Computer system testing

An apparatus for testing an application that processes a set of received input data and a set of stored reference data according to data processing operations, the apparatus comprising:

• a memory;
• a processor;
• a data repository comprising a database hosted on volatile and/or non-volatile storage, the data repository storing:
• a copy of at least some referenced data of the set of stored reference data, wherein each of the set of received input data and the set of stored reference data comprises attributes, each attribute having at least one value,
• a logic defining content of the set of received input data and valid combinations of values for attributes of the set of received input data and the set of stored reference data, the logic designating a plurality of attributes of the set of received input data and set of the stored reference data as attributes whose values determine a data processing operation performed by the application,
• wherein the data repository is configured to determine a plurality of valid values or ranges for the designated attributes that result in the different processing operations being performed by the application;
• and
• a test data generation component comprising instructions stored in the memory which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate a set of input data for testing the application by:
• generating a plurality of vectors, each vector comprising a plurality of values of a respective designated attribute selected from the plurality of valid values or ranges of values determined for the respective attribute;
• determining a Cartesian product of the plurality of vectors to generate a plurality of valid combinations of values of the designated attributes that result in the application performing different data processing operations during testing, and
• outputting the generated plurality of combinations of values as the set of input data for testing the application.

A computer-implemented method for testing an application that processes a set of received input data and a set of stored reference data according to data processing operations, each of the set of received input data and the set of stored reference data comprising attributes, each of the attributes having at least one value, the method performed by a processor when executing a set of instructions stored in a memory, the method comprising:

• loading, into a data repository comprising a database hosted on volatile and/or non-volatile storage, a logic, defining content of the set of received input data and valid combinations of values for attributes of the set of received input data, and the set of stored reference data, the data repository storing a copy of at least some of the set of stored reference data;
• designating, in the data repository, a plurality of attributes of the set of received input data and set of the stored reference data as being an attribute whose values determine a data processing operation performed by the application;
• determining, a plurality of valid values or ranges for the designated attributes that result in the different processing operations being performed by the application;
• and
• generating a set of input data for testing the application by:
• generating a plurality of vectors, each vector comprising a plurality of values of a respective designated attribute selected from the plurality of valid values or ranges of values determined for the respective attribute;
• determining a Cartesian product of the plurality of vectors to generate a plurality of valid combinations of values of the designated attributes that result in the application performing the different data processing operations during testing;
• and
• outputting the generated plurality of combinations of values as the set of input data for testing the application.

A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for testing an application that processes a set of receive input data and a set of stored reference data according to data processing operations, each of the set of received input data and the set of stored reference data comprising attributes, each of the attributes having at least one value, the operations comprising:

• loading, into a data repository comprising a database hosted on volatile and/or non-volatile storage, a logic defining content of the set of received input data and valid combinations of values for attributes of the set of received input data and the set of stored reference data, the data storing a copy of at least some of the set of stored reference data;
• designating, in the data repository, a plurality of attributes of the set of received input data and set of the stored reference data as being an attribute whose values determine a data processing operation performed by the application;
• determining, a plurality of valid values or ranges for the designated attributes that result in the different processing operations being performed by the application;
• and
• generating a set of input data for testing the application by:
• generating a plurality of vectors, each vector comprising a plurality of values of a respective designated attribute selected from the plurality of valid values or ranges of values determined for the respective attribute;
• determining a Cartesian product of the plurality of vectors to generate a plurality of valid combinations of values of the designated attributes that result in the application performing the different data processing operations during testing;
• and
• outputting the generated plurality of combinations of values i as the set of input data for testing the application.