A test case generation framework based on UML statechart diagram

Early software fault detection offers more flexibility to correct errors in the early development stages. Unfortunately, existing studies in this domain are not sufficiently comprehensive in describing the major processes of the automated test case generation. Furthermore, the algorithms used for test case generation are not provided or well described. Current studies also hardly address loops and parallel paths issues, and achieved low coverage criteria. Therefore, this study proposes a test case generation framework that generates minimized and prioritized test cases from UML statechart diagram with higher coverage criteria. This study, conducted a review of the previous research to identify the issues and gaps related to test case generation, model-based testing, and coverage criteria. The proposed framework was designed from the gathered information based on the reviews and consists of eight components that represent a comprehensive test case generation processes. They are relation table, relation graph, consistency checking, test path minimization, test path prioritization, path pruning, test path generation, and test case generation. In addition, a prototype to implement the framework was developed. The evaluation of the framework was conducted in three phases: prototyping, comparison with previous studies, and expert review. The results reveal that the most suitable coverage criteria for UML statechart diagram are all-states coverage, all-transitions coverage, alltransition-pairs coverage, and all-loop-free-paths coverage. Furthermore, this study achieves higher coverage criteria in all coverage criteria, except for all-state coverage, when compared with the previous studies. The results of the experts’ review show that the framework is practical, easy to implement due to it is suitability to generate the test cases. The proposed algorithms provide correct results, and the prototype is able to generate test case effectively. Generally, the proposed system is well accepted by experts owing to its usefulness, usability, and accuracy. This study contributes to both theory and practice by providing an early alternative test case generation framework that achieves high coverage and can effectively generate test cases from UML statechart diagrams. This research adds new knowledge to the software testing field, especially for testing processes in the model-based techniques, testing activity, and testing tool support

An Ant Colony Optimization Approach to Test Sequence Generation for State-Based Software Testing

Properly generated test suites may not only locate the defects in software systems, but also help in reducing the high cost associated with software testing, ft is often desired that test sequences in a test suite can be automatically generated to achieve required test coverage. However, automatic test sequence generation remains a major problem in software testing. This paper proposes an ant colony optimization approach to automatic test sequence generation for state-based software testing. The proposed approach can directly use UML artifacts to automatically generate test sequences to achieve required test coverage

Test Case Optimization and Redundancy Reduction Using GA and Neural Networks

More than 50% of software development effort is spent in testing phase in a typical software development project. Test case design as well as execution consume a lot of time. Hence, automated generation of test cases is highly required. Here a novel testing methodology is being presented to test object-oriented software based on UML state chart diagrams. In this approach, function minimization technique is being applied and generate test cases automatically from UML state chart diagrams. Software testing forms an integral part of the software development life cycle. Since the objective of testing is to ensure the conformity of an application to its specification, a test “oracle” is needed to determine whether a given test case exposes a fault or not. An automated oracle to support the activities of human testers can reduce the actual cost of the testing process and the related maintenance costs. In this paper, a new concept is being presented using an UML state chart diagram and tables for the test case generation, artificial neural network as an optimization tool for reducing the redundancy in the test case generated using the genetic algorithm. A neural network is trained by the back-propagation algorithm on a set of test cases applied to the original version of the system

Automating Test Case Generation for Android Applications using Model-based Testing

Testing of mobile applications (apps) has its quirks as numerous events are required to be tested. Mobile apps testing, being an evolving domain, carries certain challenges that should be accounted for in the overall testing process. Since smartphone apps are moderate in size so we consider that model-based testing (MBT) using state machines and statecharts could be a promising option for ensuring maximum coverage and completeness of test cases. Using model-based testing approach, we can automate the tedious phase of test case generation, which not only saves time of the overall testing process but also minimizes defects and ensures maximum test case coverage and completeness. In this paper, we explore and model the most critical modules of the mobile app for generating test cases to ascertain the efficiency and impact of using model-based testing. Test cases for the targeted model of the application under test were generated on a real device. The experimental results indicate that our framework reduced the time required to execute all the generated test cases by 50%. Experimental setup and results are reported herein

An evaluation on the comprehensibility of UML activity and state chart diagrams with regard to manual test generation

The activity and state chart diagrams are the most frequently used UML diagrams for testing a system based on its specification. One of the key important qualities of the UML diagrams is their comprehensibility. The content analysis of previous studies highlighted the lack of experts’ evaluation of the comprehensibility of activity and state chart diagrams with regard to test case generation. Thus, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the comprehensibility of the UML activity and state chart diagrams for test case generation. First, a content analysis was performed to identify the comprehensibility criteria. The criteria are perceived difficulty and subjective confidence. Next, a set of evaluation questions was designed based on the content analysis. Then, test cases were generated from activity and state chart diagrams manually of an adapted case study. An interview was conducted with five experts to validate the evaluation questions. The experts evaluated the comprehensibility of the activity and state chart diagrams by using the evaluation questions. The result of the study provided specific details of the different characteristics of activity and state chart diagrams. Further, it suggested that the activity diagram is more comprehensible than the state chart diagram in the aspect of test case generation. The finding of this study could assist software testers in choosing the appropriate UML diagrams for software testing

Interfacing TuLiP with the JPL Statechart Autocoder: Initial progress toward synthesis of flight software from formal specifications

This paper describes the implementation of an interface connecting the two tools : the JPL SCA (Statechart Autocoder) and TuLiP (Temporal Logic Planning Toolbox) to enable the automatic synthesis of low level implementation code directly from formal specifications. With system dynamics, bounds on uncertainty and formal specifications as inputs, TuLiP synthesizes Mealy machines that are correct-by-construction. An interface is built that automatically translates these Mealy machines into UML statecharts. The SCA accepts the UML statecharts (as XML files) to synthesize flight-certified implementation code. The functionality of the interface is demonstrated through three example systems of varying complexity a) a simple thermostat b) a simple speed controller for an autonomous vehicle and c) a more complex speed controller for an autonomous vehicle with a map-element. In the thermostat controller, there is a specification regarding the desired temperature range that has to be met despite disturbance from the environment. Similarly, in the speed-controllers there are specifications about safe driving speeds depending on sensor health (sensors fail unpredictably) and the map-location. The significance of these demonstrations is the potential circumventing of some of the manual design of statecharts for flight software/controllers. As a result, we expect that less testing and validation will be necessary. In applications where the products of synthesis are used alongside manually designed components, extensive testing or new certificates of correctness of the composition may still be required

Generic Methodology for Formal Verification of UML Models

This paper discusses a Unified Modelling Language (UML) based formal verification methodology for early error detection in the model-based software development cycle. Our approach proposes a UML-based formal verification process utilising functional and behavioural modelling artifacts of UML. It reinforces these artifacts with formal model transition and property verification. The main contribution is a UML to Labelled Transition System (LTS) Translator application that automatically converts UML Statecharts to formal models. Property specifications are derived from system requirements and corresponding Computational Tree Logic (CTL)/Linear Temporal Logic (LTL) model checking procedure verifies property entailment in LTS. With its ability to verify CTL and LTL specifications, the methodology becomes generic for verifying all types of embedded system behaviours. The steep learning curve associated with formal methods is avoided through the automatic formal model generation and thus reduces the reluctance of using formal methods in software development projects. A case study of an embedded controller used in military applications validates the methodology. It establishes how the methodology finds its use in verifying the correctness and consistency of UML models before implementation

Minimal TestCase Generation for Object-Oriented Software with State Charts

Today statecharts are a de facto standard in industry for modeling system behavior. Test data generation is one of the key issues in software testing. This paper proposes an reduction approach to test data generation for the state-based software testing. In this paper, first state transition graph is derived from state chart diagram. Then, all the required information are extracted from the state chart diagram. Then, test cases are generated. Lastly, a set of test cases are minimized by calculating the node coverage for each test case. It is also determined that which test cases are covered by other test cases. The advantage of our test generation technique is that it optimizes test coverage by minimizing time and cost. The present test data generation scheme generates test cases which satisfy transition path coverage criteria, path coverage criteria and action coverage criteria. A case study on Railway Ticket Vending Machine (RTVM) has been presented to illustrate our approach.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, 3-4 tables; International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications (IJSEA), Vol.3, No.4, July 2012. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1206.037