Black Box Software Testing

Speaker: J erry Gao Ph.D.

San J ose State University
email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/gaojerry

Topic: Black Box Software Testing
- I ntroduction to Black Box Software Testing?

- Definition
- Why Black Box Testing?
- Testing Objectives and Focuses

- An Example

- Graph-based Testing Methods

- Equivalence Partitioning

- Boundary Value Analysis

- Requirements-Based Testing

- Random Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002
Presentation Outline
All Rights Reserved
I ntroduction to Black Box Testing
What is black box testing?

- Black box testing also known as specification-based testing.

- Black box testing refer to test activities using specification-based testing methods and
criteria to discover program errors based on program requirements and product
specifications.

The major testing focuses:
- specification-based function errors
- specification-based component/system behavior errors
- specification-based performance errors
- user-oriented usage errors
- black box interface errors
interface
Black Box (Component
or System)
output
input
operation
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/2002
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
I ntroduction to Black Box Testing
Under test units in black-box: Software components, subsystems, or systems

What do you need?

- For software components, you need component specification, user interface doc.

-For a software subsystem or system, you need requirements specification, and product
specification document.

You also need:
- Specification-based software testing methods
- Specification-based software testing criteria

- good understanding of software components (or system)
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/2002
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
An Example
Testing a triangle analyzer:

Program specification:

I nput: 3 numbers separated by commas or spaces
Processing:
Determine if three numbers make a valid triangle; if not, print
message NOT A TRI ANGLE.

I f it is a triangle, classify it according to the length of the sides as scalene
(no sides equal), isosceles (two sides equal), or equilateral (all sides equal).

I f it is a triangle, classify it according to the largest angle as acute (less than
90 degree), obtuse (greater than 90 degree), or right (exactly 90 degree).

Output: One line listing the three numbers provided as input and the classification
or the not a triangle message.
Example: 3,4,5 Scalene Right
6,1,6 I sosceles Acute
5,1,2 Not a triangle
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/2002
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
An Example
Functional Test Cases:

Acute Obtuse Right

Scalene: 6,5,3 5,6,10 3,4,5
I sosceles: 6,1,6 7,4,4 1,2, 2^(0.5)
Equilateral: 4,4,4 Not possible Not possible

Functional Test Cases:

I nput Expected Results

4,4,4 Equilateral acute
1,2,8 Not a triangle
6,5,3 Scalene acute
5,6,10 Scalene obtuse
3,4,5 Scalene right
6,1,6 I sosceles acute
7,4,4 I sosceles obtuse
1,1,2^(0.5) I sosceles right
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/2002
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
An Example
Test cases for special inputs and invalid formats:

3,4,5,6 Four sides
646 Three-digit single number
3,,4,5 Two commas
3 4,5 Missing comma
3.14.6,4,5 Two decimal points
4,6 Two sides
5,5,A Character as a side
6,-4,6 Negative number as a side
-3,-3,-3 All negative numbers
Empty input
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/2002
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
An Example
Boundary Test Cases:

(1) Boundary conditions for legitimate triangles

1,1,2 Makes a straight line, not a triangle
0,0,0 Makes a point, not a triangle
4,0,3 A zero side, not a triangle
1,2,3.00001 Close to a triangle but still not a triangle
9170,9168,3 Very small angle Scalene, acute
.0001,.0001,.0001 Very small triangle Equilateral, acute
83127168,74326166,96652988 Very large triangle, scalene, obtuse

Boundary conditions for sides classification:
3.0000001,3,3 Very close to equilateral, I sosceles, acute
2.999999,4,5 Very close to isosceles Scalene, acute

Boundary conditions for angles classification:
3,4,5.000000001 Near right triangle Scalene, obtuse
1,1,1.41141414141414 Near right triangle I sosceles, acute
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/2002
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Software Testing Principles
Davids [DAV95] suggests a set of testing principles:

- All tests should be traceable to customer requirements.

- Tests should be planned long before testing begins.

- The Pareto principle applies to software testing.
- 80% of all errors uncovered during testing will likely be traceable
to 20% of all program modules.

- Testing should begin in the small and progress toward testing in the large.

- Exhaustive testing is not possible.

- To be most effective, testing should be conducted by an independent third party.

Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Software Testability
According to J ames Bach:

Software testability is simply how easily a computer program can be tested.

A set of program characteristics that lead to testable software:

- Operability: the better it works, the more efficiently it can be tested.
- Observability: What you see is what you test.

- Controllability: The better we can control the software, the more the testing
can be automated and optimized.

- Decomposability: By controlling the scope of testing, we can more quickly
isolate problems and perform smarter retesting.

- Simplicity: The less there is to test, the more quickly we can test it.
- Stability: The fewer the changes, the fewer the disruptions to testing.
- Understandability:The more information we have, the smarter we will test.
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Equivalence Partitioning
Equivalence partitioning is a black-box testing method
- divide the input domain of a program into classes of data
- derive test cases based on these partitions.

Test case design for equivalence partitioning is based on an evaluation of equivalence
classes for an input domain.

An equivalence class represents a set of valid or invalid states for input condition.

An input condition is:
- a specific numeric value, a range of values
- a set of related values, or a Boolean condition
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Equivalence Partitioning
Equivalence partitioning is a black-box testing method
- divide the input domain of a program into classes of data
- derive test cases based on these partitions.

Test case design for equivalence partitioning is based on an evaluation of equivalence
classes for an input domain.

An equivalence class represents a set of valid or invalid states for input condition.

An input condition is:
- a specific numeric value, a range of values
- a set of related values, or a Boolean condition
system
Valid inputs
invalid inputs
outputs
partition
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Equivalence Classes


Equivalence classes can be defined using the following guidelines:
- I f an input condition specifies a range, one valid and two invalid equivalence
class are defined.

- I f an input condition requires a specific value, one valid and two invalid
equivalence classes are defined.

- I f an input condition specifies a member of a set, one valid and one invalid
equivalence classes are defined.

- I f an input condition is Boolean, one valid and one invalid classes are
defined.

Examples:
area code: input condition, Boolean - the area code may or may not be present.
input condition, range - value defined between 200 and 900

password: input condition, Boolean - a password nay or may not be present.
input condition, value - six character string.

command: input condition, set - containing commands noted before.
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Boundary Value Analysis
Boundary value analysis(BVA) - a test case design technique
- complements to equivalence partition
Objective:
Boundary value analysis leads to a selection of test cases that exercise bounding values.

Guidelines:
- I f an input condition specifies a range bounded by values a and b,
test cases should be designed with value a and b, just above and below a and b.

Example: I nteger D with input condition [-3, 10],
test values: -3, 10, 11, -2, 0

- I f an input condition specifies a number values, test cases should be developed to exercise
the minimum and maximum numbers. Values just above and below minimum and
maximum are also tested.

Example: Enumerate data E with input condition: {3, 5, 100, 102}
test values: 3, 102, -1, 200, 5

Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Boundary Value Analysis



- Guidelines 1 and 2 are applied to output condition.

- I f internal program data structures have prescribed boundaries, be certain to design a test
case to exercise the data structure at its boundary

Such as data structures:

- array input condition:
empty, single element, full element, out-of-boundary

search for element:
- element is inside array or the element is not inside array

You can think about other data structures:

- list, set, stack, queue, and tree


Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
One-Dimensional Domain Bugs in Open Boundaries


An Open Domain (A):
Closure Bug:
Boundary Shifted Left:
Missing Boundary:
Extra Boundary:
Boundary Shifted Right:
B
B
B
B
B
B
A
A
A
A
A
A
I f the domain boundary is open, an off point is a point near the boundary but in the domain being tested.
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
One-Dimensional Domain Bugs in Closed Boundaries


A Closed Domain (A):
Closure Bug:
Boundary Shifted Left:
Missing Boundary:
Extra Boundary:
Boundary Shifted Right:
B
B
B
B
B
B
A
A
A
A
A
A
I f the domain boundary is closed, an off point is a point near the boundary but in the adjacent domain.
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Generic Domain Bugs in One-Dimensional Domains


Shifted Boundaries:
Tilted Boundaries:
Open/Close Error:
Extra Boundary:
Missing Boundary:
Correct:
I ncorrect:
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
An Example



Given a function module which implements function Z= F(X, Y), which defined as follows:
Z = F(X,Y), where X and Y are integer parameters for F. The detailed definition is given below.
--
| X + Y when 10<=X<=20, and 12<=Y<=30
Z = | X - Y when 0<=X<10, and 0<=Y<12
| 0 under other conditions
--
Please answer the following questions:
(4%) Identify the equivalence classes in [X, Y]. (hints: Considering Z as a function F with X and Y
input variables. )
(4%) List your test cases in [X, Y] based on the equivalence classes.
(4%) Perform boundary value analysis, and list all boundary conditions for X and Y.
(3%) List your test cases in [X, Y] based on boundary value analysis.
X
Y
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Domain Boundary



Two-dimension Domain Boundary
Extreme point
Boundary point
Off point
I nterior point
Topic: Black Box Software Testing
J erry Gao Ph.D. 7/20002 All Rights Reserved
Testing Two-Dimensional Domains



- Closure bug.
For example, using a wrong operator (for example, x >=k when x >k is
intended or vise versa). This bug could be detected due to the testing of
different boundaries or trying interior and off points.

- Shifted boundary:
For example, a boundary is shifted due to the use of an incorrect constant in a
predicate, such as x+y>=17 when x +y >=7 was intended. The off point
catches this bug.

- Titled boundary:
A tilted boundary occurs when coefficients in the boundary inequality are
wrong. For example, 3x+7y >17 when 7x +3y >17 was intended. Testing
different domain points can detect the bug.

- Extra boundary:
An extra boundary is created by an extra predicate. Try different boundary
points can detect this bug.

- Missing boundary:
A missing boundary is created by leaving a boundary predicate out.