Software Testing

CHAPTER 3. SOFTWARE TESTING

APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES
Session 2
BLACK BOX TESTING
 Contents

1 What is black box testing?

2 The black box testing techniques

 Black box testing
As known as:
• Specification-based testing
• Behavior-based testing
Black box testing is a software testing method
in which the functionalities of software
applications are tested without having knowledge
of internal code structure, implementation details
and internal paths.
 Black box testing
The tester focuses on what the software does,
not how it does it.
Testing based on software requirements and
specifications.
Black box testing consist of
• Functional testing
• Non-functional testing
 Black box testing
Common techniques of black box testing:
1. Equivalence Class Testing
2. Boundary Value Testing
3. Combinatorial Testing/Pairwise Testing/All-Pairs
Testing
4. State Transition Testing
5. Decision Tables Testing
6. Use Case Testing
 1. Equivalence Class Testing
It is also known as Equivalence Partitioning
Idea:
• Divide or partition the input domain of a program
into classes of data
• Derive test cases based on these partitions
Goal:
• to reduce the total number of test cases to a finite set of
testable test cases, still covering maximum
requirements.
 1. Equivalence Class Testing
The system will handle all the test input
variations within a partition in the same way.
• If one of the input condition passes, then all other
input conditions within the partition will pass as well.
• If one of the input conditions fails, then all other
input conditions within the partition will fail as well.
 Examples 1
Assume, we have to test a field which accepts
Age 18 – 56

Test Input Expected result

Valid Class: 18 – 56 Case
Invalid Class 1: <=17 1 20 Accept
Invalid Class 2: >=57 2 15 Reject
=>There are 3 test cases using 3 60 Reject
equivalence class testing
8
 Example 2
A program takes 3 integer inputs representing
the lengths of the sides of a triangle.
The program determines if the side values
represent an equilateral triangle, a scalene
triangle, an isosceles triangle, or whether the
inputs would not represent a triangle.
 Example 2
In order for 3 integers a, b, and c to be the sides
of a triangle, we must have:
a + b > c a b
a + c > b
b + c > a
A triangle is:
c
Equilateral if all 3 sides are equal
Isosceles if 2 sides are equal
Scalene if no two sides are equal
 Example 2
Assume that each side length is between 1 and 200
We may define the input test data by defining the
equivalence class through the 5 output groups:
• Error Input: a <= 0 || b <=0 || c <=0
• Not Triangle: a + b <= c || b + c <= a || a + c <= b
• Equilateral: a == b && b == c
• Scalene: a != b && b != c && a != c
• Isosceles:(a == b && b != c) || (b == c && c != a) ||
(a == c && a != b)
 Exercise
This program reads in a date in a certain format and
prints out the next day’s date.

• For example, an input of 03-31-1998 gives an output of

04-01-1998.
• The year is constrained to lie between 1812 and 2012
inclusive
=>Define equivalence classes , test conditions (of input
data) using equivalent partitioning technique
 2.Boundary Value testing
It is testing at the boundaries between partitions
It is known as Boundary Value Analysis (BVA)
To find the errors at boundaries of input domain
(tests the behavior of a program at the input
boundaries).
The minimum and maximum values of a partition
are its boundary values.
Boundary value analysis can perform at all test
levels, and its primarily used for a range of
numbers, dates, and time.
 2.Boundary Value testing
The basic idea of boundary value analysis (BVA) is
to use input variable values at
• minimum,
• just above the minimum,
• at a nominal value,
• just below the maximum,
• at the maximum
 Example 1:
Assume that we have to test a text field (Age) which
accepts age from 18 to 56 as below:
 Example 2
Boundary Value Testing for the Triangle Program
• Side lengths are integers ranging from 1 to 200
• Typical boundary value analysis requires 5 values for
each variable: min, min+, nominal value, max-, max
• Input Boundary Value testing for 3 variables requires
5x3 = 15 test cases.
• Our values: 1, 2, 100, 199, 200
 Example 2
Boundary Value Test Cases for the Triangle
problems
 Exercise
Bank has different charges depending on
the transaction done:
+ 5% of the amount for transaction less than or
equal 1000 USD
+ 6% of the amount for transaction more than
1000 USD and less than or equal 2000 USD
+ 7% of the amount for transaction more than
2000 USD
=>Lets create the set of TCs by BVA
technique!
 3. Pairwise Testing
Is known as All-Pairs Testing or Combinatorial
is a black-box test design technique in which
test cases are designed to execute all possible
discrete combinations of each pair of input
parameters.
Pairwise-generated test suites cover all
combinations of two therefore are much smaller
than exhaustive ones yet still very effective in
finding defects
 Example
An GUI application

• List Box - 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

• Check Box - Checked or Unchecked
• Radio Button - ON or OFF
• Text Box - Any Value between 1 and 100
 Example
Exhaustive combination is calculated.
List Box = 10
Check Box = 2
Radio Button = 2
Text Box = 100
=>Total Number of Test Cases using Cartesian Method :
10*2*2*100 = 4000
=>Total Number of Test Cases including Negative Cases
will be > 4000
=>the idea is to bring down the number of test cases.
 Example

We can consider:

• List box values as 0 and others.
• Radio button and check box values cannot be reduced (ON or
OFF).
• The Text box values can be reduced into three inputs (Valid
Integer, Invalid Integer, Alpha-Special Character).
=> The number of cases using software testing
technique, 2*2*2*3 = 24 (including negative cases).
 Example
Reduce the combination further into All-pairs
technique:

=>6 Test Cases.

 3. Pairwise Testing
We can use Pairwise Testing tools to effectively
automate the Test Case Design process by
generating a compact set of parameter value
choices as the desired Test Cases:
• PICT – ‘Pairwise Independent Combinatorial Testing’, provided
by Microsoft Corp.
• IBM FoCuS – ‘Functional Coverage Unified Solution’, provided by
IBM.
• ACTS – ‘Advanced Combinatorial Testing System’, provided by
NIST, an agency of the US Government.
• Pairwise by Inductive AS
• VPTag free All-Pair Testing Tool
 Exercise
Pair-Wise Testing for a GUI application

25
 4. State Transition Testing
State transition testing is performed to check
the various states of scenario/system and
possible transition between them.
is helpful where you need to test different
system transitions.
 Example 1
Login page of an application which locks the
user name after three wrong attempts of
password. • The state diagram
shows:
• 5 states:
• First attempt (S1)
• Second attempt (S2)
• Third attempt (S3)
• Home Page (S4)
• Account locked (S5)
• Events:
• Correct password
• Incorrect password
 Example 1
Determine the states, input data and output
data.
 Example 2
The state diagram shows an example of entering a
Personal Identity Number (PIN) to a bank account.
The states are shown as circles, the transitions as
lines with arrows and the events as the text near the
transitions.
 Example 2
The state diagram shows:
States: 7 states:
S1:Start, S2:Wait for Pin, S3: 1st try, S4: 2nd Try,
S5: 3rd Try, S6: access to account, S7: eat card
Events: 4 events
Event 1:Card inserted
Event 2: Enter Pin,
Event 3: Pin OK
Event 4: Pin not OK
Actions : (not shown in the above example) could be :
Messages on the screen – error or otherwise.
 Example 2
The State Table for the PIN example can be
simplified as below:
 Exercise
A website shopping basket starts out empty. As purchases are
selected, they are added to the shopping basket. Items can also be
removed from the basket.
When the customer decides to check out, a summary of the items
and the total cost are shown. Customer states if the information is
ok
If the contents and the price are OK, then the customer will be
redirected to the payment system. Otherwise, you go back to
shopping
• Produce a state diagram
• Define a state table which to cover all transitions
 4. Decision Table Testing
Decision table testing is black box test design
technique to determine the test scenarios for
complex business logic.
We can apply Equivalence Partitioning and
Boundary Value Analysis techniques to only
specific conditions or inputs.
Helps testers to search the effects of
combinations of different inputs.
 4. Decision Table Testing
Decision table components:
• Conditions:
Inputs are interpreted as conditions (Dashes represent don’t
care conditions)
Condition entries binary values, they are called limited entry
table.
Condition entries have more than two values, they are called
extended entry table.
• Actions
Outputs are interpreted as actions
• Rules:
The columns in a table are rules — they show which actions
result from which conditions
Every rule then becomes a test case
 4. Decision Table Testing
A decision table has 4 portions:
1. Condition stub
2. Condition entry
3. Action stubs
4. Action entry
 4. Decision Table Example
rules

conditions
values of
conditions

actions taken
actions

Read a Decision Table by columns of rules :

R6 says when all conditions are T, then actions a1, a4 occur
 4. Decision Table
A Redundant Decision Table:

• Rule 9 is identical to Rule 4 (T, F, F)

• Since the action entries for rules 4 and 9 are identical,
there is no ambiguity, just redundancy
 4. Decision Table
An Inconsistent Decision Table

• Rule 9 is identical to Rule 4 (T, F, F)

• Since the action entries for rules 4 and 9 are different, there
is ambiguity =>the table is inconsistent, and the
inconsistency implies non-determinism — can’t tell which
rule to apply!
 4. Decision Table
Procedure for Decision Table Testing:
1. Determine conditions and actions.
2. Develop the Decision Table, watching for
Completeness
Don’t care entries
Redundant and inconsistent rules
3. Each rule defines a test case
 Example
A university computer system allows students
an allocation of disc space depending on their
projects.
If they have used all their allotted space, they
are only allowed restricted access, i.e. to delete
files, not to create them.
This is assuming they have logged on with a
valid username and password.
What are the input and output conditions?
 Example
Input Conditions: each entry in the table may
be either ‘T’ for true, ‘F’ for false.
Input Conditions
Valid username T T T T F F F F
Valid password T T F F T T F F
Account in credit T F T F T F T F
 Example
Rationalise input combinations
• Some combinations may be impossible or not of
interest
• Some combinations may be ‘equivalent’
• use a hyphen to denote “don’t care”
Input Conditions
Valid uscername F T T T
Valid password - F T T
Account in credit - - F T
 Example
Determine the expected output conditions for
each combination of input conditions
Each column is at least one test case
 Example
Design test cases
 Exercise
Create decision tables and some test cases for the
following problems:
Ex1: Login function:
• User enters their user ID, then user enters their
password
• If the user enters the incorrect password three times,
the account is locked
• Display an error message if access to system is granted
with valid account otherwise, allow user to login
Ex2: NextDate function
Ex3: Triangle problem
 5. Use case testing
Use case testing is a Black Box testing technique
helps identify test cases that cover the entire
system, on a transaction by transaction basis
from start to finish.
It is helpful for deriving test cases for integration
testing, system testing and acceptance testing.
Each use case describes the interaction between
the actor and the system to achieve a specific
task
 Example
Consider the ‘Show Student Marks’ case, in a
School Management System.
• Use case Name: Show Student Marks
• Actors: Students, Teachers, Parents
• Pre-Condition:
The system must be connected to the network.
Actors must have a ‘Student ID’.
 Example
Use case testing Show Student Marks
Main
Serial Number Steps
Scenario
A: Actor/ 1 Enter Student Name
S: System

2 System Validates Student Name

3 Enter Student ID
4 System Validates Student ID
5 System shows Student Marks
Extensions 3a Invalid Student ID
S: Shows an error message
3b Invalid Student ID entered 4 times.
S: Application Closes
 Example
Design test cases
Test Cases Steps Expected Result

A View Student Mark List 1 -Normal Flow

1 Enter Student Name User can enter Student name

2 Enter Student ID User can enter Student ID

3 Click on View Mark System displays Student Marks

B View Student Mark List 2-Invalid ID

1 Repeat steps 1 and 2 of View Student
Mark List 1
2 Enter Student ID System displays Error message
 Exercise
Applying Use case testing for:
Ex1: Login functionality of a Web application