Sparx Systems Forum
Enterprise Architect => Suggestions and Requests => Topic started by: Emilio on August 05, 2009, 08:11:45 pm
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Under the View menu there is a Tests entry which when selected a Test case view is docked on EA for Unit, Integration, System, Acceptance and Scenarios.
The problem with this is that it is not very useful. When you prepare test cases you usually have to perform variations of the same as different test cases.
Currently you have to type the whole thing all over again because there is no "Copy" option to create a new test case based on an existent one that one can then modify.
Implementing this option would save quite a lot of time and would make the Test view useful. I was going to use it in my technical designs but it is simply too much work to type that much.
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Of course you could write one test (scenario) per use case, or use case scenario. This would move the duplication effort to the use case stage, but really does not solve the problem.
My cynical side - you all knew it would pop up someday - suggests this is all part of the natural course of things. This would give the bean counters better ammunition to cut out requirements definition as being too expensive. There's been a trend towards doing the necessary work at the beginning of a project, and I know this has to be irritating the non-IT crowd. Now they can finally cut out both specification and testing. Software development would then be just that: development. Much cheaper. And since the stuff wasn't going to work anyway, why should it cost so much?
But I digress...
You are making sense Emilio. Still, I don't think this is a flaw in EA, in the sense that the product is not creating work. It is a limitation of a feature - being able to create test cases in a sensible manner - and an opportunity for improvement.
Can you (or any of the other users out there) come up with ways that the situation could be improved, while limiting the impact and scope of the change to the EA product itself?
David
PS: What about the third-part products out there, like RAQuest? Do any of these handle test case suites gracefully?
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Just to let you know. I use EA's features to copy test cases all the time.
Just change the name and press 'Save As New'. (Icon looks like two pieces of paper and is next to the save icon.)
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Simon's response identifies just one of many methods (in Release 7.5) of applying existing definitions to other types of test, other elements, and other properties.
In the Help, go to Project management > Testing and look at the list under the Using Tests heading. The list includes:
- Import a Scenario as a Test
- Move or Copy Tests Between Test Types
- Import a Test from Other Elements
- Import a Responsibility or Constraint as a Test
- Create a Maintenance Item from a Test
Do they help?