SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FUNCTIONAL TEST CASE GENERATION OF END-TO-END BUSINESS PROCESS MODELS

• US 20140165043A1
• Filed: 07/19/2013
• Published: 06/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Infosys Limited
• Original Assignee: Infosys Limited
• Inventors: Pasala, Anjaneyulu, Dsouza, Sharal Nisha
• Granted Patent: US 10,223,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/124
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/35 model driven
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0633 Workflow analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

A system, medium and method for testing an end-to-end software application is disclosed. A structured business process model (BPM) representative of a set of business requirements for an end-to-end software application to be tested is first generated. The generated structured BPM is validated in association with one or more validation rules. A functional flow layout representative of a node structure embodying all possible scenarios to be handled by the software application is then generated. A plurality of functional flow paths is identified from the functional flow layout, wherein each functional flow path is associated with one or more corresponding scenarios of the possible scenarios. One or more test cases for each identified functional flow path is then generated.

Claims

1. A method for testing an end-to-end software application having a plurality of functionalities, the method comprising:

generating, using a processor of a computing device, a structured business process model (BPM) representative of a set of business requirements for an end-to-end software application to be tested, the structured BPM including a plurality flow objects and linking objects;

validating, using the processor, the generated structured BPM in association with one or more validation rules;

generating, using the processor, a functional flow layout representative of a node structure embodying all possible scenarios to be handled by the software application;

identifying, using the processor, a plurality of functional flow paths from the functional flow layout, wherein each functional flow path is associated with one or more corresponding scenarios of the possible scenarios; and

generating, using the processor, one or more test cases for each identified functional flow path.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing information associated with at least the generated structured BPM in a memory, wherein the stored information is mapped to an established test case profile for the end-to-end software application being tested.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the structured BPM further comprises:

parsing the generated structured BPM to identify all elements included in the structured BPM;

creating a node structure including a plurality of nodes;

mapping each identified element to a corresponding location in the node structure utilizing at least attribute information associated with each identified element, wherein a unique ID-key value is assigned to each identified element that maps the identified element with its corresponding location in the node structure; and

determining one or more relationships between identified elements with respect to the node structure.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of one or more test cases further comprises:

identifying a role of a selected flow path of the structured BPM;

identifying test conditions for the selected flow path by analyzing branch elements to recognize required conditional information for user input for the flow path; and

determining for each generated test case for the selected flow path, an expected outcome for each branch element based on the user input and storing the expected outcome for a test case profile in a memory.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

applying the one or more generated test cases to a corresponding flow path in the end-to-end software application;

comparing an actual outcome from the flow path of the software application to an expected outcome for the flow path; and

generating a report including at least the actual outcome and the expected outcome, wherein the generated report is displayable on a computing device screen.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing a test case regression technique prior to the validation step, the method including:

determining if the structured BPM is an updated version of a previous version of a structured BPM;

extracting flow objects from the updated version of the structured BPM and comparing the extracted flow objects with corresponding flow objects in the previous version;

identifying one or more flow objects in the updated version that have changed with respect to the previous version; and

identifying affected flow paths of the changed flow objects in the updated version, wherein the changed flow objects and identified affected flow paths to be validated in the validation step.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one possible scenario further comprises a sequence of executable activities to be performed by the software application.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one possible scenario further comprises one or more states and transitions associated with a sequence of executable activities to be performed by the software application.

9. A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions for testing an end-to-end software application having a plurality of functionalities, comprising machine executable code which when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, causes the processor to:

generate a structured business process model (BPM) representative of a set of business requirements for an end-to-end software application to be tested, the structured BPM including a plurality flow objects and linking objects;

validate the generated structured BPM in association with one or more validation rules;

generate a functional flow layout representative of a node structure embodying all possible scenarios to be handled by the software application;

identify a plurality of functional flow paths from the functional flow layout, wherein each functional flow path is associated with one or more corresponding scenarios of the possible scenarios; and

generate one or more test cases for each identified functional flow path.

10. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to store information associated with at least the generated structured BPM in a memory, wherein the stored information is mapped to an established test case profile for the end-to-end software application being tested.

11. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processor, when generating the structured BPM, is further configured to:

parse the generated structured BPM to identify all elements included in the structured BPM;

create a node structure including a plurality of nodes;

map each identified element to a corresponding location in the node structure utilizing at least attribute information associated with each identified element, wherein a unique ID-key value is assigned to each identified element that maps the identified element with its corresponding location in the node structure; and

determine one or more relationships between identified elements with respect to the node structure.

12. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processor, when generating the one or more test cases, is further configured to:

identify a role of a selected flow path of the structured BPM;

identify test conditions for the selected flow path by analyzing branch elements to recognize required conditional information for the flow path; and

determine, for each generated test case for the selected flow path, an expected outcome for each branch element and storing the expected outcome for a test case profile in a memory.

13. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

apply the one or more generated test cases to a corresponding flow path in the end-to-end software application;

compare an actual outcome from the flow path of the software application to an expected outcome for the flow path; and

generate a report including at least the actual outcome and the expected outcome, wherein the generated report is displayable on a computing device screen.

14. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to perform a test case regression technique prior to the validation, the processor further configured to:

determine if the structured BPM is an updated version of a previous version of a structured BPM;

extract flow objects from the updated version of the structured BPM and comparing the extracted flow objects with corresponding flow objects in the previous version;

identify one or more flow objects in the updated version that have changed with respect to the previous version; and

identify affected flow paths of the changed flow objects in the updated version, wherein the changed flow objects and identified affected flow paths to be validated.

15. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein at least one possible scenario further comprises a sequence of executable activities to be performed by the software application.

16. The readable medium of claim 9, wherein at least one possible scenario further comprises one or more states and transitions associated with a sequence of executable activities to be performed by the software application.

17. A computing device configured to test an end-to-end software application having a plurality of functionalities, the computing device comprising:

a memory having stored thereon code embodying machine executable programmable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the stored programming instructions in the memory, which when executed by the processor, causes the processor to;

generate a structured business process model (BPM) representative of a set of business requirements for an end-to-end software application to be tested, the structured BPM including a plurality flow objects and linking objects;

validate the generated structured BPM in association with one or more validation rules;

generate a functional flow layout representative of a node structure embodying all possible scenarios to be handled by the software application;

identify a plurality of functional flow paths from the functional flow layout, wherein each functional flow path is associated with one or more corresponding scenarios of the possible scenarios; and

generate one or more test cases for each identified functional flow path.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to store information associated with at least the generated structured BPM in a memory, wherein the stored information is mapped to an established test case profile for the end-toend software application being tested.

19. The computing device of claim 17 wherein the processor, when generating the structured BPM, is further configured to:

parse the generated structured BPM to identify all elements included in the structured BPM;

create a node structure including a plurality of nodes;

map each identified element to a corresponding location in the node structure utilizing at least attribute information associated with each identified element, wherein a unique ID-key value is assigned to each identified element that maps the identified element with its corresponding location in the node structure; and

determine one or more relationships between identified elements with respect to the node structure.

20. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor, when generating the one or more test cases, is further configured to:

identify a role of a selected flow path of the structured BPM;

identify test conditions for the selected flow path by analyzing branch elements to recognize required conditional information for the flow path; and

determine, for each generated test case for the selected flow path, an expected outcome for each branch element and storing the expected outcome for a test case profile in a memory.

21. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to:

apply the one or more generated test cases to a corresponding flow path in the end-to-end software application;

compare an actual outcome from the flow path of the software application to an expected outcome for the flow path; and

generate a report including at least the actual outcome and the expected outcome, wherein the generated report is displayable on a computing device screen.

22. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to perform a test case regression technique prior to the validation, the processor further configured to:

determine if the structured BPM is an updated version of a previous version of a structured BPM;

extract flow objects from the updated version of the structured BPM and comparing the extracted flow objects with corresponding flow objects in the previous version;

identify one or more flow objects in the updated version that have changed with respect to the previous version; and

identify affected flow paths of the changed flow objects in the updated version, wherein the changed flow objects and identified affected flow paths to be validated.

23. The computing device of claim 17, wherein at least one possible scenario further comprises a sequence of executable activities to be performed by the software application.

24. The computing device of claim 17, wherein at least one possible scenario further comprises one or more states and transitions associated with a sequence of executable activities to be performed by the software application.