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:: WHY STAR TEST?

About StarTest
About StarTest 4.0

Today’s automated testing tools fall short of their promise to provide the user with a good return on investment.

  • Recorders are easy to use but produce tests that are difficult to maintain when the application under test changes.  The common recommendation is to record the tests over again. But doing so forfeits the investment and, worse yet, discards the baseline.
  • On the other side of the spectrum are tools that offer programming languages. They provide a more robust solution but have a steep learning curve and are hard to use.

Unfortunately many organizations conclude that testing tools don’t work and continue to test their applications manually.  Now there is a better alternative. 

By using Star Quality methodology and the StarTest extensions to SilkTest, you can now build test automation that supports dynamic applications and provide lasting ROI.

 

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About StarTest

Better coverage and lower maintenance costs

Star Quality marries the ease of use from recording with the robustness of hand-coded scripts. With StarTest, users build automated tests by grouping together predefined methods and data. The tool generates the test cases at runtime each time a test plan is executed. Tests can be developed faster than with a recorder and are easy to maintain. StarTest provides methods for driving and verifying the application under test and is extendible to allow users to add custom methods. Since many of the methods used to test an application are universal, there is very little test code to maintain. We’ve proven through nearly ten years of consulting with StarTest in the field that many more members of test organizations can contribute to the automation effort using our approach and the automated tests are typically used for many years across several application releases.

Test Plan - StarTest users focus on designing test plans and test data. Using an outline editor, they develop objectives-based test plans that describe the requirements for testing the application under test. The test plans drill down from the general to the specific allowing the user to express test coverage in a way that is easy to review and refine. Our users have found that they discover many more important test case permutations using this approach. The test plan also provides the user with a means for associating each test with the set of steps and data required to execute it.

Test Case Generator – StarTest takes the data provided by the user in the test plan and automatically generates test scripts at runtime. Since the generated test cases are never saved, there is very little test code to maintain when the application under test changes. Our approach largely eliminates the classic problem with test case maintenance.

Universal methods – Many of the methods used to run a test case are predefined and are therefore unaffected by application changes. StarTest includes several methods for driving and verifying the application under test. The following are a few examples:

SQ_InputData is a method for entering data into one or more fields on a form or page. This method drives the application under test by setting values to controls, which may be members of standard or custom classes. Without any customization, SQ_InputData can set text to a TextField, select an item from a ListBox and communicate with virtually any application control.

SQ_VerifyProperties and SQ_VerifyText are examples of functions used to perform verification against a form or page and its controls. These methods capture the state of the application at runtime and compare to a set of expected results. Without requiring any additional code, properties can be verified such as the value of a TextField, the state of a CheckBox, the selected value of a ListBox or the enabled state of a PushButton, as well as any other property that is available for standard or custom controls.

“Use StarTest to make sure you’re getting the best return on investment from your automated testing dollars”

StarTest 4.0

With StarTest 4.0, you can build automated tests for SilkTest without coding or recording. StarTest will automatically generate modular, object-oriented tests from a SilkOrganizer plan using test plan data. StarTest has consistently exceeded customer expectations.

The StarTest ToolBox: Through our consulting work using QA Partner/SilkTest, we find that there is a certain set of utilities needed for almost every project that we do. Over the years we've assembled quite a number of time saving functions and have packaged the universal ones into a Toolbox that is available on a subscription basis. The tools contained in this package represent several person months of work for less than a days consulting fee. Our forth release contains over 150 useful functions including:

  • SQ_IsInView - Checks to see if an object is in view within a Browser.
  • SQ_WaitForWindowGone- Waits for a window to close within a timeout period.
  • SQ_GetNumberOfFields - Returns the number of fields in a delimited string.
  • SQ_ReturnObjectsOfClassX - Returns a list of a window’s child objects of a class.
  • SQ_DiffDate - Returns an integer which is the difference between two date strings.
  • SQ_VerifyNestedProperties - Separately verifies each of the properties defined for the target window and its children. This method is enables the development of a smoketest for most applications within a single day.
  • SQ_CompareTwoLists - Compares two unsorted lists, returning missing and unexpected values if they exist.
  • SQ_InputData - Completes the input of data to any page or window given control identifier names and values.
  • SQ_WaitDuringReboot - Facilitates the rebooting of a remote machine during an unattended test.