KR20210039714A - Method and apparatus for constructing test environment - Google Patents

Abstract

A test environment constructing method performed in the disclosed test environment constructing device comprises: a step of deriving test environment components from implementation under test (IUT) software and test plans; and a step of constructing a test environment by disposing it as a test environment code based on the precedence relationship between the derived test environment components. Therefore, the present invention is capable of contributing to increasing the reliability of a software.

Description

Test environment construction method and device {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONSTRUCTING TEST ENVIRONMENT}

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for building a test environment, and more particularly, to a method for building a test environment for software to be tested, and an apparatus capable of performing such a method.

As is well known, a test environment is a collection of components necessary to perform tests along the test process and notify the results. For smooth test execution, it is necessary to establish a systematic test environment that considers the relationship between the level of the test process and the platform, utility, and language used in the development process. The ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119 standard defines how to build a test environment and perform tests. However, even though such a standard is defined, various problems arise in the process of actually building a test environment.

First, there is a problem of “professionality in building a test environment” that is difficult for general users to perform, such as having to consider the structure of the test object and the purpose of the test in the process of building the test environment. Therefore, the design and construction of a complex or large-scale test environment is carried out by experts who are well aware of the internal structure of the system under test and have extensive experience in testing.

Second, from the perspective of test execution, there is a problem of “constraints in execution environment” that test execution is only possible when part of the development is completed or under certain conditions. If you want to increase the reliability of the software, you need as many different methods and as many tests as possible. However, since the resources allocated to the test environment are limited, the process of repetitive test environment construction and test execution is bound to be limited.

To solve these problems, methods such as cloud testing and continuous testing have been developed, but there are still some problems. First, cloud testing solves the'constraints of execution environment' by minimizing the expertise required to build a test environment and performing tests by building a test environment from test requirements. However, problems arise due to inconsistent test environments such as different test environment configurations and test results depending on the service provider. Continuous testing uses a method of constructing a test environment on a virtual platform according to a systematic test process to derive consistent test performance and results. However, the “test environment construction expertise” still remains in that the configuration and procedures of the test environment must be directly implemented with IaC (Infrastructure as Code)-based code.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2018-0119911, Publication date November 5, 2018.

The problem to be solved according to an embodiment is that test environment components are derived from the test target (IUT) software and test plan, and then automatically placed as test environment codes to establish a test environment. Provides a method and apparatus for building a test environment.

The problem to be solved is not limited to those mentioned above, and another problem to be solved that is not mentioned will be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs from the following description.

The test environment building method performed in the test environment building apparatus according to the first point of view includes the steps of deriving a test environment component from the test target software and a test plan, and a test environment based on the preceding relationship between the derived test environment components. Deploying as code to build a test environment.

Here, the step of deriving the test environment component may extract at least one of a test platform, a test utility, a test tool, test data, a test harness, and a test environment setup.

In the step of constructing the test environment, the derived test environment component may be materialized as an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) code.

In the step of constructing the test environment, a component having a large ripple effect between the derived test environment components may be sequentially arranged as the IaC code.

The step of building the test environment includes: building the test platform, building the compiler including the characteristics of the test target software and the test data manager, selecting the test tool, building the test utility, and setting the test tool Can be done in the order of.

In the step of constructing the test environment, the installation code of the test environment component may be obtained and disposed from the information of the test environment component through a mapping table.

According to a second aspect, a computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program includes: when the computer program is executed by a processor, deriving a test environment component from the software to be tested and a test plan, and the derived test And an instruction for causing the processor to perform a method including the step of constructing a test environment by arranging as a test environment code based on a preceding relationship between environment components.

According to the third aspect, a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium includes: when the computer program is executed by a processor, deriving a test environment component from the software to be tested and a test plan, and the derived test And an instruction for causing the processor to perform a method including the step of constructing a test environment by arranging as a test environment code based on a preceding relationship between environment components.

The test environment building apparatus according to the fourth aspect includes an input unit receiving data on a test target software and a test plan, and derives a test environment component from the test target software and the test plan, and the derived test environment component And a control unit for constructing a test environment by arranging the test environment code based on the predecessor relationship between them, and an output unit for outputting an executable file for generating the built test environment under control of the control unit.

According to an embodiment, a test environment component is derived from a test target software and a test plan, and then automatically deployed as a test environment code to establish a test environment. If the user only specifies the test plan and the software to be tested, it provides a consistent test environment that meets the test requirements, thereby saving time and effort required to build the test environment. This can contribute to increasing the reliability of the software because more effort can be focused on performing tests.

1 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus for building a test environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an abstract flowchart illustrating a method of building a test environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a hierarchical structure diagram of test environment components according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for deriving a test environment component according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for disposing a test environment component according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating a mapping table of test environment components according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is an exemplary diagram of a docker file capable of creating a unit test environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and a method of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail together with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various forms, and only these embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is provided to fully inform the person of the scope of the invention, and the scope of the invention is only defined by the claims.

In describing the embodiments of the present invention, detailed descriptions of known functions or configurations will be omitted except when actually necessary in describing the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in an embodiment of the present invention, which may vary according to the intention or custom of users or operators. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the present specification.

In the present specification, expressions in the singular include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the present application, terms such as'comprise' or'comprise' are intended to designate the existence of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or a combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other It is to be understood that it does not preclude the presence or addition of features, numbers, steps, actions, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, when a part is connected to another part, this includes not only a direct connection but also an indirect connection through another medium. In addition, the meaning that a part includes a certain component means that other components may be further included rather than excluding other components unless specifically stated to the contrary.

1 is a configuration diagram of an apparatus for building a test environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the test environment building apparatus 100 may include an input unit 110, a control unit 120, and an output unit 130.

The input unit 110 receives data on an implementation under test (IUT) software and a test plan and provides the input to the control unit 120.

The control unit 120 derives test environment components from the test target software and test plan, and automatically arranges them as test environment codes based on the relationship between the derived test environment components to build a test environment. The control unit 120 may include a computing computing device such as a microprocessor. For example, the control unit 120 may materialize the derived test environment component as an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) code. In addition, the control unit 120 may obtain and deploy the installation code of the test environment component through the mapping table from the information of the test environment component. A procedure for building a test environment by the control unit 120 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

The output unit 130 outputs an executable file that generates a test environment constructed by placing it as a test environment code under the control of the control unit 120. For example, the output unit 130 may output a combined Docker file capable of generating one container, which is a test execution environment, as an executable file that creates a test environment.

2 is an abstract flowchart illustrating a method of building a test environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the method of building a test environment includes a step (S210) of deriving a test environment component from the software to be tested and the test plan. For example, when deriving test environment components, the operating system (OS), test utility, test tools, test data, and test harness as a test platform. Harness) and test environment setup (Test Environment Setup) at least one of information may be extracted.

And, the test environment building method further includes a step (S220) of automatically arranging the test environment code as a test environment code based on the relationship between the derived test environment components before and after (S220). For example, when constructing a test environment, the derived test environment components may be materialized as IaC (Infrastructure as Code) codes. Here, it is possible to sequentially arrange as IaC code from a component having a large ripple effect between the derived test environment components. For example, it may be performed in the order of building a test platform, building a compiler and test data manager including characteristics of the software to be tested, selecting a test tool, building a utility, and setting a test tool. In addition, when constructing the test environment, the installation code of the test environment component can be obtained and placed from the information of the test environment component through the mapping table.

3 is a hierarchical structure diagram of a test environment component according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure for deriving a test environment component according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flow chart showing a procedure of arranging test environment components according to an embodiment, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a mapping table of test environment components according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is This is an example of a Docker file that can create a unit test environment accordingly.

Hereinafter, a procedure for performing a method of building a test environment in the test environment building apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

First, the input unit 110 of the test environment building apparatus 100 receives data on the software to be tested and the test plan and provides them to the control unit 120.

Then, the control unit 120 derives a test environment component from the test target software and test plan.

The test environment is a group of components necessary to perform a test smoothly according to a series of test processes. The test environment suggested by standard documents and various documents may be configured as shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the test environment may have a hierarchical structure that can be divided into several components and hierarchies according to functions. Hardware 301 is an essential element that performs physical calculations and operations in test activities. In addition, an operating system 302 is required as a test platform for controlling and controlling the hardware 301. A test environment is completed by configuring various functional modules 304 to 310 required to test the software under test 303 based on the built hardware 301 and the operating system 302. However, the test environment is not always configured in the same form. The content or configuration of the function module may change depending on the software to be tested or the test method to be applied. The functions and roles of each module are as follows.

The utility 304 is software required to configure a test environment and software required to operate the software to be tested.

The test tool 305 is a specialized tool or test engine required to perform an actual test.

The test data manager 306 is a tool that provides test data necessary in the test process of the software under test.

The test driver 307 is a kind of test harness that composes an alternative environment according to the test strategy and purpose, and is a module that separately calls specific functions or methods included in the test target software and drives them. .

The test stub 308 is a kind of test harness, and is a module that simulates a function or method called from a software under test. For example, the test stub does not fully replicate functionally, but merely replicates the call relationship, thereby supporting the software under test to operate without difficulty.

The preamble 309 is a kind of test environment setup information, and is a module that performs prerequisite tasks necessary to satisfy a precondition in test execution. For example, when you want to test the file input/output function, you can create a file or open an existing file.

The postamble 310 is a kind of test environment setup information, and is a module that performs a post-process necessary to satisfy a post-condition in test execution. For example, a file created in the example of a preamble can be deleted or an open file can be closed.

As described above, the configuration of the test environment may change depending on the software under test or the test method. The reason the configuration of the test environment can change is that certain factors may or may not be required depending on the software under test or the test method. Taking the test harness as an example, the test driver 307 and the test stub 308 may not be necessary depending on the software under test, and even if necessary, the contents of the test driver 307 and the test stub 308 are completely different depending on the software under test. Therefore, it is necessary to organize the relationships that can directly affect the derivation of the components of the test environment. Table 1 summarizes the relationship between the elements of the test environment components and which information of the test plan and the software under test can be derived. The test plan consists of several items.In order to derive the components of the test environment, information on environmental needs, approaches, features to be tested, and testing tasks are included. need.

Test Environment Components Derived from Test Plan IUT (Implementation Under Test) Platform(OS) Environmental Needs Utility Environmental Needs IUT Test Tools Approach/
Environmental Needs Test Data
Manager Features to be Tested IUT Test Harness Test Driver Features to be Tested IUT Test Stub IUT Test Environment Setup Preamble Testing Tasks IUT Postamble Testing Tasks IUT

Fig. 4 shows how each element of the test environment component can be derived from each item of the test plan and the software under test. 4 is an activity diagram showing a test plan and a procedure for deriving a test environment component from a test target software.

Next, the control unit 120 of the test environment building apparatus 100 constructs a test environment by automatically arranging it as a test environment code based on the predecessor relationship between the test environment components derived previously.

It cannot be said that a test environment has been built simply by collecting the components of the defined test environment. For example, the derived test environment components can be materialized as IaC codes, and in order for the written code to become a meaningful test environment, the predecessor relationship between the components must be considered. For example, if one-sided code is generated and configured, an error such as installing the function module software first in an environment without an operating system may result. Therefore, in order to avoid such errors, an arrangement procedure that considers the organic relationship between each component is necessary. 5 is an activity diagram showing a procedure for arranging test environment components based on a test plan and software to be tested. The test environment construction procedure of FIG. 5 uses a method of concreting so as to reflect the test target software or test plan while sequentially arranging components having a large ripple effect. Therefore, we start to build the platform required by most application software. After that, a compiler and a test data manager that contains the characteristics of the software are built so that they can be used to select test tools. If necessary, configure the test harness and set the initial environment for each component, and divide it into one logical module so that any test tool can be used. In the test tool selection process, a suitable tool is selected by referring to the characteristics of the software to be tested, the test plan, and the established test environment from the previous module. After the test tool is selected, a test tool, environment, and utilities necessary to run the software under test are built, and finally, a complete test environment is established by setting the test tool and the necessary processing tasks after performing the test.

Test environment components can be instantiated using Docker, one of the IaC tools. Docker provides containers, which are virtual environments in which various components can be installed and deployed. These containers are created through a Docker file composed of installation and control codes. Therefore, the automation of test environment construction can be realized by arranging the executable code defined for each component of the test environment according to the test environment construction procedure.

The test environment is built according to the'Set' process of arranging each component according to FIG. 5, and some components may be omitted depending on the conditions of the software to be tested or the test plan. The installation code of the test environment component required in the'Set' process can be obtained through the mapping table of FIG. 6. The executable template code is obtained from the component information, and the installation code is specified by filling in the version or option information derived from the user input or component derivation process. These specified codes can be combined into a single Docker file according to the test environment deployment procedure.

As a result, the output unit 130 of the test environment building apparatus 100 may output an executable file that generates a test environment constructed by placing it as a test environment code under the control of the control unit 120. For example, the output unit 130 may output a combined Docker file capable of generating one container, which is a test execution environment, as an executable file that creates a test environment. 7 is an example of a docker file combined in this manner. Finally, when the completed Docker file is executed, a container, which is a test execution environment, is created.

As described so far, according to the embodiment of the present invention, after deriving test environment components from the software to be tested and the test plan, the test environment is automatically disposed as a test environment code to establish a test environment. If the user only specifies the test plan and the software to be tested, it provides a consistent test environment that meets the test requirements, thereby saving time and effort required to build the test environment. This can contribute to increasing the reliability of the software because more effort can be focused on performing tests.

Combinations of each step in the flowchart attached to the present invention may be performed by computer program instructions. Since these computer program instructions can be mounted on the processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer or other programmable data processing equipment, the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment are the functions described in each step of the flowchart. Will create a means of doing things. These computer program instructions can also be stored on a computer-usable or computer-readable recording medium that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement a function in a specific manner, so that the computer-readable or computer-readable recording medium. It is also possible to produce an article of manufacture containing instruction means for performing the functions described in each step of the flow chart with instructions stored on the recording medium. Since computer program instructions can also be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, a series of operating steps are performed on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-executable process to create a computer or other programmable data processing equipment. It is also possible for the instructions to perform the processing equipment to provide steps for executing the functions described in each step of the flowchart.

In addition, each step may represent a module, segment, or part of code that contains one or more executable instructions for executing the specified logical function(s). In addition, it should be noted that in some alternative embodiments, the functions mentioned in the steps may occur out of order. For example, the order in which the steps mentioned in the embodiments are performed may be changed, in fact, two steps shown in succession may be performed substantially simultaneously, or the steps may sometimes be performed in the reverse order depending on the corresponding function. It is possible.

The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present invention, but to explain the technical idea, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention.

100: test environment building device
110: input unit
120: control unit
130: output

Claims (9)

As a test environment building method performed in a test environment building device,
Deriving test environment components from the implementation under test (IUT) software and test plan, and
Comprising the step of constructing a test environment by placing it as a test environment code based on the predecessor relationship between the derived test environment components
How to build a test environment. The method of claim 1,
The step of deriving the test environment component may include extracting at least one of a test platform, a test utility, a test tool, test data, a test harness, and a test environment setup.
How to build a test environment. The method of claim 1,
The step of constructing the test environment may include realizing the derived test environment components as IaC (Infrastructure as Code) codes.
How to build a test environment. The method of claim 3,
The step of constructing the test environment may include sequentially arranging the IaC code from a component having a large impact between the derived test environment components.
How to build a test environment. The method of claim 3,
The step of building the test environment includes: building the test platform, building the compiler including the characteristics of the test target software and the test data manager, selecting the test tool, building the test utility, and setting the test tool To do in the order of
How to build a test environment. The method of claim 3,
In the step of constructing the test environment, the installation code of the test environment component is obtained and placed through a mapping table from the information of the test environment component.
How to build a test environment. As a computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program,
When the computer program is executed by a processor,
Deriving test environment components from the implementation under test (IUT) software and test plan, and
Including an instruction for causing the processor to perform a method comprising the step of constructing a test environment by placing it as a test environment code based on the predecessor relationship between the derived test environment components.
Computer-readable recording medium. As a computer program stored on a computer-readable recording medium,
When the computer program is executed by a processor,
Deriving test environment components from the implementation under test (IUT) software and test plan, and
Including an instruction for causing the processor to perform a method comprising the step of constructing a test environment by placing it as a test environment code based on the predecessor relationship between the derived test environment components.
Computer program. An input section for inputting data on the implementation under test (IUT) software and test plan, and
A control unit for deriving a test environment component from the test target software and the test plan, and arranging it as a test environment code based on the relationship between the derived test environment components and constructing a test environment,
In accordance with the control of the control unit, including an output unit for outputting an executable file that creates the built test environment
Device for building a test environment.

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