Automating requirements analysis and test case generation

Abstract

Writing clear and unambiguous requirements that are conflict-free and complete is no easy task. Incorrect requirements lead to errors being introduced early in the design process. The longer the gap between error introduction and error discovery, the higher the cost associated with the error. To address the growing cost of system development, we introduce a tool called Analysis of Semantic Specifications and Efficient generation of Requirements-based Tests (ASSERT™) for capturing requirements, backed by a formal requirements analysis engine. ASSERT also automatically generates a complete set of requirements-based test cases. The requirements are captured in a structured natural language that is both human- and machine-readable. Formal analysis of these requirements with an automated theorem prover identifies errors as soon as requirements are written. It also addresses the historical problem that analysis engines are hard to use and understand for someone without formal methods expertise and analysis results are often difficult for the end-user to understand and make actionable. ASSERT’s major contribution is to bring powerful requirements capture and analysis capability to the domain of the end-user. We provide explainable and automated formal analysis, something we found important for a tool’s adoptability in industry. Automating test case generation in ASSERT also provides clear and measurable productivity gains in system development.