Test Design Overview

After you add a test to the test plan tree, you build the test by defining design steps. For details, see How to Design Test Steps.

After you define the test steps, decide whether to perform the test manually or to automate it.

For manual tests you define steps, execute them on your application, and record the results of each step. Use manual tests in cases where the test requires a response by the tester, for usability tests, onetime tests, tests that need to be run immediately, tests requiring knowledge of the application, and tests without predictable results.

For example, in the flight reservation application, tests that check if a dialog box is user-friendly require user response. Therefore, you should make these tests manual.

For automated tests, the testing expert can use the design steps as the basis for creating the detailed test script. Automated tests require that you create automated test scripts using Micro Focus testing tools, or third-party testing tools. For details on automating tests, see Test Automation.

As part of test design, you can include a call to another manual test. When you run the calling test, it includes the steps from the called test. This is useful if you have common steps you often want to perform as part of other tests.

For example, suppose you want to include a login step in a number of different tests. You can create a test Login_Template that logs in a user when you start your application. You can call this test at the beginning of each test.

Called tests can include test parameters. These are useful if you want to run the called test with different data according to the type of test that is calling it. For details on using parameters in manual tests, see Test Parameters Overview.

For task details, see How to Design Test Steps.