Simon Stobart

Employing data flow testing on object-oriented classes

At the class testing level, state-based testing and data flow testing techniques have been employed. However, while the former only involves the variables that have an effect on the behaviour of the object under test, it is possible for errors to occur in variables, which do not define an object’s state. Data flow testing has been applied to generate test cases for testing classes using data flow criteria, but this is a difficult task. Moreover, some of data flow test cases thus generated may be unworkable. Selecting data flow test cases based on sequences of specification messages is a way to reduce the effort of generating feasible intra-class data flow test cases. However, some test cases cannot be selected, if data flow anomalies exist within the sequences. The data flow testing technique in this research is divided into two stages; first detecting data flow anomalies and then computing data flow test cases.

An automatic test case generator derived from state-based testing

This paper describes an automated approach to generating test cases for an object-oriented class. The approach is derived from state-based testing methods and refers to a state machine from which a threaded multi-way tree (duplicating the behaviour of the state machine) is produced. All possible sequential test cases can then be automatically created, when the test case generator parses the tree.

Introduction to Variables

In this chapter we shall introduce the concept of variables. We shall examine how they are defined and used within PHP, the limitations of their use and why they are so important. We shall begin by explaining what variables are.

An empirical evaluation of the use of CASE tools

Investigations conducted in three separate countries by four research groups on the use and effectiveness of CASE within industry are reported. Comparisons are drawn between the three sets of research findings, and similarities and differences in the impact of CASE within the different countries are identified. The report combines the experience of the authors, and provides a wider insight into the use and effectiveness of CASE tools on a worldwide scale.

Iterative design and testing within the software development life cycle

The activity of testing begins during system development and spans all subsequent phases. Some system development lifecycles describe testing which is performed after the coding phase, but this may cause the software to be delivered without sufficient testing. In this paper, we present a software system development lifecycle model, called the Test design Stages Processed model (TSP model), in which we emphasize that iterative test design stages should be incorporated at each phase of the software development lifecycle. When a phase is completed, testing of the phase should also be completed at that time. Within this paper we have added unit, integration and system testing processes into BoochÕs micro–design process to generate a new designs and test model. This shows the process of iterative and incremental software development. Comparing this with our model, we explain how the TSP model can be used for developing and testing an object-oriented software system.

Introduction to PHP

In this chapter we shall introduce you to PHP. We shall describe what PHP is, its history and its popularity. Let us begin by looking at exactly what PHP is.

Automated class testing using threaded multi-way trees to represent the behaviour of state machines

Extensive test data is required to demonstrate that “few” errors exist in software. If the process of software testing could be carried out automatically, testing efficiency would increase and the cost of software development would be significantly reduced. In this paper, a tool for detecting errors in object oriented classes is proposed. The approach uses a state-based testing method. The method utilises state machines in order to produce threaded multi-way trees, which are referred to as inspection trees. Inspection trees can be used to generate test cases and parse test results files. This allows us to determine whether the classes under test contain errors. The algorithms for the creation of inspection trees and the examination of the test results file using an inspection tree are described in the paper.

Classes and Objects

Many modern programming languages now support the object-oriented paradigm. Object orientation is an alternative way of designing and implementing programs. Within the object-oriented paradigm, programmers model things known as classes and then use these within a program by creating instances of these classes known as objects. PHP supports the creation of classes and the implementation of objects and enables the programmer to develop object-oriented programs. In this chapter we shall describe the concept of object orientation and provide some examples of what aspects of the paradigm PHP supports.

Creating PDF Documents

PDFlib is a library of functions which have been created to allow you to generate documents in Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF has become a standard for document storage on the Web. The PDFlib library is now available for use with PHP; in fact, the latest version of PHP comes with the PDFlib already included. All you need to do to activate it and then you can begin creating your own dynamic PDF documents. In this chapter we shall introduce the PDFlib library and examine some of the functions available to the developer.

Form Validation and Data Retention

When interacting with the user it is important to ensure that the data that you think the user has entered is in fact what you want. Users are notorious in not typing what you expect and thus form data validation is very important. Consider if an error in the data entered on the form is detected then the form should be redisplayed to the user for correction. However, it would be very annoying if the user had to reenter all of the form data, even that which was correct in the first instance. Therefore, a means of retaining and redisplaying form data is required. This chapter describes how form data validation and the redisplaying of form data can be accomplished.