QACenter Regression Testing Products Summary
By: Operative Software Products
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QARun records user actions and system responses
into reusable scripts that test specific application functions.
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TestPartner is an automated functional testing
tool that has been specially designed for testing complex applications
based on Microsoft, Java and web based technologies.
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QADirector gives development and testing teams
a framework for managing the entire testing process-from design to execution
to analysis.
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Reconcile lets you prioritize your requirements
and manage the testing effort based on your priorities.
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TrackRecord provides an automated tracking
system that keeps vital defect information flowing between testing and
development teams.
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File-AID/CS provides complete data management
for client/server environments.
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QARun
Advantages
Test Creation and Execution
Test Verification
Test Results Analysis
Advanced Data Functions
Wide-ranging Support
Central Repository
Java Support
Web Site Analysis
Euro Support
Intelligent Test Scripts
Automatic Synchronization
Test Creation and Execution
Improve testing efficiency by automating setup and execution of test scripts.
QARun uses an object-oriented approach to automate test script generation,
which can significantly increase the accuracy of testing in the time you have
available. As you point and click, QARun records user actions and system
responses into reusable scripts that test specific application functions.
You will create powerful, feature-rich tests even if you don't have extensive
knowledge of programming languages or application structure.
Test Verification
Simplify test verification with QARun's interactive process. No programming
is required to make the verification or to record the application response
to the log file. Windows, Menus, Dialogs, Bit Maps, Text, Time, Date and Numeric
comparisons can be made using QARun's powerful checking features.
Test Results Analysis
Know the state of the application under test at any time. QARun creates
a log file each time a test is run. It contains all the commands and test
data sent by scripts to the target application, along with color-coded results
of all the checks made. If a check fails, the expected and the actual responses
are written to the log for comparison.
Advanced Data Functions
Reduce the number of scripts needed to perform a large range of tests. QARun's
advanced data functions allow you to abstract input data into an external
data file, so that a single script can enter a variety of data into the application
to represent different test scenarios.
Create, verify and restore data with integration between QARun and
File-AID. Use File-AID to create datapools for data entry during testing.
Invoke File-AID's comparison feature directly from QARun's built-in
file check function. Then view the comparison results from the QARun
log files, the central point for verifying test results. Restore your test
database using File-AID, ensuring repeated tests are run without data modification.
Wide-ranging Support
Learn only one tool, QARun, to test diverse applications in today's
complex IT environment. You can test web, Java, ERP/CRM, character-based wireless
and PDA applications as well as traditional client/server and emulator-based
applications.
QARun's test creation and execution capabilities are available for
in-house and purchased applications for a variety of platforms and development
environments, including Siebel, SAP, Oracle and PeopleSoft.
Test multiple types of web enabled applications with a single tool, by using
QARun. Support for web technologies includes ActiveX, HTML, DHTML,
XML, Java beans, and more. Execute web tests independent of the web browser
using QARun. Record test scripts under Internet Explorer, then run
the same script under Netscape—and vice versa.
Java Support
QARun supports applications developed from the leading Java development
environments:
- JVMs: IBM, Sun, Microsoft
- Java Class Libraries: AFC, AWT, Borland JBuilder,
Infragistic Jsuite, Swing, IBM Visual Café, Visual Age
Because there are numerous components that comprise a Java application, QARun
provides Active Object Recognition (AOR). This facility enables users to "teach"
QARun about Java controls that may not be necessarily supported out-of-the-box.
AOR is an "industry-first" feature based on patent-pending Java
testing technology that enables testing teams to define their own support
for customized Java controls and more comprehensively test their applications
and components.
Central Repository
Create benchmark script libraries that are largely independent of incremental
application changes. All QARun scripts, checks, events, and object
definitions are stored in a central repository. Test scripts can reference
many checks, events and object definitions which, in turn, can reference many
test scripts. When you change the definition in the repository, all references
to the definition are automatically updated.
Web Site Analysis
Analyze web site and web application performance using QARun's Site
Check. This wizard-driven task lets you test for orphaned pages, broken URLs,
bad links, moved pages, new and old pages, and fast and slow pages. The Site
Check also lets you check single URLs.
QARun's Site Check capability now includes a spell check feature that
lets you check HTML pages of a web site against many pre-defined or user-defined
languages. Afterward, you can view a report that shows the spelling errors
and the pages on which they occur.
QARun supports DHTML and XML syntax checking during site checks. In
addition, integration with Compuware's test data management tool enables you to compare
data easily from specified tables, database structures, text files, XML files
and QACenter scripts with an easy-to-use wizard.
Euro Support
QARun can aid businesses in testing and validating conversions into
the newly adopted euro currency. QARun supports the euro symbol and
can verify the conversion between two non-euro currencies using the required
triangulation process, which involves converting the source currency to the
euro, and then converting from the euro to the target currency. The Conversion
Rates configuration dialog in QARun allows users to set the conversion
rates for the different currencies as well as the cross rates.
Intelligent Test Scripts
Sophisticated error recovery through event logic. Decisions based on the
error are required during testing. QARun uses a simple event-driven
logic to build intelligence into test scripts. Test reliability is increased
by enabling the test script to make decisions about the flow of the automation
process.
- An event is a condition that is internal to the
computer system but external to QARun.
Automatic Synchronization
Synchronize test scripts with the application under test. A built-in synchronization
method automatically synchronizes the test script. No additional scripting
is needed. Scripts written for web applications accessed via a browser can
also utilize automatic synchronization.
TestPartner
Advantages
Validate Web Technologies
Simple or Advanced Testing
Create & Execute Visual Tests
Simple Data Driven Tests
Integrated Functional and Performance Testing
Multiple Tests for the Entire Application
Validate Web Technologies
TestPartner is founded upon the same standardized technology used to build
and support web & client/server applications, allowing you to validate
HTML, Java, DHTML and other web technologies with speed and confidence.
ActiveX
Validate any third party ActiveX control using TestPartner's VBA test automation
infrastructure. Even if your application relies on ActiveX controls made by
different vendors users can automate and test underlying properties instead
of only being able to drive the objects on a positional level.
COM Objects
Validate GUI and non-GUI components using TestPartner's extensive support
for testing component-based applications. TestPartner is the only testing
tool that enables users to test client side COM objects while they are actually
running and also allows the testing of server side COM objects through the
scripting language. This means that testing of an application can start earlier,
before the GUI has ever been created, ensuring that all aspects of a distributed
application function as expected.
Simple or Advanced Testing
Develop scripts using TestPartner's versatile, tiered approach. Testers who
do not have programming knowledge can use the TestPartner Visual Navigator
to quickly create visual-based tests and execute them. Underlying the Visual
Navigator is the full power of the Microsoft VBA language. Developers and
more technical testers can rely on the VBA architecture to create advanced
test cases. The tiered approach offers a reduced learning curve without sacrificing
rich testing functionality - a combination that make it ideal for e-commerce
testing.
Create & Execute Visual Based Tests
Record and playback tests using the Visual Navigator. Each test is displayed
in a tree-like structure, showing clearly the path taken through the application.
This visual representation of the tests allows users with little or no programming
experience to be as effective as the most technical user.
Simple Data Driven Tests
Guidance by TestPartner's automatic wizards allow you to create intelligent
tests, reducing the need to modify the high level scripts themselves. Using
TestPartner's ActiveData wizard, testers can create a single script to input
valid or non-valid data into the system and verify the results. This means
less scripts are needed to carry out a series of test conditions and less
maintenance overhead. It also eliminates the need to modify the scripts directly,
making it easier for non-technical testers to create complex tests.
Integrated Functional and Performance Testing
Save time and effort by generating performance and load testing scripts from
actual test executions. Using TestPartner with Compuware's QALoad, you can
automatically capture performance & load testing scripts, while creating
or executing functional test scripts.
Multiple Tests for the Entire Application
Gain the confidence that every part of your application has been tested. Multiple
types of tests can be executed by leveraging the DevPartner Automated Error
Detection technology with TestPartner. These tests cover problems such as
memory leaks, invalid API calls and allow you to isolate problems down to
a line of code or a reproducible case.
QADirector
Advantages
Automated Test Management
Manual Test Execution
on Personal Data Assistants (PDA)
Maximize Usage of Resources
ActiveAnalysis - Run two types of tests at the same time!
Automated Test Management
Streamline your test process with Compuware's QADirector. Test planning,
execution, analysis and defect tracking are all possible from one central
location—QADirector.
Test Planning
Avoid errors and surprises caused by constant changes to test plans and requirements.
Using QADirector with Compuware's requirements management tool , test plans can
be generated in accordance with your changing requirements. Integration between
QADirector and Compuware's requirements management tool accelerates
test planning and ensures end-user needs are met.
QADirector also provides integration with DOORS requirements management
tool from Telelogic.
Test Design
Organize large volumes of test scripts using QADirector's test suites.
Create test suites that cover an entire application, by logically grouping
testing scripts in a visual tree structure, including automated and manual
tests. Determine the application functions and the associated tests needed
to verify the application completely. MS Word-based test plans can be imported
to automatically generate test suites.
Test Execution
Overcome the time restrictions that often make thorough testing impossible,
by automating test execution. QADirector quickly and easily runs the
testing scripts and returns and stores status information when testing is
complete.
Gain testing flexibility by executing tests interactively or in scheduled
fully unattended batch sessions (daily, weekly or monthly). Focus on analyzing
test results during the business day by scheduling tests to run overnight.
QADirector provides a single framework from which a variety of development
and automated testing tools can be executed. This framework shortens the testing
process by executing multiple types of tests concurrently against an application.
Test Analysis
Quickly identify problems and assess application quality by viewing test
results from multiple tools in a single view. The results of each test run
are logged by QADirector. Compare results from multiple test runs,
for an overview of quality progress. From this summary testers can easily
identify a failure, zero in on the problem and access application quality.
Defect Reporting
QADirector provides pre-defined reporting as well as the ability to
export data to many popular reporting tools. Results from failed tests are
easily loaded into the defect reports of Compuware's defect tracking tool. The defect ID is stored
with the test procedure for easy follow-up.
Manual Test Execution on Personal Data Assistants (PDA)
Run manual tests from a PDA with QADirector. Through the HotSync operation,
manual tests are transferred from QADirector to the tester's PDA handheld.
The assigned tester uses the PDA handheld to view and execute the job. After
the job is complete, the HotSync operation to upload the results to the PC
where the tester can view the results in QADirector.
Maximize Usage of Resources
Execute tests across an application's distributed components as it is planned
for production. QADirector also executes tests on remote machines in
parallel, which helps distribute the load across the system and determine
how the software will work across different clients, servers and platforms.
Parallel test management will also allow more testing in less time.
ActiveAnalysis
Run two types of tests at the same time!
ActiveAnalysis capitalizes on key functions of development tools to provide
deeper root cause analysis in the testing process—allowing you to identify
not only when a defect occurs in an application but also where the problem
is and why. ActiveAnalysis embeds important developer details within summary
reports, such as code coverage, memory leaks and identifies performance bottlenecks.
This enables development managers with added insight required to help their
teams quickly identify and correct problems, effectively spending less time
recreating errors and more time on productive development.
Prove the effectiveness of a testing cycle.
Analyze code coverage while a test suite is executing, using QADirector
and Compuware's code coverage analysis tool.
QADirector provides a central view of the test results and code coverage
statistics, allowing users to assess software quality and reliability objectively.
Increase your ability to reproduce errors.
Locate programming errors while a test suite is executing, using QADirector
and Compuware's automatic error detection
tool. Find errors that might have gone undetected if the code was not
executed in a production-like environment. Provide development with detailed
information to begin correcting the error immediately. This speeds the problem
resolution process.
Tune your applications for maximum performance.
Optimize the performance and usability of your software using QADirector
and Compuware's performance profiling tool.
They automatically locate performance bottlenecks, then report application
and component performance data, providing you with the information needed
to deliver the fastest applications in your enterprise or on the Internet.
Reconcile
Advantages
Accelerate Software Development
Achieve Predictable Results
Leverage Existing Investments
Communicate & Implement Change Quickly
Accelerate Software Development
Changes are an integral and necessary part of the software development lifecycle.
Unfortunately, these changes can slow planning, development and testing-delaying
projects and thereby increasing time to market. Reconcile gives team leaders
the ability to rapidly assess and respond to proposed changes with informed,
up-to-date responses. The ultimate result is a more efficient delivery of
well-defined and better-scoped projects through a thorough understanding and
evaluation of requirements change.
Achieve Predictable Results
Each functional area of your team must be informed and in-sync as applications
progress through the project life cycle. Reconcile provides you with the abilities
to:
- capture and manage business, technical and testing
requirements across MS Word documents
- track the source of each requirement, including
its priority and status
- correlate open defect issues to your original requirements.
These capabilities enable you to meet business and reliability expectations
by ensuring that planning, development and testing activities mesh together
as the project advances. Change makes it difficult to avoid errors and surprises;
test plans and requirements need to be in constant agreement. Fortunately,
Reconcile's requirements plans can be used to generate and update test plans
created with Compuware's test management tool. Therefore, you can deliver
tested and reliable applications even with constantly changing requirements.
Separation of team members, due to their function or location, can also make
it difficult to ensure a successful finished product. To handle that issue,
Reconcile provides multiple reporting formats, ad hoc reporting and multiple
project support.
Leverage Existing Investments
Create and manage all types of requirements using Reconcile's intuitive MS
Word architecture. Reconcile requires minimal initial resource investment.
Full integration with popular development and testing tools minimizes learning
curves. Your team can immediately begin to implement-and benefit from-a structured
requirements management process, without the need to learn and adapt stand-alone
tools with no interoperability.
Reconcile provides a flexible and easy-to-use requirements model. Pre-defined
requirement types are available and easily modified by project or across multiple
projects. New requirements can be added and configured to meet your overall
project needs.
Reconcile was designed to share information with other tools that support
the project life cycle, eliminating the time-consuming task of documenting
similar information in multiple sources. Specifically, Reconcile features:
Integration with Compuware's defect and project tracking tool
Issues and defects identified during testing or development can be immediately
associated with the requirement that is affected, allowing team members to
assess the impact and project managers to analyze the status of the project.
Integration with Compuware's test management tool
Testing requirements generated in Reconcile can be used to automatically
generate or update an automated test suite in Compuware's test management
tool.
Communicate & Implement Change Quickly
Often project changes are not communicated to the testing group, resulting
in delivery of an inadequately tested application. Reconcile automatically
generates and maintains up-to-date test plans based on the most current project
requirements. This kind of communication gives your testing group the confidence
that the application has been tested, according to timely requirements.
Poor methods of communication can also slow testing or development of the
application. Reconcile offers a web interface to allow sharing of any Reconcile
report across the Internet or an intranet, using its own integrated reporting
and publishing tools. Integration with Compuware's project and defect tracking
system allows your team to easily share information via reports, links and
workflow notifications created with this tool.
Meeting the needs of multiple projects can provide another communication
challenge. Software components must often meet the needs of more than one
project; timely requirements information must be passed within and across
each project. Compuware's requirements management tool's information-sharing
capabilities easily meet this challenge.
TrackRecord
Advantages
Integrated defect tracking
Customizable workflows
Dynamic reporting
Automatic electronic mail notification
Customizable repository
Remote access
Integrated defect tracking
TrackRecord enables you to effectively track information about test failures
and take control of software defect identification and resolution. TrackRecord's
integration with Compuware's test management tool allows you to easily load
a software defect into the tracking system. With the press of a button, key
testing results are populated in the TrackRecord repository. Tight integration
between Compuware's error detection tools and the tracking tool yields defect
reports that enable developers to reproduce and correct issues quickly.
Dynamic Project Tracking
TrackRecord provides project managers with an up to the minute view of project
status based on live data gathered directly from the development and testing
team. Developers, testers and other project team members use TrackRecord to
organize and communicate their project deliverables. As developers implement
features, address software defects and tune their applications, TrackRecord
continuously gathers and processes project status information and correlates
it against project milestones. As testers uncover and report issues and certify
fixes, TrackRecord automatically manages the communication and workflow. Team
leads and project managers leverage TrackRecord for detailed project status
and resource utilization data to support informed decisions on assignments,
delivery dates and project risk. Using TrackRecord's milestone status reports
the project manager can now view this data alongside the tasks, features,
defects, and other project data that is related to each milestone as defined
in the initial project plan. Using TrackRecord's bi-directional integration
with Microsoft Project, it is finally possible to keep project plans and resources
up to date and resources balanced without interrupting the team with constant
progress update queries and status meetings.
Customizable workflows
TrackRecord provides a graphical workflow facility for defining and automating
the project workflows, thus providing a process for ensuring that software
deliverables and defects are appropriately routed through development, QA,
documentation and other affected groups. This automated workflow management
ensures that the software development process is repeatable and that issues
are not overlooked. Workflow rules can be established to support the flow
of tasks and information around the team. The data types and workflow features
are highly customizable so that teams can implement TrackRecord in their current
environment and support their existing processes and standards. TrackRecord
allows QA managers, project managers, testers, and developers to better communicate
and focus on resolving problems and improving application quality.
Dynamic reporting
TrackRecord's dynamic reports are always up-to-date and reflect the most
current information in the repository. When information changes in the repository,
TrackRecord automatically routes it -allowing critical defects to receive
instant attention. The dynamic queries and automatic notification promote
a seamless flow of information between testing and development. Notification
can be customized by structuring users' view of the repository according to
their specific needs. This allows testers and developers to focus on changes
relevant to them, while a manager can view the overall picture.
Automatic electronic mail notification
The TrackRecord AutoAlert module provides electronic mail notification of
reported defects and other new information added to the repository. This feature
extends the built-in notification provided by the dynamic views to include
occasional users and remote users in the flow of information.
Customizable repository
TrackRecord is a flexible tool, where virtually every product feature, from
the fields shown on a defect or task submission form, to the rules applied
to automatically populate project specific information, to the data and fields
recorded in TrackRecord, can be defined and shared or protected according
to site specific interests and processes. Further, the database, user interface,
permissions and workflow processes can all be adjusted along the life of your
project, so you can incrementally tune your installation to support your evolving
work processes.
Remote access
Testers and developers can also obtain current information and report software
defects remotely by accessing TrackRecord via an Internet browser. Anyone
with a browser and the appropriate access privileges can enter defects into
the repository, update items and view reports.
File-AID/CS
Advantages
XML support
Copy related subsets of data
Transform data
Validate the test database
Copy data from any source
Edit client/server data
Generate data when there is no source
Restore baseline database
XML Support
File-AID/CS provides data management for objects created in eXtensible Markup
Language (XML) for complex information-sharing between B2B web applications.
File-AID/CS gives users the XML edge, allowing them to use XML technology
to bridge the gap between web-based applications.
With File-AID/CS, you can verify the reliability of your B2B application
and the XML data it uses by generating XML data for test purposes and validating
the accuracy of the results. With its simple Graphical User Interface, developers
and can easily transform complex relational databases into accurate streams
of XML data.
File-AID's Compare facility discovers, displays and reports differences between
two XML files or between an XML data stream and a relational database table.
A color-coded comparison report, viewable either online or in print, identifies
the exact XML data that has been inserted, deleted or changed.
Copy related subsets of data
File-AID/CS allows developers to populate test tables with subsets of data
that accurately reflect production relationships. You can quickly define the
criteria for copying subsets and extract the precise amount of data required
to satisfy the relationships defined between the tables. You need copy only
the rows required to satisfy the selected relationships, customizing data
for specific testing requirements. You can also save, modify and reuse all
extract and load criteria, making it easy to repeat the process each time
you must restore the test database. File-AID/CS helps load a set of related
tables into Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server or DB2 UDB, regardless
of the database management system where the data originated.
Using File-AID/CS in combination with File-AID/RDX on the mainframe, you
can create test data by easily selecting synchronized subsets of DB2 data
and loading them into your target client/server databases. File-AID/CS automatically
generates the DDL and runs the necessary utilities to create the target tables,
keys and indexes. It also loads the data in the proper order to maintain the
original data relationships and dependencies.
Transform data
File-AID/CS automatically transforms data in the major client/server databases,
eliminating the need to write one-time programs. It manipulates, converts
and transforms data to create specific test cases.
You define transformation criteria for each column/field through a graphical
interface. You can use data structures as templates for identifying the columns/fields
containing the data values. For example, use table definitions, DDL or COBOL
record layouts directly as the templates. You can also define selection criteria
to age only a subset of a table/file.
Validate the test database
Once you have created your test data and run a test case of your application,
you need to be able to view and analyze the results. You can do this manually,
but scanning pages of "before" and "after" data can be
both tedious and inaccurate. File-AID/CS automates this comparison for you.
File-AID/CS gives you an efficient, accurate way to compare the differences
in Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2 UDB, Sybase, Informix and many other
32-bit ODBC-compliant databases. It can also compare ASCII text and report
files.
File-AID/CS enables you to:
- compare one or more pairs of tables or files
- compare tables in different databases
- restrict the comparison to selected rows or columns
- save the comparison report as proof of the results.
The File-AID/CS report includes rows that have been inserted, deleted or
changed. In addition, File-AID/CS can group the comparisons you have created
and run them in batch. If you want to examine specific portions of the tables
yourself, use File-AID/CS to browse them. With File-AID/CS's query facility,
you can easily select subsets of data to view. After retrieving the data,
you can further customize the display to view only the data you need and in
the order you need it. In addition, File-AID/CS can automatically find any
invalid data in UNIX files so that you don't have to search for it manually.
It can also display multiple tables simultaneously from the same or different
databases.
Copy data from any source
File-AID/CS enables you to create test data by copying a subset from an existing
database or file. File-AID/CS can convert, copy and reformat a range of data
types and formats. It can be used to copy a subset of data between two like
file or database or easily create test data.
For example, if you need to access production data stored in Oracle or DB2
UDB, File-AID/CS can subset that data based on your selection criteria then
load it into any if the other supported databases. You can also use File-AID/CS
to convert data between numerous data types and relational databases; for
example, between XMLand Oracle, or Sybase and Access.
Using a graphical interface, File-AID/CS enables you to view your source
and target data structures side by side, drag and drop data fields between
them and define any modifications or calculations required for these fields.
It also converts EBCDIC to ASCII and performs intelligent conversions of packed
fields, if necessary. You can also save these conversion criteria to restore
your data at any time.
Edit client/server data
After having copied data into your test environment using File-AID/CS, you
can further refine the data to introduce new test conditions.
Using File-AID/CS's spreadsheet interface, you can access Oracle, Sybase,
Informix, Microsoft SQL Server and DB2 UDB data from anywhere in the enterprise.
You can also access UNIX files through the same interface and use COBOL record
layouts as templates. These editing and browsing capabilities allow you to
make changes easily and accurately.
Generate data when there is no source
Sometimes there is no existing data within your enterprise to use as a starting
point for your testing needs. File-AID/CS can automatically generate test
data, based on the parameters you define for generating the columns and rows.
For example, it can generate random numbers, create strings in specific formats,
create numbers sequentially and ensure that values fall within certain limits.
This saves you the time it would take to enter the data manually.
Restore baseline database
Once you have run a test case of your application, you need to reset your
test data to its baseline values. The File-AID/CS products help automate this
process several ways: if your data has only a few changes, you can use File-AID/CS's
editing or global search/replace features to restore the test data to its
original values; if your application changed a lot of data, you may prefer
to recreate the original test tables from the master test database. The stored
conversion and load criteria make it easy to refresh the test data automatically.
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