Pattern‐based GUI testing: Bridging the gap between design and quality assurance

Software systems with a graphical user interface (GUI) front end are typically designed using user interface (UI) Patterns, which describe generic solutions (with multiple possible implementations) for recurrent GUI design problems. However, existing testing techniques do not take advantage of this fact to test GUIs more efficiently. In this paper, we present a new pattern‐based GUI testing (PBGT) approach that formalizes the notion of UI Test Patterns, which are generic test strategies to test UI patterns over their different implementations. The PBGT approach is evaluated via 2 case studies. The first study involves 2 fielded Web application subjects; findings show that PBGT is both practical and useful, as testing teams were able to find real bugs in a reasonable time interval. The second study allows deeper analysis by studying software subjects seeded with artificial faults; the findings show that PBGT is more effective than a manual model‐based test case generation approach.     

Automated Prototyping of User Interfaces Based on UML Scenarios

User interface (UI) prototyping and scenario engineering have become popular techniques. Yet, the transition from scenario to formal specifications and the generation of UI code is still ill-defined and essentially a manual task, and the two techniques lack integration in the overall requirements engineering process. In this paper, we suggest an approach for requirements engineering that generates a user interface prototype from scenarios and yields a formal specification of the application. Scenarios are acquired in the form of collaboration diagrams as defined by the Unified Modeling Language (UML), and are enriched with user interface (UI) information. These diagrams are automatically transformed into UML Statechart specifications of the UI objects involved. From the set of obtained specifications, a UI prototype is generated that is embedded in a UI builder environment for further refinement. Based on end user feedback, the collaboration diagrams and the UI prototype may be iteratively refined, and the result of the overall process is a specification consisting of the Statechart diagrams of all the objects involved, together with the generated and refined prototype of the UI. The algorithms underlying this process have been implemented and exercised on a number of examples. This research was mainly conducted at University of Montreal, where the first two authors were PhD students and the third author a full-time faculty member. Funding was provided in part by FCAR (Fonds pour la formation des chercheurs et l'aide à la recherche au Québec) and by the SPOOL project organized by CSER (Consortium Software Engineering Research) which is funded by Bell Canada, NSERC (Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada), and NRC (National Research Council Canada).     

From formal requirements to automated web testing and prototyping

Use cases and user interface prototypes are agile techniques used to specify required functionalities of an object-oriented system. Testing can find most errors of the software and ensure that the requirement specifications are satisfied by the application. We can derive test cases from use cases and run them in user interfaces, but we do it in a mechanical way. In this paper, we propose a new approach for automating the generation of user interface prototypes and test cases for web applications. Starting from a formalization of the requirements based on controlled use cases extended with the system glossary and the user interface specifications, we automatically generate web pages and test cases which are passed as parameters for an automated web testing tool.     

基于WinCE用户界面可订制技术的实现

使用事件驱动模型实现了一套适用于WinCE设备的高度可定制用户界面方案,用于简化用户界面的设计过程.该方案使得程序可执行代码与用户界面完全分离,进而使得独立于执行代码之外的功能定制成为可能,成套的软件界面更易于保持一致的风格,软件研发也会大幅加速.     

支持用例集并行测试的接口测试平台

针对手工测试成本高、时效性弱和传统的接口自动化测试工具扩展能力不足问题,提出了一个支持用例集并行测试的接口测试平台(OLa). OLa采用分层架构模式将系统分为用户展示层、应用逻辑层、数据服务层和用例执行层.其中,用户展示层基于Vue框架开发,结合Vue Router、Vuex等工具实现单页应用;应用逻辑层基于Spring Boot框架开发;数据服务层基于MyBatis-Plus框架和Spring Data框架开发;用例执行层使用okhttp3、fastjson、jackson等工具实现接口测试.此外,基于系统技术架构、Java网络编程和面向抽象编程的思想,创新性地提出了基于C/S模式的用例执行流程和基于参数识别的自动匹配校验方法,解决了传统的自动化测试工具无法支持并行测试的问题.实验结果表明本文设计与实现的OLa接口测试平台支持单用例测试、用例集的串行测试和并行测试,能够自动识别用例参数并对接口响应内容进行校验,提高了接口测试的灵活性和有效性,降低了测试难度,并能够在用例之间无相互依赖的情况下提高接口测试的效率.     

A novel mobile device user interface with integrated social networking services

Modern mobile devices support accessing Web-based social networking services from the user interface (UI) of Web browsers, applications, and mobile widgets. While effectively accessing these services, people may find it tedious to switch between multiple user interfaces in order to be aware of the latest content. Aiming for an improved user experience, we experimented with integration of these services into mobile devices' main user interface. The integrated content is presented beyond application silos and automatically filtered to highlight the relevant elements. A mobile system called LinkedUI was developed and deployed in one lab test and one field study. Three findings emerge from these studies. Firstly, it is feasible to construct an alternative device UI that supports integration of Web content across applications and services via hyperlinking. Time, publisher (e.g., contacts), content types, and geographical locations are key dimensions for association of content. Secondly, the alternative device UI enables better usability of accessing social networking services than accessing them from individual Web sites on mobile devices. It helps people to be aware of the latest content during microbreaks. Thirdly, automatic filtering, on the basis of one user's data, is one promising approach to identifying relevant content. Given filtered content, most people using the automatic filtering approved the functionality and experienced a better sense of control that is arguably due to the reduced information volume.     

Decreasing Test Qualification Time in AMS and RF Systems

The authors of this article illustrate a means to use design models and simulation testbenches to decrease manufacturing test costs. This technique enables test cost optimization early in the RFIC design phase. In this article, we propose a test set optimization and qualification method that targets test application time, cost, and quality while also decreasing the generation time of production tests. Our approach decreases the manufacturing test cost of AMS and RF SoCs by automatically qualifying and optimizing existing test sets. We present a computer-aided test (CAT) tool, Plasma (platform for system qualification with mixed and analog signals), that uses fault injection and a fault simulation technique to perform test qualification and generation. This tool reduces both test time and test equipment cost using a high-level fault model. Our approach relies on the qualification and optimization of a predefined test set. With this article, we show how to reduce the test optimization time by using behavioral modeling and decreasing the number of simulated circuits. This method reduces the number of simulated fault-free models, thanks to a normal estimation.     

Validation of requirement models by automatic prototyping

Prototyping is an efficient and effective way to understand and validate system requirements at the early stage of software development. In this paper, we present an approach for transforming UML system requirement models with OCL specifications into executable prototypes with the function of checking multiplicity and invariant constraints. Generally, a use case in UML can be described as a sequence of system operations. A system operation can be formally defined by a pair of preconditions and postconditions specified using OCL in the context of the conceptual class model. By analyzing the semantics of the preconditions and postconditions, the execution of the operation can be prototyped as a sequence of primitive actions which first check the precondition, and then enforce the postcondition by transferring the system from a pre-state to a post-state step by step. The primitive actions are basic manipulations of the system state (an object diagram), including find objects and links, create and remove objects and links, and check and set attribute values. Based on this approach, we have developed a tool of automatic prototype generation and analysis: AutoPA3.0.     

多平台移动用户界面生成方法的研究

针对多平台移动用户界面开发的各种问题,提出一个模式驱动的多平台移动用户界面生成方法（Pattern-Driven Multi-Platform development of mobile user interface）,以下简称PDMP,来加快目前多个平台的用户界面开发流程的开发效率。使用PDMP,开发者可使用高等抽象层次的开发语言来进行界面开发并以此减少劳动力成本,并使用多平台或跨平台（Android & iOS）的转换技术来为每个平台自动生成纯粹的原生用户界面。提出一个虚拟平台的概念,开发者可以在虚拟平台上构建抽象用户界面并依据转换规则转换到相应的具体平台。     

Killing strategies for model‐based mutation testing

This article presents the techniques and results of a novel model‐based test case generation approach that automatically derives test cases from UML state machines. The main contribution of this article is the fully automated fault‐based test case generation technique together with two empirical case studies derived from industrial use cases. Also, an in‐depth evaluation of different fault‐based test case generation strategies on each of the case studies is given and a comparison with plain random testing is conducted. The test case generation methodology supports a wide range of UML constructs and is grounded on the formal semantics of Back's action systems and the well‐known input–output conformance relation. Mutation operators are employed on the level of the specification to insert faults and generate test cases that will reveal the faults inserted. The effectiveness of this approach is shown and it is discussed how to gain a more expressive test suite by combining cheap but undirected random test case generation with the more expensive but directed mutation‐based technique. Finally, an extensive and critical discussion of the lessons learnt is given as well as a future outlook on the general usefulness and practicability of mutation‐based test case generation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种基于云平台的测试用例生成方案

随着云计算快速发展,云计算的应用越来越广泛,软件测试就是其中之一。软件测试是一个烦琐、易错和耗时的过程,特别是在准备测试用例和测试环境阶段。本文提出一个测试用例生成和执行方案,从用户进行逻辑设计的UML模型图出发,基于UML类图进行处理产生测试用例,最后运用云平台来执行这些测试用例,旨在减轻程序的负担。本文提出构建云服务的整个过程,阐述实现的方法和所遇到的挑战,最后展望了未来的研究方向和亟待解决问题。     

Unit Test Data Generation for C Using Rule-Directed Symbolic Execution

Unit testing is widely used in software development. One important activity in unit testing is automatic test data generation. Constraint-based test data generation is a technique for automatic generation of test data, which uses symbolic execution to generate constraints. Unit testing only tests functions instead of the whole program, where individual functions typically have preconditions imposed on their inputs. Conventional symbolic execution cannot detect these preconditions, let alone converting these preconditions into constraints. To overcome these limitations, we propose a novel unit test data generation approach using rule-directed symbolic execution for dealing with functions with missing input preconditions. Rule-directed symbolic execution uses predefined rules to detect preconditions in the individual function, and generates constraints for inputs based on preconditions. We introduce implicit constraints to represent preconditions, and unify implicit constraints and program constraints into integrated constraints. Test data generated based on integrated constraints can explore previously unreachable code and help developers find more functional faults and logical faults. We have implemented our approach in a tool called CTS-IC, and applied it to real-world projects. The experimental results show that rule-directed symbolic execution can find preconditions (implicit constraints) automatically from an individual function. Moreover, the unit test data generated by our approach achieves higher coverage than similar tools and efficiently mitigates missing input preconditions problems in unit testing for individual functions.

     

Automated generation of test oracles using a model-driven approach

ContextSoftware development time has been reduced with new development tools and paradigms, testing must accompany these changes. In order to release software products in a timely manner as well as to minimise the impact of possible errors introduced during maintenance interventions, testing automation has become a central goal. Whilst research has produced significant results in test case generation and tools for test case (re)-execution, one of the most important open problems in testing is the automation of oracle generation. The oracle decides whether the program under test has or has not behaved correctly and then issues a pass/fail verdict. In most cases, writing the oracle is a time-consuming activity that, moreover, is manual in most cases.ObjectiveThis article automates two important steps in the test oracle: obtention of expected output and its comparison with the actual output, using a model-driven approach.MethodThe oracle automation problem is resolved using a model-driven framework, based on OMG standards: UML is used as metamodel and QVT and MOF2Text as transformation languages. The automated testing framework takes the models that describe the system as input, using UML notation and derives from them the test model and then the test code, following a model-driven approach. Test oracle procedures are obtained from a UML state machine.ResultsA complete executable test case at functional test level is obtained, composed of a test procedure with parametrized input test data and expected result automation.ConclusionThe oracle automation is obtained using a model-driven approach, test cases are obtained automatically from UML models. The model-driven testing framework was applied to an industrial application and has been useful to testing automation for the main functionalities in the system.     

一个面向对象软件自动测试框架的设计和实现

介绍了一个测试用例驱动的面向对象软件自动化测试框架(简称为TCDA).TCDA使用UML作为形式化的分析和设计规格说明,从UML的体系结构视图中自动获取测试用例,并以XML的形式保存这些测试用例.TCDA可以根据具体编程语言,将测试用例翻译成由一系列源文件组成的测试脚本.测试执行过程中,测试脚本首先会被编译和链接,生成可执行文件,接着这些可执行文件将被运行,同时测试结果将被记录和分析,并最终生成一个结果分析报告.TCDA的原型系统使用Java实现.该系统包括测试配置、测试用例生成、测试脚本生成、测试执行和结果分析五个模块,分别支持以上描述的过程.     

Towards a cultural user interface generation principles

As ubiquitous computing, and pervasive computing technology are being applied rapidly to the service industry, in the field of HCI, more complex and in-depth research are required at the moment. The efforts to make user experience more valuable using useful multimedia technologies around us, are being made in various parts of the world. In addition to this, generation studies for developing easier and faster UI are being conducted in the field of UI. Until now, the studies have been focused on generation studies using UI pattern models, but smart UI generation development, considering the cultural environment of users, is required. The purpose of this study is to suggest 3-D integrated design principles of modeling, design, and system for the design of cultural user interface generation reflecting the users’ potential culture models. For this, a CTT model was designed based on MB-UID; and a cultural UI generation system architecture was designed by using cultural dimension models and cultural markers. To analyze the cultural factors, CISC (Cultural Index Score for Country) was derived in the process of culture profiling. Then, to verify the design model, culture UI was implemented, targeting the category UI of smartphone app stores.     

UMLTGF:一个基于灰盒方法从UML活动图生成测试用例的工具

UML已经成为建模语言的事实标准，如何从UML分析设计模型生成测试用例也为面向对象软件测试带来了新的挑战．为了从UML设计模型中的活动图直接生成测试用例，给出了UML活动图的形式化定义和灰盒测试方法．该方法首先分析UML活动图上的所有执行路径（每条路径称为一个测试场景），然后根据测试场景中的节点和转换所代表的活动及其输入／输出变量、相关约束条件等生成测试用例．并根据该方法实现了一个自动生成测试用例的工具UMLTGF，它可以从Rational Rose的规约文件中提取活动图信息并生成相应的测试用例．该工具能够提高软件测试的效率，降低测试成本．     

Using aspects for testing of embedded software: experiences from two industrial case studies

Aspect-oriented software testing is emerging as an important alternative to conventional procedural and object-oriented testing techniques. This paper reports experiences from two case studies where aspects were used for the testing of embedded software in the context of an industrial application. In the first study, we used code-level aspects for testing non-functional properties. The methodology we used for deriving test aspect code was based on translating high-level requirements into test objectives, which were then implemented using test aspects in AspectC++. In the second study, we used high-level visual scenario-based models for the test specification, test generation, and aspect-based test execution. To specify scenario-based tests, we used a UML2-compliant variant of live sequence charts. To automatically generate test code from the models, a modified version of the S2A Compiler, outputting AspectC++ code, was used. Finally, to examine the results of the tests, we used the Tracer, a prototype tool for model-based trace visualization and exploration. The results of the two case studies show that aspects offer benefits over conventional techniques in the context of testing embedded software; these benefits are discussed in detail. Finally, towards the end of the paper, we also discuss the lessons learned, including the technological and other barriers to the future successful use of aspects in the testing of embedded software in industry.     

基于UML的软件Markov链使用模型构造研究

软件统计测试要求基于软件使用模型产生测试例对软件系统进行测试,并根据测试结果评价软件可靠性,是高可靠软件测试的重要组成部分.由于统一建模语言(unified modeling language,简称UML)已经成为事实上的面向对象标准建模语言,因此,从软件UML模型构造软件使用模型就成为面向对象软件统计测试的关键.为此,定义了加入统计测试约束的UML用例图、序列图以及用例执行顺序关系,为基于UML的软件统计测试提供了一个形式化描述基础.在此基础上,给出一个从软件UML模型构造软件Markov链使用模型的算法,并给出了自动化支持工具UMGen的类图结构,基于一个卫星控制系统,说明了所提出方法的有效性.