The Dynamic Domain Reduction Procedure for Test

Although there are many techniques and tools available to support the software testing process, one of the most crucial parts of testing, generating the test data, is usually done by hand. Test data generation is one of the most technically challenging steps in testing software, but unfortunately, most practical systems do not incorporate any automation in this step. This paper presents a new method for automatically generating test data that incorporates ideas from symbolic evaluation, constraint-based testing, and dynamic test data generation. It takes an initial set of values for each input, and \pushes" the values through the control-ow graph of the program in a dynamic way, modifying the sets of values as branches in the program are taken. This method is an outgrowth of previous research in constraint-based testing, and combines several of the steps that were previously separate into one coherent process. The major diierence is that this method is dynamic, and resolves path constraints immediately; it also includes an intelligent search technique, and improved handling of arrays, loops, and pointers.