Guidelines for testing and release procedures

Guidelines and procedures are recommended for the testing and release of the types of computer software efforts commonly performed at NASA/Ames Research Center. All recommendations are based on the premise that testing and release activities must be specifically selected for the environment, size, and purpose of each individual software project. Guidelines are presented for building a Test Plan and using formal Test Plan and Test Care Inspections on it. Frequent references are made to NASA/Ames Guidelines for Software Inspections. Guidelines are presented for selecting an Overall Test Approach and for each of the four main phases of testing: (1) Unit Testing of Components, (2) Integration Testing of Components, (3) System Integration Testing, and (4) Acceptance Testing. Tools used for testing are listed, including those available from operating systems used at Ames, specialized tools which can be developed, unit test drivers, stub module generators, and the use of format test reporting schemes

Software integration testing based on communication coverage criteria and partial model generation

This paper considers the problem of integration testing the components of a timed distributed software system. We assume that communication between the components is specified using timed interface automata and use computational tree logic (CTL) to define communication-based coverage criteria that refer to send- and receive-statements and communication paths. The proposed method enables testers to focus during component integration on such parts of the specification, e.g. behaviour specifications or Markovian usage models, that are involved in the communication between components to be integrated. A more specific application area of this approach is the integration of test-models, e.g. a transmission gear can be tested based on separated models for the driver behaviour, the engine condition, and the mechanical and hydraulical transmission states. Given such a state-based specification of a distributed system and a concrete coverage goal, a model checker is used in order to determine the coverage or generate test sequences that achieve the goal. Given the generated test sequences we derive a partial test-model of the components from which the test sequences are derived. The partial model can be used to drive further testing and can also be used as the basis for producing additional partial models in incremental integration testing. While the process of deriving the test sequences could suffer from a combinatorial explosion, the effort required to generate the partial model is polynomial in the number of test sequences and their length. Thus, where it is not feasible to produce test sequences that achieve a given type of coverage it is still possible to produce a partial model on the basis of test sequences generated to achieve some other criterion. As a result, the process of generating a partial model has the potential to scale to large industrial software systems. While a particular model checker, UPPAAL, was used, it should be relatively straightforward to adapt the approach for use with other CTL based model checkers. A potential additional benefit of the approach is that it provides a visual description of the state-based testing of distributed systems, which may be beneficial in other contexts such as education and comprehension

On Introducing Built-In Test for Software Components in AADL Models

International audienceThis paper presents preliminary ideas to include a kind of built-in self-test for systems embedded software components. The study promotes contract-based testing applied to AADL modeling of hardware/software systems. The aim is first to help evaluating the testability of software components embedded in such systems, and next to improve the integration step, especially in the context of COTS design and development. We introduce an architecture to include a generic test system inside an AADL model, and then test specifications to handle the testing process. The paper exposes the main ideas of the proposed approach and its modeling but no implementation work. Next stage is an implementation work to assess the feasibility and the benefits of the proposed approach

Pengembangan Model Sistem Informasi Manajemen Dokumen Mutu STKIP PGRI Lubuklinggau

This study aims to manage quality document data based on information technology. The stages of this research method include; 1) requirements analysis, 2) design, 3) implementation and unit testing. 4) integration and system test. The approach in this study uses a systems approach with the waterfall model. The steps for developing a software model with a waterfall model are divided into 4 cycles, namely; 1) requirements analysis, 2) design, 3) implementation and unit testing. 4) integration and system test. The results of the study, 1) menu components and SOP submenus are feasible for use, 2) Standard Quality menu and submenu components are feasible for use, 3) quality manual menu and submenu components are feasible for use, 4) menu components and formuruclear submenus are suitable for use. In conclusion, the Quality Document SIM is feasible to use. The Quality Document Database Management Information System can assist LP3MP in managing data online, so that the LP3MP operator team can (input, process and output data) quickly, precisely and accurately. Keywords: SIM, Database, Quality Document

Merging components and testing tools: The Self-Testing COTS Components (STECC) Strategy

Development of a software system from existing components can surely have various benefits, but can also entail a series of problems. One type of problems is caused by a limited exchange of information between the developer and user of a component. A limited exchange and thereby a lack of information can have various consequences, among them the requirement to test a component prior to its integration into a software system. A lack of information cannot only make test prior to integration necessary, it can also complicate this tasks. This paper proposes a new strategy to testing components and making components testable. The basic idea of the strategy is to merge components and testing tools in order to make components capable of testing their own methods. Such components allow their thorough testing without disclosing detailed information, such as source code. This strategy thereby fulfills the needs of both the developer and user of a component

Integration and test strategies for complex manufacturing machines

Complex manufacturing machines, like ASML wafer scanners, consist of thousands of components like electronic boards, software, mechanical parts and optics. These components of multiple disciplines are assembled or integrated into modules. The modules are integrated into sub-systems forming the system, according to an integration plan. Components as well as modules, sub-systems, and systems, can be tested, diagnosed and ??xed, according to a test-diagnose- fix plan. An increase in the number of components results in an increase of the number of tasks in these plans. Moreover, the effort required to obtain a sequence that describes in which order the tasks should be executed also increases. The duration and the cost of a sequence depends on the quality of the system. In this project we introduce a method to analyze the duration and the cost of sequences of integration and test-diagnose-fix tasks. The method uses test-diagnose-fixed models to analyze the performance of sequences. The basic elements in such a model are: a) test, diagnose and fix tasks with their costs and durations, b) fault states, c) the coverage of test tasks on fault states, d) failure probabilities of fault states. These elements can be obtained for components, modules or sub-systems of multiple disciplines. Three case studies have been performed using this method. The outcome of the analysis indicates that choosing a di??erent test sequence can reduce the test duration by 30% to 70%. In addition, three techniques have been developed to improve integration and test-diagnose-fix sequences: ¿ To reduce the execution time of test-diagnose-fix sequences an algorithm has been developed to determine a new test task with an optimal coverage w.r.t. the fault states. The algorithm selects the new test task based on the maximum information gain. A test sequence, including the new test case, improves the test duration of the test-diagnose-fix task, because faults can be detected earlier. ¿ To reduce the execution time of test-diagnose-fix sequences an adapted hypergraph partitioning algorithm has been developed. The algorithm partitions a test-diagnose-??x task into smaller tasks which can be executed in parallel. The result of a case study is a reduction of the test duration by 30% with a concomitant increase of 30% in the test cost. ¿ The impact of the choice of the system architecture on the execution time and planning effort of integration and test-diagnose-fix sequences is investigate

Advanced Approach for Effective Verification of Component Based Software Systems

The development of complex systems based on reusable components has many advantages such as lower costs and shortened development lifecycles. At the same time this innovative approach continues to place significant challenges towards integration and testing of such systems. The paper analyses the difficulties of components testing and proposes a combination of Built-In-Testing, Aspect Oriented Software Development, Test Driven Development and Test Governance to realize a method for effective verification in component based systems.The work presented in this paper was partially supported by grants from the National Science Fund in Bulgaria under the MU-01-143 (ADEESS) project and the SISTER project, funded by the European Commission in FP7-SP4 Capacities

AutoGNC Testbed

A simulation testbed architecture was developed and implemented for the integration, test, and development of a TRL-6 flight software set called Auto- GNC. The AutoGNC software will combine the TRL-9 Deep Impact AutoNAV flight software suite, the TRL-9 Virtual Machine Language (VML) executive, and the TRL-3 G-REX guidance, estimation, and control algorithms. The Auto- GNC testbed was architected to provide software interface connections among the AutoNAV and VML flight code written in C, the G-REX algorithms in MATLAB and C, stand-alone image rendering algorithms in C, and other Fortran algorithms, such as the OBIRON landmark tracking suite. The testbed architecture incorporates software components for propagating a high-fidelity truth model of the environment and the spacecraft dynamics, along with the flight software components for onboard guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C). The interface allows for the rapid integration and testing of new algorithms prior to development of the C code for implementation in flight software. This testbed is designed to test autonomous spacecraft proximity operations around small celestial bodies, moons, or other spacecraft. The software is baselined for upcoming comet and asteroid sample return missions. This architecture and testbed will provide a direct improvement upon the onboard flight software utilized for missions such as Deep Impact, Stardust, and Deep Space 1