Testing restorable systems: formal definition and heuristic solution based on river formation dynamics.

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Title: Testing restorable systems: formal definition and heuristic solution based on river formation dynamics.
Authors: Rabanal, Pablo1, Rodríguez, Ismael1, Rubio, Fernando1 fernando@sip.ucm.es
Source: Formal Aspects of Computing. Sep2013, Vol. 25 Issue 5, p743-768. 26p.
Subjects: Computer systems, Computers testing, Heuristic algorithms, Finite state machines, Evolutionary computation, Problem solving
Abstract: Given a finite state machine denoting the specification of a system, finding some short interaction sequences capable of reaching some/all states or transitions of this machine is a typical goal in testing methods. If these sequences are applied to an implementation under test, then equivalent states or transitions would be reached and observed in the implementation-provided that the implementation were actually defined as the specification. We study the problem of finding such sequences in the case where configurations previously traversed can be saved and restored (at some cost). In general, this feature enables sequences to reach the required parts of the machine in less time, because some repetitions can be avoided. However, we show that finding optimal sequences in this case is an NP-hard problem. We propose an heuristic method to approximately solve this problem based on an evolutionary computation approach, in particular river formation dynamics (RFD). Given finite state machine specifications and sets of states/transitions to be reached, we apply RFD to construct testing plans reaching these configurations. Experimental results show that being able to load previously traversed states generally reduces the time needed to cover the target configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Formal Aspects of Computing is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Given a finite state machine denoting the specification of a system, finding some short interaction sequences capable of reaching some/all states or transitions of this machine is a typical goal in testing methods. If these sequences are applied to an implementation under test, then equivalent states or transitions would be reached and observed in the implementation-provided that the implementation were actually defined as the specification. We study the problem of finding such sequences in the case where configurations previously traversed can be saved and restored (at some cost). In general, this feature enables sequences to reach the required parts of the machine in less time, because some repetitions can be avoided. However, we show that finding optimal sequences in this case is an NP-hard problem. We propose an heuristic method to approximately solve this problem based on an evolutionary computation approach, in particular river formation dynamics (RFD). Given finite state machine specifications and sets of states/transitions to be reached, we apply RFD to construct testing plans reaching these configurations. Experimental results show that being able to load previously traversed states generally reduces the time needed to cover the target configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Formal Aspects of Computing is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s00165-011-0206-3
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 26
        StartPage: 743
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      – SubjectFull: Computer systems
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Computers testing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Heuristic algorithms
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Finite state machines
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Evolutionary computation
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      – SubjectFull: Problem solving
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      – TitleFull: Testing restorable systems: formal definition and heuristic solution based on river formation dynamics.
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            NameFull: Rodríguez, Ismael
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            NameFull: Rubio, Fernando
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            – D: 01
              M: 09
              Text: Sep2013
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              Y: 2013
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