Software end-to-end functional integration testing: A thin-thread based approach.

摘要

Testing is an important means of software quality assurance. The increasing Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS), fosters the growing demand for integration testing on large, complex, information-based systems. In spite of more than 20 years of research on testing, most of the testing techniques still focus on module testing and white-box testing, and most integration testing techniques are still principles. To respond to this need, End-to-End (E2E) integration testing is initiated, which emphasizes verifying the functional correctness of the integrated system from the end users' viewpoint.; This thesis presents the research on the E2E testing process model, design, functional regression testing, tool support, and applications. It also defines the specification-based systematic testing process including test planning, test design, test execution, test results analysis, and retesting. These activities are merged into the lifecycle process of software development. This thesis also aims to strengthen testing on traditional process models, enforce system testability and quality control from the early stage of software development, and enable testing effort reuse and continuous quality improvement during software evolution.; Test design lies at the heart of E2E testing. A thin-thread tree is used to capture system usage scenarios and organize them hierarchically. Conditions to activate the functions represented by thin threads are specified and arranged into a condition tree. Based on thin-thread and condition specifications, test scenarios and test cases are generated to describe the verified functions and exercised test data during a test session.; Regression testing is an effective technique to ensure the integrity and consistency of the modified system. In contrast to current code-based approaches, this thesis proposes functional regression testing based on thin-thread slicing and characterized Ripple Effect Analysis (REA).; The generic E2E test model can be tailored and extended to integrate with existing modeling techniques to improve their testing capabilities. This thesis discusses the relationships between the E2E test model and the industry standard UML (Uniform Modeling Language) model, and the applications of the model for testing GUI (Graphic User Interface) applications, especially screen navigation testing.