Automatic test case generation through collaboration diagram: a case study

Abstract

Testing process consists of designing set test cases which are efficient enough to identify the faults in the system. Automatic test case generation by UML diagrams helps to detect the faults in the system at an early stage, thereby, reducing the cost and the effort to rectify them. Collaboration diagrams represent a significant opportunity for testing because they precisely describe how the system interacts with its components. Moreover, they capture the dynamic behavior of the objects in the system unlike any other UML diagram. Hence, it can be used for efficient automatic test case generation. Still, there exists a limited research in this domain, thereby making it an apt choice for study. This paper presents an approach to generate test cases automatically from collaboration diagrams and validation of results using mutation testing. The study found that the proposed algorithm generates test cases automatically from collaboration diagrams ensuring adequate path coverage and avoiding infinite loops. The algorithm was further found to be highly efficient in identifying mutants in wide range of scenarios.