Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Software and Systems Modeling
Published in: Software and Systems Modeling 2/2019

03-05-2018 | Theme Section Paper

A method for testing and validating executable statechart models

Authors: Tom Mens, Alexandre Decan, Nikolaos I. Spanoudakis

Published in: Software and Systems Modeling | Issue 2/2019

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Statecharts constitute an executable language for modelling event-based reactive systems. The essential complexity of statechart models solicits the need for advanced model testing and validation techniques. In this article, we propose a method aimed at enhancing statechart design with a range of techniques that have proven their usefulness to increase the quality and reliability of source code. The method is accompanied by a process that flexibly accommodates testing and validation techniques such as test-driven development, behaviour-driven development, design by contract, and property statecharts that check for violations of behavioural properties during statechart execution. The method is supported by the Sismic tool, an open-source statechart interpreter library in Python, which supports all the aforementioned techniques. Based on this tooling, we carry out a controlled user study to evaluate the feasibility, usefulness and adequacy of the proposed techniques for statechart testing and validation.
previous article Toward testing from finite state machines with symbolic inputs and outputs
next article Temporal property patterns for model-based testing from UML/OCL

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Footnotes
Literature
1.
Aravantinos, V., Voss, S., Teufl, S., Hölzl, F., Schätz, B.: AutoFOCUS 3: tooling concepts for seamless, model-based development of embedded systems. In: International Workshop on Model-Based Architecting of Cyber-Physical and Embedded Systems and International Workshop on UML Consistency Rules, Volume 1508 of CEUR Workshop Proceedings, pp. 19–26. CEUR-WS.org (2015)
2.
Baier, C., Katoen, J.-P.: Principles of Model Checking. MIT Press, Cambridge (2008)MATH
3.
Beck, K.: Test-Driven Development by Example. Addison-Wesley, Reading (2002)
4.
Beer, I., Ben-David, S., Eisner, C., Fisman, D., Gringauze, A., Rodeh, Y.: The temporal logic sugar. In: International Conference Computer Aided Verification (CAV), pp. 363–367. Springer (2001)
5.
Bunse, C., Klingert, S., Schulze, T.: Greenslas: supporting energy-efficiency through contracts. In: International Workshop on Energy Efficient Data Centers, pp. 54–68. Springer (2012)
6.
Cabot, J., Clarisó, R., Riera, D.: On the verification of UML/OCL class diagrams using constraint programming. J. Syst. Softw. 93, 1–23 (2014)CrossRef
7.
Cariou, E., Ballagny, C., Feugas, A., Barbier, F.: Contracts for model execution verification. In: European Conference Modelling Foundations and Applications (ECMFA), Volume 6698 of Lecturer Notes in Computer Science, pp. 3–18. Springer (2011)
8.
Cimatti, A., Tonetta, S.: Contracts-refinement proof system for component-based embedded systems. Sci. Comput. Program. 97, 333–348 (2015)CrossRef
9.
Corbett, J.C., Dwyer, M.B., Hatcliff, J., Robby.: A language framework for expressing checkable properties of dynamic software. In: International SPIN Model Checking and Software Verification Workshop, Volume 1885 of Lecturer Notes in Computer Science, pp. 205–223. Springer (2000)
10.
Cossentino, M., Gaglio, S., Garro, A., Seidita, V.: Method fragments for agent design methodologies: from standardisation to research. Int. J. Agent Oriented Softw. Eng. 1(1), 91–121 (2007)CrossRef
11.
Delmolino, K., Arnett, M., Kosba, A., Miller, A., Shi, E.: Step by step towards creating a safe smart contract: lessons and insights from a cryptocurrency lab. In: International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security, pp. 79–94. Springer (2016)
12.
Dietrich, I., Dressler, F., Dulz, W., German, R.: Validating UML simulation models with model-level unit tests. In: International Conference Simulation Tools and Techniques (SIMUTools) (2010)
13.
Douglas, B.P.: Doing Hard Time: Developing Real-Time Systems with UML, Objects, Frameworks, and Patterns. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1999)
14.
Drusinsky, D.: Semantics and runtime monitoring of TLCharts: statechart automata with temporal logic conditioned transitions. In: Proceedings of the Fourth Workshop on Runtime Verification (RV 2004), Electronic Notes in Theoretical Computer Science, Volume 113, pp. 3–21 (2005)
15.
Drusinsky, D.: Modeling and Verification Using UML Statecharts. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam (2006)
16.
Dwyer, M.B., Avrunin, G.S., Corbett, J.C.: Patterns in property specifications for finite-state verification. In: International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 411–420. ACM (1999)
17.
Ernst, M.D., Perkins, J.H., Guo, P.J., McCamant, S., Pacheco, C., Tschantz, M.S., Xiao, C.: The Daikon system for dynamic detection of likely invariants. Sci. Comput. Program. 69(1–3), 35–45 (2007)MathSciNetCrossRefMATH
18.
Esmaeilsabzali, S., Day, N.A., Atlee, J.M., Niu, J.: Deconstructing the semantics of big-step modelling languages. Requir. Eng. 15(2), 235–265 (2010)CrossRef
19.
Estler, H., Furia, C.A., Nordio, M., Piccioni, M., Meyer, B.: Contracts in practice. In: International Symposium on Formal Methods (FM), Volume 8442 of Lecturer Notes in Computer Science, pp. 230–246. Springer (2014)
20.
Fabbri, S.C.P.F., Maldonado, J.C., Sugeta, T., Masiero, P.C.: Mutation testing applied to validate specifications based on statecharts. In: International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE), pp. 210–219. IEEE Computer Society (1999)
21.
Falcone, Y., Havelund, K., Reger, G.: A tutorial on runtime verification. Eng. Dependable Softw. Syst. 34, 141–175 (2013)
22.
Gnesi, S., Latella, D., Massink M.: Model checking UML statechart diagrams using JACK. In: International Symposium on High-Assurance Systems Engineering (HASE), pp. 46–55. IEEE Computer Society (1999)
23.
Gogolla, M., Hamann, L., Hilken, F., Sedlmeier, M.: Modeling behavior with interaction diagrams in a UML and OCL tool. In: Behavior Modeling—Foundations and Applications, BM-FA 2009–2014, Revised Selected Papers, Volume 6368 of Lecturer Notes in Computer Science, pp. 31–58. Springer (2015)
24.
Gogolla, M., Büttner, F., Richters, M.: USE: a UML-based specification environment for validating UML and OCL. Sci. Comput. Program. 69(1–3), 27–34 (2007)MathSciNetCrossRefMATH
25.
Gomaa, H.: Designing Software Product Lines with UML: From Use Cases to Pattern-Based Software Architectures. Addison Wesley, Reading (2004)
26.
Hamann, L., Hofrichter, O., Gogolla, M.: On integrating structure and behavior modeling with OCL. In: International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems, Volume 7590 of Lecturer Notes in Computer Science, pp. 235–251. Springer (2012)
27.
28.
Harel, D., Gery, E.: Executable object modeling with statecharts. IEEE Comput. 30(7), 31–42 (1997)CrossRef
29.
Harel, D., Kugler, H.: The Rhapsody Semantics of Statecharts (or, on the Executable Core of the UML), Volume LNCS 3147. Springer, Berlin (2004)
30.
Harel, D., Naamad, A.: The STATEMATE semantics of statecharts. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. Methodol. 5(4), 293–333 (1996)CrossRef
31.
Henderson-Sellers, B., Ralyté, J.: Situational method engineering: state-of-the-art review. J. Univers. Comput. Sci. 16(3), 424–478 (2010)
32.
Idelberger, F., Governatori, G., Riveret, R., Sartor, G.: Evaluation of logic-based smart contracts for blockchain systems. In: International Symposium on Rules and Rule Markup Languages for the Semantic Web, pp. 167–183. Springer (2016)
33.
Lazar, I., Motogna, S., Parv, B.: Behaviour-driven development of foundational UML components. Electron. Notes Theor. Comput. Sci. 264(1), 91–105 (2010). (Int’l Workshop on Formal Engineering approaches to Software Components and Architectures (FESCA))CrossRef
34.
Leavens, G.T., Cheon, Y.: Design by Contract with JML. Technical report, Iowa State University (2006)
35.
Leucker, M., Schallhart, C.: A brief account of runtime verification. J. Logic Algebr. Program. 78(5), 293–303 (2009). (The 1st Workshop on Formal Languages and Analysis of Contract-Oriented Software (FLACOS’07))CrossRefMATH
36.
Magee, J.: Behavioral analysis of software architectures using LTSA. In: International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 634–637. ACM (1999)
37.
Meyer, B.: Contract-driven development. In: International Conference on Fundamental Approaches to Software Engineering (FASE), Volume 4422 of Lecturer Notes in Computer Science, p. 11. Springer (2007)
38.
Meyer, B.: Applying "design by contract". IEEE Comput. 25(10), 40–51 (1992)CrossRef
39.
North, D.: Behavior modification: the evolution of behavior-driven development. Better Software (2006)
40.
41.
42.
OMG. Software and Systems Process Engineering Meta-Model Specification. Version 2.0. Technical Report OMG Document Number: Formal/2008-04-01. Object Management Group (2008)
43.
Pei, Y., Furia, C.A., Nordio, M., Wei, Y., Meyer, B., Zeller, A.: Automated fixing of programs with contracts. IEEE Trans. Soft. Eng. 40(5), 427–449 (2014)CrossRef
44.
Samek, M.: Practical UML Statecharts in C/C++: Event-Driven Programming for Embedded Systems, 2nd edn. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2008)CrossRef
45.
Sen, K.: Concolic testing. In: International Conference on Automated Software Engineering, pp. 571–572. ACM (2007)
46.
Spanoudakis, N., Moraitis, P.: The agent modeling language (AMOLA). In: Dochev, D., Pistore, M., Traverso, P. (eds.) Artificial Intelligence: Methodology, Systems, and Applications, Volume 5253 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 32–44. Springer, Berlin (2008)
47.
Syriani, E., Vangheluwe, H., Mannadiar, R., Hansen, C., Van Mierlo, S., Ergin, H.: AToMPM: a web-based modeling environment. In: Joint Proceedings of MODELS’13 Invited Talks, Demonstration Session, Poster Session, and ACM Student Research Competition, Volume 1115, CEUR Workshop Proceedings (2013)
48.
Topalidou-Kyniazopoulou, A., Spanoudakis, N.I., Lagoudakis, M.G.: A CASE tool for robot behavior development. In: Chen, X., Stone, P., Sucar, L.E., Zant, T. (eds.) RoboCup 2012: Robot Soccer World Cup XVI. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 7500, pp. 225–236. Springer, Berlin (2013)CrossRef
49.
Trakhtenbrot, M.: New mutations for evaluation of specification and implementation levels of adequacy in testing of statecharts models. In: Testing: Academic and Industrial Conference Practice and Research Techniques (MUTATION), pp. 151–160 (2007)
50.
Metadata
Title
A method for testing and validating executable statechart models
Authors
Tom Mens
Alexandre Decan
Nikolaos I. Spanoudakis
Publication date
03-05-2018
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Software and Systems Modeling / Issue 2/2019
Print ISSN: 1619-1366
Electronic ISSN: 1619-1374
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10270-018-0676-3

Other articles of this Issue 2/2019

Software and Systems Modeling 2/2019 Go to the issue

Regular Paper

The next evolution of MDE: a seamless integration of machine learning into domain modeling

Theme Section Paper

Testing concurrent user behavior of synchronous web applications with Petri nets

Regular Paper

End-to-end model-transformation comprehension through fine-grained traceability information

Regular Paper

From use case maps to executable test procedures: a scenario-based approach

Regular Paper

Managing design-time uncertainty

Special Section Paper

Toward a framework for self-adaptive workflows in cyber-physical systems

Premium Partner

    Image Credits