Regression Test Selection For Testable Classes

A reusable class must be tested many times: each time modifications are applied to it or its base classes; when a subclass is created, in which case the inherited and redefined features must be retested in the new context. Therefore, a class should be easy to test, specifically for test execution and results analysis, since these activities must be repeated often. Inspired by R. Binder's self-testing class concept [4] we defined, in a previous work, a testable class as a 3-tuple: class implementation, class behavior model and built-in test (BIT) mechanisms. In this work we present how to use this information when a class is changed. Regression testing is necessary each time a software is changed, to assure that the modifications do not adversely affect the unchanged parts. It is assumed that the test suite applied when testing the old version is available for reuse. However, test suites can be large and require too much effort to be reapplied in their totality. In such cases, a subset of the tests must be selected. This selection usually requires extra information besides the source code. This work aims at answering the following question: how to use test information contained in a testable class to do regression testing? The answer involves, among other aspects, the definition of an approach to select tests for reuse. The approach can be fully automated and does not need the source code for regression-test selection. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.3463453470Ball, T., On the limit of control-flow analysis for regression test selection (1998) International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA), pp. 143-242Beizer, B., (1995) Black-box Testing, , John Wiley & SonsBeydeda, S., Gruhn, V., Merging components and testing tools - The self-testing COTS components (STECC) strategy (2003) Proc. EUROMICRO Conference Component-based Software Engineering TrackBinder, R.V., Design for testability in object-oriented systems (1994) Comm. of ACM, 37 (9), pp. 87-101. , SeptBinder, R.V., Testing object-oriented systems (2000) Models, Patterns and Tools, , Addison-WesleyBriand, L., Labiche, Y., Soccar, G., Automating impact analysis and regression test selection based on UML designs (2002) International Conference on Software Maintenance (ICSM'02), p. 0252. , Montreal, Quebec, Canada, OctoberChen, Y., Probert, R.L., Sims, D.P., Specification-based regression test selection with risk analysis (2002) Conference of the Center for Advanced Studies on Collaborative Research, pp. 1-14Fowler, M., Scott, K., (2000) UML Distilled. Second Edition, , Addison-WesleyGao, J., Testing component-based software (1999) Proc. of STARWest, , www.engr.sjsu/edu/gaojerry/report/star-test.htm, San Jose, USACommonC++, , ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/commonc++/, Accessed in January/2002Granja, I., Jino, M., Techniques for regression testing: Selecting test case sets tailored to possibly modified functionalities (1999) Third IEEE European Conference on Software Maintenance Engineering, pp. 2-11. , MarchHarrold, M.J., Jones, J.A., Li, T., Liang, D., Orso, A., Pennings, M., Sinha, S., Spoon, S.A., Regression test selection for Java software (2001) ACM Conf. on OO Programming, Systems, Languages and Applications (OOPSLA)Huffman, D., Hardware testing and software ICs (1989) Proc. Northwest Software Quality Conference, pp. 234-244. , USA, SeptHörnstein, J., Edler, H., Configuration and testing of components in software product lines (2002) Proc. SERPS'02: Second Conference on Software Engineering Research and Practise in Sweden, , Karlskrona, Sweden, 24-25 OctoberLeung, H.K.N., White, L., Insights into regression testing (1989) Proc. of the IEEE Conference on Software Maintenance, pp. 531-537. , OcotoberLeung, H.K.N., White, L., A cost model to compare regression test strategies (1991) Proc. of the IEEE Conference on Software Maintenance, pp. 201-208. , OcotoberMartins, E., Toyota, C., Yanagawa, R., Constructing self-testable software components (2001) Proc. IEEE/IFIP Dependable Systems and Networks (DSN) Conference, , GothemburgMeyer, B., Applying design by contract (1992) IEEE Computer, pp. 40-45. , OctOrso, A., Harrold, M.J., Rosenblum, D., Component metadata for software engineering tasks (2000) LNCS, 1999, pp. 129-144. , Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Engineering Distributed Objects (EDO 2000), Springer November Davis, CA, USARothermel, G., Harrold, M.J., Selecting regression tests for object-oriented software (1994) IEEE Procedings of International Conference on Software Maintenance, pp. 14-25. , SepRothermel, G., Harrold, M.J., Analyzing regression test selection techniques (1996) IEEE Transactions on Sw. Engineering, 22 (8)Rothermel, G., Harrold, M.J., A safe, efficient regression test selection technique (1997) ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, pp. 173-210Rothermel, G., Harrold, M.J., Dedhia, J., Regression test selection for C++ software (2000) Journal of Software Testing, Verification and Reliability, 10 (2). , JuneTraon, Y., Deveaux, D., Jézéquel, J., Self-testable components - From pragmatic tests to design-for-testability methodology (1997) Proc. 1st. Workshop on Component-based Systems, , Switzerlan