System-Level Testing Based On Problem Frames

In recent years, people start to realize the importance of software testing due to the increasing security issues. While for avoiding software-quality-induced disasters, we expect to eliminate the hidden errors by software testing. As a means of software quality assurance, software testing helps the testers to understand the functions to be tested. However, software testing requires detailed requirements analysis, which plays a crucial role in software testing, especially for system-level testing.Traditional requirements analysis and specification should take both the customers’various requirements and the complexities of the developed software into consideration, which makes it even more difficult to capture customers’needs accurately, and to develop test cases in the system testing phase. This dissertation utilizes the Problem Frames (PF) approach to decompose the problem, sketch out problem diagrams, then to provide requirements analysis for each sub-problems. By all this means, we aim to show the tester a clearer target and a more efficient direction in the system-test stage.Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to the background, the significance and the ongoing research. Chapter 2 is about the connection between the requirements analysis and the PF approach. Chapter 3 will focus on the system testing, which emphasizes the importance of the requirement analysis. Then, Chapter 4 gives details on the PF approach, and introduces the frame concerns for the 5 basic problem frames. Chapter 5 describes the requirement analysis for the Smart Home case study based on PF. By combining the sub-problems, we raise new concerns-composition concerns which are then used for developing system-level test cases. The final chapter will discuss the further work.The main contribution of this dissertation can be summarized as follows:(1) Firstly, we propose a new approach for requirements modeling and analysis of cyber-physical systems based on the Problem Frames approach. By identifying problem concerns, we can help software testers to develop system-level test cases.(2) Secondly, inspired by the existing problem frame concerns, we propose the composition concerns (also known as interaction concerns)-after sketching out the problem diagram and models, and decomposing complex problems into simpler sub-problems, we analyze and identify those concerns that are raised when combining these sub-problems together to satisfy the overall requirements. Then we can assist the testers in an accurate understanding of the testing functions, as well as the customers’requirements, which provide clues as to how to develop system-level test cases..(3) Thirdly, via the Smart Home case study, we demonstrate and evaluate the feasibility and practicality of the theory and methods proposed in (1) and (2).