Run tests in change detection mode

Available for BPT Packaged Apps Kit Users

This section describes how to detect changes made to your packaged app by running business process tests and flows for the application in change detection mode, and how you can instruct BPT Packaged Apps Kit to make these modifications automatically.

Change detection and resolution overview

Change detection and resolution simplify component maintenance, thereby reducing the effort needed to invest in automated testing.

Change detection overview

BPT Packaged Apps Kit enables you to run business process tests and flows on a packaged app in Change Detection mode. This enables you to determine how the packaged app has changed since the business process test or flow was built, such as whether controls in the user interface were added, deleted, or changed.

Note: Only business components created using the Learn process can run in Change Detection mode.

Change resolution overview

When the test or flow run is finished, you can view the details of these changes in the Change Detection Report. This report provides an indication of the modifications you should make to your test or flow to make sure that it is up-to-date.

For each change detected by BPT Packaged Apps Kit, you can resolve the change in UFT One. For details, see the UFT One help.

For a list of supported changes and resolutions, see the UFT One help.

When changes to a component are detected while running a test or flow in Change Detection mode, Business Process Testing also checks if there are components similar to those containing the changes in other tests or flows in the project. Components are considered similar if they at least represent the same learned screen. If Business Process Testing finds similar components, it sends alerts to the tests and flows that are using the components. The alerts recommend that change detection be run for tests and flows containing those components.

Similar components can be reused. If the component in which a change was detected is a reused component, or the step in which the change was detected is within a reused component, you need to decide where to apply the change resolution. You can choose to apply the resolution to the original component, in which case all tests and flows using that component will be affected. You can alternatively choose to apply the resolution to a copy of the component, and use that copy in your flow instead of the reused component.

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Detect changes

You can detect changes to an individual flow, a business process test, or a test set.

  1. Prerequisites:

    BPT Packaged Apps Kit

    • Enable BPT Packaged Apps Kit

    • Access to BPT Packaged Apps Kit must be provided by your ALM Project Administrator using Project Customization.

    For details, see Configure Business Process Testing.

    UFT One

    UFT One must be installed with its SAP plug-in to use this feature.
    Permissions

    To detect changes in Change Detection mode, a user must belong to a user group that has permissions for the Run task, and permissions to modify tests and business components.

    For details on configuring user group permission settings, see Manage user groups and permissions.
    UFT One settings

    In UFT One, select Tools > Options and click the Run node. Ensure that the Allow other OpenText products to run tests and components check box is selected in the Run pane.

    Best practice

    When using BPT Packaged Apps Kit, it is best to work with only once instance of ALM open. Do not open multiple instances of ALM in multiple browsers or tabs.

  2. To detect changes, select the relevant test set from the tree in the Test Lab module.

  3. In the Test Lab Module, in the Execution Grid tab, click Run.

    The Automatic Runner dialog box is displayed.

  4. Run the flow or business process test.

    In the Automatic Runner dialog box, select the Detect Changes check box and the flow or business process test you want to run, and then click Run.

    Components in the flow that were not created using the Learn Flow process cannot be run in Change Detection mode.

    For task details on learning flows, see Learn business process tests and flows.

    For user interface details on the Automatic Runner dialog box and task details on running tests automatically, see Run tests automatically.

  5. View results.

    • If Business Process Testing finds similar components, it sends alerts to the tests and flows that are using the components.

    • A Change Detection Report is created. You can open the Change Detection Report screen from the Test Lab module.

      For task details on how to work with this report, see View and resolve detected changes.

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View and resolve detected changes

View and resolve changes detected in applications using the Change Detection Report screen in ALM.

Note: ALM does not support running a learned test of an SAP Fiori application. BPT Packaged Apps Kit SAP Fiori is in technical preview.

Change Detection Report overview

In the Change Detection Report, ALM displays a number of things:

  • Run results for the test or flow, for each component, and for each step in the test.

  • Changes in the application for each component

  • Screenshots of the different versions of the application

Considerations

Here are some considerations to keep in mind when resolving changes:

View from the Test Lab module only

If a business process test or flow was run in Change Detection mode, but no changes were detected, Update Changes is disabled. You can view the Change Detection Report screen from the Test Lab module only.
Test or flow with changes in one or more test sets

If a test or flow has changes detected for only one test set, the Change Detection Report screen opens directly. If the test or flow appears in more than one test set, but was already resolved and rerun from one test set, the last results open.
Resolve changes multiple times

It is not necessary to resolve detected changes in every component in the Change Detection Report at one time. You can open a saved report and update it multiple times. In a reopened report, components in which one or more changes were previously resolved are shown as read-only. However, the components in which changes were not resolved are active, and resolution options are displayed for selection.
Version control

Assuming no other user has checked out the component, a component in a version controlled project is checked out when a resolution option for a detected change in the component is executed in the Change Detection Report screen. The component is checked in again when the Change Detection Report screen is saved.
Read-only components in the report

Components in the Change Detection Report may be displayed as read-only for several reasons. For example:

  • Changes to the component were already resolved.

  • The component is duplicated in the flow or business process test, and changes in the duplicate were resolved.

  • The component is checked out.

  • The component was removed from the flow or business process test.

  • The component was changed outside of the Change Detection Report (for example, in UFT One).

  • A new report was run and the component is not up to date.

To view and resolve changes:

  1. Prerequisites:

    • To resolve changes, a user must belong to a user group that has permissions for the Modify Test and the Modify Component tasks. For details, see  . 

    • Make sure UFT One version 12.50 or later is installed on the same machine.

  2. Open the Change Detection Report screen.

    1. In the Test Sets Tree, select the test set containing the test for which you want to open the Change Detection Report screen.

    2. Click the Execution Grid tab.

    3. In the Execution Grid tab, select the test for which you want to open the Change Detection Report screen.

      Note: Business process tests or flows whose last run was in Change Detection mode are indicated with a Y in the Change Detection column. Business process tests and flows that were run in Change Detection mode, and whose changes are unresolved, are indicated with a delta symbol   in the lower right corner of the business process test icon or flow icon. A business process test or flow indicates unresolved changes if it contains any flows or components with unresolved changes. Business process tests and flows whose changes were resolved will have the delta symbol removed from their icon in the Test Plan and Test Lab modules. A business process test or flow will change its status only when all its flows or components have had their changes resolved.

    4. In the Last Run Results pane, in the Status column, click the link for the business process test.

  3. Update the changed components and steps.

    Using the report, you can update your components and steps automatically:

    1. In the component tree, select the component for which you want to resolve changes.

      You can see which components in which you need to resolve changes with an exclamation icon in the Changes column of the components tree.

      Tip: If you want to see only the components needing changes, in the Changes column, click the down arrow and select the Open Changes radio button.

    2. In the right pane, view the details about the needed changes.

    3. If you want to accept the proposed changes, in the lower right corner of the pane, click the Apply Changes button. ALM applies the changes as suggested.

      In addition, the selected component's report row is updated to show that you have resolved the changes.

      If steps in your component require updates due the application change, ALM also updates the Change Detection Report.

    4. In the right pane, select the check boxes for the steps that require an update.

    5. In the lower right corner of the pane, click Update Steps. ALM automatically updates the steps in your components in the background.

      Note: If you want to apply the changes in the components for the current test only, you should clear the Update changes will affect only current test check box. If you do not clear this option, the changes to the components are applied to all tests containing these components.

  4. Save the changes.

    After you have updated all the necessary components, in the lower right corner of the Change Detection report, click Save.

    Note: After saving changes to a business component, the report becomes read-only for that component.

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Example

Suppose you are testing a screen for inputting contact information for new customers. The screen contains the fields Name, Address, and Phone Number.

You create a test that verifies that information entered in these fields is correctly added to your customer database. Suppose you now add an E-mail Address field to the screen.

If you run your test in regular mode, the test may pass and you may not notice that there is an additional field that should be tested. However, if you run the test in Change Detection mode, BPT Packaged Apps Kit notices that the field was added to the screen and suggests adding a step to the component corresponding to the new field. You can then run an updated version of the business process test or flow that includes verification of the additional field.

Similarly, if a field was removed from the screen, BPT Packaged Apps Kit notices that the field was removed, even if no step in the component corresponds to the field. The Change Detection Report suggests updating the component to the changed screen.

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