Automating software analysis and testing using a program transformation system

ABSTRACT

We describe an approach to software analysis and test generation that combines several technologies: object-oriented databases and parsers for capturing and representing software; pattern languages for writing program templates and querying and analyzing a database of software; and transformation rules for automatically generating test cases based on the analysis results, and for automatically creating program “mutants” to determine adequacy of coverage of the test cases. We present a program transformation system, REFINE™1, that incorporates these technologies in an open environment for software analysis and test generation. Next we present concrete examples of how our approach is being applied to analysis and test generation for C software.

REFERENCES

• 1: REASONING SYSTEMS, PALO ALTO, CA. The REFINE User's Guide. 1985.
• 2: Second Workshop on Software Testing, Verifycation and Analysis (Banff, Alberta, Canada, July 19-21, 1988), IEEE Computer Society Press, 1988.
• 3: DEMILLO, R. A., ET. AL. An extended overview of the Mothra software testing environment. In Second Workshop on Software Testing, Verification and Analysis (Banff, Alberta, Canada, July 19-21, 1988), IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 142-151.
• 4: Mark A. Linton, Implementing relational views of programs, Proceedings of the first ACM SIGSOFT/SIGPLAN software engineering symposium on Practical software development environments, p.132-140, April 1984
• 5: D. E. Perry, Software interconnection models, Proceedings of the 9th international conference on Software Engineering, p.61-69, March 1987, Monterey, California, United States
• 6: Thomas W. Reps, Generating language-based environments, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1984
• 7: Richard N. Taylor , Frank C. Belz , Lori A. Clarke , Leon Osterweil , Richard W. Selby , Jack C. Wileden , Alexander L. Wolf , Michael Young, Foundations for the Arcadia environment architecture, Proceedings of the third ACM SIGSOFT/SIGPLAN software engineering symposium on Practical software development environments, p.1-13, November 28-30, 1988, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
• 8: TEITELMAN, W., AND MASINTER, L. The Interlisp programming environment. In Interactive Programming Environments, D. R. Barstow, H. E. Shrobe, and E. Sandewall, Eds., McGraw-Hill, 1984.
• 9: WU, D. A practical method for software quaiity control via program mutation. In Second Workshop on Software Testing, Verification and Analysis (Banff, Alberta, Canada, July 19-21, 1988), IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 159-170.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.1 Requirements/Specifications
          Subjects: Languages

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.5 Testing and Debugging
          Subjects: Testing tools (e.g., data generators, coverage testing)
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications

          Nouns: C

  H. Information Systems
  H.2 DATABASE MANAGEMENT

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
      I.2.2 Automatic Programming
          Subjects: Program transformation

General Terms:
Languages, Reliability, Verification