Test Scenario Generation Based on Formal Specification and Usage Profile

This paper presents a method for test scenario generation based on formal specifications and usage profiles. It is a major component of a framework for testing object-oriented programs. In this framework, the requirements of a software system are formally specified. The anticipated application of the system is expressed in a usage profile, which is a state model that indicates the dynamic behavior of the system and execution probabilities for the behaviors. The state model is used as a guide to derive the anticipated operation scenarios. An enhanced state transition diagram is used to represent the state model, which incorporates hierarchy, usage and parameter information. Since the number of feasible scenarios can be extremely large, probability and importance criteria are used to select the most probable and important scenarios.