Model-based Testing Techniques Research Articles

Experiences using Tedeso: an extensible and interoperable model-based testing platform

The integration of novel software quality assurance tools into existing development environments must be performed in ways that leverage the benefits of the tools while minimizing their impact on existing software processes. This supports the adoption of new methodologies with minimal interference into core business practices. This paper discusses the design of Tedeso, an extensible and interoperable model-based testing platform developed to facilitate the automatic generation of tests, while supporting the needs of different stakeholders in a diverse and broad organization. We discuss Tedeso key design characteristics, in particular its extensibility and interoperability, provided through the use of a workflow-driven service-oriented architecture, and show how it has enabled and facilitated the adoption of model-based testing techniques in different business units in different sectors within SIEMENS. We also discuss some issues that come from the adoption of service-oriented architectures, showing how they have been managed in our platform.

Model-Based Testing of Safety Critical Real-Time Control Logic Software

The paper presents the experience of the authors in model based testing of safety critical real-time control logic software. It describes specifics of the corresponding industrial settings and discusses technical details of usage of UniTESK model based testing technology in these settings. Finally, we discuss possible future directions of safety critical software development processes and a place of model based testing techniques in it.

Model-based testing approach for mobile agents using the paradigm of reference net

Among all the different architectures being researched in the field of multi-agent systems, the mobile agent has shown to be one of the most challenging and most critical systems. With more applications being developed, there is a need to ensure large and complicated mobile agent systems are functioning correctly, with minimum or no errors. Moreover, the model-based testing technique has gained attention with the popularization of models in software design and development. Since the paradigm on nets within nets is well suited to express the dynamics of open mobile agents, it is retained as an abstract model from which abstract test cases are generated. Those test cases are then concretized and addressed to the system under test. The responses of the system under test are, finally, compared to the expected results derived from the abstract test model. As a case study, we modeled a packet world example on which different colored packets are scattered. Agents that live in this virtual world have to collect those packets and bring them to their right destination.

Automatic Test Data Synthesis using UML Sequence Diagrams.

Model based testing techniques are used to generate test scenarios from a behavioral description of system under tests. For a large and complex system, there are usually a large number of scenarios and hence a large number of test paths also called test speci¯cations. To automate test execution, each test speci¯cation should be aug- mented with appropriate test input data. In this paper, we propose an approach of synthesizing test data from the information embedded in model elements such as class diagrams, sequence diagrams and OCL constraints. In our approach, we enrich a se- quence diagram with attribute and constraint information derived from class diagram and OCL constraints and map it onto a structured composite graph called SCG. The test speci¯cations are then generated from SCG. For each test speci¯cation, we follow a constraint solving system to generate test data.

A Formal Approach for Modeling and Testing Agent Interactions Using Recursive Colored Petri Nets

Among all the proposed techniques for software testing, the model-based testing technique has gained attention with the popularization of models in software design and development. Of particular importance are formal models with precise semantics. However, the most researches argue that building an abstract formal model for the system under test requires excessive amount of skills from the tester and a large effort in terms of man-hours needed. To cope with such drawbacks, the testing approach of agent interaction protocol, proposed so far, translates automatically a semi-formal specification described by means of AUML sequence diagram into a Recursive Colored Petri Net (RCPN) model. The obtained RCPN is then animated in order to obtain its corresponding reachability graph. Every sequence path of this reachability graph is considered as an abstract test case. Those ones are then concretized and addressed to the system under test. The responses of the system are, finally, compared to the expected results derived from the abstract test model. As a case study, we selected the FIPA Brokering Interaction Protocol. Here, some patent literature has also been discussed. Keywords: Agent interaction, AUML, formal specification, model-based testing, recursive colored petri nets

On the order of test goals in specification-based testing

Model-based testing techniques often select test cases according to test goals such as coverage criteria or mutation adequacy. Complex criteria and large models lead to large test suites, and a test case created for one coverage item usually covers several other items as well. This can be problematic if testing is expensive and resources are limited. Therefore, test case generation can be optimized in order to avoid unnecessary test cases and minimize the test generation and execution costs. Because of this optimization the order in which test goals are selected is expected to have an impact on both the performance of the test case generation and the size of resulting test suites, although finding the optimal order is not feasible in general. In this paper we report on experiments to determine the effects of the order in which test goals are selected on performance and the size of resulting test suites, and evaluate different heuristics to select test goals such that the time required to generate test suites as well as their size are minimized. The test case generation approach used for experimentation uses model checkers, and experimentation shows that good results can be achieved with any random ordering, but some improvement is still possible with simple heuristics.

AUTOMATING FUNCTIONAL TESTING OF COMPONENTS FROM UML SPECIFICATIONS

A method of functional testing for software components according to model-based testing techniques is proposed. Test cases are generated from UML diagrams and OCL constraints that comprise a component interface and realization specification. The method uses a reduced set of UML artifacts that constitute the main requirements for its application along with a component development process, making use of development artifacts. Also, the set of generated test artifacts are packed together with the provided components to reduce the overall testing effort when clients assemble applications. A tool has been developed to automate the method with test cases generated as Java test components. Test execution and result analysis is also supported. For each component, the tool generates a test component that can be easily upgraded and configured for testing the services provided by a component throughout its life cycle.

HOTTest

Model-based testing is an effective black-box test generation technique for applications. Existing model-based testing techniques, however, fail to capture implicit domain-specific properties, as they overtly rely on software artifacts such as design documents, requirement specifications, etc., for completeness of the test model. This article presents a technique, HOTTest, which uses a strongly typed domain-specific language to model the system under test. This allows extraction of type-related system invariants, which can be related to various domain-specific properties of the application. Thus, using HOTTest, it is possible to automatically extract and embed domain-specific requirements into the test models. In this article we describe HOTTest, its principles and methodology, and how it is possible to relate domain-specific properties to specific type constraints. HOTTest is described using the example of HaskellDB, which is a Haskell-based embedded domain-specific language for relational databases. We present an example application of the technique and compare the results to some other commonly used Model-based test automation techniques like ASML-based testing, UML-based testing, and EFSM-based testing.