Input Test Suites for Program Repair: A Novel Construction Method Based on Metamorphic Relations

Authors

Mingyue Jiang
Tsong Yueh Chen
Zhi Q. Zhou, University of WollongongFollow
Zuohua Ding

RIS ID

144756

Publication Details

Jiang, M., Chen, T., Zhou, Z. & Ding, Z. (2020). Input Test Suites for Program Repair: A Novel Construction Method Based on Metamorphic Relations. IEEE Transactions on Reliability,

Abstract

IEEE Test-suite-based automated program repair (APR) techniques acquire information from an input test suite to guide the repair process, aiming to produce a repair that can pass all test cases of the input test suite. Obviously, the input test suite has a critical impact on the repair effectiveness of APR techniques. This article reports on a study of the APR input test suites from a new perspective. We first propose a novel method of constructing the APR input test suites, using information derived from violated metamorphic relations. We then empirically evaluate our construction method using three APR techniques (Angelix, CETI, and GenProg), comparing it with random and code-coverage-based construction methods that are used as the experimental control. The results show that our approach is complementary to these two input test suite construction methods. This article illustrates a new use of metamorphic relations for program repair.