 Development is accompanied by “bugs.

”
 Catching bugs early saves money

◦ The further a bug progresses the more impact

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By the end of this chapter, you should:
 Understand the concepts of black box tests, white
box tests, observability, and controllability.
 Understand the principles of debugging.
 Understand when a unit test is used and how it is
constructed.
 Understand when an integration test is used and
how it is constructed.
 Understand when an acceptance test is used and
how it is constructed.

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 Testing proceeds with design process
◦ Write tests while designing modules,
◦ Perform tests while implementing modules
 The Test-Vee illustrates this process
Development Testing

Requirements Acceptance
Specification Test

System Integration
Design Test

Unit
Construct
Test

Debugging

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 How should we perform testing?
 Apply every possible input, or
 Apply selected inputs which might yield errors

◦ Test should be chosen to increase likelihood of

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 Test cases define exactly what the module must do.
 Testing prevents feature creep, since the
development of a module is complete when its test
is passed.
 Test cases motivate developers by providing
immediate feedback.
 Test cases force designers to think about extreme
cases.

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 Black box
◦ No knowledge of internal organization
◦ Only access input and outputs
◦ Change inputs and observe outputs
 White box
◦ Knowledge of internal organization
◦ Might have expectation of fault model
◦ Create test instance which reveal physical or logical
errors

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 Controllability
◦ When any node of the system can be set to a
desired value
◦ Black box has no controllability
 Observability
◦ When any node of the system can be measured.
◦ Black box has low observability

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 Accurate - The test should check what it is supposed to
 Economical - The test should be performed in a minimal
number of steps.
 Limited in complexity - Tests should consist of a moderate
number (10-15) of steps.
 Repeatable - The test should be able to be performed and
repeated by another person.
 Appropriate - The complexity of the test should be such that
it is able to be performed by other individuals who are
assigned the testing task.
 Traceable - The test should verify a specific requirement.
 Self cleaning - The system should return to the pre-test state
after the test is complete.

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Debugging

 Bohrbugs
◦ Bohrbugs are reliable bugs
◦ The error is always in the same place

 Heisenbugs
◦ Innocuous changes of input yield buggy behavior
◦ May not be reproducible
◦ They seemingly move around within a system

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 Observe the problem under different
operating conditions
 Form a hypothesis as to what the potential

problem is
 Conduct experiments to confirm or eliminate

the hypothesized source of the problem

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 Check easiest problems first
◦ You can perform more in a given time
 Start at lowest levels of abstraction
◦ Upper levels rely on lower level
 Example
◦ Is the system powered up?
◦ Is the testing equipment adjusted properly?
◦ Have you initialized the system?
◦ Are you printing out the right variable/type?

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 A unit test is a test of the functionality of a
system module in isolation
 Should be traceable to the detailed design.
 Consists of a set of test cases
 Test cases should be written with the intent
of uncovering undiscovered defects.

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 Write unit test during implementation;
why?
◦ White box tests
◦ Thinking about test situations and conditions
may lead the designer to uncover errors before
they are ever designed into the system.
◦ Unit tests need to be written with an
understanding of the internal organization of
the component, and a system is best
understood during its development.

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if (16 < Celsius Temperature < 32)
Fahrenheit Temperature = ROM[input-16];
else
Fahrenheit Temperature = (9* Celsius Temperature)/5 + 32;

 What inputs are used to check the ROM?

◦ Test coverage
◦ Path complete coverage

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 Determine inputs to check all paths
◦ ACTION1
◦ ACTION2
◦ ACTION3

if ((x >= 30) && (x <= 39)) {

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 Matrix Test
 Automated Scripts Tests
 Step-by-step Test

Note: these can be applied to any level of test:

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 Test Writer: Sue L. Engineer
  Test Case Name: ADC function test Test ID #: ADC-FT-01
  Description: Verify conversion range and clock Type: white box
frequency. Output goes to 0 in presence of  black box
null clock.

Tester Information
  Name of Tester: Date:
  Hardware Ver: 1.0 Time:
Setup: Isolate the ADC from the system by removing configuration jumpers.
Test

Pass

Fail
N/A
VT Clock Expected output Comments
Decimal Hexadecimal
1 0.0V 10kHz 0 0x000

5 2.0V 0Hz 0 0x000

  Overall test result:        

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 Test Writer: Sue L. Engineer
  Test Case Name: Finite State Machine Path Test #1 Test ID #: FSM-Path-01
  Description: Simulate insertion of money with a mix of nickels and Type: white box
dimes. Verifies FSM, outputs candy in response to black box
a total deposit of $0.30.
Tester Information
  Name of Tester: Date:
  Hardware Ver: 1.0 Time:
Setup: Make sure that the system was reset sometime prior and is in state $0.00.
Step

Pass

Fail
N/A
Action Expected Result Comments

1 Strobe Nickel State should go to $0.05

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 Write integration test during level 1 design
◦ Help insure requirements are being met.
◦ Help to firm-up design
◦ Requires the designer think about the
expected behavior of the subsystems.
◦ Requires designer to think about extreme
behaviors of subsystems.

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 What are the different paths of execution
through the system?
 Are all modules exercised at least once
during integration testing?
 Have all the interface signals been tested?
 Have all the interface modes been
exercised?
 Does the system process information at the
required rate and met timing requirements?

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 Might be formal legal document
 Written along with requirements
 Traceable to engineering requirements
 Identifies
◦ Scope – how much of the system is tested?
◦ Level – how deep will testing be
performed?

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 Autonomous navigating robot
 Engineering requirements
◦ The robot’s center must stay within 12 to 18
centimeters of the wall over 90% of the course,
while traveling parallel to a wall over a 3 meter
course.
◦ The robot’s heading should never deviate no
more than 10 degrees from the wall’s axis, while
traveling parallel to a straight wall over a 3 meter
course.

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24
 Switches

Digital
H-bridge DC motor
Compass

MCU

Range
H-bridge DC motor
Finder

LCD

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 MCU + motors + bridge + switches

 Chassis + digital compass + MCU + motors

 Chassis + range finder + MCU + motors +

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27
 MCU (hardware)
 LCD
 Switches
 Compass
 Range finder
 H-bridge
 Motors
 Chassis
 MCU (software)

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Reasons to develop and conduct tests
 Testing reduces the number of bugs in existing and new
features.
 Tests are good documentation.
 Tests improve design.
 Tests allow you to refactor.
 Tests constrain features.
 Tests defend against other designers.
 Testing is fun.
 Testing forces you to slow down and think.
 Testing makes development faster.
 Tests reduce fear.

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 Testing helps to ensure proper operation of
system.
 Types of Testing
◦ Block box
◦ White box
◦ Unit Testing
◦ Integration Testing
◦ Acceptance Testing
◦ Matrix tests
◦ Step-by-step test
◦ Automated tests

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