Testing-oriented improvements of OCL specification patterns

Detailed and unequivocal model specifications are a prerequisite for attaining the automated software development goal as promoted by the Model Driven Engineering paradigm. The use of Design by Contract assists in creating such model specifications. However, writing from scratch a large amount of assertions can be tedious, time-consuming, and error-prone. Consequently, a number of constraint patterns have been identified in the literature, and corresponding OCL specifications have been proposed. Automating their use in tools should speed the writing task and increase its correctness. Yet, no attention has been paid to the influence of such specifications on the testing process. We approach this area by proposing new OCL specification patterns for some of the existing constraint patterns. Our proposal should increase the efficiency while testing/debugging models and applications. Relevant examples and tool-support are used in order to explain and validate our approach.