Test Run

A single license of Test Run, regardless of your licensing options, permits users to host only a single instance of the Test Run application. A "single instance" is defined by the unique set of database tables needed to support the application's operation. In order to allow organizations hosting Test Run to meet their own standards for operational excellence, the license does permit users to host a single instance of Test Run across an unlimited number of servers, with an unlimited number of CPUs.

We offer two different licenses for its self-hosted, downloadable version of Test Run. Here are the two options explained in more detail:

1. Single Site License

   A single site license refers to a version of Test Run in which all the users of your system belong to a single parent account. This is the most common usage scenario by far.

2. Multiple Site License

   A multi-site license permits users to run and host multiple parent accounts under which a set of users can manage a set of test cases and testplans independently from one another. This is a good licensing solution for companies that need to offer an extranet to their clients and ensure the privacy of each client that has access to the system.

At the current time, Test Run facilitates the creation of links between Test Run and a remote bug repository via the specification of a "Bug URL pattern." This "pattern" is nothing more than a URL into which a bug identifier can be injected in order to create a proper link. Let's look at an example.

Suppose I have installed behind my firewall a bug tracking system. That bug tracking system has a permalink to each bug stored within it. That permalink or URL looks like this:

• http://intranet.myoffice.com/bugs/index.php?5637
• http://intranet.myoffice.com/bugs/index.php?1383
• http://intranet.myoffice.com/bugs/index.php?983

Where the bug ID is simply appended as a query string to the system's base URL. To have Test Run automatically link to these bugs, follow these instructions:

1. Login to Test Run
2. Under the Account tab, select "Settings."
3. For the "URL Bug Pattern" enter http://intranet.myoffice.com/bugs/index.php?%s

And you are done.

Update: in the future we plan to integrate more deeply into these system by allowing users to create bugs directly from within Test Run.

Question from a customer:

If I create a test plan that fully tests an application and I want five people to execute that plan I would have to clone that test plan five times and assign it to each person?

Answer:

It depends upon whether you want to have each person execute the test plan in its entirety (effectively executing it five times), or have the test plan's test cases shared among five people to execute.

If it is the former, then the best way is create five copies of the test plan and assign each plan to a different person. Otherwise, the preferred method is to divvy up the test cases among the five people who will be executing the plan.

Test Run allows you to change the state of any test case assigned to a test plan to one of four values. They are:

• passed - This is to indicate that the test case's requirements has successfully and satisfactorily been met.

• failed - This is to indicate that a test case was executed but did not pass. When a test case fails, Test Run will prompt the test engineer for a bug ID so that Test Run can more easily track what issues are related to which test cases.

• blocked - Often one test case will depend upon another. Meaning if one test case fails, then another test case couldn't possible be executed. In other words, the test case is "blocked" while some condition within the system is lifted. That being said, Test Run is not explicit about the meaning of blocked. For example, "blocked" could also mean that the test engineer assigned to the test case is on vacation, and until they return the test case cannot be run.

• not run - Just as the name implies, this test case has never been executed. Presumably though, contract to "blocked" there is nothing preventing it from being executed.

Test Run allows you to assign test cases within any test plan to any user in your account or system. You can assign test cases individually, or for your conveniences in large swaths or batches at a time.

Do assign multiple test cases to a single user, select the test cases within the plan, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Assign" button. A dialog will appear prompting you for the person to assign the selected cases to.

Note: while you can assign multiple cases to a single person, you can not assign multiple people to the same test case. At least not yet.

A common feature request from customers is to have Test Run support an additional field that allows them to associate a functional test ID with a test case. Understandable considering so many other tools support that field - any a million others. But supporting additional fields goes against the design philosophy of Test Run.

Test Run was design to have a much more adaptable schema by using "tags" - which provide a more free form way for each individual user to structure and organize their test cases.

Therefore, within Test Run the base way is develop a naming and tagging convention for requirements. For example, I could easily associate one more test cases with the same functional requirement identified by the string "UI-4522.2" by adding the tag "req-ui-4522.2" to each of the related cases. Because it exists as a tag, I can now easily filter and search by that tag to pull up all relevant cases.

Many customers report the problem in which test case data is truncated when performing an import and/or export to and from Microsoft Excel.

This is a known issue with Excel and cannot be remedied using Excel that Test Run Support is aware of. The only possible work around is to limit the size of your test case descriptions, which we realize is not a realistic or viable solution for most.

This issue has not been reproduced in the following Spreadsheet applications:

• Apple iWork 08

A search on Google can reveal a number of useful articles on this topic.

This guide will help you migrate your test cases from Test Link to Test Run.

Step 1: Export your cases from Test Link

To export your cases from Test Link follow the following steps:

1. Click "Edit Test Case(s)"
2. Select the folder that contains the test cases you want to export
3. Click "Export All Test Suites" or "Export Test Suite"

Step 2: Upload the File

1. From the Test Cases menu in Test Run, click "Import/Export".
2. Upload the file exported in the steps above.
3. Click "Import from Test Link"

Step 3: Preview changes

Test Run will preview for you all the test cases it will import. This is your last chance to make any changes. Unselect test cases you don't want to import and then click "Import from Test Link."

Your test cases will then be in Test Run and you can add them to test plans you create.

Many users ask us "what is Markdown?" It is a question that sometimes surprises us because it is something we have simply learned to take for granted around here. There is a reason that many wikis, and many web 2.0 products all support markdown... you see Markdown makes writing HTML almost brain dead.

The 'm' in HTML stands for "mark up." Mark up refers to the practices of encapsulating text in a set of "tags" that looks a lot like XML. These tags indicate to web browsers how the text should appear - allowing users to style their text like they would in a word processor. However, HTML is far more difficult than a word processor.

Markdown is the opposite of mark up. Markdown utilizes a very logical and intuitive formatting technique that makes as much sense when viewed simply as plain text as it does when it is converted to HTML. Markdown makes writing HTML easy, and we promise, there is not a lot of geeky, hard to remember rules or syntax to follow.

For example, let's say you want to create a bulleted list. In HTML, it would look like this:

<ul>
   <li>Foo</li>
   <li>Bar</li>
   <li>Baz</li>
</ul>

But in markdown the same list is written like this:

* Foo
* Bar
* Baz

And here's the kicker... they are both rendered by your web browser to look exactly the same. Just like this:

• Foo
• Bar
• Baz

Test Run allows users to use Markdown when writing their test cases so that their test cases are both easy and quick to write, but all also easy and quick to read. Both in Excel and online.

To learn more about Markdown, visit its homepage.