Domain-based Testing Research Articles

Fault domain-based testing in imperfect situations: a heuristic approach and case studies

Model-based testing (MBT) involves creating an abstraction, called a model, to represent the system and automatically deriving test cases from this model. MBT can be performed using various approaches that generally employ certain assumptions or requirements affecting the test performance in practice. Here, we consider the harmonized state identifiers (HSI) method, which is based on finite state machine (FSM) models and generates test sets that cover all faults in a given domain under certain conditions. We are interested in the application of the HSI method in practical scenarios where some conditions do not hold or are not straightforward to satisfy. Thus, we propose a heuristic extension to the HSI method, called heuristic HSI (HHSI), to consider imperfect situations as they often occur in practice. To analyze the characteristics of HHSI, we empirically compare it to random testing and coverage-based testing using non-trivial case studies. The experiments include model-based mutation analyses over several FSM models.

Automated regression testing using DBT and Sleuth

Regression testing is an important activity in software maintenance. Current regression testing strategies can be categorized into two groups: ‘retest all’ and ‘selective regression’ testing. Each of these two groups encompasses a variety of strategies. In industrial practice, regression testing procedures vary widely. Sometimes, several regression testing techniques are used in combination. Technique selection is also influenced by the expected quality of the system to be tested. Such variations in regression testing strategies and techniques mandate flexibility for a regression testing tool. This paper presents regression testing support for Sleuth, a test generation tool based on domain-based testing. We explain the rules for building regression tests for a variety of possible regression testing strategies from retest all strategies to selective regression testing strategies. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.