Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!hubcap!billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu
From: billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu (William Thomas Wolfe,2847,)
Newsgroups: comp.sw.components
Subject: Re: Ted Dunning's flamage (dousing)
Message-ID: <5445@hubcap.clemson.edu>
Date: 10 May 89 18:00:16 GMT
References: <TED.89May8134732@kythera.nmsu.edu>
Sender: news@hubcap.clemson.edu
Reply-To: billwolf%hazel.cs.clemson.edu@hubcap.clemson.edu
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From article <TED.89May8134732@kythera.nmsu.edu>, by ted@nmsu.edu (Ted Dunning):
> 	 The initial librarian design will be a prototype that supports
> 	 interactive search through a particular library taxonomy.  Component 
> 
> note the sudden shift from the past to the future tense.

    Due to the fact that I was quoting early documents.

% 	 In addition to a direct representation of the Ada type hierarchy
% 	 as a semantic network via AdaKNET, [it] will utilize testing
% 	 heuristics associated with various data types, as well as general
% 	 rules drawn from the experiences of veteran Ada programmers.  The
% 	 knowledge base built to support [the test plan assistant] should
% 	 be reuseable by other "smart" tools, and [the test plan assistant]
% 	 will itself be absorbed in the Librarian systems where additional
% 	 semantic information may be available from the library domain model.
% 
% this is fascinating; a test plan generator that doesn't need to know
% what the unit under test is SUPPOSED TO DO.  this fits in well with 
% the experience with the software qualification of magellan and space
% telescope. 

    Read carefully: the test plan generator is exploiting semantic
    information from the library domain model.  It DOES know what
    the unit under test is supposed to do.

> the task of generating complete test suites is something that 
> expert people still cannot do very well, much less something that 
> expert systems can do.  likewise with deriving useable taxonomies 
> in novel domains.

    Gee, that sounds like a good area for research, then, huh?
    Precisely the government's motivation for funding the STARS program.


    Bill Wolfe, wtwolfe@hubcap.clemson.edu