2nd INTERNATIONAL
SOFTWARE QUALITY WEEK
EUROPE
(QWE'98)
9-13 November 1998, Brussels, Belgium

PAPER AND PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS

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The 2nd International Software Quality Week/Europe Technical Program is organized into separate tracks depending on the content of the presentations. Below are brief abstracts for all QWE'98 half-day Tutorials, Keynotes, QuickStart Mini-Tutorials, Regular Technical Papers and Vendor Presentations.

Preliminary version, subject to change. Updated 22 September 1998.

[ AB | CD | EF | GH | IJ | KL | MN | OP | QR | ST | UV | WX | YZ ]

Mr. Stâle Amland (Avenir (UK) Ltd.) [UK]
Paper Title: Risk Based Testing (4M)

This paper provides an overview of risk analysis fundamentals, focusing on software testing with the key objectives of reducing the cost of the project test phase and reducing future potential production costs by optimising the test process. The phases of Risk Identification, Risk Strategy, Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation (Reduction) and Risk Prediction are discussed. Of particular interest is the use of indicators to identify the probability and the consequences of individual risks (errors) if they occur.

The body of this paper contains a case study of the system test stage of a project to develop a very flexible retail banking application with complex test requirements. The project required a methodology that would identify functions in their system where the consequence of a fault would be most costly (either to the vendor's customers or to the vendor) and also a technique to identify those functions with the highest probability of faults.

A risk analysis was performed and the functions with the highest risk, in terms of probability and cost, were identified. A risk based approach to testing was introduced, i.e. during testing resources would be focused in those areas representing the highest risk. To support this approach, a well defined but flexible, test organisation was developed.

The test process was strengthened and well defined control procedures were implemented. The level of test documentation produced prior to test execution was kept to a minimum and as a result, more responsibility was passed to the individual tester. To support this approach, good progress tracking was essential to show the actual progress made and to calculate the resources required to complete the test activities.
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Mr. Bob Bartlett (SIM Group Ltd.) [UK]
Paper Title: Building Re-usable Test Environments for Y2K and EMU / EURO Testing (9V)

From this presentation people will see the need to prepare high quality test environments as a mandatory prerequisite for quality testing. High quality test environments are defined as high coverage with low volumes of data. They will also learn how they can quickly set up and use test environments that are reactive to testers requirements.
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Dr. Gaultiero Bazzana & Dr. E. Fagnoni (ONION s.r.l.) [ITALY]
Tutorial Title: Testing Internet/Intranet Applications (TC1)

The tutorial represents an up-to-date and fresh evolution of a workshop that has been successfully deployed to a number of international events in the last year.

It consists of the following parts:

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Dr. Boris Beizer (Analysis, Inc.) [USA}
Tutorial Title: An Overview of Testing -- Unit, Integration, System -- Outline and Index (A1)

This is an overview of the testing field. Its purpose is to provide you with the technical and conceptual vocabulary of testing. Testing has emerged as a field within software engineering and has acquired a big vocabulary. It has progressed, in the past 20 years, from intuition to science -- from personal heuristics to well-understood practices rooted in theory and confirmed by use and experiments.
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Dr. Boris Beizer (Analysis, Inc.) [USA}
Tutorial Title: Testing and Y2K (A2)

This is an overview testing and how test methods apply to the solution of the Y2K problem.
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Dr. Boris Beizer (Analysis, Inc.)
Keynote Title: Nostradamus Redux (K5)

In these days of uncertainty -- Y2K, Euro, Japanese economy, US lawsuits against Microsoft and Intel, consolidation on an international scale, escalating privatization of European PTT's, Far-East Economic Tigers becoming pussycats, international terrorism, etc. We can turn to the prophecies of Nostradamus to unambiguously see what will evolve in the software industry, especially with respect to quality and testing, from now out to 2005. The talk will provide excerpts from Nostradamus and Internationally renown seer and prognosticator Beizer will interpret them for the audience.
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Mr. Gorka Benguria, Ms. Luisa Escalante, Ms. Elisa Gallo, Ms. Elixabete Ostolaza & Mr. Mikel Vergasa (European Software Institute) [SPAIN]
Paper Title: Staged Model for SPICE: How to Reduce Time to Market - TTM (8M)

Increasing global competition by shortening the software products development life cycle while guaranteeing products quality is one of the main concerns of software intensive organizations.

The aim of this paper is first to identify which are the most relevant factors for TTM - Time to Market - in software intensive organizations, second to select the SPICE 98 model processes that clearly impact on those factors and finally to define an improvement plan based on the selected SPICE processes.
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Mr. Bill Bently & Mr. Robert V. Binder (mu-Research/RBSC Corporation) [USA]
Paper Title: The Dynamic Information Flow Testing of Objects: When Path Testing Meets Object-Oriented Testing (4T)

The central problem of object-oriented testing is determining method activation sequences for the testing of a class. In the literature, this is called the "intra-class" level of testing. For object-oriented languages such as Javatm, specification-based strategies are further developed than structural test strategies. Although both are essential for effective testing, structural strategies are especially well suited for the Java environment, where dynamic linking and bean technology make it virtually impossible to predict the sequences that will be invoked by client objects at run-time.

A testable model of the interaction among class methods is needed for test design, at the class interface level. An orthogonal model of intra-class interactions at the implementation level is necessary to assess the adequacy of a test suite at class scope. This paper extends the class scope implementation model by developing information-flow paths from the class flow graph.

Information flow analysis elucidates the implicit paths that result as methods access instance and class variables. This theory is capable of identifying fundamental subsequences which can be composed to produce almost all necessary method activation sequences.

A surprising result of this theory is that a test that exercises a particular sequence may not be an effective test of that sequence. The theory indicates that a special form of path coverage must be performed during testing to assess the effectiveness of tests.

The exposition of the theory will be informal, using a simple Java applet to demonstrate the basic concepts. We shall also discuss how the theory can be extended beyond intra-class testing to the integration of testing of a Java applet or application.
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Mr. Bogdan Bereza-Jarocinski (ENEA Data AB) [SWEDEN]
Paper Title: Is Software Testing Scientific? (EXTRA)

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Prof. Antonia Bertolino & Ms. E. Marchetti (CNR-IEI) [ITALY]
Paper Title: A Simple Model to Predict How Many More Failures Will Appear in Testing (9T)

We present a dynamic Bayesian model useful to predict the expected number of failures over future tests, after having already observed some test results. It makes no assumption on how tests are selected and can be applied in early test phases, or when reliability growth models cannot be used. Some examples are presented.
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Mr. Robert V. Binder (RBSC Corporation) [USA}
Tutorial Title: Modal Testing Strategies for Object-Oriented Systems (TF)

Classes (objects) have distinctly different behavior patterns (modes). A mode must be identified to select an effective test strategy. This tutorial presents new approaches for domain/state modeling to characterize class modality and shows how to produce effective test suites from these models.

Participants in this seminar will learn how to:

(Click here for Bob Binders's Home Page)
(rbinder@rbsc.com)
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Mr. Lionel Briand, Mr. Bernd G. Freimut, Mr. Oliver Laitenberger, Dr. Günther Ruhe & Ms. Brigitte Klein (Fraunhofer IESE / Allianz Life Assurance) [GERMANY]
Paper Title: Quality Assurance Technologies for the EURO Conversion - Industrial Experience at Allianz Life Assurance (8S)

Early software quality assurance is essential to mastering EURO conversion projects. Allianz Life Assurance sets a specific priority for it by using innovative software inspection technologies such as Perspective-based inspections and quantitative models to control defect content and assess inspection processes. This paper describes the transfer of these technologies to Allianz and their impact on software quality.
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Mr. Bart Broekman & Mr. Christiaan Hoos (IQUIP Informatica B.V.) [NETHERLANDS]
Tutorial Title: Test Automation, Eternal Struggle or Lasting Benefits? (TE2)

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Mr. Mark Buenen (GITek Software n.v.) [BELGIUM]
Paper Title: Introducing Structured Testing in a Dynamic Low-Mature Organisation (11M)

This presentation is an account of the practical experience obtained in a Belgian organization during the execution of a program for structuring the testing approach. In this young and very dynamic organization the on-going business demanded major attention of all employees. This puts alot of restrictions on the feasibility of any change programme. this presentation will show how the dilemma was recognized and was dealt with in practice. This presentation offers attendees an example of a successful phase-based implementation of structured testing. This provides attendees with a reference for their own change programmes, and the benefit of getting acquainted with major pitfalls and lessons learned in practice.

Topics of this presentation are:

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Mr. Hans Buwalda (CMG Finance BV) [NETHERLANDS]
Paper Title: Testing with Actions Words, a Quality Approach to (Automated) Software Testing(11M)

The audience will get a good insight in the main principles behind the method. It will become clear how the testing can be organized that tests are developed in a manageable way. Test automation is an integral part, but it is not dominating. The focus is on the tests and their results. Although too many details will be avoided the information will be concrete enough to allow the audience to make a start with applying the method. Based on experiences with existing customers, ideas will be described how the test processes can be embedded in the organization.
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Mr. Howard Chorney (Process Software Corp.) [USA]
Paper Title: A Practical Approach to Using Software Metrics (7S)

This presentation will discuss the advantages of using a practical set of metrics throughout a software development project life cycle. It will focus on how the information provided by these metrics can be used in today's product development environment. It will examine a specific set of quality metrics and discuss the advantages and possible disadvantages of each metric. In parallel to discussing the individual metrics, I'll discuss how the metrics cross check each other, can provide data for follow-on product development projects, and can be tailored to suit the needs of each individual organization. Finally, I will discuss how organizations currently not using any metrics today can easily get started.
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Dr. Antonio Cicu, Mr. Domenico Tappero Merlo, Mr. Francesco Bonelli, Mr. Fabrizio Conicella & Mr. Fabio Valle (MetriQs Srl / OSRA SISTEMI) [ITALY]
Paper Title: Managing a Customer's Requirements in a SME: A Process Improvement Initiative Using an IT-based Methodology and Tool (9M)

The paper describes:

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Mr. James M. Clarke (Lucent Technologies) [USA]
Paper Title: Automated Test Generation from a Behavioral Model (2T)

The challenge for testers: reduce the testing interval without reducing quality. One answer: find a new way to approach test design and test generation. This paper will discuss an ongoing Lucent Technologies experiment in automated test generation from a behavioral model of the software product under test. Results indicate that our new approach can increase the effectiveness of our testing while reducing the cost of test design and generation.
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Mr. John Corden (CYRANO) [UK]
Paper Title: Year 2000 - Hidden Dangers (12S)

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Mr. Charles J. Crawford (Blackstone & Cullen) [USA]
Paper Title: Year 2000 and the euro: Compliance testing and data management (1V)

This presentation addresses the testing needs for Year 2000 compliance and the data management needs resulting from the advent of the euro. Further, it discusses how Data CommanderTM, a testing and data management tool, can help satisfy both these requirements.
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Mr. L. Daniel Crowley (DENAB Systems) [USA]
Paper Title: Cost of Quality - The Bottom Line of Quality (6M)

This presentation will review COQ's benefits, goals, strategies, implementation process and expectations. The goal of this presentation is to assist management and professionals with starting a COQ process. It is a learning process that results in improvements no matter what level within an organization it is implemented. This presentation will also discuss pitfalls, implementation ideas, and expected results.

Cost of Quality (COQ) provides management with a measurable way of administering & managing the quality of process. It has been used in the manufacturing and service industries for decades but only recently has the software organizations been exposed to COQ.

COQ can provide the software industry with remarkable insight as well as improved quality and profitability. But there needs to be established an understanding what COQ is and is not. Also there are better ways to implement COQ than others. We can learn from the other industries that have been using COQ as a tool to improve organizations performance levels.

The software industry spends on the average 50% of every sales dollar on quality. That is excessive, manufacturing averages 15-20% and the service industry is at 25 - 30%.

COQ is part of the overall quality improvement process. It is the measurement tools used to judge the cost effectiveness of a quality improvement process. It is not a magic bullet; there are pitfalls and wrong ways to implement COQ.

As Dr. Edward Deming said "Running a company by profit alone is like driving a car by looking in the rearview mirror. It tells you where you've been, but not where you are going" COQ is the "gap" in GAAP (Generally Applied Accounting Principles).
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Mr. Thomas A. Drake (Coastal Research & Technology, Inc.) [USA]
Tutorial Title: Measuring Quality in Object-Oriented Software (TC2)

Many software development organizations are increasingly using the object-oriented (OO) approach as the basis for their information technology development strategies and delivered solutions. But how does one measure the quality of object-oriented software? This tutorial presentation will provide practical and useful knowledge centered on measuring object-oriented software quality using emerging OO code-level analysis and process techniques and automated tool technology support as well as defining OO quality and what it might mean. Examples will be drawn from C++ and Java.
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Mr. Thomas A. Drake (Coastal Research & Technology, Inc.) [USA]
Panel Title: The Euro Conversion - Myth versus Reality! (10M)

This panel will provide a moderated forum for discussing the impact, change, and reality posed by the Euro currency conversion. The cultural, political, and liability concerns posed by the conversion will be discussed as well as the real-world challenges and experiences encountered by those working the Euro problem. The intent of the panel is to provoke a lively and spirited discussion on the facts versus the myths surrounding the Euro conversion, including the technical and managerial challenges associated with the Euro issue. Audience participation is encouraged.
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Mr. Bill Eldridge (Barclays Bank PLC) [UK]
Keynote Title: EMU: The Impact on Firms' Global Operations (K2)

The implications of the European Monetary Union (EMU) for financial and non-financial firms are significant. Many companies' long-term plans are affected by these challenges: prospects for growth, inflation and labor costs, exchange rate and pricing difficulties, a risk of protectionism, and market competitiveness. These factors have to be kept in mind as European companies begin the conversion process.
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Dr. Istvan Forgacs & Mr. Akos Hajnal (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) [HUNGARY]
Paper Title: Automated Test Data Generation to Solve the Y2K Problem (2S)

This paper describes a new technique to solve the most critical elements of the "Year 2000 Problem". Y2K problem has both management and technical aspects. The technical part includes (1) testing for the Y2K faults, (2) the program and database fixing process, and (3), so that Y2K bugs can be found automatically. This means that we do not need to know the value of any output, or how to select input data. Our method is not only applicable, but fast and reliable as well. To do this our method consists of three main parts. The key idea of our approach is to compare the branch (or output) functions for different input years. This method reveals the Y2K bug even if the output of the program was correct, i.e., the tester would not observe any failure. To satisfy reliability requirements we apply a very strong testing criterion. To speed up testing we apply slicing, by which only a small subset of the program has to be adequately analyzed.
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Ms. Elisa Gallo, Mr. Pablo Ferrer, Mr. Mikel Vergara & Chema Sanz (European Software Institute) [SPAIN]
Paper TitleSW CMM Level 2: The Hidden Structure (12M)

CMM was designed for a specific purpose but it is being adopted by many organizations whose target objective is not selling software for the American DoD. The reason may be that CMM is a staged improvement model whose success is proven and whose adoption is considered feasible by many companies. But CMM has also rigid structure and its main orientation to big companies could make its adoption expensive and difficult for SME. Is it possible to hide the model complexity throughout the steps of an improvement plan without losing its principles? Is it possible to design evaluation tools and improvement methods that can be used by sensible managers, not only be specialized consultants? This paper summarizes the intent of the European Software Institute (ESI) in developing a tool that using SPICE characteristics could help medium and small size development organizations in achieving SW CMM level 2 benefits: BIG-CMM.
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Mr. Tom Gilb (Independent Consultant) [NORWAY]
Paper Title: Risk Management Technology: A Rich Practical Toolkit for Identifying, Documenting, Analyzing and Coping with Project Risks (10S)

This presentation will show:
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Mr. Manuel Gonzalez (Hewlett-Packard) [SPAIN]
System Test Server through the WEB (1S)

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Mrs. Dorothy Graham (Grove Consultants) [UK]
Tutorial Title: Software Inspection (TE1)

Many organizations have some form of review for documents and/or code. However, the process may not be as effective or as efficient as it should be - defects are missed which should have been found, yet the process is costly. Inspection is the most cost-effective technique for identifying major costly defects early in the life cycle. Inspection can be applied to any written documents: proposals, contracts, specifications, test documents, designs, user manuals, code, etc. and can be used by non-technical people, technical software developers, managers or users. Many organizations have achieved significant improvements in quality, productivity and time to market by using the ideas taught on this tutorial. Participants are invited to bring their own important documents to see for themselves how the inspection technique will enable them to improve their quality.
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Mrs. Dorothy Graham (Grove Consultants) [UK]
Keynote Title: Inspection: Myths and Misconceptions (K3)

(Abstract to be Supplied)
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Dr. Matthias Grochtmann & Mr. Joachim Wegener (Daimler-Benz AG) [GERMANY]
Paper Title: Evolutionary Testing of Temporal Correctness (11T)

This presentation will show:
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Ms. Brigid Haworth (Bournemouth University) [UK]
Paper Title: Adequacy Criteria for Object Testing (3T)

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Mr. Jon Huber (Hewlett-Packard) [USA]
Paper Title: Software Defect Analysis: Real World Testing Implications & A Simple Model for Test Process Defect Analysis (8T)

Any observer of human behavior will acknowledge that hindsight is almost always better than foresight. The challenge with Software Testing is to adapt the hindsight learned on one project into foresight on the next. Results from the categorization and analysis of Software Development Process Improvements on the next project. What is often ignored is the benefit that Software Development Defect Analysis has in relation to Software Testing. Since the major purpose of Software Testing is to find bugs, examining defect patterns and trends, and then testing in those areas, will help focus the efforts of any Software Test engineer. The first part of this paper will look at Defect Analysis results from six Hewlett-Packard Software Development projects and explain how observed defect trends can be interpreted to help improve the focus of Software Testing.

In the past, Software Test organizations have often focused on some amount of effort on analyzing defects from Software Development projects. There are several models actively used, and proven successful, to analyze Software Development Defects. What is equally important, but sometimes overlooked, is the examination of defect trends in the Software Testing process. In contrast to multiple models available for categorizing Software Development defects, there are only a few models available, and proven useful, in categorizing Software Testing Process defects. The second part of this paper will introduce a step by step process and model to help categorize Software Testing Process Defects.
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Mr. Juan Jaliff, Mr. Wolfgang Eixelsberger, Mr. Arne Iversen & Mr. Roland Revesjv (ABB) [SWEDEN]
Paper Title: Making Industrial Plants Y2K-Ready: Concept and Experience at ABB (3M)

Due to their multiple interaction modes, operational process control systems cannot be fully tested on site. Single nodes should be fully tested off-site. ABB has also tested complete networks representing typical configurations at its factories.

On-site testing and software/hardware upgrades must be planned long in advance, to fit plant maintenance outages. The scope of testing for a particular site must be defined in close cooperation with the plant's engineers. In addition to a precise configuration check, it is important to identify all external communication interfaces and their possible failure modes.

ABB has developed a Y2K concept based on four pillars. Experience to date at customer sites is very positive. This presentation will dwell upon practical aspects such as cost/schedule estimation, test methods and tools, and organizational aspects.
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Mr. Ed Kit (Software Development Technologies) [USA]
Tutorial Title: Automating Software Testing and Reviews (TH)

In the rush to automate software testing, many people forget to pay attention to the basics -- i.e., ensuring they have a valid and effective software test process and prioritizing their automation needs for greater chance of success. Edward Kit addresses these issues and concerns when he presents: JUMP TO TOP OF PAGE
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Mr. Michael Rettelbach, Dr. Peter Liggesmeyer & Mr. Michael Greiner (Siemens AG) [GERMANY]
Paper Title: Prediction of Project Quality by Applying Stochastical Techniques to Metrics based on Accounting Data: An Industrial Case Study (11S)

As systematic measuring gains more and more importance for the development of systems and software, techniques are needed to interpret such measurements in a correct way and to reduce the measurement effort to a minimum. These demands can be fulfilled by statistical techniques that enable conclusions from a small sample of observations to the whole set of objects with known bounds for the error probability. Most important for the success of these methods is the fact that the underlying mathematical theory has to be implemented only once by an expert. Later on also non-experts can handle these methods without any problems. We use metrics based on accounting data as an industrial case study. Routine observations of project accounts (working hours, budget, planned project length, ...) are used to predict the outcome of projects (delay, budget overdraw, ...). Our case study includes more than 300 projects.
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Mr. Leslie Allen Little (Aztek Engineering) [USA]
Paper Title: Requirements Management - Simple Tools...Simple Processes (1M)

Commercial requirement management packages are becoming more popular. This talk addresses the current misconceptions regarding what commercial requirement management packages will do for an organization. In particular, a simple and reasonable requirement management process that utilizes a simple, freely accessible, requirement management RDBMS is presented as an alternative. The process and the tools used to implement requirement management are equally important. Simple processes and software tools utilized by this author and presented are made available to all conference participants.
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Ms. Monica Bobrowski, Ms. Martina Marré, & Mr. Daniel Yankelevich (Universidad de Buenos Aires) [ARGENTINA]
Paper Title: A Software Engineering View of Data Quality (12T)

Thirty years ago software was not considered a concrete value. Everyone agreed on its importance, but it was not considered as a good or possession. Nowaways, software is part of the balance of an organization. Data is slowly following the same process. The information owned by an organization is an important part of its assets. Information can be used to competitive advantage. However, data has long been understimated by the software community

Usually, methods and techniques apply to software (including data schemata), but the data itself has often been considered as an external problem. Validation and verification techniques usually assume that data is provided by an external agent and concentrate only on software.

In this work we present different issues related to data quality from a software engineering point of view. We propose three main streams that should be analyzed: data quality metrics, data testing, and data quality requirements in the software development process. We point out the main problem and opportunities in each of them.
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Dr. Edward Miller (Software Research, Inc.) [USA]
Paper Title: WebSite Validation Technology: Assuring E-Commerce Quality (8V)

Increasingly, as the world moves to an internet based system of commerce, there is increasing need for ways to assure E-Commerce applications. Using modern methods based in the TestWorks product line, including the new CAPBAK/Web system, it is now possible to perform end-to-end content validations of E-Commerce applications.
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Dr. Edward Miller (Software Research, Inc.) [USA]
Paper Title: Remote Testing Technology (RTT) (3V)

Remote Testing Technology (RTT) represents a powerful packaging of TestWorks technology that supports detailed analysis of user interactions and early field use of an Application Under Test (AUT). This approach effectively makes TestWorks your onboard "Quality Agent" for early-phase release analysis of products.

In the RTT methodology the AUT is pre-processed by one of several TestWorks tools and the instrumented AUT is readied for deployment. Once in the hands of users, this breakthrough application of TestWorks technology makes it possible for the first time to retrieve accurate, realistic, and definative data about how an AUT is actually used in the field.

As users work with the AUT the TestWorks-installed monitoring software silently and invisibly records GUI interactions, keyboard activity, internal structural coverage, interface coverage, and feature coverage data. This information collection activity operates at such low overhead that the user is generally unaware that data is being collected.

Data can be accumulated locally for immediate analysis with the TestWork-based analysis tools. Alternatively, the field-collected information captured by RTT can be sent by Email to a central analysis site, or can be transmitted by HTTP or other available InterNet protocols direct to an analysis website.

Analysis methods include direct viewing of captured user interactions in the scripting language, playback of all or part of the script, coverage analysis of module and system interactions, and display of feature coverage values. All information can be correlated directly with source code module names, source code lines, etc.
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Mr. John D. Musa (Independent Consultant) [USA]
Tutorial Title: More Reliable, Faster, Cheaper Testing through Software Reliability Engineering (TG2)

This tutorial will quickly, efficiently teach you the basics of how to apply Software Reliability Engineering (SRE) to testing and development to make software more reliable and to develop and test it faster and cheaper.

SRE is based on four simple, powerful ideas:

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Mr. John D. Musa (Independent Consultant)
Keynote Title: Applying Operational Profiles to Testing: ISSRE Results (K1)

Operational profiles are quantitative descriptions of how software-based systems are expected to be used in the field. This presentation will outline the rapidly expanding role of operational profiles in testing. It will focus on how operational profiles are developed, including identifying initiators of operations, creating operations lists, determining operation occurrence rates, and deriving operation occurrence probabilities. Then it will show how operational profiles are applied in test preparation, especially selection of test cases. Finally, it will demonstrate how operational profiles can be used to allocate time in test execution. Some of the latest results from the preceding week's ISSRE conference will be summarized.
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Mr. Patrick O'Beirne (Systems Modelling Ltd.) [IRELAND]
Paper Title: Managing Risk in Euro Currency Conversion (EXTRA)

As the countries of Europe enter the 21st century, they face a challenge of historic proportions. Conversion to a common currency, the euro, will not only involve economic issues -- for example, the reduction in exchange rate risks and the increase in price transparency -- but also a number of business and technical issues. This article will explore a number of business and technical issues concerning the euro conversion and suggest ways of managing the risk.

The PDF version of the paper can be downloaded from http://www.sysmod.com/eurorisk.pdf
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Mr. Jens Pas, Ms. Ethel Verbiest, Mr. Wim Blommaert & Mr. Steven Patry (ps_testware) [BELGIUM]
Paper Title: Testing the Year 2000 (EXTRA)

Based upon the methodology of Structured Software Testing, ps_testware has developed a number of implementation techniques for IT conversion projects. It was a very conscious decision not focused on Y2K only. Y2K is a particular case of IT conversion activity. Due to this long term vision, major investments were possible to create highly developed practical techniques.

This presentation gives a sneak preview of a testing method developed by ps_testware. Where do I start with testing in Y2K projects? How do I deal with the fixed deadline of 31 December 1999? Do I need to test the Inventory, Clustering or Triage? How to create a test plan if there is no time to waste.

Between 40% and 50% of the Y2K budget is spent on testing. How do you know whether your testing is effective and efficient? How do you measure productivity?
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Mr. Jakob-Lyng Petersen (ScanRail Consult) [DENMARK]
Paper Title: An Experience in Automatic Verification for Railway Interlocking Systems (9S)

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Mr. Nathan Petschenik (Bellcore) [USA]
Paper Title: Year 2000: Catalyst for Better Ongoing Testing

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Mr. Martin Pol (GITEK Software N.V.) [NETHERLANDS]
Tutorial Title: Test Process Improvement (TD)

After a short introduction, the attendees will learn about The Context of testing in the real world and software and test process improvement: why testing, the aims of testing, quality management and testing, what to test, required structure, SDLC and testing, the evolution of testing, the challenges for testing, need of improvement, need of a dedicated test improvement model, other available models, the model requirements, etc.

The second part of the tutorial is about the Test Process Improvement Model. The TPI (tm) model will be explained in detail: the scope, the characteristics, the key areas, the requirements (checkpoints) for the different levels of maturity, the test maturity matrix, the assessment, the relation between the key areas and how to select priorities, the improvement suggestions, etc.

To be successful with any improvement activity an adequate Management of Change approach is required. The third part of the tutorial is about The Application of the Model. The main steps of changing will be taught: how to create awareness, establish goals and scope for change, the assessment process, selection and planning of improvement actions, implementation and evaluation. Delegates will learn about related subjects such as the use of metrics, the requirements for the change team, the human aspects, how to deal with resistance and finally some do's and don'ts will complete the tutorial.
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Mr. Robert Poston (AONIX, Inc.) [USA]
Paper Title: Making Test Cases from Use Cases Automatically (5S)

Use cases are graphical notations that were created to help document and test system behavior. Ivar Jacobson introduced use cases in 1992, and they are now defined in the new UML (Unified Modeling Language). However, use cases fall short of their intended purpose, because they do not provide enough information for test case or script generation. Testers must go outside use cases to find enough information to create test cases.

However, the UML is extendable, and standard use cases can be extended with additional information to become test-ready use cases. Test-ready use cases contain sufficient information for automatic test case creation. This paper describes test-ready extensions to use cases and the process of automatic test case generation.
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Dr. Stacy J. Prowell (Q-Labs, Inc.) [USA]
Paper Title: Impact of Sequence-Based Specification on Statistical Software Testing (10T)

Requiring early, rigorous understanding of the system boundary, valid inputs, potential outputs, and possible input sequencing through the development of a sequence-based specification pays dividends in the development of usage models for statistical software testing.
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Ms. Suzanne Robertson (The Atlantic Systems Guild) [UK]
Tutorial Title: Making Requirements Testable (TB)

This one-day tutorial focuses on guiding participants through the requirements definition process. The emphasis of this exercise is on making requirements testable so that they can be negotiated, communicated and traced throughout the project. A requirement is measurable if there is an unambiguous way of determining whether a given solution fits that requirement.

Requirements engineering is by its nature a multi-disciplinary activity involving a wide range of participants. Requirements engineers must interact with both customers and systems developers, and this calls for both social and technical skills. The notion of making requirements testable is therefore crucial to effective requirements definition. It is a means of feedback from requirements engineer to customer in order to validate requirements, and a means of verifying that solutions constructed by developers meet the specified requirements. In order to convey the realism (difficulties and solutions) of such a requirements engineering process, the format of this tutorial is mostly interactive and participative. Attendees are guided (in groups) through the requirements specification process of a familiar (but nevertheless complex) computer based system. This guidance will be supported by a "requirements template" constructed and refined by the tutorial instructors through many years of teaching and application to large development projects.
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Dr. Linda Rosenberg & Mr. Ted Hammer (GSFC NASA/Unisys) [USA]
Tutorial Title: Metrics for Quality Assurance and Risk Assessment (TG1)

This presentation will:
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Dr. Linda Rosenberg, Mr. Ted Hammer & Ms. L. Huffman (GSFC NASA/Unisys) [USA]
Paper Title: Testing Metrics for Requirement Quality (6T)

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Mr. Ido Sarig (Mercury Interactive) [ISRAEL]
Paper Title: EMU Conversion - Test Reality Before Reality Tests You... (10V)

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Dr. Boudewijn Schokker (VAC Software Engineering) []
Paper Title: Visions and Tools (7V)

Abstract to be supplied.
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Mr. Felix Silva (Hewlett Packard) [USA]
Paper Title: Product Quality Profiling: A Practical Model to Capture the Experiences of Software Users (3S)

When a software development engineer watches a user navigate through software the first time, the reaction is often shock and dismay. This reaction is largely due to the disconnect between how the user sees software and how the development engineer views it. Product Quality Profiling (PQP) is a model to help the system test engineer/organization bridge the gap between development engineers and software users.
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Mr. David Talbot (European Commission) [UK]
Keynote Title: EC Commission Actions for Y2K and EURO (K2)

(Abstract to be Supplied)
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Mr. Richard Tinker & Mr. Ron Walters (BT Labs) [UK]
Paper Title: Systems Integration and VV&T strategies are not just Test Plans (RESERVE)

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Mr. Graham Titterington (Ovum, Ltd.) [UK]
Paper Title: A Comparison of the IT Implications of the Y2K and the EURO Issues (5M)

These issues are significantly different. The introduction of the Euro requires the extension of applications to support new business processes and exploit potential benefits.

However both projects require similar infrastructure, and organizations should be able to re-use a lot of their investment from y2k. Indeed the relatively small amount of mechanical conversion work looks like a mini-y2k project!

I will be looking at how the characteristics of these two projects are reflected in the testing requirements.
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Mr. Gordon Tredgold (The Testing Consultancy) [UK]
Paper Title: Year 2000 Functional Testing (5V)

(Abstract to be supplied.)
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Mr. Luc Van hamme (OM Partners n.v.) [BELGIUM]
Paper Title: Results of the ESSI PIE project OMP/CAST (6V)

The objective of OMP/CAST is the introduction of formal procedures and software tools for software testing. This is done in the context of a software development environment, in which graphical user interfaces, relational databases, algorithms, multi-language interfaces and multi-platform implementations are common. Thanks to computer aided testing, we expect to increase the stability of the released software even more.

The OMP/CAST project runs from May 1st, 1997 to October 30th, 1998.
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Dr. Erik P.W.M. VanVeenendaal (Improve Quality Services) [NETHERLANDS]
Paper Title: Questionnaire Based Usability Testing (7M)

Several investigations have shown that in addition to functionality and reliability, usability is a very important success factor. Sometimes it is possible to test the software extensively in a usability lab environment. However, in most other situations a usability test has to be carried out with minimum resources. Expert reviews and checklists are often applied to encounter this problem. These techniques have the disadvantage that the real stakeholder, e.g. the user, isn't involved. Within the European ESPRIT project MuSIC a questionnaire based method has been developed that serves to determine the quality of a software product from a user's perspective.

Software Usability Measurement Inventory (SUMI) is a questionnaire based method that can be designed for cost effective usage. It is backed by an extensive reference database embedded in an analysis and report generation tool. For each specified user group a number of individuals are asked to fill out the SUMI questionnaire. SUMI give insight into the usability aspects of learnability, efficiency, affect (likeability), control and helpfulness. It provides a comparison between the scores of the product-under-test and the state of the practice regarding usability in the software market. Ongoing research has resulted in tailored questionnaires for multimedia and internet based applications.

SUMI has been applied in practice in a great number of projects. This paper deals with some examples, focusing mainly on a project within a large development and manufacturing company that applied SUMI during the introduction of a new Product Data Management System (PDMS). The PDMS had more than one thousand users. The results, usability improvements, cost and benefits are described in detail. Conclusions are drawn regarding the applicability and the limitations of SUMI for usability testing.
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Mr. Otto Vinter (Brüel & Kjaer) [DENMARK]
Paper Title: Improved Requirements Engineering Based on Defect Analysis (4S)

At QW'96 and '97 Brüel & Kjaer reported the experiences of a software process improvement (SPI) project where we demonstrated that the introduction of static and dynamic analysis in our software development process had a significant impact on the quality of our products.

The basis for this project was a thorough analysis of error reports from previous projects which showed the need to perform a more systematic unit test of our products. However, the analysis also showed that the major cause of bugs stemmed from requirements related issues.

We are currently conducting another SPI project where we analyze the requirements related bugs in order to find and introduce effective prevention techniques in our requirements engineering process with the objective of reducing the number of requirements related error reports by 50%.

This presentation will cover the analysis results, a set of effective prevention techniques, and also the practical experiences using some of these techniques on real-life development projects.
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Mr. René Weichselbaum (Frequentis Nachrichtentechnik GesmbH) [AUSTRIA]
Paper Title: Software Test Automation (1T)

One of the main problems with automating software testing is its complexity. Genetic algorithms aim at such complex problems. For example, they address the problem of test data generation without instructing them, step by step, on how to do it. Instead of this, their learning algorithm is inspired by the theory of evolution. Using this approach neatly sidesteps many of the problems encountered by other systems in attempting to automate the test process. René describes a test tool performing automatic coverage testing by means of genetic algorithms.
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Dr. Denise Woit & Prof. David Mason (Ryerson Polytechnic University) [CANADA]
Paper Title: Component Independence for Software System Reliability (5T)

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Dr. Avi Ziv & Dr. Shmuel Ur (IBM Research Lab in Haifa) [ISRAEL]
Paper Title: Off-The-Shelf vs. Custom Made Coverage Models, Which is the One for You? (6S)

(Abstract to be Supplied)
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