Application Of Software Testing Techniques In PDM System

As information technology is advancing rapidly, software is used in every area insociety. Naturally, people start to care more and more about whether a software isqualified. If software is not qualified to use, there may many unexpected problemshappen, not just inefficiency of operating, also extra costs appears and evendevastating results. Also unqualified software increase costs of maintenance,reputation of the software developer would be hurt harmfully; economic disputescould happen then start a suit. Neither users nor developers would like poor-qualitysoftware.In recent years, with the growing number and expanding scale of Chinaautomobile industry, the quantity of the production design management software forthe auto parts manufacturing enterprises increases gradually. However the softwarevary in quality. Since the production quality of auto parts plays an important role inautomobile safety production, it also improves the requirement of the productiondesign management software. Internationally, the theories and tools for softwaresystem testing tend to be mature, while in China, the application of software testingdoes not get much attention, and the relevant technologies lag behind. PDM system isa kind of management software for auto parts manufacturing enterprises, which isapplied in the process of production design. Focusing on the problems above andcombining with the PDM system program developed by our echelon, this paper is astudy about how to apply the software testing methods into the development of PDMsystem practically. This paper first gives a brief introduction to the software testingmethod and basic testing technology (see chapter2), and then also introduces th erelevant information of PDM system (see chapter3). On the basis of the practicalsituation of PDM system, this paper presents the selection of corresponding softwaretesting method and practical test specification. Through the three big parts of testingincluding unit testing, integration testing and system function support testing, the appropriate method will be selected to test PDM. Then the testers pose somequestions and provide the corresponding solutions (see chapter4&5).This paper presents the argument of system function support testing upon thecharacteristics of PDM system. System function support testing means that cut thesoftware depending on its main functions through the system; test that whether themain function of this part can support the whole system. Meanwhile, the basicsoftware testing methods also need to change based on the characteristics of PDMsystem, especially the characteristics of the most important workflow. Other than themethods like black box testing, white box testing, unit testing and integration testingin the test procedure, how to select an efficient testing case flexibly and quickly isalso the key point in the discussion.After testing, the PDM system developed by our echelon has applied to manyauto parts manufacturing enterprises and plays a significant role in this field.Software testing could not eliminate all errors, and it is not just about simply findproblems of software. When error is found, analyzing the reason it appears and itsdistribution characters, could be benefit to find problems in project development andmake adjustments timely. If no errors are found, it could still help to check whetherthe software is designed properly according to requirements in project contract.