The Seapine View

Thanks to everyone who joined us for our Automating Traceability and Documentation webinar. The recording is now available on YouTube if you missed the webinar or want to watch it again. Q&A from the session follows.

Making sure that your data is backed up is a crucial part of any IT department disaster plan, but often this task is given lower priority. To make it easier, we’ve the documented the steps for you to make sure you know exactly how to back up your TestTrack and Surround SCM databases.

The following knowledgebase articles will show you what you need to back up:

• Backing up TestTrack databases
• Backing up Surround SCM 2009 and later databases

TestTrack ships with a SOAP-based SDK that allows you to extend TestTrack and incorporate its core features, such as issue management and tracking, into your own applications. The SDK documentation was recently updated and now includes a web-based Programmer’s Guide that provides examples of common SOAP tasks, such as populating custom fields and editing items. If you’re using the TestTrack SDK, be sure to take a few minutes to check out the new guide and let us know what you think.

If you’re new to TestTrack TCM or already use it, and want to learn better ways to manage your testing process, check out the TestTrack TCM Best Practices. This document covers:

• How TestTrack TCM items map to items from your manual test case management process.
• Suggestions for creating test suites and test run sets for better organization and meaningful reporting.
• When to create test cases and generate test runs.
• How to rerun failed tests.
• How to prepare for testing future releases.
• Which reports and live charts can help you accurately measure the progress of your testing effort.

Additional best practices were recently added for enhancements introduced in TestTrack TCM 2011.1, including new project options that can help you ensure tests meet compliance requirements or that your testing process is followed, and the ability share test case steps to maximize reuse.

One of my favorite new features in Surround SCM 2011.1 is bookmarking. I work on documentation for all of Seapine’s products and frequently access several different repositories to find the files I need to work on. When it gets closer to a product release date, I’m frequently checking files out and in to several different branches. Instead of (unsuccessfully) trying to remember where to find the files I need, I can now access them in just a couple of clicks.

Continue reading…

You can create image and optical character recognition (OCR) checkpoints in QA Wizard Pro that help verify images and images with text, such as a Submit button, are in the correct location and meet expected values. This How To walks you through creating image and OCR checkpoints in scripts.

Download the Image and OCR Checkpoints How To now.

You can create window and control checkpoints in QA Wizard Pro that help verify your tested application is working correctly. Checkpoints verify that attributes of an application exist or are correct when compared to an expected value during playback. This How To walks you through creating window and control checkpoints during recording, or adding them to existing scripts.

Download the Window and Control Checkpoints How To now.

You can use QA Wizard Pro repository variables to store values that can be used in all scripts recorded or run against an application version. This helps reduce the need for extensive script modifications and eliminates maintaining a large database of scripts. The Repository Variables How To walks you through creating, editing, and adding repository variables to your scripts.

Download the Repository Variables How To now.

You can use QA Wizard Pro to test multiple scenarios with large amounts of data by linking to external test data stored in Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, or text files. The External Datasheets How To walks you through creating an external datasheet, associating it with a script or using datasheet statements and functions, and running the script using the datasheet values.

Download the External Datasheets How To now.

You can use QA Wizard Pro to test web sites or applications that contain dynamic content that changes on a regular basis. As the content changes, test scripts may fail because the application no longer matches the data stored in QA Wizard Pro. You can use XPath queries and URL format rules to configure your scripts to handle dynamic data

Download the Testing Dynamic Web Applications How To and learn how to configure your scripts to use XPath queries or URL format rules to test a web application that contains dynamic data.