A Systematic Capture and Replay Strategy for Testing Complex GUI Based Java Applications

In this paper we propose a testing strategy that targets Java applications with complex GUI structure and event interactions. We present a capture and replay testing technique which can be employed for different testing purposes: GUI convergence, functional testing and regression testing. The proposed strategy drastically improves, and from different aspects, on standard capture and replay tools. This is done by combining both a model based testing approach with the capture and replay approach and by implementing different automated test oracles. We first model the behavior of the system from the functional specifications or from a trusted version of the system. Tests are then derived from this model to exercise the system in order to ensure correct functional behavior and to cover goal oriented interactions. The case study applies the test strategy on a role-based, multi-user computer game to demonstrate the usefulness and importance of this approach.