Studio:Scripting Overview
STRIDE affords you a number of different options for automating your
testing, including datasets and scripts. Each option provides a unique
set of testing capabilities. When conditional logic, event processing,
user intervention, or other complex operations are required, scripts may
be the most appropriate option.
Using scripts to drive test scenarios or to simulate missing components
has traditionally been difficult, if not impossible, when the unit under
test is located on the target platform. Moreover, scripting languages
and the C language do not necessarily mix well. Because of these difficulties,
developers rarely use scripts for testing and integration, despite the
potential benefits.
STRIDE makes it possible to use scripts written in any scripting language
to test your software units regardless of whether they are located on
the host, target, or both. There are two common use cases for using scripts
to integrate and test:
- To drive the testing of a unit or units by calling functions
and/or sending commands and receiving messages.
- To simulate a missing function or other component so an interdependent
unit can be tested.
To illustrate these two use cases, consider a hypothetical embedded
application containing three functions: A, B, and C. A calls B and B calls
C as shown on the left in the diagram below. Suppose that you developed
function B and you are ready to test it, but function C is not yet completed.
One solution, which would allow you to continue testing regardless of
the availability of function C, is to use scripts as shown on the right
in the diagram below. One script simulates the missing function C (Use
Case #2) while the other drives the testing of function B (Use Case #1).
As implied in the diagram, the fact that scripts replace functions A
and C does not change the interfaces with function B; via STRIDE, interfaces
defined in your embedded application are available at the source level
in your favorite scripting language. In addition, function B could be
on the target application, whereas the scripts replacing functions A and
C are running on the host.
