Technique using persistent foci for finite state machine based software test generation

A system for automatic generation of test programs employs test generation foci linked to a finite state machine behavioral model of a software application under test to produce abstract test suites that are executed by an execution engine. The foci include directive expressions that tag coverage variables of the behavioral model. The execution engine operates until the tagged coverage variables have assumed all their possible values. Both the behavioral models and the foci are archivable and can be retrieved and reused independently.