This is an 8 part series of videos showing, in detail, various steps that can be used in creating a pairwise software test plan. Many test plans will not require many of these optional steps. Most of the videos have run times of 1-4 minutes.
The series of videos looks at how to create a set of functional test cases for customers purchasing products on Amazon.com using the Hexawise, a tool to create software test plans with pairwise and combinatorial test coverage.
Video 1 of 8, getting started creating up a new test plan.
Video 2 of 8, marking invalid pairs. This allows a test planner to avoid pairs that are not sensible – for example, if a certain product is not available for payment with a check (perhaps a service that requires a monthly payment). Hexawise will then avoid creating any test conditions that contained the invalid pairs that were identified.
Video 3 of 8 explains how to to use the value expansions feature of Hexawise. Value expansions offer us a solution to the “too many tests” problem and a related weakness.
One simple solution to the “two many tests problem” would be to simply separate each of the states into equivalence classes, say “taxable” and “non-taxable.” If we did that, we would create test outputs that would simply state “taxable” and “non-Taxable” for the state field. This could be the case, for example, if the tester used the same state name again and again every time “taxable” was used.
The value expansions feature can solve the “too many tests” problem and the “too much repetition” problem at the same time. Hexawise will generate a text plan that will ensure that the specific states that appear in each test case will be varied from one test case to the next (based on the equivalence classes). This video explains how this handy value expansion feature can be used.
Video 4 of 8, how to generate test cases using the Hexawise software test design tool.
Hexawise calculates a powerful set of test conditions that are carefully selected to meet your coverage objectives. The test cases Hexawise generates are carefully selected to meet the test designer’s stated coverage objective in as few tests as possible. It does this using proven Design of Experiments-based methods that have been widely used in other industries for more than 50 years (but are not yet widely used in software testing).
This video also shows how a test designer that wants their tests to achieve far more thorough coverage than simple pairwise (2-way) tests provide can very easily use Hexawise to automatically generate efficient sets of test cases to meet those higher coverage objectives.
Video 5 of 8, the analyze tests feature of Hexawise will provide a clear report that describes what percentage of the desired test coverage has been tested at each point in your set of tests.
The test coverage curve slopes steeply upward at the beginning of the set of tests (as Hexawise designs the test plan to put as much coverage in each test as possible). The additional coverage begins to flatten out as additional tests can provide less coverage (in the begging Hexawise can for example, test 15 different pairs and some factors are completely tested the opportunities decline so the slope decreases.
It is important to run the tests in the order defined if not all tests will be run, because Hexawise creates the test plan to have the initial tests provide as much coverage as possible. If time or resource constraints result in not all test being completed, the Hexawise test plan makes sure the maximum value is achieved given the limits placed on testing.
Video 6 of 8 explains how to export tests from the Hexawise combinatorial software test design tool.
Many Hexawise users manage their tests in HP Quality Center, IBM Rational, and other test design tools. Hexawise can exports tests in excel, csv (comma separated value), HP Quality Center and Mind Map or Outline (OPML) (the OPML format option was added after the video was created).
Video 7 of 8 explains how to handle constraints using the auto-script feature of the Hexawise software test design tool.
This optional feature allows test designers to add detailed written instructions into their test cases very quickly. In some cases, exporting the test conditions only would give the tester executing the Hexawise-generated tests sufficiently clear instructions. If that’s the case, there would be no need to use this feature.
Video 8 of 8 explains how to copy and share Hexawise-generated sets of tests with your colleagues to collaborate, get feedback, and/or create a shared set of test cases that the team can re-use and improve.
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