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<< Understanding the Testing Methodology | Testing Phases: Create, Run, Report, and Track >>

Testing Phases: Plan and Capture

<< Understanding the Testing Methodology | Testing Phases: Create, Run, Report, and Track >>
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Getting Started: A Tutorial
1 I
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Understanding the Testing Methodology
Phase I: Plan
You begin the automated testing process by creating a testplan. A testplan is a
document that helps you plan and manage the testing of your application.
You develop testplans in SilkTest's testplan editor. Structured as a
hierarchical outline, a basic testplan contains the following information:
·
Descriptions of individual tests and groups of tests. You can use as many
levels of descriptions as you want.
·
Statements that link the test descriptions to one or more testcases that
perform the actual testing of the application.
·
Attributes, assigned to a specific testcase or group description. Attributes
are useful for grouping tests so that you can run or report on specific
parts of the testplan.
For large and complex software applications, testing every possible path is
not cost or time effective; you must identify a subset of all possible tests to
provide the highest coverage in the most crucial areas of the product. To get a
thorough understanding of the crucial areas of your product we recommend
that you review process documents such as:
·
Customer Requirements
·
Design Specifications
·
Functional Specifications
·
Marketing Requirements
·
Product Documentation
Tip We recommend, as good business practice, that you develop a
testing strategy through the development of a testplan before you
create your testcases. However, developing a testplan is optional.
Phase II: Capture
In the capture phase you introduce SilkTest to the AUT by building a
framework for your testing. First you record a test frame, which is a central
repository for information about your application. A test frame stores all the
data structures required to support your test scripts:
·
The URL for a Web application or the command line needed to invoke
the client/server application used by the SilkTest recovery system
·
Constants and variables
·
Descriptions, called declarations, for all the GUI objects in your
application