Query-Aware Test Generation Using a Relational Constraint Solver

Abstract

We present a novel approach for black-box testing of database management systems (DBMS) using the Alloy tool-set. Given a database schema and an SQL query as inputs, our approach first formulates Alloy models for both inputs, and then using the Alloy Analyzer, it generates (1) input data to populate test databases, and (2) the expected result of executing the given query on the generated data. The Alloy Analyzer results form a complete test suite (input/oracle) for verifying the execution result of a DBMS query processor. By incorporating both the schema and the query during the analysis, our approach performs query-aware data generation where executing the query on the generated data produces meaningful non-empty results. We developed a prototype tool, ADUSA, and used it to evaluate our approach. Experimental results show the ability of our approach to detect bugs in both open-source as well as commercial database management systems.