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Much of what we test are transitions from one
state/mode/condition to another. These
have several items in common that must be considered in crafting a valid
test. In the following I use “state”
generically, it could be the state of a component (active/inactive,
enabled/disabled) or a system or sub-system mode (standby, operate,
maintenance).
Steps toward developing a valid test.
- Define
the state
- What
are the salient characteristics of the state? What defines being in the state?
- What
are the monitors and values of those monitors when in the state?
- Define
any behavioral constraints regarding entering the state. These may be transition dependency (a
state diagram may be necessary)
- Validation
has two aspects:
- Is
state achieved? Defined by monitors for state.
- Is
the transition behavior executed correctly? Defined by behavior constraints.
- Define
test procedure
- Preconditions
(may need to be set to confirm a function executed successfully.
- Action
(trigger)
- Result
(see validation)
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