Forum Discussion

helpdesk's avatar
helpdesk
Occasional Contributor
6 years ago

Testing a Newer Build - Testing Fails

Hi,

 

I am a new TestComplete user who has very limited skills when it comes to automating test cases. I have watched as many tutorials as possible however I still seem to struggle with a particular skill and was hoping for some help. Apologies in advance if this is the stupidest question on this forum. 

 

I have several automated test scrips set up (to test a Practice Management System), these tests include logging into the system, opening a patient file, navigating to another section and closing the patient file. I have these split up into different individual tests. 

 

When I get a new release of this program I edited the test to 'login' to the newest build and kept all sequential test cases after that as normal. I am not sure if this is the correct process as It fails each time. 

 

I am not quite sure how to find out the answer to my question as I feel as though if this keeps happening I don't see the appeal of the automation as new test scripts for every function would need to be created for each build, which cannot be possible so I assume I am doing something wrong.

 

Could someone point me in the right direction of an answer?

 

Thanks 

  • tristaanogre's avatar
    tristaanogre
    6 years ago

    As vthomeschoolmom says, we need a few more details.  Having a "fail" could mean any number of things.  Usually, there's an error message in the log with some details. 

     

    My suspicion is that, since you edited the login for the new version, that perhaps there are other things that may need to be edited... and the fact that you needed to edit the login means that, perhaps, you haven't created your automation to be more robust for handling multiple versions of your application under test (some hard coded strings, etc, in your NameMapping and so on).

     

    Automation, in general, takes work for it to be done right. There are a lot of factors to consider.  But there is also an understanding of a maintenance cycle even for automation. Applications change, workflows through those applications change, so as the applications are updated, the automation needs to keep pace.  There are a number of things you can do to mitigate this, but you will need to maintain automation after it's initial creation to some extent.

  • tristaanogre's avatar
    tristaanogre
    Esteemed Contributor
    6 years ago

    As vthomeschoolmom says, we need a few more details.  Having a "fail" could mean any number of things.  Usually, there's an error message in the log with some details. 

     

    My suspicion is that, since you edited the login for the new version, that perhaps there are other things that may need to be edited... and the fact that you needed to edit the login means that, perhaps, you haven't created your automation to be more robust for handling multiple versions of your application under test (some hard coded strings, etc, in your NameMapping and so on).

     

    Automation, in general, takes work for it to be done right. There are a lot of factors to consider.  But there is also an understanding of a maintenance cycle even for automation. Applications change, workflows through those applications change, so as the applications are updated, the automation needs to keep pace.  There are a number of things you can do to mitigate this, but you will need to maintain automation after it's initial creation to some extent.

    • helpdesk's avatar
      helpdesk
      Occasional Contributor
      6 years ago

      Thanks tristaanogre - As I mentioned I am very very new to testcomplete and unfortunately didnt know much about the 'namemapping' functionality and how test should be mapped by name and not by the location they are on the screen. 

       

      I appreciate your response and I am now spending my time reading up on the name mapping function. 

       

      Regards