Parametrization of Test Cases with QARA Enterprise

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The highly competitive business environment that we witness today demands every organization to give utmost importance to product quality and at the same time, reduce costs and time to market. It is this need that has made automation testing so popular as it reduces efforts, increases productivity and makes the testing process faster. More importantly, test automation tools offer a reusable framework that can be used to execute test cases multiple times with the same results.

Need for Parametrization

Effective testing process cannot be considered complete unless a software or application is tested for versatility and consistency and this can be possible only when it is tested for different set of values. Parametrization is a strategy of test execution which offers a solution. It involves running test cases with multiple sets of data or values. In other words, the objective of parametrization is to ensure that the software or application is performing as expected with not just one but multiple data sets.

Interestingly, parametrization did exist before the advent of automation when it was carried out manually by checking for valid and invalid data for a specific field by writing test cases for test data. Given below are the key benefits of parametrization with modern test automation tools.

• Makes test case execution faster.
• Checks the versatility of the application and consistency in its functionality over a wide range of input values.
• Makes it easier to identify bugs and issues that might have gone unnoticed otherwise.
• Reduces the efforts required in testing.
• Increases the efficiency of the testing process.

Test Case Parametrization with Qara Enterprise

The parametrization feature in QARA Enterprise is most suited for projects that require a large number of cases tested using the same steps. Testers may no longer need to spend time and effort accumulating data sets for executing such test cases. The values saved in QARA Enterprise's global and local test data can be used to run test cases multiple times, without duplication of efforts.

1] Local Test Data

Once users have created a test case, they can use the Parametrization feature to test different data sets, as shown in screenshot below. Global test data is not specific to any project and is available on the main dashboard. On the other hand, parameters specific to a test case (local data) are available on the test case window.

Once users have added the parameters, they can save it by clicking on “Save”, as shown below.

After adding test data, the script will look like the screenshot below.

Updating Test Data

If users want to update the saved Test Data, they need to click on ‘Update Test Data’ as shown below. The window that opens, gives users the option to ‘Add’, ‘Remove’ or ‘Rename’ the parameters, as shown in the screenshot below.

Note: If you wish to test a Web application using only one data set, you can delete the extra parameters by clicking on “Remove Test Data”.

2] Global Test Data

Global Test data is applicable for multiple test cases. It is data that has been provided globally in QARA. We can create Global Test Data using two data sources called Table and List. Values chosen from the Global Test Data are indicated by “@” in the Automated Test Steps panel.

Note: As shown above, the values taken from the global data list and local data have been denoted using the symbols “@” and “=” respectively.

So, you see that parametrization of test cases allows you to save different sets of values and saves you the time and effort. Have you tried it yet? Let us know your experience and share your feedback.