Automatic Generation of Interface Test Data based on Protocol Modeling and Constraint Coverage

The software involves multiple interfaces for information exchange, and interface testing needs a quantity of test data. In the process of automatic generation of interface test data, due to the numerous interface types, various formats, complex processing, and the lack of universal test data automatic generation method, the efficiency of interface test data generation is low and the coverage is insufficient. Therefore, this paper proposes an automatic generation method of interface test data based on protocol modeling and constraint coverage. Firstly, the features of the interface protocol are abstracted, the five-layer interface protocol description rules are formulated, and the interface protocol is modeled to form an interface protocol description file. Then the value range constraints of the protocol fields are analyzed and summarized, and the constraint coverage criteria for data generation are formulated. Finally, a data generation tool is developed, which can automatically generate test data set that meets the constraint coverage criteria. Applied in the interface testing of an embedded software system, the results show that the proposed method can improve the test data generation efficiency and coverage sufficiency of UDP, serial port and CAN bus interface, and has good universality.