Method and system for analysis of software requirements

• US 20040123272A1
• Filed: 12/20/2002
• Published: 06/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Coughenour, William E. Jr., Bailey, Bruce Lindley-Burr, Stenstrom, Tomas Jan
• Granted Patent: US 7,228,524 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/125
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3696 Methods or tools to render software testable

Abstract

To help identify shortcomings in software requirements for a software capability early in the software development lifecycle, the present invention discloses a method of logic testing a software requirement for a software capability, the method comprising: (a) defining a logical representation of the software requirement; (b) defining a test scenario that corresponds to the software requirement; and (c) processing the defined logical representation with the defined test scenario to thereby generate a simulation result indicative of whether the software requirement needs alteration. Preferably, the present invention is implemented as an integrated tool executed by a desktop PC or workstation that interacts with the user through a variety of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to perform logic testing of software requirements.

Claims

1. A method of logic testing a software requirement for a software capability, the method comprising:

defining a logical representation of the software requirement;

defining a test scenario that corresponds to the software requirement; and

processing the defined logical representation with the defined test scenario to thereby generate a simulation result indicative of whether the software requirement needs alteration.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising defining a plurality of variables pertinent to the software requirement, and wherein the logical representation defining step comprises defining the logical representation of the software requirement using the defined variables.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein each of the method steps are performed prior to a code and unit test phase for the software capability.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein each of the method steps are performed prior to a software detailed design phase for the software capability.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein each of the method steps are performed prior to a software preliminary design phase for the software capability.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein each of the method steps are performed during a software requirements analysis phase for the software capability.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein there are a plurality of software requirements, wherein the variable defining step comprises defining a plurality of variables pertinent to the software requirements, wherein the logical representation defining step comprises defining a logical representation for each software requirement, wherein the test scenario defining step comprises defining at least one test scenario for at least one of the define software requirements

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing a first graphical user interface (GUI) through which the user defines the variables.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising providing a second GUI through which the user defines the software requirement logical representations.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising providing a third GUI through which the user defines the test scenarios.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

providing a fourth GUI through which the user groups a plurality of logical representations for related software requirements into a testable group;

defining a test scenario that corresponds to the testable group; and

processing the testable group with the test scenario defined therefor to thereby generate a simulation result indicative of whether the group of related software requirements needs alteration.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising generating a report of the simulation result.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the software requirement logical representations are expressed in pseudo-code.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising providing a fifth GUI through which the use selects a test scenario and a software requirement logical representation or testable group for processing.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the test scenario defining step comprises defining an initial value for each variable pertinent to the software requirement or testable group to be processed.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the test scenario defining step further comprises defining an expected value in the simulation result for each variable pertinent to the software requirement or testable group to be processed.

17. A system for logic testing a plurality of software requirements for a software capability, the system comprising:

memory in which (1) a plurality of logical representations of the software requirements are stored, and (2) a plurality of test scenarios corresponding to the software requirements are stored; and

a processor configured to execute a program, the program configured to (1) obtain user input corresponding to a selection of a software requirement to be tested, (2) obtain user input corresponding to a selection of a stored test scenario for use in testing the selected software requirement, (3) simulate operation of the selected software requirement by testing the stored logical representation of the selected software requirement with the selected test scenario, and (4) provide output to the user indicative of whether the software requirement simulation operated as expected.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein the stored logical representations comprise a plurality of variables associated with each other through logical operators, wherein the memory stores the plurality of variables, and wherein the program is further configured to obtain user input corresponding to a definition of the variables to be stored in memory.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the program is further configured to obtain user input corresponding to a definition of the logical representations to be stored in memory using the stored variables.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the program is further configured to obtain user input corresponding to a definition of the test scenarios to be stored in memory.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the program is further configured to (1) obtain user input corresponding to a plurality of related software requirements to be grouped together as a testable group, (2) obtain user input corresponding to a selection of a testable group to be tested, (3) obtain user input corresponding to a selection of a stored test scenario for use in testing the selected testable group, (4) simulate operation of the selected testable group by testing the stored logical representations of the related software requirements comprising the selected testable group with the test scenario selected therefor, and (5) provide output to the user indicative of whether the testable group operate as expected.

22. A computer-readable medium for logic testing of a plurality of software requirements for a software capability, the computer-readable medium comprising:

a code segment for defining a plurality of logical representations of the software requirements according to user input;

a code segment for defining, according to user input, a plurality of test scenarios that correspond to the software requirements; and

a code segment for processing a defined logical representation with a defined test scenario corresponding thereto to thereby generate a simulation result indicative of whether the software requirement corresponding to the processed logical representation needs alteration.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 22 further comprising a code segment for defining a plurality of variables pertinent to the software requirements, and wherein the code segment for defining logical representations comprises a code segment for defining the logical representations according to user input using the defined variables.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 further comprising:

a code segment for presenting a first graphical user interface (GUI) to the user through which the user defines the variables;

a code segment for presenting a second GUI to the user through which the user defines the software requirements logical representations using the defined variables;

a code segment for presenting a third GUI to the user through which the user defines the test scenarios; and

a code segment for presenting a fourth GUI to the user through which the user (1) selects a software requirement for processing, and (2) selects a test scenario with which the selected software requirement is processed.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 further comprising a code segment for presenting a report to the user that describes the simulation result.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 24 further comprising:

a code segment for presenting a fifth GUI to the user through which the user groups related software requirements into a testable group;

a code segment for associating the logical representations of the testable group'"'"'s software requirements together;

a code segment for defining, according to user input, a test scenario for the testable group; and

a code segment for processing the associated logical representations of a testable group with the test scenario defined therefor to thereby generate a simulation result indicative of whether any of the related software requirements of the testable group need alteration.