STM Notes - Unit-2
STM Notes - Unit-2
STM Notes - Unit-2
UNIT-2
TRANSACTION FLOWS
1.INTRODUCTION:
A transaction is a unit of work seen from a system user's point of view.
A transaction consists of a sequence of operations, some of which are performed by a
system, persons or devices that are outside of the system.
Transaction begins with Birth-that is they are created as a result of some external act.
At the conclusion of the transaction's processing, the transaction is no longer in the system
Example of a transaction: A transaction for an online information retrieval system might consist
of the following steps or tasks:
Accept input (tentative birth)
Validate input (birth)
Transmit acknowledgement to requester
Do input processing
Search file
Request directions from user
Accept input
Validate input
Process request
Update file
Transmit output
Record transaction in log and clean up (death)
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USAGE:
Transaction flows are indispensable for specifying requirements of complicated systems,
especially online systems.
A big system such as an air traffic control or airline reservation system has not hundreds, but
thousands of different transaction flows.
The flows are represented by relatively simple flow graphs, many of which have a single
straight-through path.
Loops are infrequent compared to control flow graphs.
The most common loop is used to request a retry after user input errors. An ATM system, for
example, allows the user to try, say three times, and will take the card away the fourth time.
COMPLICATIONS:
In simple cases, the transactions have a unique identity from the time they're created to the
time they're completed.
In many systems the transactions can give birth to others, and transactions can also merge.
Births:There are three different possible interpretations of the decision symbol, or nodes
with two or more out links. It can be a Decision, Biosis or a Mitosis.
1. Decision:Here the transaction will take one alternative or the other alternative but not
both. (See Figure (a))
2. Biosis:Here the incoming transaction gives birth to a new transaction, and both
transaction continue on their separate paths, and the parent retains it identity. (See Figure
(b))
3. Mitosis:Here the parent transaction is destroyed and two new transactions are created.
(See Figure (c))
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We have no problem with ordinary decisions and junctions. Births, absorptions, and
conjugations are as problematic for the software designer as they are for the software modeler
and the test designer; as a consequence, such points have more than their share of bugs. The
common problems are: lost daughters, wrongful deaths, and illegitimate births.
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oPublish and distribute the selected test paths through the transaction flows as early as
possible so that they will exert the maximum beneficial effect on the project.
PATH SELECTION:
o Select a set of covering paths (c1+c2) using the analogous criteria you used for structural
path testing.
o Select a covering set of paths based on functionally sensible transactions as you would for
control flow graphs.
o Try to find the most tortuous, longest, strangest path from the entry to the exit of the
transaction flow.
PATH SENSITIZATION:
o Most of the normal paths are very easy to sensitize-80% - 95% transaction flow coverage
(c1+c2) is usually easy to achieve.
o The remaining small percentage is often very difficult.
o Sensitization is the act of defining the transaction. If there are sensitization problems on the
easy paths, then bet on either a bug in transaction flows or a design bug.
PATH INSTRUMENTATION:
o Instrumentation plays a bigger role in transaction flow testing than in unit path testing.
o The information of the path taken for a given transaction must be kept with that transaction
and can be recorded by a central transaction dispatcher or by the individual processing
modules.
o In some systems, such traces are provided by the operating systems or a running log.
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4. Process or Execute
5. Store result
6. Increment program counter
7. GOTO 1
Multi-instruction, Multi-data machines (MIMD) Architecture:
o These machines can fetch several instructions and objects in parallel.
o They can also do arithmetic and logical operations simultaneously on different data
objects.
o The decision of how to sequence them depends on the compiler.
BUG ASSUMPTION:
The bug assumption for data-flow testing strategies is that control flow is generally
correct and that something has gone wrong with the software so that data objects are not
available when they should be, or silly things are being done to data objects.
Also, if there is a control-flow problem, we expect it to have symptoms that can be
detected by data-flow analysis.
Although we'll be doing data-flow testing, we won't be using data flowgraphs as such.
Rather, we'll use an ordinary control flowgraph annotated to show what happens to the
data objects of interest at the moment.
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Unforgiving Data - Flow Anomaly Flow Graph: Unforgiving model, in which once a variable
becomes anomalous it can never return to a state of grace.
Forgiving Data - Flow Anomaly Flow Graph: Forgiving model is an alternate model
where redemption (recover) from the anomalous state is possible.
This graph has three normal and three anomalous states and he considers the kk sequence
not to be anomalous. The difference between this state graph and Figure 3.5 is that redemption is
possible. A proper action from any of the three anomalous states returns the variable to a useful
working state.
The point of showing you this alternative anomaly state graph is to demonstrate that the
specifics of an anomaly depends on such things as language, application, context, or even your
frame of mind. In principle, you must create a new definition of data flow anomaly (e.g., a new
state graph) in each situation. You must at least verify that the anomaly definition behind the
theory or imbedded in a data flow anomaly test tool is appropriate to your situation.
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Why Static Analysis isn't enough? There are many things for which current notions of static
analysis are inadequate. They are:
o Dead Variables:Although it is often possible to prove that a variable is dead or alive at a
given point in the program, the general problem is unsolvable.
o Arrays:Arrays are problematic in that the array is defined or killed as a single object, but
reference is to specific locations within the array. Array pointers are usually dynamically
calculated, so there's no way to do a static analysis to validate the pointer value. In many
languages, dynamically allocated arrays contain garbage unless explicitly initialized and
therefore, -u anomalies are possible.
o Records and Pointers:The array problem and the difficulty with pointers is a special
case of multipart data structures. We have the same problem with records and the pointers
to them. Also, in many applications we create files and their names dynamically and
there's no way to determine, without execution, whether such objects are in the proper
state on a given path or, for that matter, whether they exist at all.
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5. Every sequence of simple statements (e.g., a sequence of nodes with one inlink and one
outlink) can be replaced by a pair of nodes that has, as weights on the link between them,
the concatenation of link weights.
6. If there are several data-flow actions on a given link for a given variable, then the weight of
the link is denoted by the sequence of actions on that link for that variable.
7. Conversely, a link with several data-flow actions on it can be replaced by a succession of
equivalent links, each of which has at most one data-flow action for any variable.
Let us consider the example:
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2. Loop-Free Path Segment is a path segment for which every node in it is visited
atmost once. For Example, path (4,5,6,7,8,10) in Figure 3.10 is loop free, but path
(10,11,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12) is not because nodes 10 and 11 are each visited twice.
3. Simple path segment is a path segment in which at most one node is visited
twice. For example, in Figure 3.10, (7,4,5,6,7) is a simple path segment. A simple
path segment is either loop-free or if there is a loop, only one node is involved.
4. A du path from node i to k is a path segment such that if the last link has a
computational use of X, then the path is simple and definition-clear; if the
penultimate (last but one) node is j - that is, the path is (i,p,q,...,r,s,t,j,k) and link
(j,k) has a predicate use - then the path from i to j is both loop-free and definition-
clear.
STRATEGIES:
The structural test strategies discussed below are based on the program's control flowgraph.
They differ in the extent to which predicate uses and/or computational uses of variables are
included in the test set. Various types of data flow testing strategies in decreasing order of their
effectiveness are:
1. All - du Paths (ADUP): The all-du-paths (ADUP) strategy is the strongest data-flow testing
strategy discussed here. It requires that every du path from every definition of every variable
to every use of that definition be exercised under some test.
For variable X and Y:In Figure 3.9, because variables X and Y are used only on link (1,3),
any test that starts at the entry satisfies this criterion (for variables X and Y, but not for all
variables as required by the strategy).
For variable Z: The situation for variable Z (Figure 3.10) is more complicated because the
variable is redefined in many places. For the definition on link (1,3) we must exercise paths
that include subpaths (1,3,4) and (1,3,5). The definition on link (4,5) is covered by any path
that includes (5,6), such as subpath (1,3,4,5,6, ...). The (5,6) definition requires paths that
include subpaths (5,6,7,4) and (5,6,7,8).
For variable V: Variable V (Figure 3.11) is defined only once on link (1,3). Because V has a
predicate use at node 12 and the subsequent path to the end must be forced for both directions
at node 12, the all-du-paths strategy for this variable requires that we exercise all loop-free
entry/exit paths and at least one path that includes the loop caused by (11,4). Note that we
must test paths that include both subpaths (3,4,5) and (3,5) even though neither of these has V
definitions. They must be included because they provide alternate du paths to the V use on
link (5,6). Although (7,4) is not used in the test set for variable V, it will be included in the
test set that covers the predicate uses of array variable V() and U.
The all-du-paths strategy is a strong criterion, but it does not take as many tests as it might
seem at first because any one test simultaneously satisfies the criterion for several definitions
and uses of several different variables
2. All Uses Startegy (AU):The all uses strategy is that at least one definition clear path from
every definition of every variable to every use of that definition be exercised under some test.
Just as we reduced our ambitions by stepping down from all paths (P) to branch coverage
(C2), say, we can reduce the number of test cases by asking that the test set should include at
least one path segment from every definition to every use that can be reached by that
definition.
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For variable V: In Figure 3.11, ADUP requires that we include subpaths (3,4,5) and (3,5) in
some test because subsequent uses of V, such as on link (5,6), can be reached by either
alternative. In AU either (3,4,5) or (3,5) can be used to start paths, but we don't have to use
both. Similarly, we can skip the (8,10) link if we've included the (8,9,10) subpath. Note the
hole. We must include (8,9,10) in some test cases because that's the only way to reach the c
use at link (9,10) - but suppose our bug for variable V is on link (8,10) after all? Find a
covering set of paths under AU for Figure 3.11.
3. All p-uses/some c-uses strategy (APU+C) : For every variable and every definition of that
variable, include at least one definition free path from the definition to every predicate use; if
there are definitions of the variables that are not covered by the above prescription, then add
computational use test cases as required to cover every definition.
For variable Z:In Figure 3.10, for APU+C we can select paths that all take the upper link
(12,13) and therefore we do not cover the c-use of Z: but that's okay according to the
strategy's definition because every definition is covered. Links (1,3), (4,5), (5,6), and (7,8)
must be included because they contain definitions for variable Z. Links (3,4), (3,5), (8,9),
(8,10), (9,6), and (9,10) must be included because they contain predicate uses of Z. Find a
covering set of test cases under APU+C for all variables in this example - it only takes two
tests.
For variable Z: In Figure 3.10, ACU+P coverage is achieved for Z by path (1,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,
11,12,13[lower], 2), but the predicate uses of several definitions are not covered. Specifically,
the (1,3) definition is not covered for the (3,5) p-use, the (7,8) definition is not covered for
the (8,9), (9,6) and (9, 10) p-uses.
The above examples imply that APU+C is stronger than branch coverage but ACU+P may
be weaker than, or incomparable to, branch coverage.
5. All Definitions Strategy (AD) : The all definitions strategy asks only every definition of
every variable be covered by atleast one use of that variable, be that use a computational use
or a predicate use.
For variable Z: Path (1,3,4,5,6,7,8, . . .) satisfies this criterion for variable Z, whereas any
entry/exit path satisfies it for variable V.
From the definition of this strategy we would expect it to be weaker than both ACU+P and
APU+C.
6. All Predicate Uses (APU), All Computational Uses (ACU) Strategies : The all predicate
uses strategy is derived from APU+C strategy by dropping the requirement that we include a
c-use for the variable if there are no p-uses for the variable. The all computational uses
strategy is derived from ACU+P strategy by dropping the requirement that we include a p-use
for the variable if there are no c-uses for the variable.
8. SLICING AND DICING:
1. A (static) program slice is a part of a program (e.g., a selected set of statements) defined with
respect to a given variable X (where X is a simple variable or a data vector) and a statement i:
it is the set of all statements that could (potentially, under static analysis) affect the value of X
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at statement i - where the influence of a faulty statement could result from an improper
computational use or predicate use of some other variables at prior statements.
2. If X is incorrect at statement i, it follows that the bug must be in the program slice for X with
respect to i
3. A program dice is a part of a slice in which all statements which are known to be correct have
been removed.
4. In other words, a dice is obtained from a slice by incorporating information obtained through
testing or experiment (e.g., debugging).
5. The debugger first limits her scope to those prior statements that could have caused the faulty
value at statement i (the slice) and then eliminates from further consideration those statements
that testing has shown to be correct.
6. Debugging can be modeled as an iterative procedure in which slices are further refined by
dicing, where the dicing information is obtained from ad hoc tests aimed primarily at
eliminating possibilities. Debugging ends when the dice has been reduced to the one faulty
statement.
7. Dynamic slicing is a refinement of static slicing in which only statements on achievable paths
to the statement in question are included.
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