67,585 research outputs found
Leveraging Semantic Web Service Descriptions for Validation by Automated Functional Testing
Recent years have seen the utilisation of Semantic Web Service descriptions for automating a wide range of service-related activities, with a primary focus on service discovery, composition, execution and mediation. An important area which so far has received less attention is service validation, whereby advertised services are proven to conform to required behavioural specifications. This paper proposes a method for validation of service-oriented systems through automated functional testing. The method leverages ontology-based and rule-based descriptions of service inputs, outputs, preconditions and effects (IOPE) for constructing a stateful EFSM specification. The specification is subsequently utilised for functional testing and validation using the proven Stream X-machine (SXM) testing methodology. Complete functional test sets are generated automatically at an abstract level and are then applied to concrete Web services, using test drivers created from the Web service descriptions. The testing method comes with completeness guarantees and provides a strong method for validating the behaviour of Web services
Discovery and Selection of Certified Web Services Through Registry-Based Testing and Verification
Reliability and trust are fundamental prerequisites for the establishment of functional relationships among peers in a Collaborative Networked Organisation (CNO), especially in the context of Virtual Enterprises where economic benefits can be directly at stake. This paper presents a novel approach towards effective service discovery and selection that is no longer based on informal, ambiguous and potentially unreliable service descriptions, but on formal specifications that can be used to verify and certify the actual Web service implementations. We propose the use of Stream X-machines (SXMs) as a powerful modelling formalism for constructing the behavioural specification of a Web service, for performing verification through the generation of exhaustive test cases, and for performing validation through animation or model checking during service selection
Finding a boundary between valid and invalid regions of the input space
In the context of robustness testing, the boundary between the valid and
invalid regions of the input space can be an interesting source of erroneous
inputs. Knowing where a specific software under test (SUT) has a boundary is
essential for validation in relation to requirements. However, finding where a
SUT actually implements the boundary is a non-trivial problem that has not
gotten much attention. This paper proposes a method of finding the boundary
between the valid and invalid regions of the input space. The proposed method
consists of two steps. First, test data generators, directed by a search
algorithm to maximise distance to known, valid test cases, generate valid test
cases that are closer to the boundary. Second, these valid test cases undergo
mutations to try to push them over the boundary and into the invalid part of
the input space. This results in a pair of test sets, one consisting of test
cases on the valid side of the boundary and a matched set on the outer side,
with only a small distance between the two sets. The method is evaluated on a
number of examples from the standard library of a modern programming language.
We propose a method of determining the boundary between valid and invalid
regions of the input space and apply it on a SUT that has a non-contiguous
valid region of the input space. From the small distance between the developed
pairs of test sets, and the fact that one test set contains valid test cases
and the other invalid test cases, we conclude that the pair of test sets
described the boundary between the valid and invalid regions of that input
space. Differences of behaviour can be observed between different distances and
sets of mutation operators, but all show that the method is able to identify
the boundary between the valid and invalid regions of the input space. This is
an important step towards more automated robustness testing.Comment: 10 pages, conferenc
Flight control system design factors for applying automated testing techniques
Automated validation of flight-critical embedded systems is being done at ARC Dryden Flight Research Facility. The automated testing techniques are being used to perform closed-loop validation of man-rated flight control systems. The principal design features and operational experiences of the X-29 forward-swept-wing aircraft and F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) automated test systems are discussed. Operationally applying automated testing techniques has accentuated flight control system features that either help or hinder the application of these techniques. The paper also discusses flight control system features which foster the use of automated testing techniques
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Using formal methods to support testing
Formal methods and testing are two important approaches that assist in the development of high quality software. While traditionally these approaches have been seen as rivals, in recent
years a new consensus has developed in which they are seen as complementary. This article reviews the state of the art regarding ways in which the presence of a formal specification can be used to assist testing
Functional Requirements-Based Automated Testing for Avionics
We propose and demonstrate a method for the reduction of testing effort in
safety-critical software development using DO-178 guidance. We achieve this
through the application of Bounded Model Checking (BMC) to formal low-level
requirements, in order to generate tests automatically that are good enough to
replace existing labor-intensive test writing procedures while maintaining
independence from implementation artefacts. Given that existing manual
processes are often empirical and subjective, we begin by formally defining a
metric, which extends recognized best practice from code coverage analysis
strategies to generate tests that adequately cover the requirements. We then
formulate the automated test generation procedure and apply its prototype in
case studies with industrial partners. In review, the method developed here is
demonstrated to significantly reduce the human effort for the qualification of
software products under DO-178 guidance
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