Integrating Model-Based Testing and Analysis Tools via Test Case Exchange

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Speaker: 
Bernhard K. Aichernig, Graz University of Technology, Austria
Date/Time: 
Monday, 9 July 2012 - 3:00pm
Venue: 
UNU-IIST Seminar Room
Abstract: 

Europe's industry in embedded system design is currently aiming for a better integration of tools that support their development, validation and verification processes. The idea is to combine model-driven development with model-based testing and model-based analysis. The interoperability of tools shall be achieved with the help of meta-models that facilitate the mapping between different modelling notations. However, the syntactic and semantic integration of tools is a complex and costly task. A common problem is that different tools support different subsets of a language.  Furthermore, semantic differences are a major obstacle to sound integration efforts.

In this talk we advocate an alternative, more pragmatic approach. We propose the exchange of test cases generated from the models instead of exchanging the models themselves.  The advantage is that test cases have a much simpler syntax and semantics, and hence, the mapping between different tools is easier to implement and to maintain. With a formal testing approach with adequate testing criteria a set of test cases can be viewed as partial models that can be formally analysed. We demonstrate an integration of our test case generator Ulysses with the CADP toolbox by means of test case exchange. We generate test cases in Ulysses and verify properties in CADP. We also generate test cases in CADP and perform a mutation analysis in Ulysses. 
Biography: 

Bernhard K. Aichernig is an assistant professor, key researcher and project manager at Graz University of Technology, Austria. He is an expert in formal methods and testing. His research focuses on the foundations of software engineering in order to achieve more reliable computer-based systems. Since 2006, he runs European projects on this topic (CREDO, MOGENTES, MBAT). Bernhard is also a board member of Formal Methods Europe (FME), an international organisation that promotes well-founded techniques in software engineering and organises the Formal Methods  (FM) conferences. From 2002 to 2006 he worked as a Research Fellow at UNU-IIST in Macao S.A.R., China, a research institute of the United Nations on software technology. He holds a doctorate and a diploma engineer degree from Graz University of Technology.