Fault-based test generation for cause-effect graphs

The notion of cause-effect graphs (CEGs) has been used for the specification and test generation of a software system. In this paper, we present a fault-based approach to test generation for CEGs, called BOR (boolean operator) testing, which is based on the detection of boolean operator faults. We show how to generate a minimum BOR test set for a CEG and how to evaluate an existing test set for a CEG in order to determine whether additional tests are necessary for BOR testing. We have applied BOR testing to a CEG that specifies a real-time boiler control and monitoring system. The results of our empirical studies indicate that CEG-based BOR testing is very practical and effective.