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Function substitution: Towards constraint solving in software testing

  • Xin Feng*
  • , Simon Marr
  • , Tony O'Callaghan
  • , Zhi Quan Zhou
  • , Jacques Carette
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Constraint solving is a fundamental tenet of most test case generation strategies. However, conventional constraint solving methods were not designed in consideration of that aspect of test case generation. It has led to a situation where test case generation techniques can miss test cases when constraints contain function invocations. This is due to the fact that, when solving constraints to generate test cases, function invocations are not effectively handled and, as a result, solutions to some constraints are not found even though they do exist. This problem occurs in both specification-based and code-based testing. To address the problem, this paper presents a function substitution method that transforms test case constraints that contain certain types of functions into equivalent constraints that do not contain those functions. The transformation preserves the solution space and avoids missed test cases. As a result, the completeness of test case generation can be improved.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 12th International Conference on Quality Software, QSIC 2012
Pages31-40
Number of pages10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012
Externally publishedYes
Event12th International Conference on Quality Software, QSIC 2012 - Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
Duration: 27 Aug 201229 Aug 2012

Publication series

NameProceedings - International Conference on Quality Software
ISSN (Print)1550-6002

Conference

Conference12th International Conference on Quality Software, QSIC 2012
Country/TerritoryChina
CityXi'an, Shaanxi
Period27/08/1229/08/12

Free Keywords

  • Software testing
  • Substitution completeness
  • Tabular expression
  • Test case constraint
  • Test case generation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Engineering

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