Software tool to automate generation and management of unit tests introduced by LDRA
WIRRAL, England, 6 Oct. 2013. LDRA Ltd. in Wirral, England, is introducing the LDRAunit integrated framework software tool for automating the generation and management of unit tests.
By separating unit test and measurement (link to topic center) testing capabilities from the rest of the LDRA tool suite, the tool helps test software without the need for investing in a complete tool chain, company officials say. This is particularly useful for engineers developing software that doesn't need to qualify to a specific standard.
LDRAunit takes the smallest piece of testable software, isolates it from the remainder of the code, and determines if it behaves as expected. LDRAunit tests code units separately before integrating them into modules and then systems.
LDRAunit automatically generates tests in the application language -- whether C, C++, Ada, or Java -- and enables them to execute on the host or target. LDRAunit also automates stub generation for artifacts such as methods, constructors, system calls, and packages that are managed within a user interface.
In addition, through eXtreme Testing capabilities, LDRAunit applies return and global parameter values to the managed stubs for testing stub behavior and configurable exception handling.
By storing groups of tests as sequences, LDRAunit contains the information necessary to rerun test cases and store the results for regression verification and requirements-based testing. LDRAunit also can measure and report structural coverage metrics including procedure call, statement, branch/decision, modified condition/decision coverage (MC/DC), and linear code sequence and jump (LCSAJ).
Coverage data can be presented through a combination of built in reports, custom reports using a results application programming interface (API), and flow and call graph displays. Developers can use results to populate compliance reports that give overall pass/fail metrics for industry standards, such as DO-178B/C, with line-by-line views that detail specific statements, branches, and conditions executed by individual tests and combinations of tests.
For more information contact LDRA online at www.ldra.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
