Archive for 2004

TestSmart module makes test data creation simple

Optimised Variable Data module from Original Software delivers productive testing

October, 18, 2004 - Original Software has advanced the state of Variable Data Technology and included this functionality in a new TestBENCH snap in module called TestSmart. Announced at its annual user conference in Chicago last week, TestSmart enables a single test script to replicate multiple business scenarios, which cuts down on testing time.

The challenge for testers is to develop scripts that can reflect the complexities of real world usage of the application under test – without creating an unmanageable workload. Variable Data is an enormous help in this respect, as it means that a single test script can be populated with different data on each test run, so that many different scenarios can be tested using just the one script. This is clearly much easier than building and maintaining dozens or even hundreds of separate scripts.

But now Variable Data has been taken to the next level. Original Software has introduced a new module to its market-leading TestBench suite, called TestSmart. TestSmart can automatically produce optimised Variable Data, which automatically ensures that the data used in test runs covers every available data pair combination in accordance with whatever rules that the user wishes to define. This means that data can be created automatically that will enable the maximum number of business scenarios to be replicated with the minimum amount of test data. This in turn ensures that an application is tested with the highest levels of both efficiency and thoroughness.

According to Stuart Bishop, Product Development Manager for Original Software, “The great thing about TestSmart is that it guarantees that the data you use to test an application is consistent and objective – something that is very hard to achieve using a testing team.” Referring to the inconsistencies prevalent in manual testing, Bishop adds, “With the best will in the world, different people will build different test cases to test the same application.”

TestSmart takes information about the application under test (such as field name and object content) then applies details of how the application is supposed to behave (in the form of business rules and requirements). It then automatically builds an optimised set of Variable Data, designed to cover the maximum number of possible scenarios with the minimum amount of data and number of test cases. “This guarantees that the application is tested in every conceivable scenario, thereby uncovering more defects – and increasing software quality,” comments Bishop.

TestSmart is available immediately from Original Software, on a concurrent user license basis.

World’s first dedicated test automation for Lotus Notes, Domino apps unveiled

TestDrive-Gold scores a first for out-of-the-box automated testing

September, 26, 2004 – Over the past twenty years Lotus Notes has grown one of the world’s largest user bases, supporting mission-critical applications for companies across the globe. But there has never been a dedicated resource for automated testing of these applications – until now. Original Software, Inc creators of some of the world’s most widely-used and innovative software testing solutions, has unveiled an enhanced version of TestDrive-Gold, a powerful automated testing solution that analyses Lotus Notes and Domino GUI screens at the object level and flags defects so developers can fix them before they confound end users.

‘Double-digit revenue growth’
Since it acquired Lotus Development Corporation in July of 1995, IBM put Notes on the map by turning 2 million users worldwide into 200 million. The Lotus Notes and Domino family of products now includes IBM Lotus Workflow, Domino Document Manager, Domino, Notes, Domino Web Access, Access for Microsoft Outlook, Designer, Enterprise Integrator and Domino Express. Since 2003, the number of business partners, developers of third-party applications, systems integrators, and consultants that focus on Lotus products has also increased dramatically.

“IBM Lotus Notes and Domino had a strong 2004 where we acquired many new customers and grew the business,” says Penny Scharfman, IBM Program Director for Lotus Domino Products. “We are not showing any signs of slowing down. We’ve just closed the books on the first quarter of 2005, in which Notes and Domino achieved double-digit revenue growth.”

Lotus Notes-developed collaborative business applications improve mission-critical workflow processes. Says Colin Armitage, CEO of Original Software: “Loyalty to Notes applications runs high since they are often deeply rooted in daily business practices. Notes applications form the nucleus of many organizations. Yet prior to the release of TestGUI 4.0, no tool existed that was capable of genuinely testing these mission-critical applications ‘out-of-the-box.’”

New use for Accessibility controls
Microsoft’s Accessibility controls were originally developed to help people with disabilities interact with computers through the use of things such as screen readers, Colin Armitage, Original Software’s CEO, realised they had other uses, too.

“We discovered that it could be used to talk to the content of applications,” Armitage says of the Accessibility controls. “With .NET, there is now a standard for every form of visual control, whether it’s a text box or drop-down list box. Accessibility protects you from all that.”

New TestPLAN release helps companies use corporate compliance to save money

Software product designed for compliance-led applications using fewer resources

April, 26, 2004 – Corporate compliance legislation – with incoming regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel-II, and existing regulations such as FDA, FSA etc – is an increasingly hot topic. A recent survey conducted by leading UK software testing vendor Original Software showed that almost half of UK respondents were actively involved in dealing with corporate compliance issues, with Sarbanes-Oxley by far the most common. Correspondingly, Original Software has released a new version of its popular test process management solution, TestPLAN, that includes features designed specifically to help companies meet the corporate compliance challenge.

Corporate compliance measures are designed to ensure maximum transparency and accountability, combined with best business practice. An inevitability of introducing and adhering to such controls is that a company has to make and manage changes to its core IT systems – those it relies upon for its corporate records and key management processes and reports. This may involve in-house development, outsourced development, buying in and installing bespoke third-party solutions, or maybe a combination of these. All of them involve introducing new software to established key systems. And guaranteeing the stability, accuracy and reliability of the core system throughout this process is fundamental to corporate compliance.

Original Software’s TestPLAN has a key role here in enabling companies to establish a highly controlled application testing process, a QA plan that formalises how changes to core software systems are handled. The product helps companies organise their testing better by pooling key testing resources, developing templates for testing core applications, and producing detailed management reports on progress with testing projects. This ultimately improves software quality, makes better use of existing resources and therefore reduces costs – while automatically documenting the entire process for audit-ready purposes.

George Wilson, Operations Director for Original Software, says: “TestPLAN provides a practical and productive way to manage and control testing activities. It promotes efficiency, communication and structure, enabling the testing process to mature and gain from past knowledge and experience. Better organised testing means fewer errors and less effort in reaching higher quality for the business. This ultimately makes better use of a company’s resources, making it inevitable that time and money will be saved in the process.”

TestPLAN users can create a multi-layered framework for managing the testing process. Within this, the required tasks and activities can be structured and monitored, with test scripts, results, data documents, screenshots and much more accessible from within the plan. Users can even launch test scripts from TestPLAN Everything is stored centrally for multiple user access, and the plan is updated in real time as team members work on it, with each managing and updating their own tasks.

The latest release of TestPLAN includes a range of reporting facilities, to ensure that the testing manager can oversee and control the process from the top level with confidence. These include statistics on project performance, task and defect status analysis, project comparison reports and audit-ready project reporting for management and corporate compliance purposes. Reports are available in both tabular and graphical formats.

Continues Wilson: “With TestPLAN, a company can control and document its testing with confidence. This includes how an application was tested, what the test results were, how many defects were found, how they were dealt with etc – with the whole process being signed off by a dedicated ‘owner’ of the testing process.”

He concludes: “Not only is this a much more efficient approach, it means you can actually save money as you comply with corporate legislation.”

TestWEB offers powerful new browser testing capabilities

***Please note that, as of February 01 2006, all TestWEB technology has been integrated into a new product called TestDrive***

Original Software releases version 2.0 of its Web testing solution for IBM DB2, SQL Server and Oracle users

March, 24, 2004 – Original Software, established as the world’s leading provider of software testing solutions for the IBM iSeries, has released version 2.0 of its cross-platform Web testing solution TestWEB. The new version introduces better object property recognition, enhanced screen error recognition and faster record and playback technology – designed to make the process of browser screen capture and analysis faster and more detailed than ever before.

Corporate web site development continues to be driven by the pressure to deliver business advantage at the earliest opportunity. This usually means more functionality, which in turn increases a site’s technical complexity. But all too often, stretched development resources reduce ‘Web testing’ to no more than stress testing of Web-enabled applications, rather than the detailed and aggressive functional testing that is required. This puts system quality and stability at great risk of failure – and in front of a company’s largest and least forgiving audience. TestWEB has been conceived and developed to deliver powerful yet easy-to-use Web application testing, to encourage businesses to take Web testing more seriously, to make better use of the available testing resources and to limit corporate risk and exposure dramatically.

TestWEB is unique in its ability to work on a number of levels, from ‘traditional’ stand-alone PC-based browser testing, to complete testing of back-end server activity on the IBM iSeries. TestWEB is also compatible with IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and Access databases: this enables central storage of test scripts, data documentation and results on these platforms, making testing resources much more widely available.

Version 2.0 of TestWEB introduces a range of improvements to test process efficiency. Some of the highlights are:

* The use of ‘single-thread’ technology during script recording to make Web page analysis faster
* BusySense technology to make playback quicker and smoother
* Capture and display of *all* properties of objects or components on a Web page
* Enhanced screen error detection, so that objects on a Web page that have changed between script runs are picked up and highlighted.

All screen information is displayed in a new interface that combines content, properties and input reports with a graphic representation of the page.

In its most powerful configuration, on the IBM iSeries, TestWEB integrates with TestBench for iSeries, Original Software’s flagship testing suite. The TestBench interface means that all iSeries server activity associated with a web application is captured and analysed. This includes server process tracking, data protection and script storage, as well as tracking and analysis of all related database activity. This configuration makes TestWEB the only Web testing model to provide true end-to-end testing of complete e-business applications.

“The new release of TestWEB strengthens our competitive advantage over other Web testing solutions,” comments George Wilson, Operations Director for Original Software. “TestWEB is unique in terms of ability to both analyse objects and components at the visual layer and look ‘beneath the covers’ of a Web-enabled application.”

TestWEB also integrates with Original’s TestPLAN module, which combines test planning and management facilities with the ability to launch test scripts and view test results.

TestWEB version 2.0 is available immediately from Original Software. Pricing is based on a concurrent user model.

Self-healing scripts for GUI applications

TestGUI from Original Software offers browser scripts that can update themselves and analyses objects and components in Lotus Notes, Microsoft Access, Adobe PDFs and more

January, 26, 2004 – Original Software, creators of some of the world’s most widely-used and innovative software testing solutions, have announced their latest major technological breakthrough in the software testing arena – Self-Healing script technology for GUI applications. This new technology means that, for the first time, existing scripts for business-critical GUI applications can be run over updated versions of an application, correcting themselves as they go – and avoiding the need for tedious and time-consuming script maintenance.

‘Code-free’ testing
Development of core GUI applications is continually driven by the pressure to deliver business advantage and improve productivity at the earliest opportunity, and with fewer resources. This means that the testing of these critical applications is frequently reduced to no more than superficial end-user testing, instead of the detailed and aggressive functional testing that is actually required. This puts system quality, stability and sometimes security at great risk of failure.

TestGUI with Self-Healing scripts is designed to make such detailed and aggressive testing much more accessible with the resources a company has available. It is founded upon a ‘code-free’ approach to testing that eliminates the need to use a scripting language, but without compromising on the power and the level of penetration of the testing. This enables companies to make their core applications more robust than ever. But Self-Healing scripts takes this accessibility to a new level.

Self-Healing scripts
As GUI applications are so prone to ongoing changes and updates, manual maintenance of GUI scripts is probably the biggest pain facing testers. It is tedious, time-consuming, unproductive, and a primary reason why most test projects – and test tools – ultimately fail. Self-healing scripts in version 4.0 of TestGUI automates the process of script updating, through the use of an algorithm that can spot elements on a screen or in a script that have been added or removed – including entire screens. The user can then have these changes automatically incorporated into an updated version of the script, or choose to intervene in the updating and overwriting process according to preset criteria. Elements that have been moved on a screen are simply remapped to their new location (as long as their properties have not substantially changed).

Colin Armitage, CEO of Original Software, says: “Self-healing scripts have been available in some of our other testing products for some time now. To make this technology available in TestGUI has been a prime objective and is extremely valuable addition to GUI testing capability. We can already state with pride that TestGUI can test just about any GUI application ‘out-of-the-box’. Self-healing script technology directly addresses the biggest question posed by clients to testing tools vendors – how does your solution cope when our application changes? And of course, all this has been made available without users having to resort to using a scripting language.”

Support for Lotus Notes, Microsoft Access, Adobe PDFs and more
Along with Self-Healing Scripts, another significant development in TestGUI 4.0 is the ability to interrogate windowless applications such as Lotus Notes, Microsoft Access, Adobe PDFs etc. This is because TestGUI can automatically analyse components in any application that has implemented Microsoft Active Accessibility Standard.

TestGUI can also support: all standard Microsoft Visual Basic and C++ objects and controls; Seagull J Walk GUI panels; Cool:Plex objects and controls; Borland Delphi standard objects and controls; Microsoft .NET controls; Videosoft Flexgrid controls. Furthermore, TestGUI 4.0 enables users of the above languages to define their own customised object classes, to ensure that these are also captured and analysed.

TestGUI is also compatible with IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and Access databases. This enables central storage of test scripts, data documentation and results on these platforms, making testing resources much more widely available.

TestGUI version 4.0 with Self-Healing Scripts is available immediately from Original Software, with pricing calculated on a per-concurrent-user basis.