The document discusses test case generation from Z specifications using the Test Template Framework (TTF). It describes the TTF process which involves partitioning the specification, generating a test tree, pruning unsatisfiable conditions, generating abstract test cases, refining them, and executing the tests. It outlines how Fastest implements the TTF by applying tactics like disjunctive normal form and standard partition to specifications, pruning contradictions using a library of theorems, and generating test cases by finding constants that satisfy conditions. However, it notes that Fastest's generation algorithm could be improved and that applying the TTF to large industrial systems was previously difficult without more advanced solvers and provers.

1. Fastest
Test Case Generation from Z Specifications
Maximiliano Cristi´
a
CIFASIS
Universidad Nacional de Rosario
Rosario – Argentina
cristia@cifasis-conicet.gov.ar
Alpen-Adria Univesit¨t – Klagenfurt – March, 2012
a

2. Software Testing Basics
Program Correctness
A program is correct if it behaves according to its specification
Edsger Dijkstra
“Program testing can be a very effective way to show the presence
of bugs, but it is hopelessly inadequate for showing their absence.”
Donald Knuth
“Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct,
not tried it.”
2 / 34

3. Model-Based Testing (MBT)
MBT analyses a model of the MBT Process
program to derive test cases which requeriments
later are provided as input.
At the beginning, the model is used model error?
to generate test cases. verify
generate
At end, the model becomes the
abstract abstract
oracle.
tests results
If a model is provided, the process
abstract
is almost automatic. refine
execute
tests results
3 / 34

4. The Test Template Framework and Fastest
The Test Template Framework (TTF)
A particular method of MBT which uses Z specifications.
Unit testing.
Stocks and Carrington, A Framework for Specification-Based
Testing, IEEE TOSE 1996.
Fastest
It is the only existing implementation of the TTF.
Available at www.fceia.unr.edu.ar/~mcristia.
Cristi´ and Rodr´
a ıguez Monetti, Implementing and Applying
the Stocks-Carrington Framework for MBT, ICFEM 2009.
4 / 34

5. TTF Automation
The TTF in 9 Steps MBT Process
1 Partition the IS by applying testing tactics. requeriments
2 Generate a testing tree
3 Prune the testing tree. model error?
verify
4 Generate abstract test cases. generate
(Optionally) Translate test cases into abstract abstract
natural language. tests results
5 Refine abstract test cases.
refine abstract
6 Execute test cases. execute
tests results
7 Get the program output.
8 Abstract the program output.
9 Check for errors.
5 / 34

6. An Example
The Requirements
A bank has a certain number of savings accounts.
Customers can deposit and withdraw money.
Each account is identified with an account number.
An amount of money is considered to be a natural number.
Only the deposit operation is going to be shown.
6 / 34

7. The Z Specification
Types and State Space
[ACCNUM] A type for account numbers
BALANCE == N A type for balances
AMOUNT == N A type for amounts of money
Bank
sa : ACCNUM → BALANCE
7 / 34

8. The Z Specification
The Deposit Operation
DepositOk
∆Bank
n? : ACCNUM
a? : AMOUNT
n? ∈ dom sa
a? > 0
sa = sa ⊕ {n? → sa n? + a?}
DepositE 1 == [ΞBank; n? : ACCNUM | n? ∈ dom sa]
/
DepositE 2 == [ΞBank; a? : Z | a? ≤ 0]
Deposit == DepositOk ∨ DepositE 1 ∨ DepositE 2
loadspec bank.tex
selop Deposit
8 / 34

9. The TTF in 9 Steps MBT Process
1 Partition the IS by applying testing tactics. requeriments
2 Generate a testing tree.
3 Prune the testing tree. model error?
verify
4 Generate abstract test cases. generate
(Optionally) Translate test cases into abstract abstract
natural language. tests results
5 Refine abstract test cases.
refine abstract
6 Execute test cases. execute
tests results
7 Get the program output.
8 Abstract the program output.
9 Check for errors.

10. Domain Partition
Given a Z operation, take its input space and get a partition of it.
input testing input testing input testing
space tactic space tactic space tactic
P Q P P1 Q Q1
atomic predicates
Each member of a partition is given by a Z predicate (i.e.,
first-order logic and Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory).
Partitioning can be represented as a tree.
Test cases are derived only from the “leaves”
Leaves are called test conditions.
10 / 34

11. Testing Tactics
The TTF performs domain partition by applying testing tactics.
Disjunctive Normal Form (DNF)
Write the operation predicate in DNF and take the precondition of
each disjunct.
Standard Partition (SP) for R ⊕ G
R = {}, G = {}
R = {}, G = {}
R = {}, G = {}
R = {}, G = {}, dom R = dom G
R = {}, G = {}, dom G ⊂ dom R
R = {}, G = {}, (dom R ∩ dom G ) = {}
R = {}, G = {}, dom R ⊂ dom G
R = {}, G = {}, (dom R ∩ dom G ) = {},
¬ (dom G ⊆ dom R), ¬ (dom R ⊆ dom G )
11 / 34

12. Applying DNF and SP to Deposit
First DNF
DNF == [Deposit VIS | n? ∈ dom sa ∧ a? > 0]
Deposit1
DNF == [Deposit VIS | n? ∈ dom sa]
Deposit2 /
DNF == [Deposit VIS | a? ≤ 0]
Deposit3
DNF
Second SP, but only to Deposit1
SP
Deposit1 DNF
== [Deposit1 | sa = {} ∧ {n? → (sa n? + a?)} = {}]
SP
Deposit2 DNF
== [Deposit1 | sa = {} ∧ {n? → (sa n? + a?)} = {}]
SP
Deposit3 DNF
== [Deposit1 | sa = {} ∧ {n? → (sa n? + a?)} = {}]
SP
Deposit4 DNF
== [Deposit1 | sa = {} ∧ {n? → (sa n? + a?)} = {}
∧ dom sa = dom{n? → (sa n? + a?)}]
SP DNF
Deposit5 == [Deposit1 | sa = {} ∧ {n? → (sa n? + a?)} = {}
∧ dom{n? → (sa n? + a?)} ⊂ dom sa]
(three more test conditions not shown here)
genalltt
addtactic Deposit_DNF_1 SP oplus sa oplus {(n? , sa~n? + a?)}
12 / 34

13. The TTF in 9 Steps MBT Process
1 Partition the IS by applying testing tactics. requeriments
2 Generate a testing tree
3 Prune the testing tree. model error?
verify
4 Generate abstract test cases. generate
(Optionally) Translate test cases into abstract abstract
natural language. tests results
5 Refine abstract test cases.
refine abstract
6 Execute test cases. execute
tests results
7 Get the program output.
8 Abstract the program output.
9 Check for errors.

14. Pruning the Testing Tree
Pruning involves eliminating unsatisfiable test conditions.
Before pruning After pruning
Deposit VIS Deposit VIS
Deposit DNF 1 Deposit DNF 1
Deposit SP 1 Deposit SP 4
Deposit SP 2 Deposit SP 5
Deposit SP 3 Deposit DNF 2
Deposit SP 4 Deposit DNF 3
Deposit SP 5
Deposit SP 6
prunett
Deposit SP 7
Deposit SP 8
Deposit DNF 2
Deposit DNF 3
14 / 34

15. Pruning in Detail
The problem – I
Many test conditions are unsatisfiable.
Most of them are mathematical contradictions.
Then, no test cases can be derived from them.
Therefore, unsatisfiable test conditions should be pruned from
testing trees.
In general, this problem is undecidable.
The problem – II
Z includes many mathematical theories (sets, relations, partial
functions, sequences, etc.), making the problem harder.
15 / 34

16. Detecting Contradictions
Detecting logical contradictions
Since every test condition is a conjunction of atomic predicates,
then the only possible logical contradiction is of the form:
··· ∧ p ∧ ··· ∧ ¬ p ∧ ...
This is the easy part.
Detecting mathematical contradictions
Most of the contradictions are of a mathematical nature.
Some depend on the particular semantics of the Z
mathematical theories.
16 / 34

17. A Library of Mathematical Contradictions
The core of our method is a library of elimination theorems.
Each elimination theorem should represent a contradiction.
ETheorem ETheoremName [parameters]
atomicPred
...............
atomicPred
parameters is roughly any Z declaration.
atomicPred is any Z atomic predicate and some keywords.
Subtyping and equivalence rules.
A
User extensible (LTEX).
No deduction, only pattern-matching.
17 / 34

18. Some examples
Update SP 3 ETheorem T1 [x : X ]
st : SYM → VAL
s? : SYM setExtension(x) = {}
v ? : VAL
setExtension(x) matches any set
st = {}
extension containing x
{s? → v ?} = {}
Update SP 7 ETheorem T2
st : SYM → VAL [R : X ↔ Y ; x : X ; y : Y ]
s? : SYM
v ? : VAL R = {}
st = {}
dom R ⊂ dom{x → y }
{s? → v ?} = {}
dom st ⊂ dom{s? → v ?} subtyping is applied to st
18 / 34

19. Some examples
Update SP 3 ETheorem T1 [x : X ]
st : SYM → VAL
s? : SYM setExtension(x) = {}
v ? : VAL
setExtension(x) matches any set
st = {}
extension containing x
{s? → v ?} = {}
Update SP 7 ETheorem T2
st : SYM → VAL [R : X ↔ Y ; x : X ; y : Y ]
s? : SYM
v ? : VAL R = {}
st = {}
dom R ⊂ dom{x → y }
{s? → v ?} = {}
dom st ⊂ dom{s? → v ?} subtyping is applied to st
18 / 34

20. Some examples
Update SP 3 ETheorem T1 [x : X ]
st : SYM → VAL
s? : SYM setExtension(x) = {}
v ? : VAL
setExtension(x) matches any set
st = {}
extension containing x
{s? → v ?} = {}
Update SP 7 ETheorem T2
st : SYM → VAL [R : X ↔ Y ; x : X ; y : Y ]
s? : SYM
v ? : VAL R = {}
st = {}
dom R ⊂ dom{x → y }
{s? → v ?} = {}
dom st ⊂ dom{s? → v ?} subtyping is applied to st
18 / 34

21. Some examples
Update SP 3 ETheorem T1 [x : X ]
st : SYM → VAL
s? : SYM setExtension(x) = {}
v ? : VAL
setExtension(x) matches any set
st = {}
extension containing x
{s? → v ?} = {}
Update SP 7 ETheorem T2
st : SYM → VAL [R : X ↔ Y ; x : X ; y : Y ]
s? : SYM
v ? : VAL R = {}
st = {}
dom R ⊂ dom{x → y }
{s? → v ?} = {}
dom st ⊂ dom{s? → v ?} subtyping is applied to st
18 / 34

22. The TTF in 9 Steps MBT Process
1 Partition the IS by applying testing tactics. requeriments
2 Generate a testing tree
3 Prune the testing tree. model error?
verify
4 Generate abstract test cases. generate
(Optionally) Translate test cases into abstract abstract
natural language. tests results
5 Refine abstract test cases.
refine abstract
6 Execute test cases. execute
tests results
7 Get the program output.
8 Abstract the program output.
9 Check for errors.

23. Generating Abstract Test Cases
Find constants satisfying test conditions.
TC
Deposit1 ==
SP
[Deposit4 | n? = accnum2 ∧ sa = {(accnum2 , 1)} ∧ a? = 1]
TC
Deposit2 ==
SP
[Deposit5 |
n? = accnum2 ∧ sa = {(accnum2 , 1), (accnum1 , 1)} ∧ a? = 1]
TC DNF | n? = accnum ∧ sa = ∅ ∧ a? = 0]
Deposit3 == [Deposit2 2
TC DNF | n? = accnum ∧ sa = ∅ ∧ a? = 0]
Deposit4 == [Deposit3 2
genalltca
20 / 34

24. Test Case Generation in Detail
Currently, Fastest implements a rough satisfiability algorithm:
1 Finite sets are bound to variables and types in a test template.
ACCNUM, n? → {accnum0 , accnum1 , accnum2 }
AMOUNT , BALANCE , a? → {0, 1, 2}
ACCNUM → BALANCE , sa → {∅,
{accnum2 → 1},
{accnum2 → 1, accnum1 → 1},
...}
2 The predicate is evaluated on some elements of the Cartesian
product of those finite sets.
ZLive (from CZT) is used as evaluator.
Some simple heuristics are applied.
The mathematical structure of the predicate is not considered.
21 / 34

25. Is it good enough?
Fastest has been able to find test cases for an average of 80 % of
the satisfiable test conditions from eleven case studies.
For the remaining 20 %, Fastest provides a command to help it to
find a test case.
setfinitemodel Deposit_SP_4 -fm "sa=={{accnum_2 mapsto 1}}"
Nevertheless, Fastest’s algorithm needs to be improved or replaced
by more sophisticated ones.
22 / 34

26. Difficulties with Test Case Generation in the TTF
The ideas of test templates and of automatic partition of
Z schema have been proposed several years ago. Their
actual application to systems of industrial size was
problematic due to the lack of efficient and adequate
constraint solvers and theorem provers. Given the
progresses recently achieved for these kinds of tools,
these techniques are worth revisiting . . .
Ana Cavalcanti and Marie-Claude Gaudel (2011): Testing for refinement in
Circus. Acta Informatica, 48(2).
23 / 34

27. SMT Solvers for the TTF
Satisfiability Modulo Theory (SMT) solvers
SMT solvers are tools that solve the problem of satisfiability for a
range of mathematical and logical theories.
No SMT solver supports the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory.
Must define a shallow embedding.
Many questions:
Is the language of SMT solvers expressive enough?
Is there just one shallow embedding?
Will the chosen embedding solve all the satisfiable test
specifications appearing in the TTF and real Z specifications?
Which SMT solver and which embedding will be the best in
satisfying more test specifications in less time?
Will it be better than Fastest in finding test cases?
Or should the SMT solver complement Fastest in this task?
24 / 34

28. First Results
Two shallow embeddings
We have defined a shallow embedding of the Zermelo-Franekel set
theory for two mainstream SMT solvers: Yices and CVC3.
Initial empirical assessment
We manually translated 69 satisfiable test templates, for which
Fastest cannot find a test case, into these shallow embeddings and
ran the SMT solvers over them.
25 / 34

29. Empirical assessment
Main embeddings Variant embeddings
Case study Yices CVC3 Yices CVC3
Sat Unk Sat Unk Sat Unk Sat Unk
Savings accounts (3) 8 8 8 8
Savings accounts (1) 2 2 2 2
Launching vehicle 8 8 8 8
Plavis 29 29 29 29
SWPDC 13 13 13 13
Scheduler 4 4 4 4
Security class 4 4 4 4
Pool of sensors 1 1 1 1
Totals 9 60 17 52 9 60 17 52
Time spent in processing all the 69 test templates:
Yices: 3 s
CVC3: 420 s
Fastest: 390 s (but no test case is discovered)
26 / 34

30. The TTF in 9 Steps MBT Process
1 Partition the IS by applying testing tactics. requeriments
2 Generate a testing tree
3 Prune the testing tree. model error?
verify
4 Generate abstract test cases. generate
(Optionally) Translate test cases into abstract abstract
natural language. tests results
5 Refine abstract test cases.
refine abstract
6 Execute test cases. execute
tests results
7 Get the program output.
8 Abstract the program output.
9 Check for errors.

31. Refining Abstract Test Cases
The implementation (C programming language)
Assume sa is implemented as follows:
struct sanode
{int an;
float bal;
struct sanode *n;} *sa;
where sa is a global variable. Besides, Deposit is implemented by
the following function:
int deposit(int n, float a)
Refinement rules
We need to link each specification variable to their
implementation counterparts.
This process is called abstract test case refinement.
Write refinement rules and then run the refine command.
28 / 34

32. Refining Abstract Test Cases (II)
A refinement rule for Deposit
@RRULE deposit
@PREAMBLE
#include <bank.h>
@LAWS
l1:n? ==> n
l2:a? ==> a
l3:sa ==> sa AS LIST[SLL,n] WITH[sa.@dom ==> sa.an,
sa.@ran ==> sa.bal]
@UUT deposit(n, a)
loadrefrule deposit.txt
refine Deposit to test /bank/src implemented in C with deposit
29 / 34

33. Concrete Test Cases
TC
Refinement of Deposit2 .
#include <bank.h>
int main() {
int n = 345; n? = accnum2
float a = 1; a? = 1
sa = {(accnum2, 1), (accnum1, 1)}
struct sanode sanode0 = {876,1,NULL};
struct sanode sanode1 = {345,1,NULL};
sa = &sanode0;
sanode0.n = &sanode1;
deposit(n,a);
return 1;
}
30 / 34

34. The Remaining Steps
Before executing a concrete test case it is necessary to insert
code to get the program output.
Abstraction rules, similar to refinement rules.
Once a test case has been executed its output must be
abstracted.
Same abstraction rules, different command.
The final verification is performed with another command.
(Optional) Translating abstract test cases into natural
language involves writing translation rules.
Quite different from refinement rules.
Work in progress
Fastest is still a prototype: many of these features are roughly
implemented and there can be bugs.
31 / 34

35. Our Experience with Fastest
We have applied Fastest in the following projects (only up to
abstract test case generation):
On-board flight control software of a satellite launcher vehicle
Along with Instituto de Aeron´utica e Espa¸o (IAE), Brazil.
a c
139 lines of Z.
One operation, 36 abstract test cases.
Satellite communication protocols
Two protocols, along with Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas
Espaciais (INPE), Brazil.
Two specifications comprising a total of 1,800 lines of Z.
26 operations, 195 abstract test cases.
32 / 34

36. Our Experience with Fastest (II)
The ECSS-E-70-41A aerospace standard
Along with INVAP, Argentina.
A single specification of 2,011 lines of Z.
Abstract test case translation to English.
256 test conditions.
Many challenges to solve.
Tokeneer
First specification not written by us, 2,057 lines of Z.
139 schemas selected as operations.
More than 25,000 test conditions, only DNF was applied.
We had to modify the DNF algorithm due to “term
explosion”.
33 / 34

37. Current and Future Work
Continue with the SMT solvers.
Z3.
More satisfiable test specifications.
A decision procedure for the Z notation?
Test case refinement: greatly improve the implementation.
Z specifications as program annotations.
Implement the remaining steps of the TTF.
Validate with more case studies.
34 / 34