Software Test Automation

Effective Use of Test Execution Tools

By: Dorothy Graham, Mark Fewster

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Paperback | 1 August 1999 | Edition Number 1

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592 Pages

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23.3 x 15.8 x 3.2

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How to structure and build an automated testing regime that will give lasting benefits.

Software testing is vitally important in the software development process, as illustrated by the growing market for automated testing tools. However, many attempts to automate software testing are not successful.

At first glance, it seems easy to automate testing: just buy one of the popular test execution tools, record the manual tests, and play them back whenever you want to. Unfortunately, as those who tried it have discovered, it doesn't work like that in practice. Just as there is more to software design than knowing a programming language, there is more to automating testing than knowing a testing tool.

"This first comprehensive treatment of software test automation provides the equivalent of 2 or 3 years of on the job experience."
"-- James Bach, Test Design Consultant"
"The most authoritative book on this subject - a 'must read' for every software testing professional."
"--Jeffrey M.,Voas, Chief Scientist, Reliable Software Technologies"
"This book will teach you how to make automated testing tools useful." "
-- From the Foreword, by Brian Marick "

Features:
• A detailed introduction to the principles of automated testing
• Advice on choosing and implementing software testing tools
• Explanation of why capture replay is not test automation
• Practical techniques for designing a good automated testing regime
• Detailed methods for increasing automation maturity
• Example-based illustration of ideas in practice
• Practical solutions to frequently encountered problems in testautomation
• Case studies of test automation experience in a variety of organizations (including Microsoft)
• Advice from test automation experts and practitioners world-wide
• Instruction on how to m

Industry Reviews

"This is the first comprehensive treatment of software test automation issues, strategies and tactics ever published. It provides the equivalent of two or three years of on the job experience. Every important aspect of test automation is covered, with enough information to help the reader approach the subject with the right balance of caution and confidence. I'm delighted with what Fewster & Graham have done."

--James Bach, Test Design Consultant

"The most authoritative book available on this subject, a must read for every software testing professional!"

--Jeffrey M. Voas, Chief Scientist, Reliable Software Technologies, VA

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Computing & I.T.Computer Science Computer Programming & Software Development Software Engineering

Foreword	p. xii
Preface	p. xiii
Techniques for Automating Test Execution
Test automation context	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
Testing and test automation are different	p. 4
The V-model	p. 6
Tool support for life-cycle testing	p. 7
The promise of test automation	p. 9
Common problems of test automation	p. 10
Test activities	p. 13
Automate test design?	p. 17
The limitations of automating software testing	p. 22
Summary	p. 25
Capture replay is not test automation	p. 26
An example application: Scribble	p. 26
The manual test process: what is to be automated?	p. 34
Automating test execution: inputs	p. 42
Automating test result comparison	p. 48
The next steps in evolving test automation	p. 56
Conclusion: automated is not automatic	p. 62
Summary	p. 63
Scripting techniques	p. 65
Introduction	p. 65
Scripting techniques	p. 75
Script pre-processing	p. 92
Summary	p. 97
Automated comparison	p. 101
Verification, comparison, and automation	p. 101
What do comparators do?	p. 105
Dynamic comparison	p. 107
Post-execution comparison	p. 108
Simple comparison	p. 114
Complex comparison	p. 115
Test sensitivity	p. 119
Comparing different types of outcome	p. 122
Comparison filters	p. 130
Comparison guidelines	p. 140
Summary	p. 142
Testware architecture	p. 143
What is testware architecture?	p. 143
Key issues to be resolved	p. 144
An approach	p. 149
Might this be overkill?	p. 174
Summary	p. 174
Automating pre- and post-processing	p. 176
What are pre- and post-processing?	p. 176
Pre- and post-processing	p. 179
What should happen after test case execution?	p. 183
Implementation issues	p. 184
Summary	p. 190
Building maintainable tests	p. 191
Problems in maintaining automated tests	p. 191
Attributes of test maintenance	p. 192
The conspiracy	p. 199
Strategy and tactics	p. 200
Summary	p. 202
Metrics	p. 203
Why measure testing and test automation?	p. 203
What can we measure?	p. 207
Objectives for testing and test automation	p. 209
Attributes of software testing	p. 211
Attributes of test automation	p. 219
Which is the best test automation regime?	p. 225
Should I really measure all these?	p. 226
Summary	p. 227
Other issues	p. 229
Which tests should be automated (first)?	p. 229
Selecting which tests to run when	p. 232
Order of test execution	p. 234
Test status	p. 236
Designing software for (automated) testability	p. 243
Synchronization	p. 243
Monitoring progress of automated tests	p. 244
Tailoring your own regime around your tools	p. 246
Summary	p. 247
Choosing a tool to automate testing	p. 248
Introduction to Chapters 10 and 11	p. 248
Where to start in selecting tools: your requirements, not the tool market	p. 249
The tool selection project	p. 250
The tool selection team	p. 250
Identifying your requirements	p. 252
Identifying your constraints	p. 260
Build or buy?	p. 267
Identifying what is available on the market	p. 268
Evaluating the shortlisted candidate tools	p. 271
Making the decision	p. 279
Summary	p. 280
Implementing tools within the organization	p. 282
What could go wrong?	p. 282
Importance of managing the implementation process	p. 283
Roles in the implementation/change process	p. 285
Management commitment	p. 287
Preparation	p. 288
Pilot project	p. 290
Planned phased installation or roll-out	p. 293
Special problems in implementing testing tools	p. 294
People issues	p. 296
Conclusion	p. 299
Summary	p. 300
Test Automation Case Studies and Guest Chapters
Introduction: case studies and guest chapters	p. 302
Racal-Redac case history	p. 307
Introduction	p. 307
Background	p. 307
Solutions	p. 309
Integration test automation	p. 310
System test automation	p. 311
The results achieved	p. 315
Summary of the case history up to 1991	p. 319
What happened next?	p. 320
The evolution of an automated software test system	p. 326
Introduction	p. 326
Background	p. 326
Gremlin 1	p. 327
Gremlin 2.0: a step beyond capture replay	p. 330
Finding the real problem	p. 332
Lessons learned	p. 336
Summary	p. 341
Experiences with test automation	p. 342
Background	p. 342
Planning, preparation, and eventual success	p. 343
Benefits of test automation	p. 346
Lessons learned	p. 347
The way forward	p. 349
Summary	p. 349
Automating system testing in a VMS environment	p. 351
Background	p. 351
The first attempt at automation	p. 352
New tool selection and evaluation	p. 354
Implementation of V-Test	p. 356
Conclusion	p. 365
Automated testing of an electronic stock exchange	p. 368
Background	p. 368
The system and testing	p. 369
Test automation requirements	p. 371
Test tool selection	p. 372
Implementation	p. 375
Maturity and maintenance	p. 376
Our results	p. 377
Insurance quotation systems tested automatically every month	p. 379
Background: the UK insurance industry	p. 379
The brief, or how I became involved	p. 380
Why automation?	p. 381
Our testing strategy	p. 382
Selecting a test automation tool	p. 383
Some decisions about our test automation plans	p. 384
The test plan	p. 386
Some additional issues we encountered	p. 388
A telling tale: tester versus automator	p. 388
Summary	p. 389
Three generations of test automation at ISS	p. 391
Introduction	p. 391
The software under test	p. 391
First generation	p. 392
Second generation	p. 395
Third generation	p. 400
Three generations: a summary	p. 406
Test automation failures: lessons to be learned	p. 410
Introduction	p. 410
The projects	p. 410
Problems	p. 412
Recommendations	p. 415
Pilot project	p. 417
Epilogue	p. 417
An unexpected application of test automation	p. 418
Introduction and background	p. 418
Helping the bank make its product selection	p. 420
Doing the testing	p. 424
Automated testing	p. 426
The results	p. 428
Implementing test automation in an Independent Test Unit	p. 431
Introduction and background	p. 431
The evaluation process	p. 432
The implementation phase	p. 434
The deployment of the tool	p. 435
How QARun has been used	p. 437
Problems we have experienced	p. 442
The benefits achieved in two years	p. 444
Conclusion	p. 445
Testing with Action Words	p. 446
Introduction	p. 446
Test clusters	p. 450
The navigation	p. 454
The test development life cycle	p. 457
Applicability for other types of tests	p. 461
Templates: meta-clusters	p. 462
Summary	p. 464
Regression testing at ABN AMRO Bank Development International	p. 465
Background	p. 465
Problems with conventional testing	p. 467
Pilot project using TestFrame	p. 469
Regression test project	p. 470
Spin-offs	p. 472
Future	p. 473
Summary	p. 473
Business Object Scenarios: a fifth-generation approach to automated testing	p. 474
Introduction	p. 474
The five generations of testware development	p. 474
RadSTAR	p. 476
Window-centric Scenario Libraries	p. 477
Business Object Scenarios	p. 477
Mixing Business Object Scenarios with existing tests	p. 479
Reuse versus repeatability	p. 479
Conclusion	p. 480
A test automation journey	p. 482
Introduction	p. 482
First steps	p. 482
An off-the-shelf automated test foundation: RadSTAR	p. 486
How we have implemented automated testing using RadSTAR	p. 487
Payback	p. 491
Extracts from The Automated Testing Handbook	p. 493
Introduction to this chapter	p. 493
Introduction to the Handbook	p. 493
Fundamentals of test automation	p. 500
Test process and people	p. 504
Test execution: analyzing results	p. 506
Test metrics	p. 508
More information about the Handbook	p. 514
Building maintainable GUI tests	p. 517
Introduction and background	p. 517
Cost drivers	p. 519
Test planning and design	p. 522
Well-behaved test cases	p. 527
Encapsulated test set-up	p. 528
Putting it all together	p. 534
Summary	p. 535
Test automation experience at Microsoft	p. 537
History	p. 537
Batch files	p. 541
Capture/playback tools	p. 542
Scripting language	p. 543
Cosmetic dialog box testing	p. 544
Help testing tool	p. 546
Tools to randomize test execution	p. 547
What should I automate first?	p. 549
My top ten list for a successful test automation strategy	p. 551
Appendix	p. 553
References	p. 555
Glossary	p. 557
Index	p. 563
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Software Test Automation

Effective Use of Test Execution Tools

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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