Method for Categorising Test Scripts from Weights Derived from a Partial Order

Abstract

Requirements for systems involving communicating processes (e.g. telecommunication systems) are often described with the aid of graphical notations, such as: Unified Modelling Language (UML), Message Sequence Charts (MSC) or Specification and Description Language (SDL). In using these notations to define requirements engineers tend to think of the most obvious behaviours of the system first (e.g. common system scenarios). However, depending upon the semantics of the graphical notation, specifications may also include non-obvious behaviours that at first glance are not apparent to the engineer when developing the specification. The method described here categorises tests that are automatically generated from a specification according to some suitable numerical weight. The idea is to define a weighting scheme that differentiates the most obvious behaviours from the non-obvious behaviours. In doing so, the user can quickly assess which test scripts represent the obvious behaviours, and consequently can concentrate on making sure that the most obvious behaviours are covered first.

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