loop. The fix passes do_simp=false on all calls after the first, allowing the initial full simplification pass but skipping it on subsequent incremental calls.

Changes:

• Added a solver_was_called flag to satcheck_minisat2_baset to track whether the solver has been called before, and use if constexpr to pass do_simp=false to SimpSolver::solveLimited/solve on subsequent calls
• Reordered includes to follow the .clang-format priority ordering and added <type_traits> for std::is_same_v
• Added a regression test (Array_UF23) that reproduces the hang scenario with --arrays-uf-always --unwind 1 --32

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

File	Description
src/solvers/sat/satcheck_minisat2.h	Added solver_was_called boolean member with in-class default initializer
src/solvers/sat/satcheck_minisat2.cpp	Used if constexpr to conditionally disable SimpSolver's simplifier after first solve, reordered includes
regression/cbmc/Array_UF23/main.c	New regression test C source with VLA array stores and an assertion
regression/cbmc/Array_UF23/test.desc	Test descriptor for the regression test

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 80.01%. Comparing base (7a4df92) to head (f382772).

Additional details and impacted files

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  Coverage    80.01%   80.01%           
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  Files         1703     1703           
  Lines       188396   188405    +9     
  Branches        73       73           
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+ Hits        150738   150747    +9     
  Misses       37658    37658           

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[kroening]

Is this a genuine issue in MiniSat, or are we using it wrong?

[tautschnig]

It's a known limitation of MiniSat's SimpSolver when used incrementally. The SimpSolver was designed primarily for single-shot solving — its solve/solveLimited methods run eliminate() before every call by default. While frozen variables are protected from elimination, the variable elimination and subsumption passes restructure the clause database between incremental calls, which can make subsequent UNSAT proofs much harder for the CDCL search.

MiniSat's API does provide the do_simp parameter precisely for this use case (the parameter defaults to true). We just weren't using it. Other incremental SAT solver interfaces (CaDiCaL, etc.) don't have this issue because they don't run preprocessing between incremental calls unless explicitly asked to.