Negative constrained path-based testing method

A method of Negative Constrained Path-based Testing for automatic and efficient performing software and hardware tests and obtaining cost-optimal test scenarios from SUT model, denoted G, G={N, E), wherein N represents a set of nodes N, and E represents a set of edges, characterized in that the method employs use of following parameters:

• wherein TP represents an intermediate set of test paths comprised of sequences of edges,
• wherein T represents a final set of test paths comprised of sequences of edges,
• wherein V represents a set of visited edges,
• wherein e represents a transition between nodes inside a SUT model,
• wherein path P_start represents a sequence of edges,
• wherein path P_end represents a sequence of edges,
• wherein path P represents a sequence of edges,
• wherein Boolean variable x can equal either true, or false value,
• wherein path p_nodes represents a sequence of nodes of path p, where p_nodes is made in a way that each node in p_nodes is both a source of each edge in the original path p and the target of the last edge in p,
• wherein nc represents a negative constraint from a set of negative constraints NC and
• wherein negative constraint of type EXCLUSIVE-n1-n2 corresponds to that a node n1 must not be followed by node n2 in any of the paths in the set of test paths, and
• wherein negative constraint of type ONLY ONCE-m1-m2 corresponds to that a node m1 can be followed by node m2 only once in only one of the test paths in the set of test paths,
• and the method further comprises following steps:
• A) creating temporary variables used in the method:
• empty sets TP representing an intermediate set of test paths and V representing a set of visited edges;
• B) traversing all edges, where each edge represents a transition between activities inside a modeled process;
• C) for each edge denoted e that is not yet added to V, firstly finding a path corresponding to an adjacent sequence of edges denoted P_start from the start node to e and then secondly finding a path denoted P_end that goes from the edge e to any end node;
• D) joining the paths from steps C) to create a resulting path P that is added to set TP and adding each edge in TP to V, wherein the set TP is made of the individual paths;
• E) applying on set TP the filtering sub-algorithm, wherein first a new set denoted T is created and all paths from TP are copied into T;
• F) using the sub-algorithm to traversing each negative constraint pair denoted nc;
• G) using the sub-algorithm to creating a variable x, which is set to false and for each nc traversing paths in TP;
• H) during the traversal of TP, when the traversed path denoted p_nodes from TP viewed as a sequence of nodes contains nc, then:
• when nc is of type EXCLUSIVE or variable x equals true, then arranging that path represented by a sequence p_nodes is removed from T, and the traversal of TP continues, otherwise arranging that variable x is set to true, and the traversal of TP continues;
• I) obtaining the resulting set of test paths in T.