Bridging the gap between CASE and CAST

A prototype Test Support System (TSS) has been developed within BT. The objective of the TSS is to bridge the gap that currently exists between software development tools (CASE tools) and software testing tools (CAST tools). The aim being to provide end-to-end automation of the software development process and encourage test development in the earlier stages of the lifecycle. The TSS interfaces to a CASE tool and extracts relevant information from the system design. Extracted design information is developed into test procedures and test cases using a test development methodology. This methodology has been designed to comply with the internationally recognised test documentation standard IEEE-829. It can be used to develop unit, integration, system and acceptance tests, and is supported with a suite of tools. Test procedures and test cases can be extracted using the TSS and when fully developed can be executed on the target software using a test execution tool. The paper documents the experiences gained in development of the prototype TSS