In this exercise, you will learn how to use the Microsoft Test Manager to manage test suites and test cases.
- Log in as Abu Obeida Bakhach (Dev) if you have not already done so. The password is P2ssw0rd (capital letter P, the number two, the letter s, the letter s, the letter w, the number zero, the letter r, and the letter d). Please see “Working with the Visual Studio 2010 Virtual Machine” for instructions on how to log into the VM.
Open Microsoft Test Manager from Start | All Programs | Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 | Microsoft Test Manager 2010. This is a new tool dedicated to manual software testing that has been built from the ground up for Visual Studio 2010.
Microsoft Test Manager allows testers to work with test plans, author and organize manual test cases, execute test cases, file bugs, and post results back to Team Foundation Server.
Figure 1
Microsoft Test Manager starting up
Select the activity center drop down from the top menu that currently shows Testing Center. The Testing Center is used to work with manual test cases and other general test case management. Lab Center is used to work with physical or virtual testing labs. For this lab, we will focus on the Testing Center.
Figure 2
Choosing Activity Centers in Microsoft Test and Lab Manager
Select the Plan tab from the Testing Center.
Figure 3
Location of Plan tab
In the Contents panel under the Iteration 2 node, locate the nodes labeled 7, 8, and 9. These nodes are requirements-based test suites which contain test cases linked to requirements. Select test suite 7 to see the list of linked test cases.
Figure 4
Test cases assigned as requirements for a test suite
Open the test case with ID = 41 by right-clicking on it and selecting Open Test Case from the context menu that appears.
Figure 5
Opening a test case from within Test and Lab Manger
Select the Tested User Stories tab and note that this test case links back to a user story.
Figure 6
Tested User Stories tab
Close the test case by selecting the X in the top-right corner of the test case window. Be careful not to close the Test Manager application.
Figure 7
Location of Close button (X)
- Locate and select the test suite labeled End-to-End Tests. This static test suite contains arbitrary test cases and other test suites.
There may not be any items in the End-to-end tests suite.
The third and final test suite type is the query-based suite. Although not represented in this lab, query-based test suites allow work item queries to be constructed in order to gather test cases. For example, imagine a scenario where you want to create a test suite that includes all priority 1 test cases from iteration 1’s test plan.
Figure 8
Query-based suite
Locate and select test suite 9 and note that its state is set to In Planning. The remaining two states are In Progress and Completed. Only test suites that are set to the In Progress state are shown on the Test activity tab.
Figure 9
Test suite state selection
Locate and select test suite 7. Note that you can open, add, create, and remove test cases from the right-hand side of the window.
Figure 10
Working with test cases [your screen may look different]
To learn more about working with manual test cases, see the lab titled Authoring and Running Manual Tests using Microsoft Test Manager 2010.
- Select the test case with ID = 41.
- Select the Configurations button to load the Select Test Configurations window.
Select the All Configurations button to show all configuration options that are available and select the Vista and IE7 checkbox.
Figure 11
Working with test configurations
- Select the Apply Changes button to continue.
Select the Properties link to load the test plan properties window. The first section of the test plan properties window allows you to edit the basic properties like name, description, area path, iteration, state, and so on. The Run Settings section allows you to specify how manual and automated test runs should be setup, what the test environment to use, and even the specific build to test.
Figure 12
Test plan properties window
Test settings are particularly important as they specify how and what data will be collected during test runs. If bugs are found during a test run, this data will be used by developers to reproduce and better understand the problem
Open the test settings for Manual Runs by selecting on the Open link.
Figure 13
Location of Open link
Select the Data and Diagnostics step from the left-hand side of the test settings window. This allows you to select which Data Diagnostic Adapters you want to utilize. For example, the Video Recorder will record the screen as seen by the tester during test runs.
Figure 14
Data and Diagnostics options
Enable the Event Log diagnostic adapter and select the Configure button.
Figure 15
Event Log diagnostic adapter
In the Configure Diagnostic Data Adapter – Event Log window, note that you can specify which event logs and event types to collect from. Select the Save button to continue.
Figure 16
Configuring the Event Log diagnostic adapter
Enable the Event Log diagnostic adapter.
Figure 17
Video Recorder diagnostic adapter
- Select the Finish button to return to the test plan properties window.
- Test environments are also managed from the test plan properties window. Test environments are either physical or virtual environments used to run tests against or to collect data. For example, when testing a Web application, it may be necessary to collect data from both the client and the server at the same time as components of that system reside in different environments. For this test plan, there is just one local test environment.
Test configurations describe which platforms to test against during test runs. Select the drop down that currently has Windows Server 2008 and IE8 selected to see the options available. Select the Don’t Apply button when finished.
Figure 18
Specifying testing platforms
The Builds section of the test plan properties window defines the build definition that test results and bugs will be filed against. Select the drop down labeled Filter For Builds.
Figure 19
Build definition to use for testing
Build quality can also be specified so that testers do not prematurely start the testing process. Select the Build Quality drop down to see the options available.
Figure 20
Build quality options
- Press the Escape key to cancel the selection of a build quality and select the Cancel button to return to the test plan properties window.
Finally, note that a specific build is setup for test runs.
Figure 21
Build version specified for testing
- Close the test plan properties window by selecting the X in the top-right corner of the test plan properties window. Be careful not to close the Test Manager application.