Towards the automated generation of abstract test cases from requirements models

In a testing process, the design, selection, creation and execution of test cases is a very time-consuming and error-prone task when done manually, since suitable and effective test cases must be obtained from the requirements. This paper presents a model-driven testing approach for conceptual schemas that automatically generates a set of abstract test cases, from requirements models. In this way, tests and requirements are linked together to find defects as soon as possible, which can considerably reduce the risk of defects and project reworking. The authors propose a generation strategy which consists of: two meta-models, a set of transformations rules which are used to generate a Test Model, and the Abstract Test Cases from an existing approach to communication-oriented Requirements Engineering; and an algorithm based on Breadth-First Search. A practical application of our approach is included.