Managing the Testing Process: Practical Tools and Techniques for Managing Hardware and Software Testing

5.3. Putting the Test Tracking System in Motion

To illustrate how the test tracking spreadsheet can work for you, this section presents three short case studies, using the DataRocket information shown earlier. In all scenarios, assume that you are about halfway through the scheduled system test phase. The first two scenarios represent test projects in some amount of trouble, one with a minor problem, and the other in serious difficulty. The third scenario describes a successful project.

Figure 5.8. Tracking test coverage.

5.3.1. Little Trouble

It's July 16. Life is pretty good on the test project. All the systems showed up on time— a small miracle—and you have yet to run into any major bugs. You sent the systems out to an external test lab named System Cookers, and most of the environmental tests finished almost a week early; this was a major stroke of luck since these tests were considered the most risky. Nevertheless, you do have a few problems, as your current test case and suite summary worksheets (shown in Figure 5.9 and Figure 5.10) indicate.

First, and worst, the standards testing is taking longer than planned. Hitesh, the test engineer in charge, is deluged with other systems in the lab and probably won't wrap up that work for a few more days. This isn't a big deal—assuming that all the tests pass. Given the difficulty of predicting that, however, you're a little nervous. ...