Test Case Selection Problem

Test Case Selection Problem $(100$ pts$)$:

Imagine that you are head of testing department of a software house. In your department, there

are several testing staff who design test$-$cases for different software modules. A module holds

some $n$ number of lines of code and each test case may cover some of the code lines of the module.

For example, let our very simple module contains $10$ lines of code $($i$.$e$.n=10)$ and we have $k=$

$6$ number of different test cases prepared for the testing the module. Table $1$ shows an example

line numbers covered by each of $6$ different example test cases.

Table $1.$ Example test$-$case IDs and their code line coverage information.

As the head of the testing department, you wish to minimize the number of applied test cases per

module in order to save testing time. On the other hand, the selected minimum number of test

cases among $k$ alternatives are required to cover all the lines of module under test together in

order to not to risk some of the module lines not being tested. In other words, the selected

minimum number of test cases should cover all the code lines of the module collectively. For

example for the above problem instance, you have to select the test cases $T_5$ and $T_6$ that covers all the $10$ module lines together. In your solution, assume that each line of the module under test

is covered by at least one test case.

In order to solve the problem, you decide to develop a software tool that uses Transform &

Conquer algorithm design technique. According to the approach, first you need to convert given

problem instance into an Integer Linear Programming $($ILP$)$ problem then solve the constructed ILP

problem by using a back$-$end solver $($namely IBM$-$Cplex Solver$)$ on the fly. Finally, display the

obtained result in a meaningful way. See Figure $1$ below.

Figure $1.$ A simple architectural view for your test case selection software.

SAMPLE INPUT:

SAMPLE OUTPUT:

IDs of the minimum number of selected test cases that covers all the module lines: $56$

Your homework submission should include the following pieces:

i$.$ A report that explains how you transform the test case selection problem into the ILP problem.

ii$.$ Source code of your algorithm. In your code, do NOT hard$-$code the sample problem input instance above but read the sample input either from screen or from a text file.