Model transformation impact on test artifacts: an empirical study

  • Authors:

  • Anders Eriksson;Birgitta Lindström;Sten F. Andler;Jeff Offutt

  • Affiliations:

  • University of Skövde, Sweden;University of Skövde, Sweden;University of Skövde, Sweden;George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the Workshop on Model-Driven Engineering, Verification and Validation
  • Year:
  • 2012

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Abstract

Development environments that support Model-Driven Development often focus on model-level functional testing, enabling verification of design models against their specifications. However, developers of safety-critical software systems are also required to show that tests cover the structure of the implementation. Unfortunately, the implementation structure can diverge from the model depending on choices such as the model compiler or target language. Therefore, structural coverage at the model level may not guarantee coverage of the implementation. We present results from an industrial experiment that demonstrates the model-compiler effect on test artifacts in xtUML models when these models are transformed into C++. Test artifacts, i.e., predicates and clauses, are used to satisfy the structural code coverage criterion, in this case MCDC, which is required by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The results of the experiment show not only that the implementation contains more test artifacts than the model, but also that the test artifacts can be deterministically enumerated during translation. The analysis identifies two major sources for these additional test artifacts.