A UML-Based Approach to Testing Web Applications

This paper proposes a practical test model and test approach for Web applications based on use cases and their corresponding sequence diagrams. Large Web applications are modeled as hierarchical profile use-case diagrams called UCTM (use case transition model). From the hierarchical UCTM, the sequential dependency relationship of use cases can be gained. Traversing the UCTM from top to down, each use case is described by sequence diagram, which can be converted automatically into a restricted message-on-vertex graph (RMOVG). A vertex in RMOVG represents one message in sequence diagram. To reduce the number of test cases generated, the constraint message coverage (CMC) criterion is proposed. According to the CMC criterion, each message in sequence diagram must be visited at least once. Test cases generated from RMOVG can satisfy CMC criterion and reduce the number of test cases. The proposed approach is a significant supplement to the existing Web application testing techniques.