The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 30, 1996
Filed:
Dec. 22, 1992
James R Tierney, Kirkland, WA (US);
Noel Cross, Eugene, OR (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for automatically testing software using a deterministic acceptance test and random command sequence selections to more rapidly uncover errors in computer software. A results analyzer checks test parameters following the execution of each of a series of predetermined test commands and a series of random test commands to determine if the commands were properly executed. The test command sequences and test results determined by the results analyzer are stored in a log file which may be examined by the tester. The randomly selected test command sequence is stored in a tracker log file. The tester may reexecute the tracker file in its entirety or any portion selected by the tester as a means of determining the cause of an error in the software. The system also provides for error recovery. When an error is detected, the system restarts the test of the computer software and continues maintaining the log file and the tracker file. The system also uses the probabilities for various responses that an end-user may make in response to a particular screen display or program state. The system may select random responses corresponding to the probabilities. These probabilities are calculated for each individual screen display or software state. Because the present invention executes a random selection of command sequences, a particular applications program may be tested on multiple machines, thereby decreasing the overall time required for acceptance testing.