Graph Representation for Data Flow Coverage

Data flow testing helps testers design effective tests by requiring the tests to execute sequences of statements from definitions of variables to one or more subsequent uses. These def-use associations are derived from graphs that model software behavior. A "flow graph" that only includes paths that cover defuse associations, and not other control flows, has been defined elsewhere. Although these flow graphs have several advantages over previous graphs, as computed, they omit some valid paths, which are needed to use the graphs to discover subsumption relationships and generate test data. These omissions lead to errors in the results. This paper extends previous solutions by presenting a graph that represents all paths that cover def-use associations. The paper presents empirical data showing that this graph can be generated at reasonable cost and efficiently applied for data flow subsumption discovery.