Designing and Implementing Tests
6
Chapter 1 - Introducing Rational TestManager
Designing Tests
The activity of designing tests answers the question, "How am I going to perform the
testing?" A complete test design informs readers about what actions need to be taken
with the system and what behaviors and characteristics they should expect to observe
if the system is functioning properly.
Designing tests is an iterative process. You can start designing tests before any system
implementation by basing the test design on use case specifications, requirements,
prototypes, and so on. As the system becomes more clearly specified and you have
builds of the system to work with, you can elaborate on the details of the design.
Note:
A test design is different from the design work that should be done in
determining how to build your test implementation.
In TestManager, you can design your test cases by:
s
Indicating the high-level steps needed to interact with the application and the
system in order to perform the test.
s
Indicating how to validate that the features are working properly.
s
Specifying the preconditions and postconditions for the test.
s
Specifying the acceptance criteria for the test.
Given the iterative nature of software development, the design is typically more
abstract (less specific) than a manual implementation of the test, but it can easily
evolve into one.
Implementing Tests
The activity of implementing tests involves the design and development of reusable
test scripts that implement your test case. After you create the implementation, you
can associate it with the test case.
Implementation is different in every testing project. In one project, you might decide
to build both automated test scripts and manual test scripts. In another project, you
might need to write modular pieces of software using a combination of tools.
TestManager provides built-in support for implementing the following types of test
scripts:
Note:
TestManager stores built-in test script types in the Rational test datastore in
a Rational project. All test script types with (Rational Test Datastore) next to them
in the table are stored in the Rational datastore.
