Data Flow Testing

Code Complete 2nd Edition. Page 510 onwards

2004 A Practitioner's Guide to Software Test Design_Good chapter 11

What is the mistake?
What is the mistake?

The value printed will be whatever value was "left over" in the memory
location to which x has been assigned, not necessarily what the
programmer wanted or expected.
Introduction – Technique
 Variables that contain data values have a
defined life cycle.

 After creation they are defined, they are

used, and they are killed (destroyed).
 States of Data
Defined (d) – initialized but not yet used
An occurrence of a variable in the program is a definition of
the variable if a value is bound to the variable at that occurrence.

Used (u) – has been used for some computation as an argument to a

routine or something else
An occurrence of a variable in the program is a use of the
variable if the value of the variable is referred at that
occurrence

Killed (k) - data once defined has been undefined some how,
e.g. if it was a pointer , it may have been freed.
 Predicate Uses and
Computation Uses

 A use of a variable is a predicate use (p-use) if the

variable is in a predicate and its value is used to
decide an execution path
Example: if(p>3) then do this;

 A use of a variable is a computation use (c-use)

if the value of the variable is used to compute a
value for defining another variable or as an output
value.
Example: sum = p+1;
Introduction

 Data flow testing is a powerful tool to detect improper use of

data values due to coding errors.

 Data flow testing uses the control flow graph to explore the
unreasonable things that can happen to data (data flow
anomalies).
Data flow anomalies
 Variable that is defined but never used

 Variable that is used but never defined

 Variable that is defined twice before it is

used
Possibilities
Time-sequenced pairs of defined
(d), used (u), and killed (k):

Defined and defined again—not invalid but suspicious.

dd
Probably a programming error.
du Defined and used—perfectly correct. The normal case.
Defined and then killed—not invalid but probably a
dk
programming error.
ud Used and defined—acceptable.
uu Used and used again—acceptable.
uk Used and killed—acceptable.
Time-sequenced pairs of defined
(d), used (u), and killed (k):

Killed and defined—acceptable. A variable is killed and

kd
then redefined.
Killed and used—a serious defect. Using a variable that
ku
does not exist or is undefined is always an error.
kk Killed and killed—probably a programming error.
Find Bugs
Paths for x variable
 First path
1
2

 Second path
1
3
Find Bugs
Paths for y variable
 Path
Find Bugs
Paths for z variable
 Path 1
Find Bugs
Paths for z variable
 Path 2
Issues Identified
Data flow Testing
The data flow testing process is to choose
enough test cases so that:

 Every "define" is traced to each of its "uses"

 Every "use" is traced from its corresponding

"define"
Two mainline forms
 1. Define use Testing

 2. Program slicing
DU Testing
Define/Use Testing
1. Defining Node
 Defining Node (n)
◦ Of variable v -> DEF(v, n)

 Example:
◦ Input statement
◦ Assignment statement
◦ Loop control statement
◦ Procedure calls

 When the code corresponds to such statements

the contents of memory associated with the
variables are changed.
Define/Use Testing
2. Usage Node
 Usage Node (n)
◦ Of variable v -> USE(v, n)

 Example:
◦ Output statement
◦ Conditional statement
◦ Loop control statement
◦ Assignment statements

 When the code corresponds to such statements

the contents of memory associated with the
variables are unchanged.
Define/Use Testing
2. Usage Node
 Usage Node (n)
◦ Of variable v -> USE(v, n)

◦ P-use : if the statement is a predicate statement

◦ C-use : if the statement is a computational
statement.

◦ Out degrees of both the nodes ??

Define/Use Testing
3. du path
 a path w.r.t variable v such that for some v
there are defined and usage nodes
DEF(v,m) & USE (v,n) such that m and n are
initial and final nodes of the path.
Define/Use Testing
4. dc path
 A du path with initial and final nodes
DEF(v,m) & USE (v,n) such that no other
node in the path is a defining node of v.
 Definition Clear Paths

 A path (i, ni, n2, …, nm, j) is a definition-clear path for a

variable x from i to j if ni through nm do not contain
a definition of x.
(1, 2, 4)

(1, 2, 3, 5)
Example
1. void f() {
2. float x;
3. float y;
4. x = read();
5. y = read();
6. if (x > 0)
7. x += 10;
8. y = y / x;
9. write(x);
10. write(y);
11. }
Example
Variable define Use
1. void f() { X 4,7 6,7,8,9
2. float x;
3. float y; Y 5,8 8,10

4. x = read();
5. y = read();
6. if (x > 0)
7. x += 10;
8. y = y / x;
9. write(x);
10. write(y);
11. }
Example Variable define Use
X 4,7 6,7,8,9
1. void f() {
2. float x;
3. float y; DU paths for Can also be
4. x = read(); variable X written as
4,5,6 4-6
5. y = read();
4,5,6,7 4-7
6. if (x > 0) 4,5,6,7,8 4-8
7. x += 10; 4,5,6,7,8,9 4-9
8. y = y / x; 7,6 7-6
9. write(x); 7,7 7-7

10. write(y); 7,8 7-8

7,8,9 7-9
11. }
Example Variable define Use
X 4,7 6,8,9
1. void f() {
2. float x;
3. float y; DU paths Can also Feasible
4. x = read(); for be ?
variable written
5. y = read(); X as
6. if (x > 0) 4,5,6 4-6 Yes

7. x += 10; 4,5,6,7,8 4-8 Yes

4,5,6,7,8,9 4-9 Yes
8. y = y / x;
7,6 7-6 No
9. write(x); 7,8 7-8 Yes
10. write(y); 7,8,9 7-9 Yes
11. } 4,5,6,7 4-7 Yes
7,7 7-7 ?
Example Variable define Use
X 4,7 6,8,9
1. void f() {
2. float x;
DU Can Feasibl DC or
3. float y; paths also be e? not ?
4. x = read(); for written
variabl as
5. y = read(); e X
6. if (x > 0) 4,5,6 4-6 Yes DC
7. x += 10;
4,5,6,7,8 4-8 Yes Not DC
8. y = y / x;
9. write(x); 4,5,6,7,8 4-9 Yes Not DC
,9
10. write(y);
7,6 7-6 No -
11. } 7,8 7-8 Yes DC
7,8,9 7-9 Yes DC
Define/Use Nodes for
Variables
Define/Use Nodes for
Variables
Some define/use paths
 Lock price
 Stock price
 Barrel price
 Stocks
 Total stocks
 Locks
 Sales

 Find paths?
 Tell whether they are definition clear or not ?
Du path for locks

 Path 1 : 13,14
 Path 2: 13,14,15,16
 Path 3: 19,20,14
 Path 4: 19, 20, 14, 15, 16

 What test cases are covered regarding loops?

◦ Bypass the loop
◦ Begin the loop
◦ Repeat the loop
◦ Exit the loop

 Are these paths definition clear?

Du Path for Total Locks
 10-16
 10-21
 10-24
 16-16
 16-21
 16-24

 See if some path is overlapping we can

ignore them.
Du path for sales
 27-28
 27-29
 27-33

Overlapping ?? If we cover the 3rd path first

two are covered.
Some
define/us
e paths
Define/
use
paths for
Commiss
ion
Advantages

 A variable that is declared but never used

within the program.

 A variable that is used but never declared.

 A variable that is defined multiple times

before it is used.

 De-allocating a variable before it is used.

Program slicing
Program Slicing
 a program slice is a set of program
statements that contributes to, or affects
the value of, a variable at some point in a
program

 The idea of program slicing is to separate a

program into components that have some
useful (functional) meaning.

 program slice is executable

Guidelines
 All statements where variables are defined and
redefined should be considered.
 All statements where variables are receiving
values externally should be considered.
 All statements where output of a variable is
printed should be considered.
 All the statements where relevant output is
printed should be considered.
 The status of all variables may be considered at
last statement of the program.
slicing
 Consider the following portion of a
program:
 S(c,5) =
1.a=3 ;  S(C,3)=
2.b=6 ;
3.c=b2 ;
4.d=a2+b2 ;
5.c=a+b ;
slicing
 Consider the following portion of a
program:
 S(c,5) = 1,2,5
1.a=3 ;  S(C,3)= 2,3
2.b=6 ;
3.c=b2 ;
4.d=a2+b2 ;
5.c=a+b ;
slicing
 Consider the following program. Create slices based on
slicing criterion.
1. void main()
2. {
3. int a,b,c,d,e;
4. printf(“Enter the values of a,b, and c\n”);
5. scanf(“%d %d %d”,&a,&b,&c);
6. d=a+b;
7. e=b+c;
8. printf(“%d”,d);
9. printf(“%d”,e);
10.}
 1 void main()
 2{
 3 float A,B,C;
 4 clrscr();
 5 printf("Enter number 1:\n");
 6 scanf("%f", &A);
 7 printf("Enter number 2:\n");
 8 scanf("%f", &B);
 9 printf("Enter number 3:\n");
 10 scanf("%f", &C);
 11 if(A>B) {
 12 if(A>C) {
 13 printf("The largest number is: %f\n",A);
 14 }
 15 else {
 16 printf("The largest number is: %f\n",C);
 17 }
 18 }
 19 else {
 20 if(C>B) {
 21 printf("The largest number is: %f\n",C);
 22 }
 23 else {
 24 printf("The largest number is: %f\n",B);
 25 }
 26 }
 27 getch();
 1. S(A,6)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,28)
 2. S(A, 13)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,18,27,28)
 3. S(A, 28)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,18,27,28)
 4. S(B, 8)=(1,2,3,4,7,8,28)
 5. S(B,
24)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,19,20,23,24,25,26,27,28)
 6. S(B,
28)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,19,20,23,24,25,26,27,28)
 7. S(C, 10)=(1,2,3,4,9,10,28)
 8. S(C, 16)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,15,16,17,18,27,28)
 9. S(C, 21)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,19,20,21,22,26,27,28)
 10. S(C, 28)=(1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,19,20,21,22,26,27,28)
Progra
m
Slicing