Automated testing of systems of systems

Abstract

There are various kinds of software applications like mobile and Web applications. These applications have different types of user interfaces and user interaction methods. Hence, test automation tools are either dedicated or configured for a particular kind of application. Test scenarios can be implemented in the form of scripts and test execution can be automated separately for each type of application. However, there are systems of systems that embody multiple types of applications deployed on various platforms. Test scenarios might cross-cut these applications to be controlled collectively in the test script. In this paper, we propose an approach for testing cross-platform systems of systems. We present an application of it on a real system that involves a mobile and a Web application that are supposed to work in coordination. Our approach integrates a set of existing tools to facilitate test automation. It provides testers with a unified interface for developing test scripts that involve both mobile and Web applications. We conduct an industrial case study and show that our tool can reduce the testing effort significantly.