Systematic generation of scenarios from specification sheet

• US 20070261012A1
• Filed: 10/05/2006
• Published: 11/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Zhu, Qiang, Oishi, Ryosuke, Matsuda, Akio
• Granted Patent: US 7,904,843 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 716/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/3323 using formal methods, e.g. equivalence checking or property checking

Abstract

A method of generating a scenario includes generating a specification model by describing a specification in a predetermined descriptive language, extracting a plurality of operations from the specification model, generating a plurality of operation descriptions, each of which corresponds to one of the operations and includes an operation name and a constraint condition, generating at least one cause-effect graph that combines the operations based on the operation descriptions, and extracting as a scenario a series of operations from the cause-effect graph.

Claims

1. A method of generating a scenario, comprising:

generating a specification model by describing a specification in a predetermined descriptive language;

extracting a plurality of operations from the specification model;

generating a plurality of operation descriptions, each of which corresponds to one of the operations and includes an operation name and a constraint condition;

generating at least one cause-effect graph that combines the operations based on the operation descriptions; and

extracting as a scenario a series of operations from the cause-effect graph.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the constraint condition includes a precondition that needs to be satisfied when an operation having the operation name starts and a postcondition that is supposed to be satisfied when the operation having the operation name comes to an end.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of generating the cause-effect graph includes:

generating a plurality of cause-effect graphs corresponding to the respective operation descriptions; and

generating said at least one cause-effect graph by combining the plurality of cause-effect graphs together,

wherein some of the cause-effect graphs include an operation name, a precondition, a constraint, and an outcome, and wherein if at least one of the operation name, precondition, constraint, and outcome of a first cause-effect graph matches at least one of the operation name, precondition, constraint, and outcome of a second cause-effect graph, the matched ones are shared to combine the first cause-effect graph and the second cause-effect graph.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein there are only six ways to combine the first cause-effect graph and the second cause-effect graph.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of extracting as a scenario a series of operations extracts the series of operations in response to a constraint indicating a desired outcome, such that the series of operations lead to the desired outcome.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the predetermined descriptive language is a UML, and the specification model at least includes a class diagram.

7. A record medium having a program embodied therein for causing a computer to generate a scenario, the program causing the computer to perform the steps of:

extracting a plurality of operations from a specification model that is written in a predetermined descriptive language;

generating a plurality of operation descriptions, each of which corresponds to one of the operations and includes an operation name and a constraint condition;

generating at least one cause-effect graph that combines the operations based on the operation descriptions; and

extracting as a scenario a series of operations from the cause-effect graph.

8. The record medium as claimed in claim 7, wherein the constraint condition includes a precondition that needs to be satisfied when an operation having the operation name starts and a postcondition that is supposed to be satisfied when the operation having the operation name comes to an end.

9. An apparatus for generating a scenario, comprising:

a memory configured to store a program and a specification model that is written in a predetermined descriptive language; and

a processing unit configured to process the specification model stored in the memory by executing the program stored in the memory,

wherein the processing unit performs;

extracting a plurality of operations from the specification model;

generating a plurality of operation descriptions, each of which corresponds to one of the operations and includes an operation name and a constraint condition;

generating at least one cause-effect graph that combines the operations based on the operation descriptions; and

extracting as a scenario a series of operations from the cause-effect graph.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the constraint condition includes a precondition that needs to be satisfied when an operation having the operation name starts and a postcondition that is supposed to be satisfied when the operation having the operation name comes to an end.