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

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

Modeling the object-oriented software process: OPEN and the unified process

A short introduction to software process modeling is presented, particularly object-oriented modeling. Two major industrial process models are discussed: the OPEN model and the Unified Process model. In more detail, the quality assurance in the Unified Process tool (formally called Objectory) is reviewed

Distribution pattern-driven development of service architectures

Distributed systems are being constructed by composing a number of discrete components. This practice is particularly prevalent within the Web service domain in the form of service process orchestration and choreography. Often, enterprise systems are built from many existing discrete applications such as legacy applications exposed using Web service interfaces. There are a number of architectural configurations or distribution patterns, which express how a composed system is to be deployed in a distributed environment. However, the amount of code required to realise these distribution patterns is considerable. In this paper, we propose a distribution pattern-driven approach to service composition and architecting. We develop, based on a catalog of patterns, a UML-compliant framework, which takes existing Web service interfaces as its input and generates executable Web service compositions based on a distribution pattern chosen by the software architect

Developing a distributed electronic health-record store for India

The DIGHT project is addressing the problem of building a scalable and highly available information store for the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of the over one billion citizens of India

Integration of an Automatic Fault Localization Tool in an IDE and its Evaluation

Debugging is one of the most demanding and error-prone tasks in software development. Trying to address bugs has become overall more expensive as the software complexity and size have increased. As a result, several researchers attempted to improve the developers’ debugging experience and efficiency by automating as much of the process as possible. Existing auto-finding tools will assist developers in automatically detecting bugs, however, they are not yet widely available to software engineers. Making such tools available to developers can save debugging time and increase the productivity. Subsequently, the main goal of this dissertation is to incorporate an automatic fault localization tool into an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The selected IDE was Visual Studio Code, a source-code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Visual Studio Code is one of the most used IDEs and is known for its flexible API, which allows nearly every aspect of it to be customized. Furthermore, the chosen automatic fault localization tool was FLACOCO, a recent fault localization tool for Java that supports up to the most recent versions. Nonetheless, this document contains a full overview of several fault localization methodologies and tools, as well as an explanation of the complete planning and development process of the produced Visual Studio Code extension. After the development and deployment were completed, an evaluation was carried out. The extension was evaluated through a user study in which thirty Java professionals took part. The test had two parts: the first involved users using the extension to complete two debugging tasks in previously unknown projects, and the second had them filling out a satisfaction questionnaire for further analysis. Finally, the results show that the extension was a success, with the system being rated positively in all areas. However, it may be revised in light of the questionnaire responses, with the suggestions received being considered for future work.A depuração é uma das tarefas mais exigentes e propensas a erros no desenvolvimento de software. Tentar resolver esses erros tornou-se mais dispendioso com os incrementos de complexidade e tamanho do software. Deste modo, ao longo dos últimos anos, vários investigadores tentaram melhorar a experiência de depuração e a eficiência dos desenvolvedores automatizando o máximo possível do processo. Existem ferramentas de localização de defeitos que assistem os desenvolvedores na detecção automática de bugs, no entanto estas ainda não se encontram amplamente disponíveis para os programadores. Tornar essas ferramentas disponíveis para todos certamente iria resultar na redução do tempo de depuração e no aumento da produtividade. Assim sendo, o principal objetivo desta dissertação é incorporar uma ferramenta de localização automática de defeitos num IDE. Em termos de IDE, o Visual Studio Code, um editor de código-fonte desenvolvido pela Microsoft para Windows, Linux e macOS, foi selecionado. Este IDE tem ganho bastante popularidade, sendo um dos IDEs mais utilizados mundialmente. Além disso, o Visual Studio Code é reconhecido pela sua API flexível, que permite que quase todos os seus aspectos sejam personalizados. Adicionalmente, o FLACOCO, uma ferramenta de localização de defeitos baseada em SFL que suporta até as versões mais recentes do Java, foi escolhida como ferramenta de localização automática de defeitos. Além do mais, esta dissertação contém um estudo sobre as técnicas de localização automática de defeitos e as suas ferramentas, bem como uma explicação do planeamento e implementação da extensão criada para o Visual Studio Code. Após o término da implementação e a posterior implantação, foi efetuada a sua avaliação. Procedeu-se a um teste de utilização com a participação de treze utilizadores proficientes na linguagem Java. O teste foi composto por duas componentes: na primeira os utilizadores utilizaram a extensão para completar duas tarefas de depuração em projetos por eles desconhecidos e na segunda foi-lhes fornecido um questionário de satisfação para posterior análise. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a extensão foi um sucesso, sendo que o sistema foi positivamente avaliado em todos os aspetos. No entanto a mesma poderá ser aprimorada tendo em consideração o feedback obtido na secção de resposta livre do questionário, sendo que o mesmo foi bastante valioso e as sugestões apuradas vieram a ser consideradas para trabalho futuro

Metamodel-based model conformance and multiview consistency checking

Model-driven development, using languages such as UML and BON, often makes use of multiple diagrams (e.g., class and sequence diagrams) when modeling systems. These diagrams, presenting different views of a system of interest, may be inconsistent. A metamodel provides a unifying framework in which to ensure and check consistency, while at the same time providing the means to distinguish between valid and invalid models, that is, conformance. Two formal specifications of the metamodel for an object-oriented modeling language are presented, and it is shown how to use these specifications for model conformance and multiview consistency checking. Comparisons are made in terms of completeness and the level of automation each provide for checking multiview consistency and model conformance. The lessons learned from applying formal techniques to the problems of metamodeling, model conformance, and multiview consistency checking are summarized

A survey on test suite reduction frameworks and tools

Software testing is a widely accepted practice that ensures the quality of a System under Test (SUT). However, the gradual increase of the test suite size demands high portion of testing budget and time. Test Suite Reduction (TSR) is considered a potential approach to deal with the test suite size problem. Moreover, a complete automation support is highly recommended for software testing to adequately meet the challenges of a resource constrained testing environment. Several TSR frameworks and tools have been proposed to efficiently address the test-suite size problem. The main objective of the paper is to comprehensively review the state-of-the-art TSR frameworks to highlights their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the paper focuses on devising a detailed thematic taxonomy to classify existing literature that helps in understanding the underlying issues and proof of concept. Moreover, the paper investigates critical aspects and related features of TSR frameworks and tools based on a set of defined parameters. We also rigorously elaborated various testing domains and approaches followed by the extant TSR frameworks. The results reveal that majority of TSR frameworks focused on randomized unit testing, and a considerable number of frameworks lacks in supporting multi-objective optimization problems. Moreover, there is no generalized framework, effective for testing applications developed in any programming domain. Conversely, Integer Linear Programming (ILP) based TSR frameworks provide an optimal solution for multi-objective optimization problems and improve execution time by running multiple ILP in parallel. The study concludes with new insights and provides an unbiased view of the state-of-the-art TSR frameworks. Finally, we present potential research issues for further investigation to anticipate efficient TSR frameworks

Test Reduction for Easing Web Service Integration

Since the irruption of Web Services, in their SOAP and REST flavors, the market has turned from intra-business applications to inter-organizational applications. Nowadays, more organizations have a broad access to the Web and span their frontiers using service-centered applications. In this paper, we review the testing challenges and strategies in Web Services – as the technological weapon-of-choice to implement Business Services. Then we deepen into a possible strategy to address service testing: Test Reduction. Fresh strategies are necessary since Web Services testing is substantially different from legacy systems testing.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO

Test Reduction for Easing Web Service Integration

Since the irruption of Web Services, in their SOAP and REST flavors, the market has turned from intra-business applications to inter-organizational applications. Nowadays, more organizations have a broad access to the Web and span their frontiers using service-centered applications. In this paper, we review the testing challenges and strategies in Web Services – as the technological weapon-of-choice to implement Business Services. Then we deepen into a possible strategy to address service testing: Test Reduction. Fresh strategies are necessary since Web Services testing is substantially different from legacy systems testing.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativa (SADIO