A Tool for Automated Test Code Generation from High-Level Petri Nets

Abstract

Automated software testing has gained much attention because it is expected to improve testing productivity and reduce testing cost. Automated generation and execution of tests, however, are still very limited. This paper presents a tool, ISTA (Integration and System Test Automation), for automated test generation and execution by using high-level Petri nets as finite state test models. ISTA has several unique features. It allows executable test code to be generated automatically from a MID (Model-Implementation Description) specification - including a high-level Petri net as the test model and a mapping from the Petri net elements to implementation constructs. The test code can be executed immediately against the system under test. It supports a variety of languages of test code, including Java, C/C++, C#, VB, and html/Selenium IDE (for web applications). It also supports automated test generation for various coverage criteria of Petri nets. ISTA is useful not only for function testing but also for security testing by using Petri nets as threat models. It has been applied to several industry-strength systems.