A knowledge-based framework for automated software synthesis

Automated software synthesis is one of the central techniques used in knowledge-based software engineering to enhance the quality and efficiency of software development. Although many software synthesis systems have been developed, automatic control of these systems remains a difficult problem. Our goal is to reduce user interaction in transformational and schema-based synthesizers by means of significant advances in control mechanisms.This paper describes an approach for synthesis control that integrates a blackboard control architecture with an existing synthesis system. We present a framework language called MetaMorphos that allows explicit representations of control knowledge for use in selecting appropriate synthesis actions. MetaMorphos represents control decisions explicitly in terms of actions, events, and states. It is task-specific and contains knowledge about programming and how to select synthesizing methods based on given features. By employing a blackboard control architecture, our synthesis controller provides adaptability for dynamic control behaviors and flexibility to handle unanticipated situations during software development.Applying MetaMorphos in the domain of software synthesis, we illustrate how we use MetaMorphos to select appropriate transformations, data structure and algorithm schemas during the synthesis. An example shows how MetaMorphos handles the difficult problem of selecting schemas for two very similar problems which, in the best case, require different solutions.     

A generic interoperability testing framework and a systematic development process for automated interoperability testing

Interoperability is a prerequisite to allow users to access systems implemented by different vendors seamlessly. A good baseline to achieve interoperability is the implementation of a common set of standards. However, this is often not sufficient as different implementations of a standard are not necessarily interoperable. Therefore, different implementations of systems need to be assessed for interoperability by applying interoperability testing. In this article, we present a generic framework that enables automated interoperability testing with message checks, which assess the compliance of messages exchanged between systems. The goal of this framework is the provision of a basic functionality of interoperability test entities, the definition of a generic interoperability test environment, and guidelines for the specification of automated interoperability tests. The framework also considers aspects related to interoperability testing including verdicts, automation, and limitations of the system under test. Through the application of the framework, interoperability of systems can be assessed, systems can be validated, and standards can be improved. In addition, we present a systematic development process for automated interoperability tests to formalize the development and specification of an interoperability test system. We also consider aspects and critical issues, which are important for the development of a complete interoperability test system. The framework and the process are language and system technology independent. We present their application in a case study that includes interoperability tests for the Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) using the Testing and Test Control Notation Version 3 (TTCN-3).     

A distributed framework for demand-driven software vulnerability detection

Security testing aims at detecting program security flaws through a set of test cases and has become an active area of research. The challenge is how to efficiently produce test cases that are highly effective in detecting security flaws. This paper presents a novel distributed demand-driven security testing system to address this challenge. It leverages how end users use the software to increase the coverage of essential paths for security testing. The proposed system consists of many client sites and one testing site. The software under test is installed at each client site. Whenever a new path is about to be exercised by a user input, it will be sent to the testing site for security testing. At the testing site, symbolic execution is used to check any potential vulnerability on this new path. If a vulnerability is detected, a signature is automatically generated and updated to all client sites for protection. The benefits are as follows. First, it allows us to focus testing on essential paths, i.e., the paths that are actually being explored by users or attackers. Second, it stops an attacker from exploiting an unreported vulnerability at the client site. A prototype system has been implemented to evaluate the performance of the proposed system. The results show that it is both effective and efficient in practice.     

A framework for automated distributed implementation of component-based models

Although distributed systems are widely used nowadays, their implementation and deployment are still time-consuming, error-prone, and hardly predictable tasks. In this paper, we propose a method for producing automatically efficient and correct-by-construction distributed implementations from a model of the application software in Behavior, Interaction, Priority (BIP). BIP is a well-founded component-based framework encompassing high-level multi-party interactions for synchronizing components (e.g., rendezvous and broadcast) and dynamic priorities for scheduling between interactions. Our method transforms an arbitrary BIP model into a Send/Receive BIP model that is directly implementable on distributed execution platforms. The transformation consists in (1) breaking the atomicity of actions in components by replacing synchronous multiparty interactions with asynchronous Send/Receive interactions; (2) inserting distributed controllers that coordinate the execution of interactions according to a user-defined partition of interactions, and (3) adding a distributed algorithm for handling conflicts between controllers. The obtained Send/Receive BIP model is proven observationally equivalent to its corresponding initial model. Hence, all functional properties of the initial BIP model are preserved by construction in the implementation. Moreover, the obtained Send/Receive BIP model can be used to automatically derive distributed executable code. The proposed method is fully implemented. Currently, it is possible to generate C++ implementations for (1) TCP sockets for conventional distributed communication, (2) MPI for multi-processor platforms, and (3) POSIX threads for deployment on multi-core platforms. We present four case studies and report experimental results for different design choices including partition of interactions and choice of algorithm for distributed conflict resolution.     

A testing framework for mobile computing software

We present a framework for testing applications for mobile computing devices. When a device is moved into and attached to a new network, the proper functioning of applications running on the device often depends on the resources and services provided locally in the current network. This framework provides an application-level emulator for mobile computing devices to solve this problem. Since the emulator is constructed as a mobile agent, it can carry applications across networks on behalf of its target device and allow the applications to connect to local servers in its current network in the same way as if they had been moved with and executed on the device itself. This paper also demonstrates the utility of this framework by describing the development of typical network-dependent applications in mobile and ubiquitous computing settings.     

Rapid goal-oriented automated software testing using MEA-graph planning

With the rapid growth in the development of sophisticated modern software applications, the complexity of the software development process has increased enormously, posing an urgent need for the automation of some of the more time-consuming aspects of the development process. One of the key stages in the software development process is system testing. In this paper, we evaluate the potential application of AI planning techniques in automated software testing. The key contributions of this paper include the following: (1) A formal model of software systems from the perspective of software testing that is applicable to important classes of systems and is amenable to automation using AI planning methods. (2) The design of a framework for an automated planning system (APS) for applying AI planning techniques for testing software systems. (3) Assessment of the test automation framework and a specific AI Planning algorithm, namely, MEA-Graphplan (Means-Ends Analysis Graphplan), algorithm to automatically generate test data. (4) A case study is presented to evaluate the proposed automated testing method and compare the performance of MEA-Graphplan with that of Graphplan. The empirical results show that for software testing, the MEA-Graphplan algorithm can perform computationally more efficiently and effectively than the basic Graph Planning algorithm.

软件分布式开发中协同工作支持框架的设计与实现

为了有效地支持软件分布式开发,提高软件协同开发环境的易用性和有效性,从协同理论和应用工具两方面入手,在集成了多种协同应用软件的同时,融入了对参与者的形式描述,提高了开发环境的智能性和可定制性,进而提高了协同开发的质量和效率。     

A distributed development environment for embedded software

The HAGAR project is building a high-performance disk controller. It is an embedded system for which many hundreds of thousands of lines of embedded software will have to be developed concurrently with the development of the hardware. We found existing methods for embedded software development, such as simulation and remote cross development, to be inadequate for us. To meet our special needs, we developed a distributed development environment that combines and extends the capabilities of existing methods while fixing their drawbacks. Our environment is based on a processor-pool architecture, in which multiple hardware sets are pooled and managed systematically. It supports embedded software development for many programmers at different sites. It allows for the emulation of non-existing hardware adaptor cards and for the integration of embedded software testing with hardware simulation. The environment provides a single system image, hiding many hardware and configuration details from its users. From the perspective of the programmers, our environment makes developing embedded software for special hardware systems as easy as developing application programs for a UNIX workstation.     

An automated framework for software test oracle

Context

One of the important issues of software testing is to provide an automated test oracle. Test oracles are reliable sources of how the software under test must operate. In particular, they are used to evaluate the actual results that produced by the software. However, in order to generate an automated test oracle, oracle challenges need to be addressed. These challenges are output-domain generation, input domain to output domain mapping, and a comparator to decide on the accuracy of the actual outputs.

Objective

This paper proposes an automated test oracle framework to address all of these challenges.

Method

I/O Relationship Analysis is used to generate the output domain automatically and Multi-Networks Oracles based on artificial neural networks are introduced to handle the second challenge. The last challenge is addressed using an automated comparator that adjusts the oracle precision by defining the comparison tolerance. The proposed approach was evaluated using an industry strength case study, which was injected with some faults. The quality of the proposed oracle was measured by assessing its accuracy, precision, misclassification error and practicality. Mutation testing was considered to provide the evaluation framework by implementing two different versions of the case study: a Golden Version and a Mutated Version. Furthermore, a comparative study between the existing automated oracles and the proposed one is provided based on which challenges they can automate.

Results

Results indicate that the proposed approach automated the oracle generation process 97% in this experiment. Accuracy of the proposed oracle was up to 98.26%, and the oracle detected up to 97.7% of the injected faults.

Conclusion

Consequently, the results of the study highlight the practicality of the proposed oracle in addition to the automation it offers.     

FLAME: a formal framework for the automated analysis of software product lines validated by automated specification testing

In a literature review on the last 20 years of automated analysis of feature models, the formalization of analysis operations was identified as the most relevant challenge in the field. This formalization could provide very valuable assets for tool developers such as a precise definition of the analysis operations and, what is more, a reference implementation, i.e., a trustworthy, not necessarily efficient implementation to compare different tools outputs. In this article, we present the FLAME framework as the result of facing this challenge. FLAME is a formal framework that can be used to formally specify not only feature models, but other variability modeling languages (VML s) as well. This reusability is achieved by its two-layered architecture. The abstract foundation layer is the bottom layer in which all VML-independent analysis operations and concepts are specified. On top of the foundation layer, a family of characteristic model layers—one for each VML to be formally specified—can be developed by redefining some abstract types and relations. The verification and validation of FLAME has followed a process in which formal verification has been performed traditionally by manual theorem proving, but validation has been performed by integrating our experience on metamorphic testing of variability analysis tools, something that has shown to be much more effective than manually designed test cases. To follow this automated, test-based validation approach, the specification of FLAME, written in Z, was translated into Prolog and 20,000 random tests were automatically generated and executed. Tests results helped to discover some inconsistencies not only in the formal specification, but also in the previous informal definitions of the analysis operations and in current analysis tools. After this process, the Prolog implementation of FLAME is being used as a reference implementation for some tool developers, some analysis operations have been formally specified for the first time with more generic semantics, and more VML s are being formally specified using FLAME.     

Integral: Petri-net approach to distributed software development

As the architecture of modern software systems continues to evolve in a distributed fashion, the development of such systems becomes increasingly complex, which requires the integration of more sophisticated specification techniques, tools, and procedures into the conventional methodology. An essential capability of an integrated software development environment is a formal specification method to capture effectively the system's functional requirements as well as its performance requirements. A validation and verification (V&V) system based on a formal specification method is of paramount importance to the development and maintenance of distributed systems.

There has been recent interest in integrating software techniques and tools at the specification level. It is also noted that an effective way of achieving such integration is by using wide-spectrum specification techniques. In view of these points, an integrated V&V system, called Integral, is presented that provides comprehensive and homogeneous analysis capabilities to both specification and testing phases of the life-cycle of distributed software systems. The underlying software model that supports various V&V activities in Integral is primarily based on Petri nets and is intended to be wide spectrum. The ultimate goal of this research is to demonstrate to the software industry, domestic or foreign, the availability and applicability of a new Petri-net-based software development paradigm. Integral is a prototype V&V system to support such a paradigm.     

A temporal approach for testing distributed systems

This paper deals with testing distributed software systems. In the past, two important problems have been determined for executing tests using a distributed test architecture: controllability and observability problems. A coordinated test method has subsequently been proposed to solve these two problems. In the present article: 1) we show that controllability and observability are indeed resolved if and only if the test system respects timing constraints, even when the system under test is non-real-time; 2) we determine these timing constraints; 3) we determine other timing constraints which optimize the duration of test execution; 4) we show that the communication medium used by the test system does not necessarily have to be FIFO; and 5) we show that the centralized test method can be considered just as a particular case of the proposed coordinated test method.     

A cataloging framework for software development methods

A framework providing a basis for comparing and evaluating software development methods (SDMs), which are systems of technical procedures and notational conventions for the organized construction of software-based systems, is presented. Using the framework, practitioners and methodologists can describe and rate an SDM's support for 21 properties. The application of the framework to two examples, OMT and R.J.A. Buhr's (1990) architectural design, is discussed. Several suggested uses of the framework include: comparing a group of SDMs with one another; defining a standard in terms of the framework and then using this as a basis for discussion; examining an SDM to discover its coverage and capabilities; and combining the properties of different SDMs to create a new SDM     

Parallel testing of distributed software

The paper presents the experience of the use of parallel computing technologies to accelerate the testing of a complex distributed programming system such as Orbix 3, which is IONA's implementation of the CORBA 2.1 standard. The design and implementation of the parallel testing system are described in detail. Experimental results proving the high efficiency of the system are given.     

A formal software development approach using refinement calculus

The advantage of COOZ(Complete Object-Oriented Z) is to specify large scale software,but it does not support refinement calculus.Thus its application is comfined for software development.Including refinement calculus into COOZ overcomes its disadvantage during design and implementation.The separation between the design and implementation for structure and notation is removed as well .Then the software can be developed smoothly in the same frame.The combination of COOZ and refinement calculus can build object-oriented frame,in which the specification in COOZ is refined stepwise to code by calculus.In this paper,the development model is established.which is based on COOZ and refinement calculus.Data refinement is harder to deal with in a refinement tool than ordinary algorithmic refinement,since data refinement usually has to be done on a large program component at once.As to the implementation technology of refinement calculus,the data refinement calculator is constructed and an approach for data refinement which is based on data refinement calculus and program window inference is offered.     

A framework for artificial intelligence applications software development

Despite the promise and prominence of artificial intelligence, successful widely-based applications have been rare. Much of previous artificial intelligence work has concentrated on the demonstration of techniques rather than the development of tools that can be used in systems design, analysis and operation. A systematic program of knowledge compilation in artificial intelligence is proposed where extensible function libraries can be used by professionals in various fields and non-programming specialists in developing artificial intelligence applications.     

A software architecture and framework for Web-based distributed Decision Support Systems

This paper presents an integrated method to help design and implement a Web-based Decision Support Systems (DSS) in a distributed environment. First, a layered software architecture is presented to assist in the design of a Web-based DSS. The layered software architecture can provide a formal and hierarchical view of the Web-based DSS at the design stage. Next, a component-based framework is presented to implement the Web-based DSS in a distributed environment. Finally, an instance of the layered software architecture and 3CoFramework applied to the Web-based National Agricultural Decision Support System (NADSS) is presented.     

A JAVA application framework for scientific software development

This paper presents AIBench (SING group, Ourense, Spain), a JAVA desktop application framework mainly focused on scientific software development, with the goal of improving the productivity of research groups. Following the MVC design pattern, the programmer is able to develop applications using only three types of concepts: operations, data‐typesand views. The framework provides the rest of the functionality present in typical scientific applications, including user parameter requests, logging facilities, multithreading execution, experiment repeatability and graphic user interface generation, among others. The proposed framework is implemented following a plugin‐based architecture, which also allows assembling new applications by the reuse of modules from past development projects. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An integration centric approach for the coordination of distributed software development projects

This paper presents an approach for Distributed Software Development (DSD) that is based on two foundations. The first one is an integration centric engineering process, which aims at managing crucial dependencies in DSD projects. The second foundation is a strategy for operationalizing the coordination of the engineering process. The purpose of this strategy is to simultaneously provide global information system support for coordination and achieve common understanding about what should be coordinated and how. The approach has been successfully used at Ericsson, a major supplier of telecommunication systems worldwide, for coordinating extraordinary complex projects developing nodes in the third generation of mobile systems. Although many obstacles have to be addressed, the results indicate that the approach is a viable way to manage DSD during very demanding circumstances.