Mutation of model-checker specifications is used to generate test-cases automatically. In general, model-checker based techniques are efficient when using small, abstract models, but are limited in their applicability by the performance of the model-checker. Issues that contribute to potentially bad performance are equivalent mutants which result in no test-cases, and the fact that many different mutants lead to identical or subsumed test-cases. Another drawback of such approaches is that the size of resulting test-suites can be rather large, which might require test-suite reduction as an additional post-processing step. In this paper, we describe how the number of mutants can be minimized with special properties, which help to detect equivalent mutants more quickly and to avoid the creation of redundant test-cases. Consequently, the size of created test-suites is reduced.

A presentation of Certitude, which is a commercial software tool performing mutation analysis (MA). The product has been deployed within the microelectronics industry. Certitude is presented with specific emphasis on the product's standard processing model and feature extension mechanisms to support mutation analysis research an extension of Certitude to news languages.

In this paper, we apply our timing fault modeling strategy to writing formal specifications for communication protocols. Using the formal language of Specification and Description Language (SDL), we specify the Controller process of rail-road crossing system, a popular benchmark for real-time systems. Our extended finite state machine (EFSM) model has the capability of representing a class of timing faults, which otherwise may not be detected in an IUT. Hit-or-Jump algorithm is applied to the SDL specification based on our EFSM model to generate a test sequence that can detect these timing faults. This application of fault modeling into SDL specification ensures the synchronization among the timing constraints of different processes, and enables generation of portable test sequences since they can be easily represented in other formal notations such as TTCN or MSC.

Mutation testing is used to assess the fault-finding effectiveness of a test suite. Information provided by mutation testing can also be used to guide the creation of additional valuable tests and/or to reveal faults in the implementation code. However, concerns about the time efficiency of mutation testing may prohibit its widespread, practical use. We conducted an empirical study using the MuClipse automated mutation testing plug-in for Eclipse on the back end of a small web-based application. The first objective of our study was to categorize the behavior of the mutants generated by selected mutation operators during successive attempts to kill the mutants. The results of this categorization can be used to inform developers in their mutant operator selection to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their mutation testing. The second outcome of our study identified patterns in the implementation code that remained untested after attempting to kill all mutants.

Along with the evolution of the technique and use of aspect-oriented programming (AOP), the difficulty of testing the aspect-oriented programs is now receiving much attention. In this position paper, we describe an AspectJ program testing method based on fault model with the help of dependency model and interaction model.

State based protocols are protocols in which the handling of one message depends on the contents of previous messages. Testing such protocols, for security or for other purposes usually means specifying the state space of the protocol in some manner. This paper introduces a novel method of using an existing client to explore the state space. The messages exchanged between the client and test system are captured and mutated. To send the mutated test messages, the previous messages must be resent. Constraints expressed in an extended version of the Semantic Constraint Language are used to automatically derive the data dependencies between the messages.

Available soon...

The level of confidence in a VHDL description directly depends on the quality of its verification. This quality can be evaluated by mutation-based test, but the improvement of this quality requires tremendous efforts. In this paper, we propose a new approach that both qualifies and improves the functional verification process. First, we qualify test cases thanks to the mutation testing metrics: faults are injected in the design under verification (DUV) (making DUV's mutants) to check the capacity of test cases to detect theses mutants. Then, a heuristic is used to automatically improve IPs validation data. Experimental results obtained on RTL descriptions from ITC'99 benchmark show how efficient is our approach.

Available soon...

We present a tool to automatically generate mutants of SQL database queries. The SQLMutation tool is available on the Web and it can be accessed using two different interfaces: A Web application to interactively generate the mutants and a Web service that allows it to be integrated with other applications developed using different platforms.