A Scenario-Based Approach for Modeling Abnormal Behaviors of Dependable Software Systems

Abstract

Traditionally, requirement capturing primary concerns about the normal behaviors of a system and leaves the abnormal behaviors as an afterthought. However, without the requirement document for the abnormal behaviors, a system’s exception handling code tends to be poorly designed and error-prone and consequently decreases its robustness. In this paper, through the use of a scenario-based approach, we show that the abnormal behaviors can be modeled in a traceable and testable way in all life-cycle phases. Software developers, including the analyst, the architect, the designer, the programmer, and the tester can write or use different levels of scenarios to fulfill the robustness needs from the most relevant different perspectives. An example is given to illustrate its use.