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In addition to simply testing what the developer has done, manual test cases can also provide useful documentation for people learning how to code for the software.
RSVP App link: https://treehouse-projects.github.io/selenium-webdriver-intermediate/waits/app/index.html
Definitions
- Test Step: An individual thing to do in the test.
- Expected Results: What the expected result of the software is after performing a step.
- Setup: Steps to take to get the test prepared and ready to execute.
- Tear Down: Cleanup steps after a test is completed. Important for leaving a clean slate for later tests.
Blank Test Case:
Name:
Setup:
Steps:
| # | Step | Expected Result |
| 1 |
Teardown:
[MUSIC]
0:00
Welcome to stage two of
intro to QA Engineering.
0:04
We're now going to be getting into the
real work of testing by writing out manual
0:08
test cases.
0:13
These test cases can serve
a lot of useful purposes.
0:15
In addition to simply testing what the
developer has done, they can also provide
0:19
useful documentation for people
learning how to code for the software.
0:23
They can also serve as a proof
of work later down the road for
0:29
things like certification.
0:32
So it's important to write our
test clearly and not just to
0:34
fill it with too much jargon that only
our testers and coders would understand.
0:37
The very first thing we'll do
is choose a name for our test.
0:42
We're gonna be testing a very simple
part of the RSVP application,
0:47
the edit button for an invitee.
0:51
So when I click edit,
a person's name can be edited.
0:54
And when I change the name,
let's just put a 2 here,
0:59
I can click the save button and
the name has been updated.
1:02
Pretty straightforward.
1:07
So I'm going to go over to our Test Case,
and for the purposes of these videos we're
1:08
going to be using simple Word processors
with just tables and spreadsheets.
1:12
So I'm going to be writing
this just in Google Docs.
1:17
First let's name this test based
on our feature, the Edit button.
1:20
I'll start by simply naming it Edit.
1:24
Now, Edit is probably one of the most
commonly used terms in software,
1:27
up there with save and new,
so I'd also like to indicate
1:31
where in the software I'm editing this,
which is the invitee.
1:35
Eventually, I'd like to have a lot of
tests that are fairly easy to find, so
1:38
I wanna put the major part
of the feature first.
1:42
So now when I edit it,
1:46
I'm gonna actually going to add in
Invitee to the beginning of that name.
1:46
And it will look like Invitee- Edit.
1:52
We'll probably create some other
test cases, like Invitee- New and
1:55
Invitee- Delete later.
1:59
Okay, now let's add some steps.
2:01
Test step should be very atomic, or in
another words you should do one thing and
2:03
then you expect something
else to happen from that.
2:08
You also want to be very descriptive
about what exactly should happen.
2:11
So I'm going to go back
to the RSVP app page.
2:16
And I just wanna click the edit button,
and
2:20
I expect the person's name to
now be in an editable text box.
2:23
I'm going to go back to the test case,
and then add this step as,
2:27
Click Edit under the first person.
2:31
Our expected results should be,
Person's name is in a text box, done.
2:38
That's just one step.
2:47
But we need a few others to
actually test out this feature.
2:48
The next step will be to test whether
the text box is actually editable.
2:52
All we need to do here is change
the name of the user to test that.
2:57
Our next step is then going to be,
3:00
Delete the person's name and
type 'Test Person'.
3:03
Our expected result,
3:11
'Test Person' is now in the text box.
3:14
Great, so I wanna take an aside
here because we're actually testing
3:20
out a lot of functionality
with just that one step.
3:25
We're testing things like, can you delete
the person's name or just add on to it?
3:29
How fast is the act of deleting and
typing in a new name?
3:35
Does your cursor show up
when you click the text box?
3:39
All these things could be called out
in our expected results section or
3:42
even be just their own individual steps.
3:46
But we're not gonna do all
that here because, one,
3:49
it would balloon the size of our tests.
3:52
And two, there's just some things
that we assume the user knows,
3:55
even in the meticulous world of QA.
3:59
We like to call these assumptions, and
if those assumptions are not obvious,
4:02
like our textbox example, they should
get called out in the test case itself.
4:07
Let's add something simple, though,
4:14
just to make sure that there's
no ambiguity in the test step.
4:15
Just to make sure we're not leaving
too many assumptions up to the tester,
4:19
let's add click text box to
the beginning of this step.
4:24
It's okay to have multiple things for the
user to do in the test step as long as you
4:32
don't expect a lot of changes to
validate between those things.
4:36
This also eliminates
a potential assumption
4:40
should the text box be focused
right after you click Edit.
4:42
If that was the case, we could probably
add that to the expected result of step 1,
4:46
but that's actually not the expected
behavior here, so we'll just move on.
4:51
So I'm gonna go back over the RSVP app and
4:54
then actually perform that step
by entering in Test Person.
4:57
And I wanna save the name
that I just entered.
5:02
When I click the save button,
the name is saved, and
5:05
the edit box is no longer there.
5:08
So let's go back over to our test case and
add that as our last step.
5:10
So for step 3, let's add,
Click Save button.
5:14
And our expected result is that 'Test
Person', Is now the invitee's name.
5:20
So this is an extremely simple test case,
but it should give us some confidence
5:29
about testing whether the edit
functionality is doing its job or not.
5:33
I mentioned earlier that test cases can
make good documentation and proof of work.
5:39
And a good example of that is when you
explicitly call out things in the test.
5:44
Like when I click edit, I don't expect
the app to focus on the name, so
5:48
I could add that as one of
the expected results for step one.
5:53
Instead I expect the user
to click the name.
5:57
Someone asking later down the road about
why this doesn't work the way they assumed
6:02
can be pointed to the test case.
6:07
If we wanna change that functionality,
we will also need to edit the test case.
6:10
There's one more thing we're going
to need to add to this test,
6:16
though, before it's complete.
6:19
We're making a pretty big assumption
that when we load the application,
6:21
there's already a person there to edit.
6:27
But we don't really know
if that's the case or not.
6:29
So let's say another test had me
delete every invitee on the page.
6:32
Now when we get to the edit test,
we don't have any data to work with.
6:37
That's not really a big deal
on this particular case, but
6:41
I think any reasonable tester would assume
they need to add a person to edit them.
6:44
But for more complicated
applications where the data can be
6:48
much harder to set up, it may not be
very obvious what steps need to be
6:51
taken to get the test ready to execute.
6:55
We're gonna go back over
to the test case and
6:57
fix this by simply creating a setup step.
7:00
And all it's going to say is,
7:03
Delete all existing people.
7:08
Add invitee Jay McGavern.
7:13
This is a nice setup step because it works
in any scenario the app is already in.
7:19
These are important things to remember,
7:24
especially if you're
automating your tests.
7:26
Test data from previous tests can pretty
easily muck up your application and
7:28
make it difficult to test.
7:32
As a final note,
we should also probably tell our testers
7:34
to clean up their data before
they move onto their next test.
7:37
This is called a teardown step.
7:41
So let's write our
teardown step simply as,
7:43
Delete user 'Test Person,' which is
the person we created during the test.
7:47
Remember that we renamed
the user in the test.
7:55
In other applications it's probably
better to use a unique ID of some kind.
7:58
And that's it for our test.
8:03
This is a very simple test case, but
as you can see, a lot of care and
8:05
thought went into each step and
what we were verifying specifically.
8:09
So as a recap, it's good to remember to
name your tests both appropriately and
8:16
in a way that makes it easy to find them.
8:21
Your test steps should be atomic
with one input and one output, and
8:24
always with clear things for the user to
do, and clearly defined expected results.
8:29
Anything that can't clearly be assumed
should be written down somewhere,
8:34
either as a note in the test itself,
or as a clear step or expected result.
8:39
Also don't forget to list any Setup or
Teardown steps
8:44
that help testers get the application in
the right state before performing tests.
8:48
Thanks, and join me in the next
video as we expand this test
8:54
to include some edge cases that
we don't normally think of.
8:58
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