An Analysis on the Negative Effect of Multiple-Faults for Spectrum-Based Fault Localization

作     者：Yan Xiaobo Bin Liu Wang Shihai 

作者机构：Beihang Univ Sci & Technol Reliabil & Environm Engn Lab Beijing 100191 Peoples R China 

出 版 物：《IEEE ACCESS》 (IEEE Access)

年 卷 期：2019年第7卷

页      面：2327-2347页

核心收录：

基　　金：Science and Technology on Reliability and Environmental Engineering Laboratory 

主　　题：Fault localization software debugging multiple-faults 

摘      要：This paper aims to investigate the negative effects of multiple-faults on spectrum-based fault localization (SBFL). Previously, researchers validated the fact that the occurrence of multiple-faults could have a significant negative impact on fault localization. However, a very little current research addresses the degree of these impacts through a systemic analysis. Furthermore, the fundamental causes underlying that negative impact have not been investigated and are not fully understood. We conducted experiments on fourteen real-life open source programs to explore and possibly solve these problems. Our results indicate that: 1) although multiple-faults generally do have a negative impact on fault localization, different fault localizations displayed various levels of robustness against that negative impact;2) restoring pass/fail fault interactions only has a modest effect on that negative impact;3) our investigation of twelve Fault Localization Interactions (FLI) shows that there is a dominant FLI-1 interaction in multiple-fault programs which should be responsible for that negative impact;4) restoring FLI-1 can significantly improve the performance of both SBFL and parallel debugging techniques;and 5) furthermore, this paper practically validated the revised Kendall Tau distance as an efficient measure to help locate test cases, which have triggered FLI-1. Based on the revised Kendall Tau distance, a fast search algorithm has been suggested to locate FLI-1 test cases. It is expected that this paper can provide some insight into the fundamental causes of multiple-faults negative impact on fault localization and drive the development of more efficient fault localization techniques to improve the identification and handling of multiple-faults.