Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

State Model Inference Through the GUI Using Run-Time Test Generation

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 446))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Software testing is an important part of engineering trustworthy information systems. End-to-end testing through Graphical User Interface (GUI) can be done manually, but it is a very time consuming and costly process. There are tools to capture or manually define scripts for automating regression testing through a GUI, but the main challenge is the high maintenance cost of the scripts when the GUI changes. In addition, GUIs tend to have a large state space, so creating scripts to cover all the possible paths and defining test oracles to check all the elements of all the states would be an enormous effort. This paper presents an approach to automatically explore a GUI while inferring state models that are used for action selection in run-time GUI test generation, implemented as an extension to the open source TESTAR tool. As an initial validation, we experiment on the impact of using various state abstraction mechanisms on the model inference and the performance of the implemented action selection algorithm based on the inferred model. Later, we analyse the challenges and provide future research directions on model inference and scriptless GUI testing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. JaCoCo coverage tool. https://www.jacoco.org/jacoco/. Accessed 17 Jan 2022

  2. Rachota Timetracker. http://rachota.sourceforge.net. Accessed 17 Jan 2022

  3. Aho, P., Alégroth, E., Oliveira, R.A., Vos, T.E.: Evolution of automated regression testing of software systems through the graphical user interface. In: 1st International Conference on Advances in Computation, Communications and Services, pp. 16–21 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Aho, P., Kanstrén, T., Räty, T., Röning, J.: Automated extraction of GUI models for testing. In: Advances in Computers, vol. 95, pp. 49–112. Elsevier (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Aho, P., Räty, T., Menz, N.: Dynamic reverse engineering of GUI models for testing. In: 2013 International Conference on Control, Decision and Information Technologies (CoDIT), pp. 441–447 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Aho, P., Suarez, M., Kanstren, T., Memon, A.M.: Murphy tools: utilizing extracted GUI models for industrial software testing. In: 7th ICSTW, pp. 343–348 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Aho, P., Suarez, M., Memon, A., Kanstrén, T.: Making GUI testing practical: bridging the gaps. In: 2015 12th International Conference on Information Technology-New Generations, pp. 439–444. IEEE (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Amalfitano, D., Fasolino, A.R., Tramontana, P., Amatucci, N.: Considering context events in event-based testing of mobile applications. In: 6th ICSTW, pp. 126–133 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Arcuri, A., Briand, L.: A practical guide for using statistical tests to assess randomized algorithms in software engineering. In: 33rd ICSE, pp. 1–10. ACM (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  10. van der Brugge, A., Ricos, F.P., Aho, P., Marín, B., Vos, T.E.: Evaluating TESTAR’s effectiveness through code coverage. In: Abrahão Gonzales, S. (ed.) XXV JISBD. SISTEDES (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Canny, A., Palanque, P., Navarre, D.: Model-based testing of GUI applications featuring dynamic instanciation of widgets. In: 2020 IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation Workshops (ICSTW), pp. 95–104 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSTW50294.2020.00029

  12. Couto, R., Ribeiro, A.N., Campos, J.C.: A patterns based reverse engineering approach for Java source code. In: 35th IEEE Software Engineering Workshop, pp. 140–147 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  13. de Gier, F., Kager, D., de Gouw, S., Tanja Vos, E.: Offline oracles for accessibility evaluation with the TESTAR tool. In: 13th RCIS, pp. 1–12 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Grechanik, M., Xie, Q., Fu, C.: Creating GUI testing tools using accessibility technologies. In: 2009 International Conference on Software Testing, Verification, and Validation Workshops, pp. 243–250. IEEE (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Grilo, A.M., Paiva, A.C., Faria, J.P.: Reverse engineering of GUI models for testing. In: 5th ICIST, pp. 1–6. IEEE (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kervinen, A., Maunumaa, M., Pääkkönen, T., Katara, M.: Model-based testing through a GUI. In: Grieskamp, W., Weise, C. (eds.) FATES 2005. LNCS, vol. 3997, pp. 16–31. Springer, Heidelberg (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/11759744_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Kull, A.: Automatic GUI model generation: state of the art. In: 2012 IEEE 23rd ISSRE Workshops, pp. 207–212. IEEE (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Marchetto, A., Tonella, P., Ricca, F.: State-based testing of Ajax web applications. In: 2008 1st ICST, pp. 121–130 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Meinke, K., Walkinshaw, N.: Model-based testing and model inference. In: Margaria, T., Steffen, B. (eds.) ISoLA 2012. LNCS, vol. 7609, pp. 440–443. Springer, Heidelberg (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34026-0_32

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  20. Memon, A.M., Banerjee, I., Nagarajan, A.: GUI ripping: reverse engineering of graphical user interfaces for testing. In: 10th WCRE, pp. 260–269 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Mesbah, A., van Deursen, A., Lenselink, S.: Crawling Ajax-based web applications through dynamic analysis of user interface state changes. ACM Trans. Web 6(1), 1–30 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Miao, Y., Yang, X.: An FSM based GUI test automation model. In: 11th International Conference on Control Automation Robotics Vision, pp. 120–126 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Nedyalkova, S., Bernardino, J.: Open source capture and replay tools comparison. In: Proceedings of the International C* Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering, pp. 117–119 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Nguyen, B.N., Robbins, B., Banerjee, I., Memon, A.: GUITAR: an innovative tool for automated testing of GUI-driven software. Autom. Softw. Eng. 21(1), 65–105 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10515-013-0128-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Rafi, D.M., Moses, K.R.K., Petersen, K., Mäntylä, M.V.: Benefits and limitations of automated software testing: systematic literature review and practitioner survey. In: 2012 7th International Workshop on Automation of Software Test (AST), pp. 36–42. IEEE (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Silva, J.A.C., Silva, C., Gonçalo, R.D., Saraiva, J.A., Campos, J.C.: The GUISurfer tool: towards a language independent approach to reverse engineering GUI code. In: Proceedings of the 2nd ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, pp. 181–186. ACM (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Vos, T.E.J., Aho, P., Pastor Ricos, F., Rodriguez-Valdes, O., Mulders, A.: TESTAR - scriptless testing through graphical user interface. STVR 31(3), e1771 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work has been funded by ITEA3 TESTOMAT and IVVES, and H2020 DECODER and iv4XR projects. Thanks to: Arjan Hommerson, Stijn de Gouw, Stefano Schivo.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Ad Mulders, Olivia Rodriguez Valdes, Pekka Aho & Tanja E. J. Vos

  2. Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain

    Fernando Pastor Ricós, Beatriz Marín & Tanja E. J. Vos

Authors
  1. Ad Mulders
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Olivia Rodriguez Valdes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Fernando Pastor Ricós
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pekka Aho
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Beatriz Marín
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Tanja E. J. Vos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pekka Aho .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Renata Guizzardi

  2. University of Geneva, CUI, Carouge, Switzerland

    Jolita Ralyté

  3. Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Franch

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Mulders, A., Valdes, O.R., Ricós, F.P., Aho, P., Marín, B., Vos, T.E.J. (2022). State Model Inference Through the GUI Using Run-Time Test Generation. In: Guizzardi, R., Ralyté, J., Franch, X. (eds) Research Challenges in Information Science. RCIS 2022. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 446. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05760-1_32

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05760-1_32

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-05759-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-05760-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation