• GUI test case minimization usi...

*Result*: GUI test case minimization using sequence mining.

Title:
GUI test case minimization using sequence mining.
Authors:
Ambreen R; Department of Software Engineering, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan., Khan TA; Department of Software Engineering, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Source:
PloS one [PLoS One] 2026 Feb 19; Vol. 21 (2), pp. e0339996. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Feb 19 (Print Publication: 2026).
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
MeSH Terms:
Data Mining*/methods , Software* , User-Computer Interface*, Algorithms
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20260219 Date Completed: 20260219 Latest Revision: 20260221
Update Code:
20260221
PubMed Central ID:
PMC12919771
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0339996
PMID:
41712571
Database:
MEDLINE

*Further Information*

*Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing is a crucial aspect of software quality assurance, ensuring that the user-facing components correctly reflect the underlying business logic. Regression testing validates that software continues to function as expected after modifications or integration with other systems. However, executing large test suites repeatedly is time-consuming and resource-intensive. To address this, test case minimization techniques aim to reduce the number of test cases without compromising coverage. In this work, we propose a sequence recording technique for GUI event tracking and test case minimization. The recorded event sequences are clustered using the K-Means algorithm, grouping highly similar events together. A search-based sequence selection is then applied to generate a representative subset of test cases. Our approach was implemented and evaluated using a User Interface (UI) map generated in Visual Studio, where all components were validated and compared with our event map. Experimental results show that our proposed method reduces the total number of test cases by approximately 45%, decreases execution time by 38%, and maintains over 95% coverage compared to the original test suite. These results demonstrate that the proposed approach effectively balances testing efficiency and coverage, providing a practical improvement for GUI regression testing.
(Copyright: © 2026 Ambreen, Khan. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)*

*The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.*