July 31st, 2017 by Adam Sandman
We are busy bees this summer, and one of the most exciting new features of SpiraTest (and SpiraTeam, of course) is a better support for data-driven testing with the new test configurations functionality. We are adding support for test configurations that will let you create a data-set of possible testing configurations (e.g. 5 browsers, 4 operating systems, 10 logins = 200 possible combinations) and run your test sets through the different combinations with ease. This will be available for both manual and automated testing.
Creating the Test Configurations
The new Test Configurations module in SpiraTest (which will reside under the main Testing menu) will let you create different 'test configuration sets' which will be used to store different combinations of test data that will be used during testing:
You will be able to create as many different test configuration sets as you need, and each of them will have a page where you can edit the name, rich text description and also define the actual test data values that will be used:
To populate the test data, you will choose:
- A test case parameter that will use the data (e.g.
${browserName},${operatingSystem}). These parameters are the same ones currently used in the Test Cases and Test Sets screens to pass parameter values between test cases. - A custom list (that contains a list of values such as web browsers, operating systems, logins, etc.). These values will be assigned to the test case parameter.
Once you have chosen one or more test case parameter and custom list, you can then tell the system to use that to populate the test data grid:
The system will then generate all the possible combinations of these values:
Then you can remove any of the items that don't make logical sense (e.g. Microsoft Edge and Mac OS or Safari and Windows). You now have a defined set of valid test configurations entries that make up the set.
Using the Test Configurations
Once you have these test configuration sets defined, you will be able to assign them to a specific Test Set and use them for both manual and automated testing:
- For manual testing, when you execute a test set that uses a test configuration set, it will generate a test run entry for each of the test configuration entries multiplied by each of the test cases in the set. You will then be able to execute them in the same was as you do today.
- For automated testing, we shall be upgrading both RemoteLaunch and Rapise to handle the new test configurations so that you can more easily run a test set of automated tests against a large combination of platforms, logins, browsers or other parameters that can affect the test results.
We hope you find this new feature helpful. Please let us know what other improvements we should focus on in SpiraTest to make your testing experience a breeze!