Preparing for Automated Testing
Testing Software with TestFactory
1-7
Preparing for Automated Testing
To optimize the use of TestFactory, it is a good idea to begin by organizing the
following information:
þ
Assess the AUT thoroughly. Understand the various system states it assumes, as
well as the transitions between the states.
þ
Determine which areas of the AUT are the most stable and focus your testing
efforts on these early in the development cycle. Identify functional areas that do
not work and exclude them from initial testing.
þ
Plan the order in which functional areas are to be tested based on feature
availability, stability, and risk.
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Make sure that you fully understand how functional areas of the AUT are
designed to interact.
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Define data entry types (zip codes, phone numbers) and specific values (for
example, passwords) for key controls and try to anticipate how they might affect
the AUT during testing.
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Define typical user scenarios that you can simulate in TestFactory by creating
Pilot scenarios.
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Devise a scheme for naming the test assets (scripts, Pilots, Test Suites, folders,
and so on) you develop in TestFactory.
þ
Break down your testing product into manageable units or modules and assign
these to appropriate team members.
þ
Make sure that you have standard methods in place for organizing project
material.
Before You Map the AUT
Decide whether to map the AUT fully in one pass, or incrementally. Several factors
can influence your decision, including the size and complexity of the AUT and the
presence of unstable source code. For most applications, we recommend that you
map incrementally. Incremental mapping makes it easier for you to control the
direction and actions the Application Mapper takes through different functional
areas of the AUT. For information about incremental mapping, see Chapter 4,
Developing and Working with the Application Map.
