Using abstract models for the generation of test data with a complex structure

An approach to the automatic generation of test data having a complex structure (such as XML documents, programs in various programming languages, and the like) is presented. It is based on abstract models that represent various views of the structure of the desired data. The approach enables one to generate small sets of test data for testing the functionality of the target system. The use of abstract models makes configuration of the generation procedure easy and clear; it also facilitates the maintenance and reuse of existing configurations of the test data generator. The approach was implemented in the test data generator called Pinery, which was successfully used in a number of projects including testing commercial C/C++ compilers.