State-based coverage analysis and UML-driven equivalence checking for C++ state machines

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology using an instrumentation-based behavioral checker to detect behavioral deviations of a C++ object implementing a finite state machine (FSM) and the corresponding specification defined as a UML state chart. The approach is able to link the source code with the appropriate states and provides a coverage analysis to show which states have been covered by unit, system and integration tests. Furthermore, the approach provides statistical information about the distribution of covered lines of code among all included files and directories. As a proof of concept the presented approach has been implemented in terms of a C++-library and has been successfully applied to OPC UA, an industrial automation infrastructure software.