sss ssss rrrrrrrrrr
ssss ss rrrr rrrr
sssss s rrrr rrrr
ssssss rrrr rrrr
ssssssss rrrr rrrr
ssssss rrrrrrrr
s ssssss rrrr rrrr
ss sssss rrrr rrrr
sss sssss rrrr rrrr
s sssssss rrrrr rrrrr
+===================================================+
+======= Testing Techniques Newsletter (TTN) =======+
+======= ON-LINE EDITION =======+
+======= October 1994 =======+
+===================================================+
TESTING TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER (TTN), On-Line Edition, is E-Mailed
monthly to support the Software Research, Inc. (SR) user community and
provide information of general use to the world software testing commun-
ity.
(c) Copyright 1994 by Software Research, Inc. Permission to copy and/or
re-distribute is granted to recipients of the TTN On-Line Edition pro-
vided that the entire document/file is kept intact and this copyright
notice appears with it.
TRADEMARKS: Software TestWorks, STW, STW/Regression, STW/Coverage,
STW/Advisor, X11 Virtual Display System, X11virtual and the SR logo are
trademarks of Software Research, Inc. All other systems are either
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
========================================================================
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
o Featured Conference: ICSR-3
Third International Conference on Software Reuse
o SR's New International Distributors
o Call for Papers: 8th INTERNATIONAL SOFTWARE QUALITY WEEK
o How Mature Is Your Automated Test Suite?
by Mark Fewster, Grove Consultants
o Announcement: National Software Council Workshop
o Recommended Reading: "Defensive Programming Strategies"
o Calendar of Events
o TTN Submittal Policy
o TTN Subscription Information
========================================================================
ICSR-3: Third International Conference on Software Reuse
Rio Othon Palace Hotel
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
November 1-4, 1994
Software reusability -- the use of knowledge or artifacts from existing
systems to build new ones -- is a software engineering technology impor-
tant both to engineers and managers. Reuse research has been very
active recently. Many organizations have reported reuse successes. There
is a need for reuse solutions that can be applied across domain and
organization boundaries. The conference will consist of technical
presentations, parallel working groups, plenary sessions, demonstra-
tions, and tutorials.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
ICSR-3 (ATTN: Dr. Ernesto Guerrieri) Digital Equipment Corporation 151
Taylor Street, TAY1-2 Littleton, MA 01460, U.S.A.
or via FAX to ICSR-3 (ATTN: Dr. Ernesto Guerrieri) at: (508) 952-4197,
or via e-mail to:
icsr-3@wecrow.enet.dec.com For information from the automatic
mailer, send e-mail to
netlib@research.att.com, and in the body of the e-mail put
send confdb/icsr3/information. For MOSAIC users, the URL address
for WWW is
ftp://netlib.att.com/netlib/confdb/icsr3/top.html.Z
========================================================================
T o c o n t a c t S R o u t s i d e t h e U S A . . .
SR's NEW INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTORS
Please contact the organizations below for information about SR products
in the countries indicated. All are new distributors beginning in
October 1994. They can provide you with complete details on the entire
Software TestWorks (STW) product line, including Regression, Advisor,
and Coverage product bundles. If you are outside all of these terri-
tories, please contact the nearest distributor, or contact SR direct.
Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourgh): PVI Precision Software
B.V. Postbus 1059, 3900 BB Veenendall, NETHERLANDS. CONTACT: Mr. Her-
bert Weustenenk, Phone + [31] 8385-52588, FAX + [31] 8385-51506, e-Mail:
100334.314@compuserve.COM
France: Scientific Computers, Ltd. 11c Quai Conti, 78430 Louveciennes,
FRANCE. CONTACT: Mr. Pierre Renard, Phone + [33] 1-30-82-77-07, FAX +
[33] 1-30-82-72-78, e-Mail: info@scientific.FR
Italy: SLIGOS S.p.A., Via Vaninetti, 27, 10148 Torino, ITALY. CONTACT:
Mr. Michele Giordano, Phone + [39] 11 26851, FAX + [39] 11 220-2662, e-
Mail: mesarto!giordano@relay.iunet.IT
(NOTE: Next month we'll publish the COMPLETE, up-to-date list of inter-
national distributors!)
========================================================================
INTERNATIONAL SOFTWARE QUALITY WEEK `95 (QW '95)
Conference Theme: The Client-Server Revolution
San Francisco, California 30 May - 2 June 1995
QW `95 is the eighth in a continuing series of Conferences focusing on
advances in software test technology, quality control, risk management,
software safety, and test automation. Software analysis methodologies,
supported by advanced automated software test methods, promise major
advances in system quality and reliability, assuming continued competi-
tiveness.
The QW `95 program consists of four days of mini-tutorials, panels,
techni cal papers and workshops that focus on software test automation
and new technology. QW `95 provides the software testing and QA/QC com-
munity with:
Quality Assurance and Test involvement in the development process.
Exchange of information among technologists.
State-of-the-art information on software test methods.
Analysis of effectiveness through case studies.
Vendor Technical Presentations
Two-Day Vendor Show
We are soliciting 45 and 90 minute presentations or participation in a
panel discussion on any area of testing and automation, including: New
and Novel Test Methods, Automated Inspection, CASE/CAST Technology,
Client-Server Computing, Cost / Schedule Estimation, and many other
topics (call Software Research for a more complete list).
SUBMISSION INFORMATION: Abstracts should be 2 - 4 pages long, with
enough detail to give reviewers an understanding of the final paper,
including a rough outline of its contents. Indicate if the most likely
audience is technical, managerial or application-oriented.
In addition, please include:
+ A cover page with the paper title, complete mailing and e-mail
address(es), and telephone and FAX number(s) of each author.
+ A list of keywords describing the paper.
+ A brief biographical sketch of each author.
Send abstracts to: Ms. Rita Bral, Software Research Institute, 625 Third
Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 USA. For information on the confer-
ence, E-mail your request to qw@soft.com, phone SR/Institute at (415)
550-3020, or FAX SR/Institute at (415) 550-3030.
========================================================================
HOW MATURE IS YOUR AUTOMATED TEST SUITE?
Mark Fewster, Grove Consultants, 1994
***
This article was first published March 1994 in "FOCUS on TESTING", the
newsletter of QCC Training Ltd.
***
Are you realising the full potential of you automated test suite? A
rough guide to the extent to which you are reaping the benefits of test
automation is by considering the maturity of your test suite. The more
mature the test suite the greater the efficiency and effectiveness of
test automation.
You may be familiar with maturity levels used by the SEI's Capability
Maturity Model. For maturity of an automated test suite my levels are
on a human scale: infant; adolescent; and adult.
An automated test suite at the infant stage will need a lot of baby-
sitting. Many tests will not run to completion, partly due to bugs in
the software under test (and of course there will be a good number of
them) and partly due to the test script being out of step with it.
Bugs in the software will cause the test to fail and possibly the script
to stop execution or at least to invalidate anything else it tries to
do. Inconsistencies between the software under test and the test script
will always invalidate anything else the script does. In either case
you have to fix the bug or update the script and the re-run the test to
find the next problem.
This is baby-sitting at its best (or worst!). You cannot leave the
tests running unattended for more than a few minutes at a time.
(Doesn't sound much like `automation' does it?) If you're lucky you
won't spend much more time encouraging the script to run to completion
than you would have done running the test manually in the first place.
Unfortunately though, such luck is rare!
At the adolescent stage the test suite can be left alone to execute the
tests unattended for a reasonable time. Perhaps a few hours and at the
most over-night. A single error in the software will cause a lot of
tests to fail. The error may be important to know about but we don't
need dozens of tests telling us about the same one. A lot of time can
be wasted analysing the cause of each failure and these failures prevent
many tests revealing other errors that we don't know about. To find
these errors it is necessary to fix the problems and re-run the tests, a
cycle that may have to be repeated many times.
A mature test suite can be left to run unattended for a long time, even
over a whole weekend. At the end of the test run there will be a lot of
useful information. Some tests will have failed (perhaps most of them)
but, by and large, they will all tell you something different and mostly
about the software under test, not the test script. Now you can concen-
trate on finding and fixing problems in the software. Your test suite
has done its job without your intervention. Furthermore, most if not
all of the environment set up and clear down before and after testing
will be performed by the test suite. You will be free to concentrate on
other more creative tasks.
Each test suite will have to grow up through these stages but you don't
have to let nature take its course. With a bit of thought and careful
nurturing you can speed it up.
Implementing an efficient and effective automated test suite is not an
art but an engineering discipline in its own right. The fallacy of
creating automated tests using record and playback techniques alone is
now fairly well understood but that is only the first lesson. There is
more to a mature test suite than automated test validation, programmed
scripts and test completion reports. It involves a planned approach to
many other issues such as data organisation, test design and test
maintenance. Only by managing all aspects of test automation will the
full benefits be realised.
Make sure your automated test suite grows up and gives you all the bene-
fits you deserve.
========================================================================
NATIONAL SOFTWARE COUNCIL WORKSHOP
Washington, D.C.
26 - 27 October, 1994
The National Security Industrial Association (NSIA) Software and Infor-
mation Systems Committee announces the National Software Council
Workshop. The purpose of the workshop is to plan and organize the
National Software Council.
NATIONAL SOFTWARE COUNCIL INITIATIVE
The National Software Council is an initiative to organize and implement
a national level platform to focus on issues relative to software. The
Council would advise industry, government and academia on major software
issues, propose national policy, as well as propose national economic
and technology initiatives.
Origins of the National Software Council
The National Software Council was conceived as a response to the growing
need to address software issues of national importance. In the summer of
1993, in Cooperstown, NY, software experts gathered at USAF-sponsored
workshop, determined that software had become a true national resource
vital to the economy, and decided that a national-level council was
required to help shape public policy to ensure its continued growth and
vitality.
In order to accomplish these tasks the Software and Information Systems
Committee (SISC) is organizing this workshop. The workshop will bring
interested parties together from a broad spectrum of society (industry,
government, and academia) to address issues and organize the NSC
Organizing/Implementation Committee.
WORKSHOP PROGRAM
The workshop has two objectives:
(1) Explore and Refine the key software issues that justify a National
Software Council;
(2) Organize the National Software Council Organizing/Implementation
Committee.
Workshop Participants include the following persons:
Lloyd Mosemann II, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
Robert Troy, President Director General, VERILOG
Jim Burrows, Director, Computer Systems Laboratory, NIST
Alan Salisbury, President, Learning Tree International
Eileen Quann, President, Fastrak Training, Inc.
Giovanna Cinelli, Counsel, Gardner, Carton & Douglas
Kenneth Nunnenkamp, Finnegan, Henderson, et. al.
Edward Miller, President, Software Research, Inc.
Nancy Price, President, Hughes Canada
Rick Linger, LORAL
Sean Arthur; Professor, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Walter Ellis, Consultant
Andrew Chruscicki, Rome Laboratory/USAF
John Marciniak, Kaman Sciences Corporation (WORKSHOP CHAIR)
The Program is organized around six workshop panels, five of which deal
with causal issues, and the sixth with the organization and implementa-
tion of the NSC.
WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER, AM - Plenary Session - Invited Speakers:
- Lloyd Mosemann II, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for
Communications, Computers, and Support Systems and
- Robert Troy, President Director General, VERILOG
WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER, PM - Panel Sessions:
Panel A. Legal Issues - Chair: Ken Nunnenkamp
Panel B. International Issues - Chair: Giovanna Cinelli
Panel C. Societal Issues - Chair: Edward Miller
Panel D. Economic Issues - Chair: Rick Linger,
Panel E. Education Issues- Chair: Sean Arthur
Panel F. NSC Organizing/Implementation. Chair: Nancy Price
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE WORKSHOP:
(1) Please contact the panel point of contact directly,
Panel A: Legal Issues - Jon Gross, SEI (703-908-8217;
jgross@sei.cmu.edu.)
Panel B: International Issues - Peter Corte (SAIC, 703-821-4488,
corte@mclapo.saic.com)
Panel C: Societal Issues - Walter Ellis (202-362-7728;
ellis@cse.ogi.edu)
Panel D: Economic Issues - Gerry Barksdale, Hughes (714-732-0209,
gbark@sed.hac.com)
Panel E: Education - Paul Szulewski, Draper Laboratories (617-258-1832,
pas@draper.com)
Panel F: NSC Organizing/Implementation Panel - Diane Miller, BDM, (703-
848- 6720, dmiller@lan.mcl.bdm.com); and Robert Wint, EDS, (703-742-
1769)
========================================================================
R E C O M M E N D E D R E A D I N G . . .
An article "Defensive Programming Strategies" by Joe Robison appears in
the August/September 1994 issue of the "Visual Basic Programmer's Jour-
nal" (Fawcette Technical Publications, Los Altos, CA) that bears noting.
Among the techniques mentioned are:
o Liberal use of whitespace and indentation of source text.
o Keeping procedures short.
o Using consistent naming conventions.
o Maintaining case ConSiStenCY (!)
o Declaring all variables.
o Using the tightest scoping possible.
o Aiming for modularity.
o Considering how you will test something before you write it!
Sounds like very good advice! -EFM
========================================================================
---------------------->>> CALENDAR OF EVENTS <<<----------------------
========================================================================
The following is a partial list of upcoming events of interest. ("o"
indicates Software Research will participate in these events.)
+ November 1-4: Third International Conference on Software Reusability
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Contact: Charles W. Lillie
Cosponsor Coordinator
Phone: [+1] 703-749-8732
e-mail: lilliec@source.asset.com
o November 6-9: ISSRE
5th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering
Monterey, California
Contact: William Farr
Phone: [+1] 703-663-8388
Fax: [+1] 703-663-4568
e-mail: wfarr@s850.mwc.edu
o November 8-10: TRI-Ada
Baltimore, Maryland
Contact: Susan Hines
Phone: [+1] 508-443-3330, ext. 1227
+ November 14-18: ACM Professional Development Seminar
Washington, D.C.
Contact: Mrs. Nora Taylor
Phone: [+1] 301-229-2588
+ November 30 - December 1: 6th Annual Open Systems World
Washington Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
Contact: Alan Fedder
Phone: [+1] 301-953-9600
fax: [+1] 301-953-2213
========================================================================
------------>>> TTN SUBMITTAL POLICY <<<------------
========================================================================
The TTN On-Line Edition is forwarded on the 15th of each month to sub-
scribers via InterNet. To have your event listed in an upcoming issue,
please e-mail a description of your event or Call for Papers or Partici-
pation to "ttn@soft.com".
The TTN On-Line submittal policy is as follows:
o Submission deadlines indicated in "Calls for Papers" should provide
at least a 1-month lead time from the TTN On-Line issue date. For
example, submission deadlines for "Calls for Papers" in the January
issue of TTN On-Line would be for February and beyond.
o Length of submitted items should not exceed 68 lines (one page).
o Publication of submitted items is determined by Software Research,
Inc., and may be edited as necessary.
========================================================================
----------------->>> TTN SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION <<<-----------------
========================================================================
To request a FREE subscription or submit articles, please E-mail
"ttn@soft.com". For subscriptions, please use the keywords "Request-
TTN" or "subscribe" in the Subject line of your E-mail header. To have
your name added to the subscription list for the quarterly hard-copy
version of the TTN -- which contains additional information beyond the
monthly electronic version -- include your name, company, and postal
address.
To cancel your subscription, include the phrase "unsubscribe" or
"UNrequest-TTN" in the Subject line.
Note: To order back copies of the TTN On-Line (August 1993 onward),
please specify the month and year when E-mailing requests to
"ttn@soft.com".
TESTING TECHNIQUES NEWSLETTER
Software Research, Inc.
901 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
Phone: (415) 550-3020
Toll Free: (800) 942-SOFT
FAX: (415) 550-3030
E-mail: ttn@soft.com
## End ##