JPH04239337A - Measuring system for program comprehension rate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an accurate evaluation degree of an evaluating subject program by measuring the ratio of the instructions that are carried out once or more during execution of the program evaluation. CONSTITUTION:An external storage 6 includes the accumulation files 61-6n. The comprehension information can be accumulated in the files 61, 62 and 6n in the measurement states where the modules 41, 42 and 4n are noted respectively. Then the comprehension information are stored by means of a branch instruction interruption, and the ratio (program comprehension rate) of the executed instructions is calculated based on the stored comprehension information after execution of an evaluating subject program. Thus the program comprehension rate is objectively decided and an accurate evaluation degree is obtained for the evaluating subject program.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for measuring program coverage in an information processing system, and more particularly to a method for measuring program coverage that measures the ratio of instructions executed at least once in a program to be evaluated.

0002

[Background Art] When a program is newly developed, it is necessary to evaluate the program using test data, etc., in order to confirm whether the program achieves its intended purpose. It will be done.

[0003] Normally, in evaluating this program, the person in charge of evaluation considers several evaluation items in advance so as to cover all instructions in the program to be evaluated, conducts tests on these evaluation items, and then evaluates all the evaluation items. The evaluation was considered complete when a satisfactory result was obtained.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, it is extremely difficult to think of evaluation items in advance that can cover all the instructions in the program to be evaluated. There was a problem in that it could not be said that the evaluation of the target program had been completed.

An object of the present invention is to measure the program coverage rate by measuring the ratio of instructions executed at least once during the evaluation of the program to be evaluated, thereby making it possible to accurately know the degree of evaluation of the program to be evaluated. The goal is to provide a method.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problem] The program coverage measurement method of the present invention determines the running priority level of the program including the branch instruction and the execution of the branch instruction before the first instruction after the branch is executed. A branch instruction that generates an internal interrupt by holding a pre-branch address that is its own address and a post-branch address that is a branch destination address of the branch instruction, and that the internal interrupt can be generated for each of one or more of the priority levels. an interrupt means (30), a branch instruction interrupt mode setting and cancellation means (21) for starting and stopping the branch instruction interrupt means, and a post-branch address for storing the post-branch address in correspondence with the priority level. a recording means (22), a pre-branch address notified from the branch instruction interrupt means, and a post-branch address already stored by the post-branch address recording means and corresponding to the priority level at the time of selfishness of the branch instruction; comprehensive information storage means (23) for storing the range indicated by as comprehensive information;
An instruction analysis means (25) that obtains the addresses of all instruction words of the program to be evaluated on the main storage device, and the addresses of the instruction words obtained by the instruction word analysis means and the exhaustive information stored by the exhaustive information storage means. measurement result editing and output means (34) for calculating the ratio of executed instructions as a program coverage rate (26) and editing and outputting the address of the instruction word so that executed instructions and unexecuted instructions can be distinguished;
means (29) for cumulatively storing the comprehensive information stored in the comprehensive information storage unit in an external storage device; and means (28) for merging the comprehensive information cumulatively stored in the external storage device by the cumulative storage device. It is characterized by comprising:

[0007]

Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The program coverage measurement method shown in this figure includes an input device 1 on which input operations are performed, an input information analysis section 20, a coverage measurement control section 21, a post-branch address storage section 22, a coverage information storage section 23, and a measurement result editor. Output control section 2
4, an instruction word analysis unit 25, a coverage rate calculation unit 26, a cumulative file control unit 27, a coverage information merging unit 28, a cumulative file input/output unit 29; A central processing unit 3 including a branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 that holds a priority level, a pre-branch address, and a post-branch address and generates an internal interrupt before an instruction is executed, and a main memory that stores a program to be evaluated. 4, an output device 5 to which a characteristic result list is output, and an external storage device 6 in which a cumulative file for cumulatively storing comprehensive information exists.

The main storage device 4 includes modules 41 and 42.
, ..., 4n exists, and the start address of each module is S1, S2.
,...,Sn, and the end address is E0,
They are expressed as addresses E1, . . . , En. The modules 41, 42, ..., 4n are each aaaa
The module names are aa, bbbbbb, ..., zzzzzz.

[0010] The external storage device 6 has accumulated files 61, 6.
2, ..., 6n, and for example, when measuring with focus on module 41, module 42
It is possible to accumulate exhaustive information by associating it with the accumulation file 62 when the measurement is focused on the module 4n, and with the accumulation file 6n when the measurement is based on the module 4n.

Next, the operation of the program coverage measurement method of this embodiment configured as described above will be explained. First, when the priority level number of the program to be evaluated is set to 1 and the measurement is performed focusing on the module 41, the specification of the cumulative file 61 and the branch instruction interrupt mode setting command for the priority level number 1 are sent from the input device 1 to the program. The coverage measurement control section 21 is notified via the input information analysis section 20 of the coverage measurement device 2 . Upon receiving this notification, the coverage rate measurement control unit 21 instructs the cumulative file control unit 27 to restore the contents of the cumulative file 61 in the external storage device 6 to the coverage information storage unit 23.

In response to this command, the cumulative file input/output unit 29
The cumulative file control section 27 that has completed the return via the . . . Next, the coverage measurement control unit 21 instructs the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 to set the priority level number 1 to the branch instruction interrupt mode, and also stores the post-branch address in the post-branch address storage unit 22 corresponding to the priority level number 1. Initialize address with zero. Thereafter, when the evaluation target program in the main storage device 4 is started and a branch instruction is executed, the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 of the central processing unit 3 generates a branch instruction interrupt at the branch destination address. , the coverage measurement control section 21 of the program coverage measurement device 2 is operated. The coverage rate measurement control unit 21 uses the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 to determine the priority level number 1, the pre-branch address that is the address of the branch instruction itself in the program to be evaluated, and the post-branch address that is the branch destination of this branch instruction. and stores the range from the post-branch address corresponding to priority level number 1 in the post-branch address storage unit 22 to the pre-branch address notified at the time of this branch instruction interrupt as comprehensive information in the comprehensive information storage unit 23. , the post-branch address notified at the time of this branch instruction interrupt is stored in the post-branch address storage unit 2 in correspondence with the priority level number 1.
Remember it within 2.

[0013] The coverage rate measurement control unit 21 handles the branch instruction interrupt at the time of the first branch instruction interrupt in which the post-branch address in the post-branch address storage unit 22 corresponding to priority level number 1 is initialized to zero. The post-branch address notified from the mechanism 30 is simply stored in the post-branch address storage unit 22 in correspondence with the priority level number 1, and the comprehensive information is not stored in the comprehensive information storage unit 23.

After performing the above operations, the coverage rate measurement control unit 21 instructs the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 to resume execution from the post-branch address in the program to be evaluated, and waits for the next branch instruction interrupt. .

FIG. 2 is a related diagram when comprehensive information is stored in the comprehensive information storage section 23, taking as an example the routine from address P0 to address P4 in the module 41 of the program to be evaluated.

In the module 41, addresses P0,
P1, P2, P3, and P4 are the branch destination addresses of the branch instruction, and addresses B4, B2, B3, and B4 are the addresses of the branch instruction itself. First, address P of module 41
When a branch instruction that branches to 0 is executed, a branch instruction interrupt is generated by the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30, and the coverage measurement control section 21 operates. The coverage measurement control unit 21 associates the post-branch address P0 notified from the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 with the priority level number 1 and stores it in the post-branch address storage unit 22.
to be memorized. Next, the branch instruction at address B1 of module 41 is executed, and a branch destination instruction interrupt occurs at address P1, which is the branch destination. At this time, the coverage measurement control section 21
covers the range (from address P0 to address B1) between the pre-branch address B1 notified from the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 and the address P0 stored in the post-branch address storage unit 22 at this time (from address P0 to address B1) as comprehensive information M1. Information storage section 23
Further, the notified post-branch address P1 is stored in the post-branch address storage unit 22 in correspondence with the priority level number 1.

Similarly, by executing branch instructions at addresses B2, B3, and B4, addresses P2, P3, and P
4, a branch instruction interrupt occurs, and the coverage rate measurement control section 21 stores coverage information M2, M3, and M4 in the coverage information storage section 23, respectively.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents stored in the comprehensive information storage section 23. Comprehensive information storage unit 23 of this embodiment
has bits that correspond one-to-one with each address in the main memory. For example, the bit with bit number 0 is in address 0 on the main memory, and the bit with bit number 100 is in address 10 in the main memory.
It corresponds to address 0. Then, the bit of the bit number corresponding to the address of the executed instruction is turned on, and the bit corresponding to the address of the unexecuted instruction is turned off. Therefore, since the start address of the module 41 on the main storage device is address S1 and the end address is address E1, the comprehensive information of the module 41 is stored in the range from bit number S1 to bit number E1 of the comprehensive information storage unit 23. The comprehensive information is 23M. The comprehensive information 23 includes comprehensive information M1, M2, M3, and M4 shown in the explanation in FIG.
And all bits included in coverage information M1, M2, M3, and M4 are on. In addition, the comprehensive information 23M includes the module 41 as well as the comprehensive information M1, M2, M3, and M4.
The bit corresponding to the executed instruction area is stored as being turned on.

Finally, the evaluation is completed, and a branch instruction interrupt mode release command for priority level number 1 is notified from the input device 1 to the coverage measurement control section 21 via the input information analysis section 20. Upon receiving this notification, the coverage rate measurement control unit 21 sends the cumulative file control unit 27 to the coverage information storage unit 23.
The contents of the file are instructed to be saved in the cumulative file 61 of the external storage device 6. Upon receiving this command, the cumulative file control unit 27 completed the evacuation via the cumulative file input/output unit 29.
reports the evacuation completion to the coverage rate measurement control unit 21.

Next, the coverage measurement control unit 21 instructs the branch instruction interrupt mechanism 30 to release the branch instruction interrupt mode of priority level number 1, and edits and outputs the measurement results for the program to be evaluated. The measurement result editing output control section 24 is instructed. Upon receiving this instruction, the measurement result editing output control section 24 sends the instruction word analysis section 25 to the S1
Instructs to report the addresses of all instruction words from address to En address. The instruction word analysis unit 25 reads from address S1 to E.
It interprets all command words up to address n and reports the addresses of all command words to the measurement result editing output control section 24. At this time, the measurement result editing output control unit 24 selects only unexecuted instruction addresses for which the bit in the exhaustive information storage unit 23 corresponding to this address is OFF, out of the instruction word addresses sequentially reported by the instruction word analysis unit 25. Output to the output device 5. Furthermore, the measurement result editing output control section 24 stores the address of the instruction word sequentially reported by the instruction word analysis section 25 and the exhaustive information storage section 2.
3, it is possible to know the number of executed instruction words and the total number of instruction words, which instructs the coverage rate calculation unit 26 to calculate the ratio of the number of executed instruction words to the total number of instruction words, and also applies this calculation result to the program to be evaluated. It is output to the output device 5 as a program coverage rate.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when a branch instruction interrupt mode release command is input from the input device 1, the measurement results are edited and output, but since the comprehensive information is saved in the cumulative file, This may also be the case when a command to edit and output the measurement results is input from the input device 1.

In the above explanation, the module 41 was focused on and measured, and the comprehensive information that is the measurement result was accumulated in the accumulation file 61. Similarly, modules 42,...
. . , 4n, comprehensive information is accumulated in the cumulative files 62, . . . , 6n, respectively. However, even if the measurement focuses on a certain module, it is clear that it is one module that constitutes the program to be evaluated and has relationships with other modules. Therefore, even if we focus on a module, we will also be measuring quite a few other modules (
The cumulative files 61, 62, . . . , 6n each have a capacity that can accumulate comprehensive information up to the modules 41, 42, . . . , 4n).

Here, the comprehensive information merging section 28 performs a process of merging the cumulative files 61, 62, . . . , 6n to create one cumulative file for the entire program to be evaluated. First, after the measurement is completed, a cumulative file merging command is issued from the input device 1 (for example, the cumulative file 61
, 62, . Upon receiving this notification, the coverage measurement control unit 21 controls the cumulative file control unit 27.
, to merge the cumulative files 61, 62, . . . , 6n. Upon receiving this command, the cumulative file control unit 27 instructs the cumulative file input/output unit 29 to read the cumulative files 61, 62, . . . , 6n and write the merged results to the cumulative file, and then Cumulative files 61, 62, ..., 6n read for 28
Order the annexation of When the merging is completed, the cumulative file control section 27 reports the completion of merging to the coverage measurement control section 21. Thereafter, by editing and outputting the contents of the cumulative file 61, it is possible to know the high coverage rate of the entire program to be evaluated.

Note that since the post-branch address in the post-branch address storage section 22 can be stored in correspondence with the priority level,
It is possible to measure not only the evaluation target program running at the priority level number 1 described above alone, but also a plurality of priority level numbers at the same time. The cumulative file may also be configured in association with each priority level number.

[0025]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
Without modifying the program to be evaluated, comprehensive information is stored using branch instruction interrupts, and after the program to be evaluated is executed, the ratio of the number of executed instructions (
Program coverage rate) can be calculated. This allows the program coverage rate to be determined objectively, and the program quality scale to be standardized regardless of years of experience. Then, by outputting the address of the unexecuted instruction, evaluation focusing on the unexecuted instruction can be performed in the next evaluation step. This allows the quality of the program to be efficiently improved.

Furthermore, since the comprehensive information is cumulatively stored in the cumulative file of the external storage device, evaluation can be freely interrupted and continued. In addition, it is possible to divide the measurement target (for example, by module) and share the measurements, and if there are multiple measurement devices, it can be measured in parallel, and the individual measurement results (cumulative file) can be merged later. Therefore, efficient evaluation can be achieved, such as by shortening measurement time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a related diagram showing the operation of storing comprehensive information in a comprehensive information storage unit in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the storage contents of a comprehensive information storage section in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Input device 2 Program coverage measurement device 3 Central processing unit 4 Main memory 5 Output device 6 External storage device

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: Before the first instruction after a branch is executed by executing a branch instruction, the execution priority level of the program including the branch instruction, the pre-branch address that is the address of the branch instruction itself, and the branch of the branch instruction. A branch instruction interrupt means capable of generating an internal interrupt by holding a post-branch address that is a destination address, and capable of generating one or more internal interrupts for each of the priority levels; and a branch instruction interrupt means capable of starting and stopping the branch instruction interrupt means. branch instruction interrupt mode setting and canceling means for executing the branch instruction interrupt mode; post-branch address storage means for storing the post-branch address in correspondence with the priority level; and a pre-branch address notified from the branch instruction interrupt means and the branch address. Coverage information storage means for storing, as coverage information, a range indicated by the post-branch address already stored by the post-address storage means and corresponding to the priority level at the time of selfishness of the branch instruction; and evaluation on the main storage device. An instruction analysis means that obtains the addresses of all instruction words of the target program, and a program coverage rate that calculates the ratio of executed instructions from the addresses of the instruction words obtained by the instruction word analysis means and the coverage information stored by the coverage information storage means. measurement result editing and output means for calculating and outputting the address of the instruction word so that executed instructions and unexecuted instructions can be distinguished; A method for measuring program coverage rate, comprising: a storage means; and a means for merging coverage information cumulatively stored in an external storage device by the cumulative storage means.