An Automated Framework for Structural Test-data Generation

Structural testing criteria are mandated in many software development standards and guidelines. The process of generating test data to achieve 100% coverage of a given structural coverage metric is labour-intensive and expensive. This paper presents an approach to automate the generation of such test data. The test-data generation is based on the application of a dynamic optimisation-based search for the required test data. The same approach can be generalised to solve other test-data generation problems. Three such applications are discussed-boundary value analysis, assertion/run-time exception testing, and component re-use testing. A prototype tool-set has been developed to facilitate the automatic generation of test data for these structural testing problems. The results of preliminary experiments using this technique and the prototype tool-set are presented and show the efficiency and effectiveness of this approac

Automated Testing from Z Specifications

This paper considers the problem of automatically generating tests from Z specifications based on userdefined testing criteria. Automation is facilitated by formally specifying heuristics for generating tests that can be applied to a specification using general purpose theorem proving tools. The formal specification of the heuristics also allows desirable properties to be checked and comparative analysis to be carried out between testing criteria. The paper shows how the technique can be applied to both partitioning and fault-based testing criteria. 1 Introduction Even without the benefits of formal refinement, formal specifications can contribute greatly to the quality of a software product. They encourage the concise, unambiguous and explicit specification of the desired behaviour of the system and are amenable to rigorous and automated analysis. As such, they are a good basis for automated specification-based testing. Test generation techniques for model-based formal specification..

Testing, Proof and Automation. An Integrated Approach

This paper presents a discussion on the complementary roles of testing and proof within automated software verification and validation processes. We demonstrate how a combination of the two approaches can lead to greater levels of automation and integrity. In particular we discuss the use of automated counter-example generation to support proof, and automated proof as a means of automating and checking test case generation. The high levels of automation are made possible by identifying repeating structures in the proofs, restricting the specification to a subset of an otherwise expressive formal notation and exploiting a general--purpose theorem proving tool with built-in constraint solvers. 1 Introduction In the past, testing and proof have not been easy bedfellows. Despite their shared goal of increased software quality, proof has been seen as being for the cognoscenti, testing for software engineering's working class. The authors believe that this artificial dichotomy is harmful a..

Abstract Testing, Proof and Automation. An Integrated Approach

This paper presents a discussion on the complementary roles of testing and proof within automated software verification and validation processes. We demonstrate how a combination of the two approaches can lead to greater levels of automation and integrity. In particular we discuss the use of automated counter-example generation to support proof, and automated proof as a means of automating and checking test case generation. The high levels of automation are made possible by identifying repeating structures in the proofs, restricting the specification to a subset of an otherwise expressive formal notation and exploiting a general–purpose theorem proving tool with built-in constraint solvers.