Using change impact analysis to select tests for extended finite state machines

Mahadevan Subramaniam, Bo Guo, Zoltan Pap

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

A formal approach to select tests for regression testing of changes performed in a system evolution step is proposed. Systems are modeled as extended finite state machines (EFSMs) supporting several commonly used data types including booleans, numbers, arrays, queues and records. Tests are described using a sequence of input and expected output messages with concrete parameter values. Changes add/delete/replace one or more EFSM transitions. Transitions potentially executed by a test are automatically identified from its description. A simple structural invariant for a test description based on these transitions is introduced. It is shown that for a test description satisfying the invariant it can be accurately determined if a given change affects the test. Affected tests are selected for regression testing of the change. Failure of a description to meet the invariant is analyzed to identify non-observable regions in the description, which are then further analyzed using other system transitions to identify affected tests. We also describe a novel approach based on substitutability of tests to reduce the size of a regression test suite without affecting coverage. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is illustrated by applying it to several examples. Our experiments based on a well-known cost model for regression testing show that the proposed approach is economical for selective re-testing in these examples.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationSEFM 2009 - 7th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods
Pages93-102
Number of pages10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
Event7th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods, SEFM 2009 - Hanoi, Viet Nam
Duration: Nov 23 2009Nov 27 2009

Publication series

NameSEFM 2009 - 7th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods

Conference

Conference7th IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering and Formal Methods, SEFM 2009
Country/TerritoryViet Nam
CityHanoi
Period11/23/0911/27/09

Keywords

  • Extended finite state machines
  • Regression testing
  • Software evolution and maintenance
  • Theorem proving

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computational Theory and Mathematics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Software

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