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20
Lutess: A specification-driven testing environment for synchronous software. In:
- 21st International Conference on Software Engineering,
, 1999
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Automatic Generation of Software Test Cases From Formal Specifications
, 1998
"... Software testing consumes a large percentage of total software development costs. Yet, it is still usually performed manually in a non rigorous fashion. While techniques, and limited automatic support, for the generation of test data from the actual code of the system under test have been well resea ..."
Abstract
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Cited by 16 (0 self)
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Software testing consumes a large percentage of total software development costs. Yet, it is still usually performed manually in a non rigorous fashion. While techniques, and limited automatic support, for the generation of test data from the actual code of the system under test have been well researched, test cases generation from a high level specification of the intended behaviour of the system being developed has hardly been addressed. In this thesis we present a rationale for using tests derived from high level formal specifications and then set to find an efficient technique for the generation of adequate test sets from specifications written in our study language, VDM-SL. In this work, we formalise the traditional high level partitioning technique used in a previously researched test cases generator prototype, and extend it to take the semantics of VDM-SL fully into account. We then discuss, and illustrate, the shortcomings of the technique as used, which results in too few test...
Formal Derivation of Finite State Machines for Class Testing
- ZUM'98: THE Z FORMAL SPECIFICATION NOTATION
, 1998
"... Previous work on generating state machines for the purpose of class testing has been informally based. There has also been work on deriving state machines from formal specifications for testing non-object-oriented software. We build on this work by presenting a method for deriving a state machine ..."
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Cited by 16 (7 self)
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Previous work on generating state machines for the purpose of class testing has been informally based. There has also been work on deriving state machines from formal specifications for testing non-object-oriented software. We build on this work by presenting a method for deriving a state machine for testing purposes from a formal object-oriented specification of the class under test. We also show how the resulting state machine can be used as the basis for a test suite developed and executed using an existing framework for class testing. To derive the state machine, we identify the states and possible interactions of the operations of the class under test. The Test Template Framework is used to formally derive the states from the Object-Z specification of the class un...
Verifying model oriented specifications through animation
- In Proc. AsiaPacific Software Engineering Conference
, 1998
"... In this paper we demonstrate how light weight tools can be used to increase the level of confidence in Z specifications. In particular we outline the Pipedream approach to exploring Z specifications through animation, and illustrate the range of analyses that can be performed. We argue that, while a ..."
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Cited by 9 (1 self)
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In this paper we demonstrate how light weight tools can be used to increase the level of confidence in Z specifications. In particular we outline the Pipedream approach to exploring Z specifications through animation, and illustrate the range of analyses that can be performed. We argue that, while a light weight approach does not give the same levels of assurance that an automated reasoning system would, it does give levels of assurance which are adequate for most projects and with significantly less overhead. We illustrate how animation can be used to perform verification using the example of a simple dependency management system. 1.
Synthesising Structure From Flat Specifications
- Proc. of the 2nd International B Conference
, 1998
"... . Within the design process, a high-level specification is subject to two conflicting tensions. It is used as a vehicle for validating the requirements, and also as a first step of the refinement process. Whilst the structuring mechanisms available in the B method are well-suited for the latter p ..."
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Cited by 8 (7 self)
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. Within the design process, a high-level specification is subject to two conflicting tensions. It is used as a vehicle for validating the requirements, and also as a first step of the refinement process. Whilst the structuring mechanisms available in the B method are well-suited for the latter purpose, the rich type constructions of VDM are useful for the former. In this paper we propose a method which synthesises a structured B design from a flat VDM specification by analysing how type definitions are used within the VDM state in order to generate a corresponding B machine hierarchy. 1 Introduction Within the design process, a high-level specification is subject to two conflicting tensions. It is used as a vehicle for validating the requirements, and also as a first step of the refinement process. Whilst the structuring mechanisms available in the B method [1] are well-suited for the latter purpose, the rich type constructions of VDM [7] are useful for the former. Indeed, pr...
Extending the Test Template Framework
- Proceedings of the third northern formal methods workshop
, 1998
"... The Test Template Framework (TTF) is a formal, abstract model of testing, used to derive a hierarchy of test information, including test inputs and outputs, from a model-based formal specification. In this paper we propose two modifications to the framework: first, that testing information derive ..."
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Cited by 7 (0 self)
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The Test Template Framework (TTF) is a formal, abstract model of testing, used to derive a hierarchy of test information, including test inputs and outputs, from a model-based formal specification. In this paper we propose two modifications to the framework: first, that testing information derived from state components be factored out from operation-specific information, and second, that focusing on the input space of an operation under test be deferred for as long as possible. The first modification facilitates reuse of derived information in the context of abstract data types (ADTs) and classes to minimise duplication. The second modification supports testing strategies based on operation outputs, and provides a basis for further extensions for testing derived from behaviour-based notations. 1 Introduction The Test Template Framework (TTF) is a formal, abstract model of testing, used to derive a hierarchy of test information, including test inputs and outputs, from a model...
Lutess: A Testing Environment for Synchronous Software
, 1998
"... Several studies have shown that automated testing is a promising approach to save significant amounts of time and money in the industry of reactive software. But automated testing requires a formal framework and adequate means to generate test data. In the context of synchronous reactive software, w ..."
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Cited by 7 (1 self)
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Several studies have shown that automated testing is a promising approach to save significant amounts of time and money in the industry of reactive software. But automated testing requires a formal framework and adequate means to generate test data. In the context of synchronous reactive software, we have built such a framework and its associated tool-Lutess- to integrate various wellfounded testing techniques. This tool automatically constructs test harnesses for fully automated test data generation and verdict return. This paper describes the four black-box testing techniques which are coordinated in Lutess uniform framework. 1 Introduction Testing receives an increasing attention from research teams working on formal techniques for software specification, development and verification, for two reasons. First, testing appears to be the only means to perform the validation of a piece of software, when formal verification is impracticable because of lacks of memory and/or time. Second,...
Compositional Structuring in the B-Method: A Logical Viewpoint of the Static Context
- in Proceedings of the International Conference of B and Z Users ZB2000
, 2000
"... The B-Method provides a collection of structuring mechanisms which support information hiding, modularisation and compositionality of module operations, although, in order to achieve compositionality and independent (parallel) refinement, sharing is restricted in B. In this paper we elaborate some n ..."
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Cited by 4 (3 self)
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The B-Method provides a collection of structuring mechanisms which support information hiding, modularisation and compositionality of module operations, although, in order to achieve compositionality and independent (parallel) refinement, sharing is restricted in B. In this paper we elaborate some non-interference and compositionality assumptions that underlie structuring mechanisms such as uses, sees and imports and show how they may be violated by inducing emerging properties which alter the context of the used, seen or imported machine. We discuss how such situations can be avoided by considering necessary and sufficient conditions for logical conservativeness and modularisation. As proof obligations, these conditions ensure that the properties of the context of the seen, used or imported component are conserved, i.e. that they are preserved but not enriched. From a logical viewpoint, these proof obligations require that the uniform interpolant of the contextual extension axioms is implied by the base context.
Automatic Generation of Software Tests From Formal Specifications
, 1997
"... Software testing consumes a large percentage of total software development costs. Yet, it is still usually performed manually in a non rigorous fashion. While techniques, and limited automatic supports, for the generation of test data from the actual code of the system under test have been well rese ..."
Abstract
-
Cited by 2 (0 self)
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Software testing consumes a large percentage of total software development costs. Yet, it is still usually performed manually in a non rigorous fashion. While techniques, and limited automatic supports, for the generation of test data from the actual code of the system under test have been well researched, test cases generation from a high level specification of the intended behaviour of the system being developed has hardly been addressed. In this thesis we present a rationale for using tests derived from high level formal specifications and then set to find an efficient technique for the generation of adequate test sets from specifications written in our study language, VDM-SL. In this work, we formalise the traditional high level partitioning technique used in a previously researched test cases generator prototype, and extend it to take the semantics of VDM-SL fully into account. We then discuss, and illustrate, the shortcomings of the technique as used, which results in too few tes...
