Automating PBX system testing

Manually testing telephone features such as call forwarding and advice of charge is costly. A new method based on TTCN, an ISO-standardized test specification language, automates the process and helps meet product quality and time-to-market demands     

Tri-level regression testing using nature-inspired algorithms

Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering - A software needs to be updated to survive in the customers’ ever-changing demands and the competitive market. The modifications may produce...     

Automating application software generation

Many approaches have been proposed to enhance software productivity and reliability. These approaches typically fall into three categories: the engineering approach, the formal approach and the knowledge-based approach. But the optimal gain in software productivity cannot be obtained if one relies on only one of these approaches. This paper describes the work in knowledge-based software engineering conducted by the authors for the past 10 years. The final goal of the research is to develop a paradigm for software engineering which integrates the three approaches mentioned above. A knowledge-based tool which can support the whole process of software development is provided in this paper.     

Automating regression test selection based on UML designs

This paper presents a methodology and tool to support test selection from regression test suites based on change analysis in object-oriented designs. We assume that designs are represented using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) 2.0 and we propose a formal mapping between design changes and a classification of regression test cases into three categories: Reusable, Retestable, and Obsolete. We provide evidence of the feasibility of the methodology and its usefulness by using our prototype tool on an industrial case study and two student projects.     

Dynamic question generation system for web-based testing using particle swarm optimization

One aim of testing is to identify weaknesses in students’ knowledge. Computerized tests are now one of the most important ways to judge learning, and, selecting tailored questions for each learner is a significant part of such tests. Therefore, one current trend is that computerized adaptive tests (CATs) not only assist teachers in estimating the learning performance of students, but also facilitate understanding of problems in their learning process. These tests, must effectively and efficiently select questions from a large-scale item bank, and to cope with this problem we propose a dynamic question generation system for web-based tests using the novel approach of particle swarm optimization (PSO). The dynamic question generation system is built to select tailored questions for each learner from the item bank to satisfy multiple assessment requirements. Furthermore, the proposed approach is able to efficiently generate near-optimal questions that satisfy multiple assessment criteria. With a series of experiments, we compare the efficiency and efficacy of the PSO approach with other approaches. The experimental results show that the PSO approach is suitable for the selection of near-optimal questions from large-scale item banks.     

Customizable landscape visualizations. Implementation,application and testing of a web-based tool

This paper describes a new approach to delivering visualizations of Digital Elevation Model (D.E.M.) data over the World Wide Web. The delivery system described uses state-of-the art Java™ technology to deliver landscape visualizations, in both two (2D) and three (3D) dimensions, that are unique for each user of the service. An example is given of the use of this service as a teaching aid. A “thin client” approach is used to allow the final service to be accessible, both in terms of delivery speeds and user interface, to the maximum number of “non-geospatially aware” users. The landscape server conforms to the OpenGIS® web map server specifications. The service is live at: http://tsunami.geo.ed.ac.uk/∼kwm/landscapes/     

Automating unit and integration testing with partial oracles

The oracle problem is an essential part in current research on automating software tests. Partial oracles seem to be a viable solution, but their suitability for different testing steps and general applicability for various systems remains still to be shown. This paper presents a study in which partial oracles are applied in order to automatically test a jpeg2000 encoder as an example for a modular software system with several integrated units and components. The effectiveness of the partial oracles is measured by means of mutation analysis to determine their adequacy for both unit and integration testing. Additionally, the paper presents possibilities of improving the effectiveness as well as the efficiency of the employed partial oracles. It shows how the knowledge of certain characteristics of the system to be tested, such as linearity or time-invariance, may lead to a better choice of partial oracles and thus to an improved effectiveness and efficiency.     

Color red in web-based knowledge testing

Computer- and web-based testing procedures are increasingly popular for the assessment of cognitive abilities and knowledge. This paper identified color red as a critical context factor that may influence the results. Two studies showed that color red may harm the performance in web-based tests of general knowledge. In Study 1 (N = 131) a red (vs. green) progress bar impeded the performance in a knowledge test, but only for the male participants. In Study 2 (N = 190) the color of the survey’s forward-button was manipulated (red vs. blue vs. mixed color) which led to a replication of the gender-dependent color effect. Evolutionary psychology and stereotype threat research explain why red impedes the activation of knowledge among men, but not among women.     

辅助成本估算系统化调研的自动化方法

为降低软件工程领域传统进行系统化调研(SLR)所需要的大量的人力和时间花费,提出了自动化辅助SLR过程的方法。通过使用语法和句法分析方法对软件估算文献的摘要部分进行结构化划分以及概念与知识抽取。建立软件估算本体(COSt estimation ONTology,COSONT),将抽取出来的概念知识组织成本体结构以自动化辅助软件成本估算的系统化调研。通过对比实验,表明了使用COSONT既能得到不错的SLR效果,又能节省大量的时间,验证了系统化调研自动化方法的优势。     

Automating the design of SOCs using cores

Assembling a system on a chip using IP blocks is an error-prone, labor-intensive, and time-consuming process. Emerging high-level tools can help by automating many of the design tasks     

Automating controller tuning for gas-turbine mini power stations in computer testing

We justify the application of mathematical modeling methods for electric power systems in order to automate the tuning of controllers in control systems of gas-turbine power stations constructed on the basis of converted aviation engines. We develop a method for tuning controllers in computer testing that uses dynamic modeling of electric load. We show that one has to take into account the arbitrary nature of the electric load.     

软件回归测试中的自动测试生成方法

软件回归测试一般使用现有的测试用例集进行测试,如何有效利用这些用例成为回归测试的关键。研究自动对现有测试用例集的扩展,包括自动改变测试用例的执行顺序、自动进行测试用例数目的增减等,提出基于现有测试用例随机生成新的测试用例集的方法。实验证明,该方法生成的测试文件能在原有环境下成功执行,能实现自动测试范围的扩大或缩小,以及测试时间的增加或减少,为软件回归测试提供了有用的自动化工具。     

Automating ETL processes using the domain-specific modeling approach

The development of Extract–Transform–Load (ETL) processes is the most complex, time-consuming and expensive phase of data warehouse development. Yet, the dynamics of modern business systems demand a more agile and flexible approach to their development. As a result, current research in this area is focused on ETL process conceptualization and the automation of ETL process development. This paper proposes a novel solution for automating ETL processes using the domain-specific modeling (DSM) approach. The proposed solution is based on the formal specification of ETL processes and the implementation of such formal specifications. Thus, in accordance with the DSM approach, several new domain-specific languages (DSLs) are introduced, each defining concepts relevant for a specific aspect of an ETL process. The focus of this paper is the actual implementation of the formal specification of an ETL process. To this end, a specific ETL platform (ETL-PL) is introduced to technologically support both the modeling of ETL processes (i.e., the creation of models in accordance with the introduced DSLs) and the automated transformation of the created models into the executable code of a specific application framework (representing ETL-PL’s execution environment). It should be emphasized that ETL-PL actually presumes the dynamic execution of ETL models or, more precisely, the executable code is generated at runtime. Thus the execution environment consists of code generator components and the components implementing the application framework. ETL-PL has been implemented as an extension of the .NET platform.     

Automating the construction of CBR systems using kernel methods

Instance-based reasoning systems and, in general, case-based reasoning systems are normally used in problems for which it is difficult to define rules. Although case-based reasoning methods have proved their ability to solve different types of problems, there is still a demand for methods that facilitate their automation during their creation and the retrieval and reuse stages of their reasoning circle. This paper presents one method based on kernels, which can be used to automate some of the reasoning steps of instance-based reasoning systems. Kernels were originally derived in the context of support vector machines, which identify the smallest number of data points necessary to solve a particular problem (e.g., regression or classification). Unsupervised kernel methods have been used successfully to identify the optimal instances to instantiate an instance base. The efficiency of the kernel model is shown on an oceanographic problem. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

自动化回归测试在Java项目中的实现

回归测试是软件测试中一种重要的测试。软件开发过程中出现的各种变化可能会给软件的质量带来副作用。回归测试就是用来监控软件的变化,及时反馈由变化带来的结果。回归测试的自动化可以提高较大规模软件测试的质量和效率。文中首先介绍了软件自动化测试和回归测试的概念,然后以一个用Java语言开发的项目CADS(CrossArchitectureDevelopmentSuite)为例,详细阐述了如何在Java项目中实现回归测试的自动化,最后总结了自动化回归测试的优点及其适用范围。     

Automating experiments using semantic data in a bioinformatics grid

The transition from laboratory science to in silico e-science has facilitated a paradigmatic shift in the way we conduct modern science. We can use computationally based analytical models to simulate and investigate scientific questions such as those posed by high-energy physics and bioinformatics, yielding high-quality results and discoveries at an unprecedented rate. However, while experimental media have changed, the scientific methodologies and processes we choose for conducting experiments are still relevant. As in the lab environment, experimental methodology requires samples to undergo several processing stages. The staging of operations is what constitutes the in silico experimental process. The use of workflows formalizes earlier ad hoc approaches for representing experimental methodology. We can represent the stages of in silico experiments formally as a set of services to invoke.     

Automating user reviews using ontologies: an agent-based approach

The Web is becoming a global market place, where the same services and products are offered by different providers. When obtaining a service, consumers have to select one provider among many alternatives to receive a service or buy a product. In real life, when obtaining a service, many consumers depend on the user reviews. User reviews—presumably written by other consumers—provide details on the consumers’ experiences and thus are more informative than ratings. The down side is that such user reviews are written in natural language, making it extremely difficult to be interpreted by computers. Therefore, current technologies do not allow automation of user reviews and require too much human effort for tasks such as writing and reading reviews for the providers, aggregating existing information, and finally choosing among the possible candidates. In this paper, we represent consumers’ reviews as machine processable structures using ontologies and develop a layered multiagent framework to enable consumers to find satisfactory service providers for their needs automatically. The framework can still function successfully when consumers evolve their language and when deceptive reviewers enter the system. We show the flexibility of the framework by employing different algorithms for various tasks and evaluate them for different circumstances.     

Prioritizing test cases for regression testing

Test case prioritization techniques schedule test cases for execution in an order that attempts to increase their effectiveness at meeting some performance goal. Various goals are possible; one involves rate of fault detection, a measure of how quickly faults are detected within the testing process. An improved rate of fault detection during testing can provide faster feedback on the system under test and let software engineers begin correcting faults earlier than might otherwise be possible. One application of prioritization techniques involves regression testing, the retesting of software following modifications; in this context, prioritization techniques can take advantage of information gathered about the previous execution of test cases to obtain test case orderings. We describe several techniques for using test execution information to prioritize test cases for regression testing, including: 1) techniques that order test cases based on their total coverage of code components; 2) techniques that order test cases based on their coverage of code components not previously covered; and 3) techniques that order test cases based on their estimated ability to reveal faults in the code components that they cover. We report the results of several experiments in which we applied these techniques to various test suites for various programs and measured the rates of fault detection achieved by the prioritized test suites, comparing those rates to the rates achieved by untreated, randomly ordered, and optimally ordered suites     

Signal segmentation using changing regression models with application in seismic engineering

The change detection and segmentation methods have gained considerable attention in scientific research and appear to be the central issue in various application areas. The objective of the paper is to present a segmentation method, based on maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) estimator, with application in seismic signal processing; some interpretations and connections with other approaches in change detection and segmentation, as well as computational aspects in this field are also discussed. The experimental results obtained by Monte Carlo simulations for signal segmentation using different signal models, including models with changes in the mean, in FIR, AR and ARX model parameters, as well as comparisons with other methods, are presented and the effectiveness of the proposed approach is proved. Finally, we discuss an application of segmentation in the analysis of the earthquake records during the Kocaeli seism, Turkey, August 1999, Arcelik station (ARC). The optimal segmentation results are compared with time–frequency analysis, for the reduced interference distribution (RID). The analysis results confirm the efficiency of the segmentation approach used, the change instants resulted by MAP appearing clear in energy and frequency contents of time–frequency distribution.     

Excel多元线性回归及在化学中的应用

多元线性回归分析方法是化学实验数据处理中常用的数理统汁方法之一。本文介绍了利用Microsoft Excel的工作表函数、分析工具及规划求解工具等进行多元线性回归分析的多种方法并以分光光度法多组分同时测定为例．详细介绍了其使用方法和应用技巧。结果表明：在Microsoft Excel中,用不同分析方法对实验数据进行多元线性回归处理后,所得分析结果基本相同,甚至完全一致。与使用计算机编程或专业统计分析软件对数据进行多元线性回归分析相比．此方法不但快捷方便,操作简单,而且结果准确,易学易用,可大大提高实验数据处理效率。