| Commercial-off-the-Shelf (COTS) components provide a means to construct software systems (component-based system) in reduced time and cost to the system developer. In a COTS component software market there exist component vendors (original developers of the component) and component users (developers of the component-based systems). The component vendors provide the component to the user without source code or design documentation, and as a result the component users find it difficult to adequately test the component when deployed in their particular system. In this thesis we propose a framework that would facilitate an exchange of information (between the vendor and the user) required by the user in adequate testing of the COTS component. Then, based on this framework we adapt an existing specification-based testing technique and describe (and implement) a method for automated test generation. An evaluation of our approach demonstrates that it is possible to automatically generate cost effective test sequences and that these test sequences are effective in detecting complex errors. |
