TESTING FRAMEWORK FOR POLICY-BASED WORKFLOWS

• US 20150095895A1
• Filed: 10/02/2013
• Published: 04/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Taneja, Kunal, Tung, Teresa, Kim, Mijung
• Granted Patent: US 9,367,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/132
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/52 Program synchronisation; Mutual exclusion, e.g. by means of semaphores

Abstract

A system comprehensively tests each feasible path in a policy-based Extensible Markup Language (XML) workflow. The system may receive an input workflow and parse workflow (or proxy code of the workflow) to construct a policy control flow graph. The system may identify paths in the policy control flow graph, such as each feasible path in the policy control flow graph. The system may determine path constraints for the identified paths, where the path constraints identify path conditions for traversing the identified path in the policy control flow graph. Then, the system may generate a set of test inputs for the workflow using the path constraints that, when input into the policy-based XML workflow, cause the workflow to traverse the identified paths.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a system, a policy-based Extensible Markup Language (XML) workflow comprising multiple policy nodes and multiple condition nodes, the multiple policy nodes and multiple condition nodes accessible through a common input point in the policy-based XML workflow;

parsing, by the processor, the policy-based XML workflow to construct a policy control flow graph for the policy-based XML workflow;

identifying, through the processor, paths in the policy control flow graph;

determining, by the processor, path constraints for the paths in the policy control flow graph, the path constraints identifying one or more path conditions for traversing a respective path in the policy control flow graph;

generating, with the processor, a set of test inputs for the policy-based XML workflow using the path constraints, where the set of test inputs, when input into the policy-based XML workflow, cause the policy-based XML workflow to traverse the identified paths in the policy control flow graph; and

storing, by the processor, the generated set of test inputs in a memory of the system.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where identifying comprises identifying each feasible path in policy control flow graph.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where identifying comprises identifying each feasible path in policy control flow graph without identifying any non-feasible paths in the policy control flow graph.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where determining path constraints for the paths in the policy control flow graph comprises:

Identifying, through the processor, a subpath in the policy control flow graph, the subpath not including an endpoint node in the policy control flow graph; and

determining, through the processor, a path condition for reaching the subpath in the policy control flow graph.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where determining path constraints for paths in the policy control flow graph comprises:

identifying, in the policy control flow graph, a first node and a second node linked to the first node;

determining a path condition for traversing from the first node to the second node; and

appending the path condition to a previously determined path condition for reaching the first node.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, where generating the set of test inputs comprises generating a first test input that satisfies the path constraints for one of the identified paths.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing, through the processor, a set of testing oracles for the policy-based XML workflow;

testing, through the processor, the policy-based XML workflow using the set of test inputs; and

comparing, through the processor, a result of the testing with the testing oracles.

8. A system comprising:

a processor; and

memory in communication with the processor, the memory having stored thereon;

code parsing logic, that when executed by the processor, is configured to;

receive a policy-based Extensible Markup Language (XML) workflow comprising multiple policy nodes and multiple condition nodes, the multiple policy nodes and multiple condition nodes accessible through a common input point in the policy-based XML workflow; and

parse the policy-based XML workflow to construct a policy control flow graph for the policy-based XML workflow; and

path enumeration logic, that when executed by the processor, is configured to;

policy control flow graph; and

constraint collection logic, that when executed by the processor, is configured to;

determine path constraints for the paths in the policy control flow graph, the path constraints identifying one or more path conditions for traversing a respective path in the policy control flow graph; and

constraint solving logic, that when executed by the processor, is configured to;

generate a set of test inputs for the policy-based XML workflow using the path constraints, where the set of test inputs, when input into the policy-based XML workflow cause the policy-based XML workflow to traverse the identified paths in the policy control flow graph.

9. The system of claim 8, where the path enumeration logic is configured to identify, as the paths in the policy control flow graph, each feasible path in the policy control flow graph.

10. The system of claim 8, where the path enumeration logic is configured to identify, as the paths in the policy control flow graph, each feasible path in the policy control flow graph without identifying any non-feasible path in the policy control flow graph.

11. The system of claim 8, where the constraint collection logic is configured to determine the path constraints by:

identifying a subpath in the policy control flow graph, the subpath not including an endpoint node in the policy control flow graph; and

determining a path condition for reaching the subpath in the policy control flow graph.

12. The system of claim 8, where the constraint collection logic is configured to determine the path constraints by:

identifying, in the policy control flow graph, a first node and a second node linked to the first node;

determining a path condition for traversing from the first node to the second node; and

appending the path condition to a previously determined path condition for reaching the first node.

13. The system of claim 8, where the constraint solving logic is configured to generate the set of test inputs by:

generating a first test input that satisfies the path constraints for one of the identified paths.

14. The system of claim 8, the memory having further stored thereon testing logic, that when executed by the processor, is configured to:

access a set of testing oracles for the policy-based XML workflow;

input the set of test inputs into the policy-based XML workflow to obtain test results; and

compare the test results with the testing oracles.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:

processor executable instructions, that when executed by a processor, cause a system to;

receive a policy-based workflow comprising multiple policy nodes and multiple condition nodes, the multiple policy nodes and multiple condition nodes accessible through a common input point in the policy-based XML workflow;

parse the policy-based workflow to construct a policy control flow graph for the policy-based workflow;

identify paths in the policy control flow graph;

filter the identified paths into a set of filtered paths;

determine path constraints for the set of filtered paths, the path constraints identifying one or more path conditions for traversing a respective filtered path in the set of filtered paths; and

generate a set of test inputs for the policy-based workflow using the path constraints, where the set of test inputs, when input into the policy-based XML workflow cause the policy-based workflow to traverse the set of filtered paths.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, where the processor-executable instructions cause the system to filter the identified paths into the set of filter paths according to a filtering criterion.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, where the filtered set of paths comprises each feasible path in the policy control flow graph.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, where the filtered set of paths comprises feasible paths that traverse a particular node in policy control flow graph.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, where the processor-executable instructions cause the system to determine the path constraints by:

identifying a subpath in the policy control flow graph, the subpath not including an endpoint node in the policy control flow graph; and

determining a path condition for reaching the subpath in the policy control flow graph.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, where the processor-executable instructions cause the system to generate the set of test inputs by:

generating a first test input that satisfies the path constraints for one of the identified paths