Ordered t-way Combinations for Testing State-based Systems

Published

May 29, 2023

Author(s)

D. Richard Kuhn, M S Raunak, Raghu N. Kacker

Abstract

Fault detection often depends on the specific order of inputs that establish states which eventually lead to a failure. However, beyond basic structural coverage metrics, it is often difficult to determine if the code has been exercised sufficiently to ensure confidence in its functions. Measures are needed to ensure that relevant combinations of input values have been tested with adequate diversity of ordering to ensure correct operation. Combinatorial testing and combinatorial coverage measures have been applied to many types of applications but have some deficiencies for verifying and testing state-based systems where the response depends on both input values and the current system state. In such systems, internal states change as input values are processed. Examples include network protocols, which may be in listening, partial connection, full connection, disconnected, and other states depending on the values of packet fields and the order of packets received. Similarly, merchant account balances in credit card systems change continuously as transactions are processed. This publication introduces a notion of ordered t- way combinations, proves a result regarding the construction of adequate blocks of test inputs, and discusses the application of the results to verify and test state-based systems.

Proceedings Title

IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation Workshops (ICSTW)

Conference Dates

April 16-20, 2023

Conference Location

Dublin, IE

Conference Title

12th International Workshop on Combinatorial Testing

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSTW58534.2023.00050

Local Download

Keywords

combinatorial coverage, combinatorial methods, combinatorial testing, software testing, structural coverage, test coverage

Citation

Kuhn, D. , Raunak, M. and Kacker, R. (2023), Ordered t-way Combinations for Testing State-based Systems, IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation Workshops (ICSTW), Dublin, IE, [online], https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSTW58534.2023.00050, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=936178 (Accessed May 16, 2026)

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