Package: qucat-cover
QuCAT: A Combinatorial Testing Tool for Quantum SoftwareDescriptionWith the increased developments in quantum computing, the availability of systematic and automatic testing approaches for quantum programs is becoming more and more essential. To this end, we present the quantum software testing tool QuCAT for combinatorial testing of quantum programs. QuCAT provides two functionalities of use. With the first functionality, the tool generates a test suite of a given strength (e.g., pair-wise). With the second functionality, it generates test suites with increasing strength until a failure is triggered or a maximum strength is reached. QuCAT uses two test oracles to check the correctness of test outputs. We assess the cost and effectiveness of QuCAT with 3 faulty versions of 5 quantum programs. Results show that combinatorial test suites with a low strength can find faults with limited cost, while a higher strength performs better to trigger some difficult faults with relatively higher cost.InstallationInstall Anaconda. You can download Anaconda for your OS fromhttps://www.anaconda.com/Install PICT. You can download PICT for your OS fromhttps://github.com/Microsoft/pictIf you add it into system variable, you don't need to specify PICT root in the configuration file introduced laterCreate a conda environment (e.g., with name "qucat"):conda create -n qucat python=3.9Activate the environment and install Qiskit and rpy2conda activate qucat
pip install qucat-coverHow to use QuCAT?Quantum Program FileThe quantum program should be written with Qiskit.The code has to be structured in a function named as 'run' with one parameter that refers to the quantum circuit.Users only need to add gates to the circuit and measure output qubits to get the output. They don't need to set any register, initialize circuits, choose the simulation, or execute the circuits in 'run' function.A sample quantum program is availablehere.Configuration FileThe configuration file should be written in an INI file.
The configuration file is described below.[program]
root= 
;(Required)
;Description: The absolute root of your quantum program file.
num_qubit= 
;(Required)
;Description: The total number of qubit of your quantum program.
inputID= 
;(Required)
;Description: The IDs of input qubits.
;Format: A non-repeating sequence separated by commas.
outputID= 
;(Required)
;Description: The IDs of output qubits which are the qubits to be measured.
;Format: A non-repeating sequence separated by commas

[qucat_configuration]
pict_root=
;(Optional)
;Description: The absolute root to run pict. If the root is added to system variable, users don't need to specify it. pict_root='.' by default.
k=
;(Optional)
;Description: Order of combinations. In Functionality Two, it refers to the maximum value of strength. o = 2 by default. 
significance_level=
;(Optional)
;Description: The significance level for statistical test. significance_level = 0.01 by default.

[program_specification]
;Description: The program specification.
;Format:input string (binary),output string (binary)=probability
;Example:
;00,1=0.5
;00,0=0.5
;01,1=0.5
;01,0=0.5
;or
;0-,-=0.5
;Attention: '-' can refer to both '0' and '1'.A sample configuration file is availablehere.First, you need to activate the conda environment:conda activate qucatSecond, you can write the Python program as follows as an example:from qucat_cover.qucat_run import qucat
qucat(1,"/Users/user/qram_sample.ini", "")There are three parameters for qucat method.Functionality, value can be either 1 or 2The root of the configuration fileThe root of the seedrow file. ("" represents no seedrow file)After all the preparation, QuCAT will generate test cases your requirement and execute to get results.After running, you get 2 text files. They containTest SuitesTest Outputs and Assessment ResultsVideo DemonstrationA video demo is availablehere.ExtensionOne can checkout the code from GitHub and provide extensions to QuCAT.