ATLAS-An Automated Software Testing System

The Automated Testing and Load Analysis System (ATLAS) formalizes a concept of model-referenced testing for large software systems. A directed graph model of the software under test, describing the sequential stimulus-response behavior of the software system, forms the basis of the approach. The objective of ATLAS is to certify the software under test against the model. This objective is met by components of ATLAS that automatically identify, generate, apply, and verify the set of tests required to establish that the software has correctly realized the model. The system has been successfully employed in testing over 40,000 instructions of Bell Laboratories large No. 4 ESS software package. Usage data and experience from this application and a critique of the approach are given.