GUI savvy end-to-end testing with smart monkeys

Abstract

In this article we report on the development of a graphical user interface-savvy test monkey and its successful application to the Windows calculator. Our novel test monkey allows for a pragmatic approach in providing an abstract model of the GUI relevant behavior of the application under test and relies on a readily available GUI automation tool. Besides of outlining the employed test oracles we explain our novel decision-based state machine model, the associated language and the random test algorithm. Moreover we outline the pragmatic model creation concept and report on its concrete application in an end-to-end test setting with a Windows Vista front-end. Notably in this specific scenario, our novel monkey was able to identify a misbehavior in a well-established application and provided valuable insight for reproducing the detected fault.