Title :
Observation inaccuracy in conformance testing with multiple testers
Author :
Young, Yu-Chiou ; Tai, Kuo-Chung
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC, USA
Abstract :
In the conformance testing of a software system, independent multiple testers (or observers) are often used, each providing input messages to and receiving output messages from the software system. For an execution of the software system, if all testers have observed correct results, the intuitive conclusion is that this execution is correct. However, this conclusion may be wrong, and this problem is referred to as multi-tester observation inaccuracy. In this paper, for a specification written as a deterministic or nondeterministic finite state machine (FSM), we present a necessary and sufficient condition for an incorrect test observation by multiple testers. For a specification written as a deterministic FSM, we define three types of implementation faults that can cause incorrect test observations: input exchange, forward output shifting and backward output shifting faults. We also propose a strategy for solving the problem of multi-tester observation inaccuracy
Keywords :
conformance testing; deterministic automata; finite state machines; formal specification; observers; program testing; programming theory; backward output shifting faults; conformance testing; deterministic finite state machine; forward output shifting faults; implementation faults; incorrect test observations; independent multiple testers; input exchange faults; input messages; multi-tester observation inaccuracy; necessary condition; nondeterministic finite state machine; output messages; software system; specification; sufficient condition; Automata; Computer architecture; Computer science; Protocols; Software systems; Software testing; Sufficient conditions; System testing;
Conference_Titel :
Application-Specific Software Engineering Technology, 1998. ASSET-98. Proceedings. 1998 IEEE Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Richardson, TX
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-8582-4
DOI :
10.1109/ASSET.1998.688238