Built-in tool for pairwise testing

Hi Kresten,





Pairwise testing is a rather general approach. Could you please describe the specific feature(s) you're interested in, so I can try to help you?

Hi Allen,



I have some general ideas that might be of use to you, just suggestions that may improve TestComplete.



As I wrote in my previous post I test an application with several windows/panels. Each panel contains several control components which in turn contain several values. We wanted to create a 'smoke' type test that will go through all control components and select all possible combinations. This test is only to catch 'list index' type errors or application crashes.



Such a test would contain far too many data sets to be runnable. Pair wise testing is one method to reduce the data set. As far as I can tell we need 4 parts to pair wise testing; the parameters, the values, the algorithm and the resulting data set. The first two (parameters and their values) come from the application you are testing (real strength of TestComplete), the third (algorithm) is somewhat fixed. Lastly the data set would be a type of data driven test.



Here is how I see a possible implementation in TestComplete;

Open the tool. It would include the "object spy target" to select the first parameter/control object. If possible TestComplete displays each of the possible values for that parameter. This would be possible with combo boxes and radio buttons but near impossible with text boxes.

The user would then point to the second parameter and again possible values would be collected automatically or entered manually.



When done the tool would, using the alogrithm, generate a data set with all the combinations needed to cover all pairs of parameters. If this could then auto-generate script code and a CSV/XML/XLS file you would be able to quickly generate a rather complex test script.



I hope it all makes sense, really what I am suggesting is a box of tester-tricks in TestComplete that will put some of the more exotic test tools within arms length.



Best regards

Kresten

Hi Kresten,



Thanks for the description, your request is clearer now. However, please note that specific scenario and specific actions can vary greatly and I'm still not sure what (except for automatic data retrieval from the selected controls and data enumeration, which is not too hard to accomplish) can be automated on TestComplete's side here.



I've got an idea which can probably help you achieve what you want with the current functionality of TestComplete: using the User Forms feature, you can try implementing the needed "tests builder" as a part of your TestComplete's test. Here's what I mean:


1. Create a user form in your TestComplete project.


2. Add the needed controls, including the TObjectPicker control to the form. This will allow you to select the needed controls.


3. Create a script which will take the selected control(s), enumerate the possible values and store them in arrays.


4. When a button is clicked in the user form, build your CSV/XML/XLS file(s) as needed.

Hi Allen,



Thanks for the input - did a quick proof of concept which worked well. Now it's just a matter of connecting the dots, filling in the blanks and writing the code :-)



Best regards

Kresten Bager