Test adequacy assessment for UML design model testing

Systematic design testing, in which executable models of behaviors are tested using inputs that exercise scenarios, can help reveal flaws in designs before they are implemented in code. We present a testing method in which executable forms of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) models are tested. The method incorporates the use of test adequacy criteria based on UML model elements in class diagrams and interaction diagrams. Class diagram criteria are used to determine the object configurations on which tests are run while interaction diagram criteria are used to determine the sequences of messages that should be tested. The criteria can be used to define test objectives for UML designs. In this paper, we describe and illustrate the use of the proposed test method and adequacy criteria.