Multiple mutation testing from finite state machines with symbolic inputs

Abstract

Recently, we proposed a mutation-testing approach from a classical finite state machine (FSM) for detecting nonconforming mutants in a given fault domain specified with a so-called mutation machine. In this paper, we lift this approach to a particular type of extended finite state machines called symbolic input finite state machine (SIFSM), where transitions are labeled with symbolic inputs, which are predicates on input variables possibly having infinite domains. We define a well-formed mutation SIFSM for describing various types of faults. Given a mutation SIFSM, we develop a method for evaluating the adequacy of a test suite and a method for generating tests detecting all nonconforming mutants. Experimental results with the prototype tool we have developed indicate that the approach is applicable to industrial-like systems.