QaTraq Software Testing Tool

This User Guide aims to help you get the most out of your installation of QaTraq Software Testing Tool and helps you take control of your software testing projects.

This particular User Guide covers functionality included in version 6 of QaTraq Software Testing Tool.

The QaTraq Software Testing Tool is based around a hierarchy which relates to the following test process:

Test Cases			A test case is the core component of the test process. A test case can be written once and then related to many test scripts, (so that you can create a number of test scripts containing the same test cases but each test script having different test result records). In addition to this every test case is related to a product and components of that product (in much the same way as a defect report is always related to a product and component). Products have requirements associated to them and you can define per case requirements to track how these requirements are met by a particular test case. So Test Cases are … based on a product based on one or more components (components make up a product) related to a product version (when the result record is created for a test case) linked to requirements
Products		Versions
Components

QaTraq Software Testing Tool is a web based application that helps you take control of your test process and test documentation. To navigate your way around QaTraq use the three step approach outlined below: There are the following main types of documents:

1. Plans - repository for test plan documents and related information (e.g. Gantt charts).
2. Design - repository for all documentation relating to test design.
3. Scripts - test outline information and a container for groups of test cases.
4. Cases - a specific test containing details such as test steps, expected outcome, etc.
5. Results - records detailing the outcome of a test.
6. Products - a product which is going to be tested (products contain one or more components).
7. Requirements - define what must be achieved by the test cases for a given product.
8. Reports - queries that produce reports showing how your testing is progressing.

For each type of document you will find that you can work with documents in the following modes:

1. View - search for and view existing documents (this is the default mode).
2. New - create a new document.
3. Modify - search for and modify an existing document.
4. Delete - search for and delete an existing document.
5. Copy - search for and copy an existing document.

Which of these modes you have access to for the particular document types depends on the privileges assigned by the administrator (see User Administration below). If you do not have privileges to view, create new, modify, delete or copy a particular document type then you will not have access to the modes on the left hand side menu.

Once you have selected the document type and the mode, you can search for a specific document. The search results provide a list from which you can then select a single document. Having selected a document you will notice a few navigation options on the side menu. Using the Next and Prev (previous) links under Navigation you can step through the list of documents that were produced from your search. Selecting List will take you back to your original search results.

When working QaTraq Software Testing Tool in View mode for any of the document types you will find that you also have a Print option on the side menu. Clicking Print opens a new browser window with just the document being viewed (i.e. no menus are visible). In this new Print browser window you can use your standard browser print functionality to print a document.

On all QaTraq Software Testing Tool pages, where there are Content areas, you will see the FCKeditor. It is a button bar with buttons for common text editing tasks like Bold, Italic, Underline, Cut, Copy, Paste, Align (left, right, center, justified), etc. This editor is very handy for making the text look better. All text in Contents areas is stored as html and if you like, you can click the Source button and apply additional html tags to the text.

In addition to this you will find three paste buttons on the FCKeditor tool bar. The first is used for the standard paste action (e.g. the same as ctrl-v). The second is for pasting any content that you only need to be displayed as plain text (e.g. all formatting is stripped). The third is the paste from Word button (e.g. pasted content which was copied from an MS Word document and retain all the formatting).

Access to document types and editing functionality for documents is determined by a combination of user records, roles and privileges. Roles are assigned privileges. Users are assigned roles thus giving them privileges. This relationship between User, Roles and Privileges is shown below: The process for creating users, roles and privileges is as follows:

1. A role is defined by creating a new role (Roles -> New)
2. Privileges are granted to a role (Roles -> Modify)
3. A new user is defined (Users -> New)
4. A user is assigned one or more roles (Users -> Modify)

Users - You can define numerous users within QaTraq Software Testing Tool. For each user you can specify a Login Name, User Name, Password, Default Role and Additional Roles.

New users can be created by any user who has New privileges (see below for details on privileges) assigned to their user account. To create a new user select Users and then New from the side menu. Complete the Log in and User Names fields along with a default password. Select a default role to provide the user with a set of initial privileges.

To change a password once a new user has been created you need to log in, select Users and then search for your login name. When viewing a user record which matches the name you logged in with, you will be given the option to change your password.

Roles - Within QaTraq Software Testing Tool a number of roles can be defined. A Role is assigned privileges that grant certain access rights within the application. Each user can be assigned one or more roles (i.e. there is a many-to-many relationship between users and roles).

Privileges - Each role is granted a set of privileges to view, create new, modify, delete or copy particular document types (like the privilege to view test plan documents). Thus a user that is assigned a role will be granted the privileges of that role. If a user is assigned two (or more) roles then that user is assigned the privileges of both of the roles.

Defining the privileges assigned to a role can be a laborious task of selecting many check boxes. For this reason if you are to create many roles it may be easier to create a template role and then copy the role. When you copy a role the privileges are copied to the new role saving you the effort of selecting many check boxes to define the privileges.

Every QaTraq Software Testing Tool document has assigned a unique Document ID. This identifier is formed as follows: Where the document type consists of three identifying letters: The document number is a unique number generated automatically and assigned to the document for its entire life. The document version is assigned automatically too but increments each time a document is modified. Thus, when you modify a document the document number remains the same and the version number changes.

For example a test plan could be identified by the identifier TPL5-1.1 (Test Plan 5, Version 1.1), and a test case might be identified by the identifier TCA5-2.0 (Test Case 5, Version 2.0).

All document types have a Content section. This section lets you enter the text or html content for a document. You can use the FCKeditor to format the text according to your liking.

Since very often the contents of new documents for a particular document type are similar (i.e. test scripts always have sections like Test Purpose, Test Procedures, Test Environment, Test Prerequisites and/or Post-Test Activities), it is convenient when creating a new document, to have these sections pre-filled. The html files with the defaults for each document type can be found in the /qatraq/defaults directory. The names of the files include the document type and are as follows: Whenever a user goes to the new page for a particular document type the Content text entry box is automatically pre-populated with the text from the appropriate default html file.

The QaTraq Software Testing Tool automatically tracks the versions of all test documentation (Test Plans, Test Cases etc). Each time a document is modified the version number is incremented. All previous versions of the document are retained.

Version numbers are based on major and minor version identifiers. For example version 1.3 has a major version of ‘1’ and a minor version of ‘3’. When a document is created or modified the user has the option to increment major, minor or major&minor version numbers. The user chooses whether to increment the major/minor numbers by selecting the appropriate option from the following list: When a document is copied the new document will have its version number re-set to the default version of 0.1 (although the user can choose to increment major or minor numbers before saving). Note that the new document does not retain the version number of the original document.

You will find that the version numbers of Test Scripts will increment every time you include or remove a test case (including and removing test cases is a concept which we'll come on to later). So whilst a Test Script will have an overall version number, the script can also contain a number of test cases which will have their own Test Case version numbers. Thus TSC5-0.7 may include Test Cases TCA1-0.1 and TCA3-0.2. The act of including one more Test Case(s) (say TCA7-0.2) in the Test Script would roll the Test Script version to 0.8 giving TSC5-0.8.

It is not possible for a user to update an old version of a document. A user is only able to update the latest version of the document and then save the document with an incremented version number. For example if versions 1.0 and 2.0 of a document exist then it is not possible to edit version 1.0 of the document. Version 2.0 of the document will be editable. If a user does want to edit a document (which is not a latest version) then he/she can copy the older version and then edit it as a new document.

Neither is it possible to delete old versions of a document. For example if you have TSC5-0.1, TSC5-0.2 and TSC5-0.3 (i.e. three versions of the same document) you cannot delete version 0.2 before you delete the latest version (version 0.3 in this case). To delete the latest version of a document select the latest version of a document in Delete mode and click the Delete ONLY This Version button. You can however delete all versions of a document in one go by clicking the Delete ALL Versions button.

QaTraq Software Testing Tool makes it possible to add attachments to Test Plans, Test Design, Test Scripts, Test Cases, Test Requirements and Test Results. When creating new, or modifying existing Plans, Designs, Scripts, Cases, Requirements or Results you can select the Add Attachment button. This opens an upload window where the user can search and select the attachment to be added. Once you have clicked the Attach File button in the upload window you will see the attachment listed in the Attachments section of the document. At this stage you can either remove the document by clicking Delete or view the document by clicking on View.

When copying Plans, Designs, Scripts, Requirements or Cases the user is presented with an addition checkbox alongside each attachment. If you want the attachment to be copied to the new document then make sure the check box is ticked. If an attachment doesn't have its check box selected then the attachment will not be copied to the newly copied document.

Attachments persist across different versions of a document. For example if you add an attachment to a Test Plan document, TPL1-0.2 you will find, when you view version 0.1 of the test plan document that the previous version of the document now has the new attachment. So, you can have "one attachment related to many versions of a document".

IMPORTANT: attachments are not actually attached to the document until the user saves the Test Plan, Test Design, Test Script, Test Case, Test Requirement or Test Result (by clicking on the Save and View button for example).

For Test Results you can add attachments when viewing results in Single view (there was never going to be enough space on the results Multiple page to provide attachments functionality). For more information on Single and Multiple results views see the Results section. Two types of attachments can saved against results:

1. Test Logs (common to this test script's results)
   Allows the user to attach files to a single test result record. However, attachments created here will be visible (and modifiable) across all the test result records for this test script. Thus a user can attach a single test log which was produced whilst running the whole test script.
2. Test Logs (specific to this test result)
   Allows the user to attach files to a single test result record. In this instance the attachment is only visible (and modifiable) within this specific test result record.

Attachments added are stored on the file system in the /qatraq/attachments directory where QaTraq is installed (they are not stored within the database). The name of the attachments on the file system are as follows: Attachments with "--" in the file name are for temporary attachments (i.e. this is an attachment that has been upload but the QaTraq document has not been saved yet by clicking the Save and View button).

WARNING: if you are only backing up using 'msqldump' then you will not be backing up your attachments. You MUST backup up your file system in order to backup the attachments stored in QaTraq!

The Test Plan provides a repository for all the testing activities and documentation relating to the planning of a testing project. A test plan record within QaTraq Software Testing Tool is split into five sections:

1. Document Title and Version info
2. Related Test Phases (Pro Version only)
3. Related Documents (Test Design, Test Script and Test Cases)
4. Attachments (which might consist of test plan documents or gantt charts)
5. Html / Text content

Document Title and Version Info - this section contains the title given to this test plan record, the creation/modification date, Version, Document ID and Author (or last person to modify the document).

Related Test Phases - within QaTraq you can specify definitions of your test phases. Each test plan can be related to zero or more test phases (i.e. you don't have to specify a test phase or your test plan could be relevant to all the test phases you have defined). This allows you to provide an indication as to which stages of testing a particular test plan covers.

Related Documents - when you create test design documents in QaTraq they must have a test plan document as a parent document. So, within each test plan document you can list the test design documents which are related to the test plan.

In addition you can select and filter the related documents to show every test script (and the number of test cases within that test script) and every test result document. You can click any of the test design, script or result titles to be taken directly to the related documents. Note that the list of design documents, test scripts and test results always shows the latest versions.

Attachments - when you create a new test plan or modify an existing test plan you can add attachments. Clicking the Add Attachment button in New or Modify mode brings up an attachments window from which you can select attachments to upload. See Attachments for more information on saving and storing attachments.

Html / Text Content - in addition to storing attachments within a test plan record you can also enter html text content (using the FCKeditor). This could take the form of notes on the attachments or even the test plan detail.

The test design records allow you to define and break up different areas of testing. Each test design can include a number of test scripts. For example you could use a test design document to group a number of test scripts which were associated with a particular aspect of a product. Thus a Test Design document might be titled 'Performance Testing' which is then associated with a number of different test scripts related to different performance aspects of a product (e.g. transaction timing, through put, etc). A test design record within QaTraq Software Testing Tool is split into five sections:

1. Document Title and Version info
2. Parent Test Plan
3. Related Documents (Test Scripts and Test Cases)
4. Attachments (which might consist of design notes)
5. Html / Text content

Document Title and Version Info - this section contains the title given to this test design record, the creation/modification date, Version, Document ID and Author (or last person to modify the document).

Parent Test Plan - when you create a new test design record it has to be related to a test plan document. Thus when you create a new test design record you have to search and select the appropriate test plan document as the parent document.

Related Documents - when you create test scripts in QaTraq they must have a test design record as a parent document. So, within each test design record you will see a list of test scripts (and the associated test cases) which are related to the test design record. You can click any of the test script or test case titles to be taken directly to the test script or test case record. Note that the list of script records will always show the latest version of the test script document.

Within the Related Documents section you are provided with a number of drop down boxes which allow you to filter the related documents (i.e. test scripts and test cases). The following filter criteria can be specified: Attachments - when you create a new test design record or modify an existing test design record you can add attachments. Clicking the Add Attachment button in New or Modify mode brings up an Attachments window from which you can select attachments to upload. See Attachments for more information on saving and storing attachments.

Html / Text Content - in addition to storing attachments within a test design record you can also enter plain text content. This could take the form of notes on the attachments or even the test design detail (although this will be somewhat restrictive in terms of formatting).

Within QaTraq Software Testing Tool a product is seen as an application or system that is the focus of the testing process. Every test case can be written to test a single product. As such when you create a new test case you have to specify the product to which it applies. In addition to this every product is made up of numerous components. So when you define a test case you specify not only the product to which it applies but also the components within that product that it covers. Specifying the products/components can provide you with a rough idea of test coverage (for example we have run 2 test cases for component 'x' but no test cases for component 'y').

In addition to the components every product can also have a number of versions. Versions could also be considered as a build identifier depending on how you are running your test project. For example if, perhaps, you are running a system test project you may always refer to the product under test a specific version under test. However, if perhaps you are testing products delivered directly from your development team (i.e. you are testing a product before it is released to the outside world) you may prefer to define your different product versions in terms of software builds (in which case you would use the version identifier to record build specific identifiers).

Versions only apply to products (versions do not apply to components within a product). With versions specified, when you enter test case results you can specify which version of the product the test result applies to. Thus the product version is only applicable to the test case result (and not individual test cases). When defining versions you should also specify the date that a version (or build) was created. Specifying the date the version was created helps order test reports chronologically - i.e. based on version identifiers (e.g. you would want to see results for 'Version 1' at the beginning of a report, followed by 'Version 2' and results for 'Version 10' at the end of a report... without the date being specified the version identifier would end up ordering 'Version 10' before 'Version 2').

To add components or versions to a product select Modify on the Products side menu and then search for the product. All products listed will contain the option to modify the product (name and description), modify the components or modify the versions. When you select a component or version for a product you will be able to create new, modify, delete and view product components and versions.

The new Requirements feature, introduced in version 6_7_rc of QaTraq Software Testing Tool, enables users to track test cases against requirements. The functionality of the Requirements feature is very similar to the Product/Components functionality.

Requirements are associated to a product. So there can be zero or more requirements associated to one product. Each, requirement is then bound to a different test cases for the purpose of tracking test results against requirements tested.

When a new requirement is created or modified, QaTraq automatically assigns it the REQ document type, stamps the date and time of creation and the user who created/modified it. Requirements can be hyperlinked to an external document, provided that the URL of the document conforms with the URL format.

Requirements also have a Content section, where users can define the text of the requirement. If necessary, one or more attachments can be added and saved with the requirement.

How tests perform against the requirements, can be seen by the two reports - Pro Requ Coverage Sum and Pro Requ Coverage vs Bugs, which are included in the Professional version of QaTraq Software Testing Tool.

A Test Script is a document which describes in detail how a test is to be conducted. A test script will contain information outlining the test, defines the pre-requisites and contains a number of test cases. The user will enter the outline and pre-requisite text and then link the test script to a number of test cases that need to be contained within the test script.

Test scripts really brings together all the key aspects of the QaTraq Software Testing Tool application. Every test script has a parent test design record and each test script record contains its core content similar to other document types. The core contents of a test script record within QaTraq are split into six sections:

1. Document Title and Version info
2. Parent Test Design
3. Intended Tester
4. Intended Platform
5. Intended OS
6. Product and Product Version
7. Attachments
8. Html / Text content
9. Test Cases

Document Title and Version Info - this section contains the title given to this test script record, the creation/modification date, Version, Document ID and Author (or last person to modify the document).

Parent Test Design - when you create a new test script record it has to be related to a test design record. Thus when you create a new test script record you have to search for and select the appropriate test design document as the parent document.

Intended Tester - this field lets you specify who you expect to run the tests specified in this test script. Each time you add a test case to a test script, the associated test result record that is created has the intended tester value used as the default value for the individual test result record (this value can be changed in the test result record. See Test Results).

Intended Platform - this field lets you specify which platform you expect to run the tests specified in this test script on. Each time you add a test case to a test script, the associated test result record that is created has the intended platform value used as the default value for the individual test result record (this value can be changed in the test result record. See Test Results).

Intended OS - this field lets you specify which Operating System you expect to run the tests specified in this test script on. Each time you add a test case to a test script, the associated test result record that is created has the intended OS value used as the default value for the individual test result record (this value can be changed in the test result record. See Test Results).

Product and Product Version - the aim of each test script is to test a certain area of functionality against a particular product and a particular version of that product. These fields let you specify the product which is under test and the version of that product that you intend to test.

Although every test script is based around a single product and a single product version it is possible to include test cases which are for different products. It is also possible to record test case results for a product version, other than the main version which is, specified in the test script (thus allowing you to continue with a test script even if you have to start testing a different version of the product half way through completion of the test script).

Attachments - when you create a new test script record or modify an existing test script record you can add attachments. Clicking the Add Attachment button in New or Modify mode brings up an attachments window from which you can select attachments to upload. See Attachments for more information on saving and storing attachments.

Html / Text Content - the plain text content section of the test script is the section that should contain the details about how to execute the test script. It is likely to contain sections like Pre-requisites and Test Setup details.

Test Cases - once you have created a test script you can associate zero or more test cases with the test script by 'including' them in the test script. Once test cases have been included they are listed below the other test script details. See Including and Removing Test Cases for more details about including and removing test cases in a test script.

When modifying test scripts you can change the versions, severity and priority of each individual test case included in the script (see Including and Removing Test Cases for more details about including and removing test cases in a test script), the intended platform and OS, as well as the tester who is assigned to this script.

For each included test case a drop down box is available which will allow you to select different versions of the test case. So for example if the first version of a test case (e.g. TCA12-0.1) has been modified and updated to version TCA12-0.2 then you will find a drop down box in the modify test script page which allows you to select either TCA12-0.1 and TCA12-0.2. Thus you can update the test script to include the latest versions of any test cases which have been modified. Test cases are marked with 'Newer version available!' if an old version of a test case is currently included in a test script.

Note that it is not possible to include the same version of the same test case twice. You can include different versions of the same test case but not the same version. So, you will find, if you attempt to change the version of a test case to a version that's already included in the test script that you won't find the already included version in the drop down list. For example if you have TCA11-0.5 and TCA11-0.1 in the same test script you will not be able to change the version of TCA11-0.1 to TCA11-0.5 as it is already included in the test scripts (you could change TCA11-0.1 to TCA11-0.4 as this version is not included in the test script).

Another field that can be changed is Intended Tester. Even with careful planning, it might happen that you suddenly need to add new testers to the project, so the options Assign Only New and Assign All give you additional flexibility to assign all new cases or all cases, respectively, to a different tester. However, if you decide to assign all tests to a new intended tester, this will include tests that are already completed. So, if you wish to change only some of the assignments, use the Results Modify page.

When you modify a test script you can also change the Priority and Order values of each test case included in the script. As of the Stage 6 release of QaTraq Software Testing Tool the old Priority and Severity terms were changed to Priority and Order. You can change all Priority values for all test cases to one Priority value by using the "Change All Test Case Priorities" box. Order values for each test case have to be changed individually. So, Changes to Order and Priority take effect only after you click one of the Save buttons.

QaTraq Software Testing Tool gives you the capability to run the same test script on multiple versions of the same product or even completely different products by copying your already existing tests. As you get new builds and you need to run a set of tests on each version just copy the test script. When you copy the test script, first select which Test Design document the new script is related to and then alter the product, version and intended tester as required.

When you copy a test script you also copy the test cases that are included in that test script (see Including and Removing Test Cases for more details about including and removing test cases in a test script). This means that you also create a new set of test results that are associated with the test script and the test cases. When the new test results are created to go with the newly copied test script you have two options; you can copy the results from the original test script or you can reset the results records.

Copy the results
All the results are copied from the original test scripts results. This means that if you have a Fail result against a test case in the original test script you will have a Fail result against the test case in the new test script. In fact when you copy a test script the following fields are also copied from the associated results; Product Version, Tester, Result, Comments and Defects.

This ability to copy test results can come in handy. Consider the scenario where you might be branching a piece of software under test. You have already completed some tests prior to the branch but now you need to finish the outstanding tests on both branches. When you copy the test script and 'copy the results' you are provided with two partially completed test scripts; one for each branch.

Reset the results records
In some situations though it is necessary to reset the Product Version, Tester, Results, Comments and Defects in the results records of the new test script. When you copy a test script and select the Reset Results Records box the results in the new test script are reset as follows:

A Test Case is a specific test intended to verify one particular aspect of a Product/ Component under test. A test case will contain information entered by the user which covers objectives and requirements for the test, input values and predicted outcomes. Each test case will be related to a single product but will also be related to one or more components of that product.

Test cases form the core of the QaTraq Software Testing Tool application. Every test case can be included in multiple test scripts. Each time a test case is included in a test script a test result record is created ready for the test outcome to be recorded. A test case record within QaTraq is split into four sections:

1. Test Case Title and Version info
2. Products, Components and Requirements
3. Attachments
4. Html / Text content

Document Title and Version Info - this section contains the title given to this test case record, the creation/modification date, Version, Document ID and Author (or last person to modify the document).

Products, Components and Requirements - every test case is related to a single product and zero (or more) components within that product (see Products and Components above). In addition, if there are special requirements for this product they can be assigned to a given test case (see Requirements above).

Attachments - when you create a new test case record or modify an existing test case record you can add attachments. Clicking the Add Attachment button in New or Modify mode brings up an Attachments window from which you can select attachments to upload. See Attachments for more information on saving and storing attachments.

Html / Text Content - The Html and text content section of the test case is the section that should contain the details about how to execute the step. It is likely to contain sections like Test Steps and Expected Results.

When viewing a particular test case you will see that you can search for Test Scripts that contain the test case you are viewing. The fields used when searching for Test Scripts containing the test case are used as follows:

When you modify a test case within QaTraq Software Testing Tool a new test case is created as a completely new entity (for example if you modify TCA5-0.2 you actually create a new test case TCA5-0.3). This new version of the test case will not, by default, be included in existing test scripts (in the above example TCA5-0.3 is the new version of the test case but any test scripts containing TCA5 will still contains the old version of the test case TCA5-0.2).

This happens because you need to maintain the validity of the test results. For example, if you have already recorded a pass result against version 0.2 of a test case (TCA5-0.2) you don’t want to modify the test case and find that the original pass result is now associated with version 0.3 of the test case (TCA5-0.3), because version 0.3 of the test case could be completely different from version 0.2 of the test case.

However, in some circumstances, where say you haven’t yet run the test case (and the associated result is still Outstanding) you may actually want to change the version of a test case included in a test script. So every time a test case is modified, and the version incremented, a check is made to see if the old version is included in an existing test script and if it is the user can select which test scripts need updating.

On the Modify Test Case page you will find a section to 'Search for Test Scripts that contain the current Test Case'. This section allows you to search for a test script containing the current test case and update them automatically: When you click the FILTER button any test scripts already listed which have the Update Script check box checked will remain listed (even if they don't match the new filter criteria). Having searched and filtered the tests script containing the test case just check the boxes for the test scripts that you want to update to the new version of the test case. When you click the Save and View button for the test case the test scripts selected will all be updated. Note that the results specified in the selected test scripts will be carried forward to the new version of the case in the script.

Every test script can contain many test cases. Once you have created a test script you select Include to associate test cases within that test script. The new Quick Script functionality in QaTraq Software Testing Tool lets you search for test cases to include and create new cases which are immediately included. So you have two options when adding test cases to your test script:

Including New Test Cases: selecting the Display New Test Case check box provides you with a Test Case entry form. You can create a completely new test case and immediately include it in the test script by clicking the Save & Include Test Case button.

Including Existing Test Cases: specifying search criteria for test cases gives you a list of existing test cases. These existing test cases can be included in the test script by clicking the Include check box on the test case and then clicking the Save & Include button.

A test script will be based around testing one product (as listed in the test script details) it is possible to include test cases which are for different products. The ability to include test cases for other products could for instance allow the creation to integration tests between two products. Or you could create a pseudo product (say for Usability) and then include these test cases across many different product test scripts (thus having common usability test cases across multiple products).

Note that each time you include or remove test cases the minor version of the test script is incremented. For example if you are including 2 test cases in test script TSC1-0.2 (version 0.2) then the version will be incremented to 0.3 once you have completed the include. In this way you can go back to previous version of a test script and see exactly which test cases were included and the test result for a test case before it was removed.

When including test case you will notice that you have a number of options / radio buttons which modify the test case results you obtain. Including New Test Cases
To create new test cases and include them immediately in a test script it's important to make sure that you have privileges to create new test cases (see User Administration for more information on privileges). Assuming you have privileges then you need to check the Display New Test Case check box and click the Search button. This will present you with the New Test Case box.

You will notice that the new test case will be assigned to the product that was specified in the search criteria. If you need to change the product this test case is related to then just change the product in the Product drop down box. To complete the test case and include it in this test script select the relevant Components, enter the title and content. If you need to add attachments to the test case then do so. Once you are happy with the test case click the Save & Include Test Case button. The new test case will be included in the script.

One point to note here is that the new test case will only show up if the search criteria specified match that content of the new test case. For example if you have a specific Test Case ID defined in the search criteria when you select Save & Include Test Case, then only Test Cases which match that ID will be displayed (this doesn't mean that your new test cases hasn't been included... it will be included it just doesn't match the search criteria specified).

Including Existing Test Cases
If you need to include Test Cases which have already been written then you need to search for them and select them for inclusion in your Test Script. By specifying any of the following criteria you can find specific test cases which you need to include: Having completed a search for test cases you can include the test cases in a test script by selecting the Include box in one or more test cases and then clicking the Include button at the bottom of the page. Alternatively you can just click the Select All button to select every test case listed for inclusion. Before clicking the Include button though you can specify the priority and order for each test case you are included.

Order - is used to order the test cases included in a test script. If you specify an order of 0 then this is deemed to be the first test case to be listed in the test script (and the test results). It is valid to specify the same order value for many test cases (E.g. if several test cases have an Order value of 0 then they will be the first test cases in the script) You have no control over the order of test cases which have the same order value. Alternatively you can give every test case a different Order value and guarantee that the order will be as you specify. If you don't specify an Order value for a test case then it is given the Order value of '0'.

Priority - can be used to indicate how important a test case is. Priority values are specified in terms of P1, P2, P3, P4 or P5 (P1 being the highest priority). Thus you can identify which test cases a test team needs to concentrate on and complete first. You could also use the priority to indicate to the tester the importance of this test case should the test case fail (i.e. if it’s a high priority test case and the test case result is a fail then the priority of the bug raised should probably be high).

Removing Test Cases
Removing test cases is slightly straighter forward than including them. Once you have searched for and selected the appropriate test script you select the check boxes of the test cases you wish to remove. Once you click the Remove button at the bottom of the page the test cases will be removed from the test script. Note also that once a test case has been removed the test result record for that test script / test case combination will also be removed.

On QaTraq Software Testing Tool for every test case that is included in a test script a test result record is created for that test script / test case combination. Thus, every included test case will have a test result (e.g. pass, fail, etc). Let's take a look at some examples to see exactly how this principle works.



There are three things to note from the above:

1. A test result record is only created when a test case is included in a test script (e.g. test case TCA5-0.1 which is included in test script TSC1-0.1 has a specific test result).
2. The same test case can be included in different test scripts (e.g. TCA1-0.1 which is included in both TSC1 and TSC2). Each test case in this instance will have a unique test result record.
3. If a test case is not included in a test script then there will be no associated test result (EEG TCA7-0.1).

Thus every test script has an associated set of test results. You will find that the document ID for a test script's set of results, matches that of the associated test script record. You will also find that each time a test script is changed, and the test script version incremented, the associated test result record will have its test result version incremented so that it matches the test script version. For example: So in effect every time you search for a test result document you are searching for the equivalent test script document. For example if you need the test results for test script TSC2-0.1 then you would be searching for test result document TRS2-0.1. The test result documents are always created from the associated test script and test cases records. It is for this reason that you only ever have privileges to view or modify test results (you cannot create new, delete or copy test results; when you create new, delete or copy test scripts the associated test result records are created, deleted or copied).

Viewing and Modifying Test Results does however, differ from other document types in one significant way. You can view test results in two different ways; Single view or Multiple view. When you search for test result records you will be presented with the option to view a test scripts results as follows: Regardless of whether you display results in single or multiple views, each result record contains the following information:

1. Result Category - the result of the test (i.e. pass, fail, etc).
2. Date - the date the test was completed. Clicking the 'T' button ('T' stands for Today) will insert today's date in the date field.
3. Tester - the tester that entered the result (the default value is taken from the intended tester field in the test script).
4. Product Version - the actual version of the product that was tested (the default value is taken from the product version field in the test script).
5. OS - the operating system that the test was completed on. *
6. Platform - the hardware platform that the test was completed on. *
7. Attachments - attachments (or test logs) related to the set of results or individual results (see Attachments section).
8. Comments - comments relating to the particular test.
9. Defects - defect details relating to the test (see Defects below).

* - You will notice that you can only modify the Os, Platform or attachment fields for a specific test result on the Single view page. When entering results on the Multiple view page default values are entered for these fields. In fact when entering results in Multiple mode you will find that OS and Platform parameters will default to the Intended OS and Intended Platform values specified in the test script.

An important point to note is that a user can only modify or update a test result record if the user logged in matches the user name in the tester field. If these do not match then you will not be able to modify the result record. So, if you need to modify the result record then the user needs to change the Tester field so that it matches the user that he/she is logged in as. This is necessary to avoid different users modifying the same result record at the same time.

If, for any reason, you need to change the results for all test cases from one value (for instance the default one Outstanding) to a different one (for instance Acceptable), you can do it in one step. Select the existing result category and select the desired value(s) in the New Result list box and click the Change Results button. Note that you can only modify test result records which are assigned to you. Use Change Tester to change the assignment if you need to.

You will also find the Change Tester function on the Results Multiple page. From the Results Modify multiple page you can change many tester values in one go. From here you select the Existing tester that you wish to change, the result category and the new tester you wish to change the value to. Changing the assigned tester requires that you have Scripts: Modify privilege. So let's say for example you come to a test script which has been half run. All the test results are assigned to 'Mr. Smith'. Mr. Smith has entered pass results against half of the results but the other half are still assigned to him but are 'Outstanding'. If you wanted to complete these test you would select 'Mr. Smith' as the existing tester, current result as 'Outstanding' and new tester as yourself. When you click the Change Tester button all the Outstanding test case would now be assigned to you so that you can complete the test script.

QaTraq Software Testing Tool is designed to work alongside web based defect tracking tools (such as bugzilla). Any test result record can be associated with multiple defects (e.g. if a test case fails then one or two defects can be listed against the test case result).

When modifying a test result record in multiple view clicking the [d]efect button for a test result entry will present you with a defect entry window. When modifying a test result record in single view clicking [edit] in the defects box will present you with a defect entry window.

Entering defects in the defect entry window allows you to enter a title and a URL for the defect. The URL is not required but if it is entered then the defect title will be present as a URL link to the defect record in a defect tracking application (such as bugzilla). Having entered the title and the URL you can click the Add button to confirm the defect entry. Multiple defect records can be logged against a single test case result. Clicking the Delete button for an existing defect record will remove the defect record from this particular test case result.

If the majority of your references to defects start with a common URL (e.g. http://localhost/bugs/) then you might want to consider specifying this URL in the BUGDATABASE_URL_BASE value in the QaTraq db_params.php file found in the qatraq/lib/ directory. With a BUGDATABASE_URL_BASE value specified each time you come to enter a URL reference to a bug you will find most of the URL pre-completed. For users running with a Bugzilla installation we recommend modifying the BUGDATABASE_URL_BASE line in db_params.php to something like the following (this way you only have to type in the bug number when entering references in QaTraq to bugs): You can also make use of a feature to enter bugs into the bugbase directly from the QaTraq defect entry page. You will need to add the following line to db_params.php: This feature allows you to open a new browser window when entering defects directly for your defect tracking tool. QaTraq only records the fact that there is a defect and provides a URL link to further defect details in a defect tracking application. QaTraq will not record into the bugbase the details about the defect.

The Query functionality in QaTraq Software Testing Tool allows the user to write, store and run pure SQL statements (requiring knowledge of SQL and QaTraq database structure). The Report functionality on the other hand provides users with pre-defined forms which run Sql queries behind the scenes (thus Reports require no knowledge of Sql).

The reporting functionality lends itself to the addition of new reports as and when new report include files are created by QaTraq developers and users.

Reports and Queries both work within the existing view/modify/new/delete/copy document structure. However, only when you view a report or query are the associated SQL statements executed and the results displayed. Note that the SQL queries only work with SELECT statements (it is not possible to execute queries which modify the database).

Users can create and modify their own queries and reports but are not be able to delete or modify other users' queries/reports. Thus the following restrictions are placed on reports and queries:

1. Users can only modify their own reports/queries (i.e. if a report/query was created by user ‘xxx’ then user ‘xxx’ must be the logged in user if he wants to modify a report/query).
2. Users can only delete their own reports/query (i.e. if a report/query was created by user ‘xxx’ then user ‘yyy’ cannot delete the report/query).
3. Users can copy or view all other users reports/query (i.e. user ‘yyy’ can copy a report/query created by user ‘xxx’).

Note also that no version control is applied to reports and queries. Each time a report or query is modified it will be saved with the same ID. Thus report and query Ids conform to the format ‘RPTxx’ or 'QRYxx' (i.e.. RPT3 or QRY4).