Scenario 2 Testing a Process Flow Amadori Courses

Scenario 2 Testing a Process Flow Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 1

Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process Overview • Testing a process flow is a very different task from testing a logic tree • In the previous example the issues arose from individual pieces of logic • Here however the focus should be on the points at which the process transfers from one stage to another 2

Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process Test Scripting issues • At first sight difficult to see how this scenario fits well into a standard test template • What are in the inputs for each test? • What are the expected results? • How do we describe the detail of the tests? • How do we distinguish one test from the next? 3

Test Scripting issues Rather than trying to shoehorn the tests into a template which isn’t really suitable We should come up with a different approach better suited for the task Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 4

Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process A Suggested Approach • The key to testing this process effectively is to identify all possible paths through the flow • Once we know this we can • Work out precisely what makes each one different • How we verify each step in that flow is working as expected 5

Make multiple photocopies of the flow Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process How do we do identify the set of paths? Highlight every different path through the flow • Hint: often easiest to begin in the top left and end in the bottom right Confirm • You haven’t missed a path • Or counted a path twice Give each flow a unique ID Include manual as well as system flows JOB DONE? 6

Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process Additional Questions • Before you complete the process you need to ask • Is there anything which could happen which • Is not included in the flow at all? • Leads to a dead end from which further progress is not possible? • If so you need to see whether the process needs revision before a full set of test cases can be derived 7

Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process Verifying the flow • At each transition you need to check 3 things • That the item being processed moves correctly to the appropriate next stage in the process • That the item arrives at the next stage at the process with all the necessary information attached • That the team who receive it know what to do with it…. . 8

Exercise • Review the process shown on the next slide and determine • How many flows are there? • How many should there be? Amadori Course 9

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Answers • There are 7 paths through the current flow • Closer analysis reveals that there a number of missing elements to the flow • Review the process shown on the next slide and determine 1 loop from "Complete Entering New Employee Info" to All Personal Info Correct" 2 loop from "Enter Corrected Personal Info" to "Enter Payroll Period Hours" 3 what happens if the manager cannot approve the data ? 4 what happens after the payroll manager contacts the people who didn't report hours? Amadori Course 11

Verifying each flow • A walk-through involving each of the teams referenced in the workflow can often reveal more subtle issues Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 12

• A corrected flow is shown below. There are now 14 different routes through the flow each of which should be tested for full coverage Amadori Course 13

How to run a walk through 1. Gather representatives of each team around a table Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 14

How to run a walk through 2. Give the team which initiates the flow a token of some sort Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 15

How to run a walk through 3. Pass the token to the next team in the flow Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 16

How to run a walk through 4. The transferring team explains exactly what they are transferring 5. The team receiving the token explain what they are expecting and exactly what they will do with it 6. If the expectations of both teams are not EXACTLY the same you have an issue Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 17

Questions to ask • Is the data transferred in the correct format for the team expecting it • Does the time of the transfer meet the need of the team receiving it • Are there any scenarios not covered by this step in the process? Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 18

Don’t Forget • Include manual steps in the walkthrough. • Important that all teams are present throughout the whole session as problems may only appear several steps later in the process not at the point of transfer Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 19

Treat each flow as a separate requirement Treat each path through the flow as a separate test Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process Reporting Progress Treat • g Flow B Path 5 Ensure that stakeholders understand your approach Defects Reference issues against Flow X Path Y for clarity 20

Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process What if the flow changes? Review flows which cover the areas which has changed Are any new flows required? Are any existing flows no longer needed? 21

A second example Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 22

Exercise • Tasks 1. Work out how many paths there are through the flow 2. Are there any missing paths or dead ends? 3. Select a path for a walkthrough • Nominate individuals to play the role of each team Amadori Courses: Delivering an Effective Test Process 23