Generating Test Data from SOFL Speci cations

Software testing can only be formalized and quanti ed when a solid basis for test generation can be de ned Tests are commonly generated from the source code control ow graphs design representations and speci cations requirements Formal speci cations represent a signi cant opportunity for testing because they precisely describe what functions the software is supposed to provide in a form that can be easily manipulated This paper presents a new method for gen erating tests from formal speci cations This method is comprehensive in speci cation coverage applies at several levels of abstraction and can be highly automated The paper applies the method to SOFL speci cations describes the technique and demonstrates the application on a case study A preliminary evaluation using a code level coverage criterion mutation testing indicates that the method can result in very e ective tests