OCL-based test case prioritisation using AgileUML

Jin, Kunxiang; Lano, Kevin

doi:10.1145/3550356.3561593

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As the same procedure of our previous work [11], the following is the pseudocode of the TCP process. The inputs for the TCP process, as shown in Algorithm 2, can either come from the minimised test cases from the TCM process or from the original OCL specification when conducting the TCP process exclusively.…”

Section: Test Case Prioritisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

OCL-Based Test Case Optimisation with Modified APFD Metric

Jin,

Lano

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Testing is one of the most time-consuming and unpredictable processes within the software development life cycle. As a result, many Test Case Optimisation (TCO) techniques have been proposed to make this process more scalable. Object Constraint Language (OCL) was initially introduced as a constraint language to provide additional details to UML models. However, as OCL continues to evolve, an increasing number of systems are being expressed by this language. Despite this growth, a noticeable research gap exists for the testing of systems whose specifications are expressed in OCL. In our previous work, we verified the effectiveness and efficiency of performing the Test Case Prioritisation (TCP) process for these systems. In this study, we extend our previous work by integrating the Test Case Minimisation (TCM) process to determine whether TCM can also benefit the testing process under the context of OCL. The evaluation of TCO approaches often relies on well-established metrics such as the Average Percentage of Fault Detection (APFD). However, the suitability of APFD for Model-Based Testing (MBT) is not ideal. This paper addresses this limitation by proposing a modification to the APFD metric to enhance its viability for MBT scenarios. We conducted four case studies to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the TCM and TCP processes in our proposed approach. In these studies, we applied the multi-objective optimisation algorithm NSGA-II and the genetic algorithm independently to the TCM and TCP processes. The objective was to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of combining TCM and TCP in enhancing the testing phase. Through experimental analysis, the results highlight the benefits of integrating TCM and TCP in the context of OCL-based testing, providing valuable insights for practitioners and researchers aiming to optimise their testing efforts. Specifically, the main contributions of this work include: 1). We introduce the integration of the TCM process into the TCO process for systems expressed by OCL. This integration benefits the testing process further by reducing redundant test cases while ensuring sufficient coverage. 2). We comprehensively analyse the limitations associated with the commonly used metric, APFD, and then a modified version of the APFD metric has been proposed to overcome these weaknesses. 3). We systematically evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of OCL-based TCO processes on four real-world case studies with different complexities.

show abstract

Section: Test Case Prioritisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our earlier research [11] demonstrated the effectiveness and efficiency of applying the TCP process to system specifications expressed in OCL. In this study, we build upon this foundation by incorporating the TCM process to discern whether its integration will bring additional benefits to the testing process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

OCL-Based Test Case Optimisation with Modified APFD Metric

Jin,

Lano

2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Object Constraint Language based test case optimization with modified Average Percentage of Fault Detection metric

Jin,

Lano

2024

J Software Evolu Process

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Testing is one of the most time‐consuming and unpredictable processes within the software development life cycle. As a result, many test case optimization (TCO) techniques have been proposed to make this process more scalable. Object Constraint Language (OCL) was initially introduced as a constraint language to provide additional details to Unified Modeling Language models. However, as OCL continues to evolve, an increasing number of systems are being expressed by this language. Despite this growth, a noticeable research gap exists for the testing of systems whose specifications are expressed in OCL. In our previous work, we verified the effectiveness and efficiency of performing the test case prioritization (TCP) process for these systems. In this study, we extend our previous work by integrating the test case minimization (TCM) process to determine whether TCM can also benefit the testing process under the context of OCL. The evaluation of TCO approaches often relies on well‐established metrics such as the average percentage of fault detection (APFD). However, the suitability of APFD for model‐based testing (MBT) is not ideal. This paper addresses this limitation by proposing a modification to the APFD metric to enhance its viability for MBT scenarios. We conducted four case studies to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the TCM and TCP processes into our proposed approach. In these studies, we applied the multi‐objective optimization algorithm NSGA‐II and the genetic algorithm independently to the TCM and TCP processes. The objective was to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of combining TCM and TCP in enhancing the testing phase. Through experimental analysis, the results highlight the benefits of integrating TCM and TCP in the context of OCL‐based testing, providing valuable insights for practitioners and researchers aiming to optimize their testing efforts. Specifically, the main contributions of this work include the following: (1) we introduce the integration of the TCM process into the TCO process for systems expressed by OCL. This integration benefits the testing process further by reducing redundant test cases while ensuring sufficient coverage. (2) We comprehensively analyze the limitations associated with the commonly used metric, APFD, and then, a modified version of the APFD metric has been proposed to overcome these weaknesses. (3). We systematically evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of OCL‐based TCO processes on four real‐world case studies with different complexities.

show abstract

Using model-driven engineering to automate software language translation

Lano,

Siala

2024

Autom Softw Eng

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The porting or translation of software applications from one programming language to another is a common requirement of organisations that utilise software, and the increasing number and diversity of programming languages makes this capability as relevant today as in previous decades. Several approaches have been used to address this challenge, including machine learning and the manual definition of direct language-to-language translation rules, however the accuracy of these approaches remains unsatisfactory. In this paper we describe a new approach to program translation using model-driven engineering techniques: reverse-engineering source programs into specifications in the UML and OCL formalisms, and then forward-engineering the specifications to the required target language. This approach can provide assurance of semantic preservation, and additionally has the advantage of extracting precise specifications of software from code. We provide an evaluation based on a comprehensive dataset of examples, including industrial cases, and compare our results to those of other approaches and tools. Our specific contributions are: (1) Reverse-engineering source programs to detailed semantic models of software behaviour, to enable semantically-correct translations and reduce re-testing costs; (2) Program abstraction processes defined by precise and explicit rules, which can be edited and configured by users; (3) A set of reusable OCL library components appropriate for representing program semantics, and which can also be used for OCL specification of new applications; (4) A systematic procedure for building program abstractors based on language grammars and semantics.

show abstract

OCL-based test case prioritisation using AgileUML

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

OCL-Based Test Case Optimisation with Modified APFD Metric

OCL-Based Test Case Optimisation with Modified APFD Metric

Object Constraint Language based test case optimization with modified Average Percentage of Fault Detection metric

Using model-driven engineering to automate software language translation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About