An empirical study of fault localization for end-user programmers

End users develop more software than any other group of programmers, using software authoring devices such as e-mail filtering editors, by-demonstration macro builders, and spreadsheet environments. Despite this, there has been little research on finding ways to help these programmers with the dependability of their software. We have been addressing this problem in several ways, one of which includes supporting end-user debugging activities through fault localization techniques. This paper presents the results of an empirical study conducted in an end-user programming environment to examine the impact of two separate factors in fault localization techniques that affect technique effectiveness. Our results shed new insights into fault localization techniques for end-user programmers and the factors that affect them, with significant implications for the evaluation of those techniques

Migrating ExcelForms to the .NET framework

ExcelForms is a front end Excel-based application that supports Forms/3, a research language based on the spreadsheet paradigm, end-user software engineering features. The old implementation of ExcelForms performed poorly, and was considered unstable, not robust, and not scalable enough for our users' needs. This project addresses these issues by implementing ExcelForms on the .NET framework

Mutation testing of spreadsheets

We present a catalog of mutation operators for spreadsheets drawn from research into mutation testing for general purpose programming languages and from spreadsheet errors that have been reported in literature. These operators are integrated into a system, called μTest, which allows users to create and maintain spreadsheet test cases. Three approaches to handling regions within spreadsheets are discussed, and we present a case study of how our system can be used to carry out mutation testing of spreadsheets. In addition to being useful in mutation testing of spreadsheets, the operators can be used in evaluation of error-detection tools and also for seeding spreadsheets with errors for empirical studies.Keywords: mutation operators for spreadsheets, μTestKeywords: mutation operators for spreadsheets, μTes

Interactive, visual fault localization support for end-user programmers

End-user programmers are writing an unprecedented number of programs, primarily using languages and environments that incorporate a number of interactive and visual programming techniques. To help these users debug these programs, we have developed an entirely visual, interactive approach to fault localization. This paper presents the approach. We also present the results of a think-aloud study that examined the interactive, human-centric issues that arise in end-user debugging using a fault localization strategy. Our results provide insights into the contributions such strategies can make to the end-user debugging process.Keywords: visual fault localization, debugging, end-user software engineering, slicing, form-based visual programs, testing, end-user programmin

Gencel : a program generator for correct spreadsheets

A huge discrepancy between theory and practice exists in one popular application area of functional programming--spreadsheets. Although spreadsheets are the most frequently used (functional) programs, few formal models of computation and type systems exist that would provide the foundation for creating reliable spreadsheets. Consequently, existing spreadsheets contain many errors, some of which have serious impacts. We argue in favor of creating a formal foundation for spreadsheets to help improve spreadsheet systems and make spreadsheets more reliable software assets. To this end, we have developed a table specification language that allows the definition of table templates that describe possible spreadsheet evolutions. This language is based on a table calculus that formally captures the process of creating and modifying spreadsheets. We have developed a type system for this calculus that can prevent type, reference, and omission errors from occurring in spreadsheets. On the basis of the table calculus we have developed Gencel, a system for generating reliable spreadsheets. We have implemented a prototype version of Gencel as an extension of Excel. A pilot study has indicated that the system is well accepted by end-user programmers