Testing conformance to a quasi non-deterministic stream X-machine

R M Hierons, M Harman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Stream X-machines have been used in order to specify a range of systems. One of the strengths of this approach is that, under certain well-defined conditions, it is possible to produce a finite test that is guaranteed to determine the correctness of the implementation under test (IUT). Initially only deterministic stream X-machines were considered in the literature. This is largely because the standard test algorithm relies on the stream X-machine being deterministic. More recently the problem of testing to determine whether the IUT is equivalent to a non-deterministic stream X-machine specification has been tackled. Since non-determinism can be important for specifications, this is an extremely useful extension. In many cases, however, we wish to test for a weaker notion of correctness called conformance. This paper considers a particular form of non-determinism, within stream X-machines, that will be called quasi-non-determinism. It then investigates the generation of tests that are guaranteed to determine whether the IUT conforms to a quasi-non-deterministic stream X-machine specification. The test generation algorithm given is a generalisation of that used for testing from a deterministic stream X-machine. (25 References).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)423 - 442
Number of pages20
JournalFORMAL ASPECTS OF COMPUTING
Volumeol.12
Issue number.6
Publication statusPublished - 2000

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