Upgrade from Rational TestManager to ClearQuest test management: Part 2: Getting there

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Level: Introductory

Chuck Berry (cberry2@us.ibm.com), Software Advisory Engineer, IBM Rational Software
Vinod Raghavan (raghavav@us.ibm.com), Staff Software Engineer, IBM Rational Software
Allan Tygert (atygert@us.ibm.com), Software Quality Engineer, IBM Rational Software
Sri Vytheswaran (svythesw@us.ibm.com), Software Engineer, IBM Rational Software
Brian Macdonald (bmacdona@us.ibm.com), Staff Quality Engineer, IBM Rational Software

12 Dec 2006

This article explains how to upgrade from IBM Rational TestManager to IBM Rational ClearQuest test management, focusing on executing test scripts, logging and reviewing test data, sharing test assets across different geographies, and reporting. It also shows the steps necessary to upgrade.

Part 1 of this two-part series, titled The Basics, focused on an overview of the IBM® Rational® ClearQuest® test management features, including assets, planning, and editing with this ClearQuest tool. This article discusses:

Executing test scripts: Different script types and execution parameters set at run time

Logging test data: Reviewing and storing execution log data

Sharing test assets with your team: How groups can share data across different geographies and control data using product integrations

Reporting through ClearQuest tools and migrating: The steps necessary to upgrade from IBM Rational TestManager to ClearQuest test management

Test execution

The ClearQuest test management feature supports various types of scripts that you can associate with a test case or a configured test case (CTC). The scripts can be any of these types:

• IBM® Rational® Functional Tester script
• IBM® Rational® Manual Tester script
• IBM® Rational® Performance Tester script
• Eclipse Test and Performance Tools Platform (TPTP) JUnit script
• TPTP manual test script
• TPTP URL test script

Define iterations

You must define iterations and builds prior to executing a CTC. To create an iteration:

1. Right-click Iterations, and then select New iterations.
2. This will display a dialog like the one that Figure 1 shows, where you can specify the iteration Name, Start date, and End date.

The iteration is created in the selected Asset Registry.

Define builds

You can define builds when you run the test, as Figure 2 shows, or you can them from the menu by selecting ClearQuest > Administration > Edit name.

Create configured test cases

ClearQuest test management can execute only configured test cases (CTCs). You need to configure test cases by using the Add configured test case option. If a test script is assigned to a test case, the CTC inherits the script from the parent test case when the CTC is created. To do this:

• Right-click the Test Case and select Add configured test case
• Add the configuration and click OK to save, as shown in Figure 3.

After you have created the CTC, you can associate test scripts with the CTC (as long as the test scripts are not already associated with a test case). ClearQuest test management can associate test scripts only from a defined file location. To create a file location:

3. Right-click the File Location folder and select New file location. A dialog window opens for you to specify the Asset Registry.
4. Select the check box in this dialog to display all Eclipse projects that have been connected.
5. To specify a non-Eclipse project location, clear this check box and manually specify a name and project log location on the next New File Location wizard (see Figure 4 and Figure 5).

After you have created the file locations, you can configure CTCs to use the test scripts from these locations to run them. To associate a test script with the CTC:

6. Right click the CTC and select Associate test script. This displays a dialog that lists all of the file locations and scripts, as Figure 6 shows.
7. Select the script in the Test Type window, using the arrow (the list shows all of the supported script types).

Note: You can select multiple CTCs, which is very important when you are associating the same script with different CTCs.

Run the CTC

When the test scripts are associated, the CTC is ready to execute. You can run the CTC in either of two ways.

1. Right click the CTC and select Execute. This runs the associated test script.
2. Or click Play (in the right corner of the pane). You must specify the iteration and build for the test case to execute, as shown in Figure 7.

ClearQuest test management allows you to execute multiple CTCs at one time by simply selecting multiple CTCs. The execution will be similar to executing a set of tests within a test suite.

Create a test suite

You can run multiple test cases from a test suite. To create a test suite:

1. Right-click the Test Suites folder and select New Test Suite.
2. This displays a dialog where you can enter the name of the test suite in the Headline field (see Figure 8).

3. Specify the configuration, as shown in Figure 9. The test suite accepts only the CTC that matches the configuration.

4. You can adjust the test execution order of the script on this screen.
5. After you have created the test suite you can modify it by right-clicking the name of the suite and selecting Modify.

Note: CTCs associated with the suite cannot be modified with the Modify option. To change the CTC inside of a suite, right-click the suite and select Configure. This option allows you to add or remove a CTC or to change the execution order, as Figure 10 shows.

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Log test results

This section explains how ClearQuest test management logging is different (and more useful) than Rational TestManager test logs.

After a configured test case runs, the result is displayed in the Test Results view, which shows Pass, Fail, Error, or Inconclusive results. After you have reviewed these results, you must commit the log to the database to create a record of that test log. When you have created that record, you can back-reference all the information from the log (such as associated script, script location, verdict, and defect), as shown in Figure 11.

Note: You can either run a test from another test tool and then manually create a test log, or import the TPTP execution log to store the result within ClearQuest test management. See Figure 12 for how to create a new log, and see Figure 13 for how to import a log.

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Import test results and submit defect reports

You can import test results and submit defect reports from those results from the same screen. From the Results view (Figure 14), you can open the log or the script by following these steps:

1. Right-click the log.
2. To open the test log using the TPTP viewer, select Open Log.
3. If you select Open Script, the script will open using the test tool.
4. You can also submit a defect (click Submit Defect) from the log result (Figure 15). This commits the log to the database and launches the defect reporting form, where you can submit the defect.

After you have submitted the defect to the database, you can see the association that the defect has with the CTC, the requirement, and the log.

Note: In Rational TestManager, the log is stored in the datastore running a test; whereas, in ClearQuest test management, the result is stored in the log location. The log is written to the database only when you choose to commit the result after reviewing it.

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How to share test assets with your team

When you use it with IBM® Rational® ClearQuest® MultiSite and IBM® Rational® ClearCase® MultiSite, ClearQuest test management allows geographically distributed teams to contribute to (and work from) the same test assets. As Part 1 of this series explains, the ClearQuest database contains the test management records, but test scripts are stored in IBM Rational ClearCase VOBs and referenced in ClearQuest test management File Locations views.

ClearQuest MultiSite takes care of replicating the ClearQuest database to multiple distributed company servers, but ClearCase MultiSite handles replicating test scripts within VOBs to distributed servers. Each tester, regardless of the site, creates a ClearCase view, and then creates a file location for each type of test script that is required (see the Test execution section near the beginning of this article for more information about creating file locations). Figure 16 shows this configuration.

After you have established the ClearCase view and file locations, you associate script, edit, and run tests the same way that you do if you are working from a single location.

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How ClearQuest test management handles reporting

Although there is a learning curve associated with reporting though ClearQuest, the upside is that ClearQuest reporting capabilities, including those of the test management feature, are much more powerful than Rational TestManager reports. If you have created any custom listing reports in the Rational TestManager tool, you're probably already familiar with Crystal Reports. ClearQuest also uses Crystal Reports as its reporting engine, so you're ahead of the curve already.

Each ClearQuest (and ClearQuest test management) report includes these three components:

• Report
• Query
• Template

ClearQuest creates the query, which you can use to set filters to find only the records that you need for a particular report. The template is the Crystal Reports component. It cintrols the layout of the report, including these aspects:

• Displayed fields
• How the fields are arranged, along with row and column header information
• How the data is grouped together
• Any calculations (for example, counts) to be performed on the returned data
• Visual displays of data (pie charts, bar charts, and so on)

If you have worked with Crystal Reports to create Rational TestManager reports, you'll be comfortable creating templates for ClearQuest reports. The added benefit of using Crystal Reports with ClearQuest is that you don't have to remember datastore includes which fields. In ClearQuest, everything is in one database rather than three, as in Rational TestManager.

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Highlights of the process of migration to ClearQuest test management

This section briefly mentions some of the limitations involved in migration, but doesn't dive into all of the details to actually do it.

So you say you've been using Rational TestManager for many years? You have integrations set up between Rational TestManager, Requisite Pro, and ClearQuest software? You have a myriad of manual test scripts associated with your test cases? And you're concerned that you'll lose everything and have to start over from scratch? Fear not, all is not lost!

We won't tell you that migration is a painless process, because it isn't. There are schema changes that you'll need to make and then apply to the user database. However, these are not insurmountable tasks. With a little preparation and forethought, you can soon have everyone thinking you're a ClearQuest test management whiz kid.

The main steps involved in the migration are these:

1. Establish a computer to use as the migration machine. This computer needs connectivity to the Rational TestManager project, the ClearQuest schema and user database, any associated RequisitePro projects, and locations of script sources (Rational Functional Tester, Rational Manual Tester, and so on) in Rational TestManager. Additionally, the latest versions of these IBM Rational products need to be installed on the migration machine. If any of the script sources are under ClearCase software, they will need to be installed on the migration machine.
2. Upgrade the ClearQuest schema, including applying ClearQuest test management-related packages (see the ClearQuest Version 7.0.0 Installation and Upgrade Guide.for details).
3. Establish required backward references in the schema (also covered in the ClearQuest Version 7.0.0 Installation and Upgrade Guide).
4. Upgrade the user database to the latest schema revision. For each RequisitePro requirement type in that you will use for ClearQuest integrations, create the test-related attributes (again, seethe ClearQuest Version 7.0.0 Installation and Upgrade Guide).
5. Run the ClearQuest-RequisitePro Integration wizard (right-click the project in Rational Administrator and select RequisitePro-ClearQuest Integration).
6. Import the existing, legacy Manual Test scripts from TestManager into Rational Manual Tester. Make sure to import them to a network location and to make note of the UNC path to that location. You will point the migration tool to this location during the migration process, the migrated test cases will be created with links to the imported Rational Manual Tester scripts, as if by magic.
7. Establish a network location where you can store external documents. One use for this area is to create text versions of test case designs from Rational TestManager. Links to these documents will be created in the test cases and CTCs during the migration process.
8. Determine how you want to control Rational TestManager users and groups in ClearQuest test management. By default, any Rational TestManager user or group not in the target ClearQuest database will be created during migration. This may be a good opportunity to deactivate users who no longer need access to the test data. User-group relationships within Rational TestManager are maintained in the migrated data in ClearQuest.
9. Run the migration tool, pointing to those network locations that you diligently wrote down.
10. Review the ClearQuest users and groups created by the migration process. You will probably need to adjust the privileges for some or all of them.
11. Retire your Rational TestManager datastore, and proceed with your testing in ClearQuest test management.

The main thing to remember about the migration tool is that it is not a synchronization tool. If you continue to do testing in Rational TestManager, as well as with ClearQuest test management, the two versions of the project (the ClearQuest test management and the Rational TestManager versions) will diverge, and you will most likely not be able to reconcile the differences between the two easily. The best advice is to stop using Rational TestManager when you start using ClearQuest test management.

Note: Although test cases migrate, some Rational TestManager assets do not. These include reports, test suites, test logs, and script types supported by Rational TestManager except for those supported by Rational Manual Tester or Rational Functional Tester. Anything that is not directly migrated is captured in a field called Legacy Data.

For more information on the mechanics of the migration process, read Part 5 of the ClearQuest Version 7.0.0 Installation and Upgrade Guide).

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Benefits of switching to ClearQuest test management

This article focused on the execution of scripts in ClearQuest test management and the associated setup and result tracking. ClearQuest test management is an integration of a group of products that, on their own, are useful test tools. Combining these products results in a common interface that can make your work easier at every stage, from test design to execution and, finally, to reporting.

Even though all Rational TestManager functionality is not yet incorporated into ClearQuest test management, a major portion of it is included. The pluses of ClearQuest test management far outweigh the current missing functionality. With ClearQuest test management, you get improved security, improved data integrity, multi-site capability, and many other benefits. The first step to realizing these benefits for Rational TestManager users is to migrate your Rational TestManager data, and start using ClearQuest test management.

Resources

• Find out more about the test management capabilities in IBM Rational ClearQuest: "Run and Analyze Software Tests with Rational ClearQuest Test Management" (developerWorks tutorial, October 2006).
  
  
• Find out more about TPTP: "Using TPTP Logging and Monitoring Tools" (EclipseCon, 2005) and "Using the Test and Performance Tools Platform" (EclipseCon, 2005).
  
  
• In the Rational Functional Tester resource area you'll find technical documentation, how-to articles, education, downloads, product information, and more.
  
  
• Browse the technology bookstore for books on these and other technical topics.
  
  

• Visit the Rational products' trial downloads area.
  
  

• Check out the Functional and GUI Testing Rational discussion forum.
  
  
• Check out developerWorks blogs and get involved in the developerWorks community.

About the authors

		The authors have many years of software testing experience and, while at SQA, Rational, and IBM, have tested the following products: IBM Rational Robot, LoadTest, SiteCheck, Test Factory, IBM Rational Quality Architect, IBM Rational TestManager, RobotJ, IBM Rational XDE Tester, IBM Rational Functional Tester and IBM Rational ClearQuest test management. They have worked for IBM in Lexington, Massachusetts, in the Automated Software Quality group for at least the past six years.

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