SCENT

SCENT is a method supporting requirements elicitation, analysis and definition by creating scenarios in a structured way, validating the scenarios with the customer/user and formalizing them into statecharts. From the statecharts test cases are derived which serve as a basis for integration and system test.

A scenario is a description of a sequence of interactions between a user and a system. In software engineering scenarios are used to capture and model external system behavior as perceived by a (potential) user.

The main ideas of the SCENT project are:

1. To use scenarios in requirements analysis as well as in system testing, thus profiting on the similarities of the two related activities (both being user centered; the first aiming at capturing users wants and needs - that is the requirements -, the second trying to demonstrate that the system meets those requirements),

2. To validate scenarios firstly by defining a stringent iterative procedure to create scenarios, having them reviewed by users regularly, and finally by formalizing scenarios thus exposing inconsistencies, ambiguities and incompleteness in the scenario descriptions,

3. To define a systematic way to use scenarios for the generation of test cases for system test.

Start of project: 1997     End of project: 2002

Ryser, J. (2003). Szenarienbasiertes Validieren und Testen von Softwaresystemen [Scenario-based validation and test of software systems (in German)]. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Zurich.

Ryser, J., M. Glinz (2001). Dependency Charts as a Means to Model Inter-Scenario Dependencies. In G. Engels, A. Oberweis and A. Zündorf (eds.): Modellierung 2001. GI-Workshop, Bad Lippspringe, Germany. GI-Edition - Lecture Notes in Informatics, Vol. P-1. 71-80.

Ryser, J., M. Glinz (2000a). SCENT - A Method Employing Scenarios to Systematically Derive Test Cases for System Test. Technical Report 2000.03, Institut für Informatik, University of Zurich.

Ryser, J., M. Glinz (2000b). Using Dependency Charts to ImproveScenario-Based Testing. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Testing Computer Software (TCS2000). Washington D.C., June 2000.

Ryser, J., M. Glinz (1999a). A Practical Approach to Validating and Testing Software Systems Using Scenarios. QWE'99: Third International Software Quality Week Europe, Brussels, Nov 1999.

Ryser, J., M. Glinz (1999b). A Scenario-Based Approach to Validating and Testing Software Systems Using Statecharts. Proc. 12th International Conference on Software and Systems Engineering and their Applications, Paris, Dec 1999.

Ryser, J., S. Berner, M. Glinz (1998). On the State of the Art in Requirements-based Validation and Test of Software. Technical Report 98-12, Institut für Informatik, University of Zurich.