Forum Discussion

AndreaCoulson's avatar
AndreaCoulson
New Contributor
2 years ago

using a CSV file as data input

Hi - I'm new to Zephyr, and I'm a business analyst - no testers yet on this project - so bear with me!

 

We have an application (timesheet / payroll) that requires manual testing, but we have over 900 test cases, and each of these will have at least 10 tests with different data sets.

The tests will be repeated multiple times.

We want to create a csv with the data, so it can populate the test case, and record the expected result, so it can be matched at the end of the tests.  (The application produces a file of transactions at the end of the process, so we want to match the expected result with that produced). 

 

It will be easier to put the test data in a CSV file and import somehow into Zephyr, than to input directly into the test case.

Is this possible? 

What do we need to do and what do we need to consider?

I'm assuming we need to use TestComplete for this? or is there another way?

thanks!

 

 

  • MisterB's avatar
    MisterB
    Champion Level 3
    2 years ago

    Hi Andrea,

     

    Welcome to the community!  I'll try to help with your questions.

     

    Importing test cases into Scale is possible and is my preferred way to build test cases.  For information on how to import data into Scale, check out this help page, which also includes a sample CSV file and guidance on mandatory fields: Import Test Cases From CSV | Zephyr Scale Server/Data Center Documentation (smartbear.com)

     

    Things to consider:

     

    • The import function can only create new test cases and cannot update existing test cases, so you need to consider what you need up front, and if you need any custom fields, add those into your import template.

     

    • While it's not possible to update test cases using the import function, it is possible to update test cases in bulk, but that function has its limitations - it's good for updating summary information you would find in the Test Cases>Details page.  If you need to add a new test step to multiple test cases you're either going to have to manually update them (not great), use the API to do that by script, or delete those test cases and re-import the corrected data.  That last option, note that it works fine while the tests have not been executed, but after they've been executed, deleting test cases = deleting the associated test execution results.  So, to summarise, it's really important to get all the details right at the beginning of the import 🙂

     

    Regarding datasets, you could approach this in a few ways: either reference the dataset as a name, or add the dataset contents into Scale.  I've not used this feature so can't offer much more advice, but it does look like it could be a maintenance headache and I would have a think about how you would manage assigning and changing datasets - is it easier to have less test cases, but change datasets, or, have more tests cases (i.e. clone test cases) and fix their datasets, e.g. 1 test case with 5 datasets = 5 test cases each with their own fixed dataset.  More information can be found at this link: Customizing Environments, Labels and Datasets | Zephyr Scale Cloud Documentation (smartbear.com)

     

    One other comment you mentioned "The tests will be repeated multiple times" - this can be managed in Scale by the testers clicking on the "Start a new test execution" link in the top left-hand corner of the test script.  When clicked it creates a new test execution and the tester can immediately re-run the test.

     

    I've not used TestComplete for any testing management or test execution so can't comment.

     

    Regards, Andy