IBM® Rational® Manual Tester (RMT in file or path names) is an Eclipse-based application that provides test case-related functions for manual testing. It is also well integrated with IBM® Rational® ClearQuest® test management features for test case management. Testers can use it to design manual test cases, associate test cases with Rational ClearQuest test plans, run those test cases, and report results, including any unresolved defects.
About Rational Quality Manager
IBM® Rational® Quality Manager (use RQM for short) is a collaborative, Web-based, comprehensive test planning and management tool based on the Jazz® platform. It is designed to be used by test teams to define the comprehensive test plan, construct and run the tests, reuse test cases and test scripts, exhibit test reports, and assist in test analysis and laboratory management. This single solution can replace IBM® Rational® Manual Tester, Rational ClearQuest test management features, and IBM® Rational® TestManager.
Rational Manual Tester functional coverage on Rational Quality Manager
Rational Manual Tester includes a test script design feature. The test script is stored as an .rmt file that shows the defined steps. There are four kinds of steps: normal steps, verification points, report points, and group (one group can include several steps).
Figure 1 shows an example of a Rational Manual Tester test script.
Figure 1. Rational Manual Tester test script
Rational Quality Manager almost the same design functions as Rational Manual Tester, except for these differences:
- Rational Quality Manager does not support group as a step type as Rational Quality Manager does.
- Rational Quality Manager does not use
.rmtfile to store test script, either.
Figure 2 shows a Rational Quality Manager test script as a comparison.
Figure 2. Rational Quality Manager test script
Preparation for migration process
Prepare Rational Manual Tester test scripts
Figure 3 shows three test scripts in <RMT_Home>\SampleScripts:
TutorialCreate.rmtTutorialReuse.rmtTutorialUpdate.rmt
For this article, we use these three files to create a sample Rational Manual Tester project to show migration from that project, as well as to show migration directly from files.
Figure 3. Rational Manual Tester files for migration
Prepare the Rational Manual Tester project
Rational Manual Tester project is used to organize test scripts, test logs, or other resources. When you use the RMT2RQM migration tool to choose files from a Rational Manual Tester project for migration, you need a project to show the process.
Follow these steps to create a project:
- In Rational Manual Tester, select File > New > Project to open the "Create New Project" window.
- In the "Create New Project" window (Figure 4), provide this information:
- Directory: Browse to the storage location for the project, Rational Manual Tester will create project under this folder.
- Project Name: Type the name of your project.
- Check Add Existing Files into Project?" to open another window so that you can add Rational Manual Tester files to the new project.
- Click Next to continue to the next window, "Create New Project – Add Files to New Project." In that window, select Add Files.
- In the "Select Files to Add" panel, navigate to this folder:
<RMT_Home>\SampleScripts ("D:\Program Files\IBM\RMT70\SampleScripts. - Choose these three files, and then click Open to confirm the selection.
- When you see those three files listed in the "Create New Project – Add Files to New Project" view, click Finished to create the project.
- The new project will be added to the Project Explorer in Rational Manual tester.
For this exercise, you will migrate the newly created project to Rational Quality Manager.
Figure 4. Rational Manual Tester project for Migration
Prepare a Rational Quality Manager project
A Rational Quality Manager project is used to organize testing-related resources, such as the test plan, test cases, test scripts, defect reports, requirements information, and so forth. In this section, you will create a Rational Quality Manager project as a migration destination:
- Log on to the Rational Quality Manager console and select Admin > Jazz Project Administration to open the Rational Quality Manager project management view (see Figure 5).
- Select Create Project Area to open new project page.
- In the Active Project Area field, type the name of your project (in this example:
MigrationPrj). This is the only field that you must fill. - Click Save to create the project.
Figure 5. Rational Quality Manager project
Option A. Use the migration tool
- The migration installation package
RMTMigration.zipfile is stored in<RQM_Home>\migration. Copy it toc:\temp. - Extract the zipped file under
c:\temp\RMTMigration. - Open a Microsoft® Windows® command window and change to this folder:
c:\temp\RMTMigration\rmt2rqm. - Run
install_tool.batto install the migration tool (see Figure 6).
Figure 6. Steps to install the migration tool
Verify the installation of the migration tool
- The migration tool will be installed, and an
rmt2rqm.batfile, such asD:\Program Files\IBM\RMT70,will be added under<RMT_Home>. - Double-click the file rmt2rqm.bat file to launch the RMT to RQM Migration tool (RMT2RQM) so that you can start the migration (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Steps to verify the installation
Run the RMT2RQM migration tool to start the migration
- Double-click <RMT_Home>\rmt2rqm.bat to launch the migration tool.
- Add the Rational Quality Manager server information in the Migration Info Page view (see Figure 8).
- RQM Server: The host name of Rational Quality Manager server, "localhost" if the Rational Quality Manager server and Rational Manual Tester migration tool is installed in the same machine;
- Port: Rational Quality Manager Web service port, The default value is given at the opening of this panel. Often 9443.
- User Name/Password: Rational Quality Manager user name and password, as a testing, ADMIN is used here;
- Check box for "Make me the owner of the migrated assets": If the box is checked, the "User Name" field defines the owner of the migrated test scripts. Otherwise, migrated test scripts will not be assigned an owner and they will need to be assigned in the Rational Quality Manager console.
- Click Next to connect to the Rational Quality Manager server, and navigate to the next window: Migration Options.
- In the Migration Options view, set these properties:
- Rational Manual Tester Migration Type: "Migration Non-Project Assets" or "Migrate Project Assets."
- You can define a project in Rational Manual Tester and add
.rmtfiles it for management. - When "Migrate Project Assets" is checked, the migration tool can list all
.rmtfiles defined for projects as choices for migration. - When "Migrate Non-Project Assets" is checked, the migration tool can let you choose
.rmtfiles from any folder for migration.
- You can define a project in Rational Manual Tester and add
- Check the box for Convert Group Statements to Steps.
- In Rational Manual Tester, as a special testing step type, "Group" is used to quote a series of testing steps so as to make the testing description much like a programming code in order to make things clearer for readers, those steps quoted by the "Group" can be verification points, report points, normal steps, or sub-groups. However, Rational Quality Manager does not support Group as a testing step type. Therefore, there are two choices we can choose:
- The first one is convert the "group" and "steps" quoted by it into a large one step, please uncheck "Convert Group Statements to Steps" to tell the migration tool of this choice.
- The second one is convert the "group" and ""steps" quoted by it into multiple separated steps, please check "Convert Group Statements to Steps" to tell the migration tool of this choice.
- Please refer to Figure 12 for a comparison of the check boxes.
- Select Rational Quality Manager Project Area. The migration tool lists all projects defined in Rational Quality Manager for you to choose from. For this example, select MigrationPrj, as defined previously.
- Click Next to continue.
- Rational Manual Tester Migration Type: "Migration Non-Project Assets" or "Migrate Project Assets."
Figure 8. Steps when using the migration tool
- There are two different sources of Rational Manual Tester files for migration: Non-Project Assets and Project Assets.
Non-Project Assets. If you select Migrate Non-project Asset, the migration tool provides a panel where you can select files (Figure 9). You can then add .rmt files to the migration by following these steps:
- Click Add Files to open the Select Files to Add window where you can choose files.
- Navigate to the folder where you have stored the Rational Manual Tester files that you want to migrate (example:
<RMT_Home>\SampleScripts), and choose any number of files. - Then click Open to confirm the selection and return to the Migrate Assets page.
- Click Next to continue the migration.
Figure 9. Non-Project Assets (choose files from the file location)
Project Assets. If you select Migrate Project Asset, the migration tool will provide a project selection panel (Figure 10). You can include Rational Manual Tester project files in the migration by following these steps:
- Click Add Project to open the "Select Project to Add" view to choose a project.
- In the "Select Project to Add" window, expand folders and locate where the Rational Manual Tester project that you want to migrate is stored. For example, we created a new project under
c:\temp\namedRmtPrjMigrationSrc, so click c:\temp\ RmtPrjMigrationSrc and then click OK to confirm the selection and return to the Migrate Project page. - Rational Manual Tester files under the selected project will then listed in the panel. If there are files that you do not want to include in the migration, choose those files and use Remove to delete them from the list.
- Click Next to continue the migration.
Figure 10. How to choose files from Project Assets
- In the next window, click Finish to start the migration. When the progress panel shows that the migration is finished, the migration report will show; just check it and then close it.
You have finished the migration.
- Check the number and title:
- Log on to Rational Quality Manager (Figure 11).
- Open the MigrationPrj project.
- Click Construction in the left panel, and then click View test scripts to check how many test scripts have migrated into it and what the test script IDs are. (The number should be correct, and the title for every test script should be correct.)
Figure 11. Check the migrated test scripts
- Check the contents of the test scripts:
- Open the TutorialCreate tab to check the scripts (Figure 12).
- There is a comparison of the Rational Manual Tester source and migrated Rational Quality Manager test scripts.
- When "Convert Group Statements to Steps" is checked or unchecked, the migrated result is different.
- Top picture, the test script source. A group is included and will be converted into different steps according to Group Conversion Type.
- Bottom-left picture.Checked means to convert group line and any other inner lines into separate steps.
- Bottom-right picture.Unchecked means to combine the group line and all of its inner lines into one step.
Figure 12. Test script contents and Group conversion comparison
Option B. Export from Rational Manual Tester, import into Rational Quality Manager
Rational Quality Manager provides batch import toolkits to import the sample data by batch. These toolkits can be used as an alternative method for RMT2RQM migration.
In this method, you export the Rational Manual Tester files as XML files by using the Rational Manual Tester export function. Then you need to update those XML files to match the format requirement of Rational Quality Manager Importer. After that, you use the import toolkits to import those XML files into your Rational Quality Manager project.
Sample data and batch import toolkits introduction
The Rational Quality Manager sample data files are stored under <RQM_home>\samples\classics in XML format. These files, such as Classics_TP.xml, are the resources predefined as sample data, and they can be imported into Rational Quality Manager. The batch file named install_samples.bat is used to import XML files into Rational Quality Manager (install_samples.sh is for the Linux® operating system). In these batch files, the import toolkits are used to import XML files into Rational Quality Manager. See Figure 13 for the sample files provided by Rational Quality Manager.
The Rational Quality Manager import toolkits are installed under RQM_home\tools\import (Figure 14).
Figure 13. Sample data files in Rational Quality Manager
Figure 14. Rational Quality Manager import toolkits
Export XML file from Rational Manual Tester
- From the Rational Manual Tester menu, select File > Export Test Assets to open the Export window (Figure 15).
- In the "Manual Tester Export" view:
- Click Add" to add files to be exported.
- Choose a destination folder where you want to store the exported XML files.
- Click Finish to export the selected files into XML files.
Figure 15. Steps to export Rational Manual Tester files to XML files
Update exported XML files to match the importer format requirement
Figure 16 shows a sample of a simple test script that matches the format required for the Rational Quality Manager importer tool. Every element in this sample is mandatory for the importer. Therefore, you need to change the differences in the exported Rational Manual Tester files.
Figure 16. Sample XML for the Rational Quality Manager importer
Difference between exported scripts and the ample XML for the importer
There are a few differences between the Rational Manual Tester exported XML files and the format for the Rational Quality Manager importer.
- The XML namespace attribute (xmlns) has not been defined in the Rational Manual Tester exported XML file.
- "Type" is used to define a step rather than "type."
- "Group" is defined in Rational Manual Tester exported XML but not supported by the Rational Quality Manager importer.
- Every step is tagged by the first
Type='Group'(Root Group) rather than using<steps>.
You must fix those differences before import the files into Rational Quality Manager.
Figure 17. Exported XML from Rational Manual Tester
Change exported scripts to match the format of the importer
- Add
xmlns=http://jazz.net/xmlns/alm/qm/v0.1/in the<testscript>tag. - Delete the first "Group" (it is the root Group).
- Find the first line that starts with
<step>. - Keep the line that includes the
<title>tag. - Delete any line until you find another
<step>tag.
- Find the first line that starts with
As Figure 18 shows, delete the lines marked with gray.
Figure 18. Erase First Group
- Change every other "groups" and those "steps" quoted by the group into multiple-separated steps to avoid the group and its steps being translated into one single large step by the importer:
- Change
Type="group"intoType="simple"(see Figure 19). - Insert a
"</step>" tag ahead ofthe first "<step>" tag inside the group(it has now been changed to "simple" already in step A). - Delete any
</step>line that is followed by another</step>tag.
- Change
Note:
A and B is used to destroy the start tag of a group and change the group description into one step description; C is used to destroy the end tag of a group;
If you do not make these changes, any statement quoted with "group" will be converted into a single, normal step.
Figure 19. Replace "group" with "simple"
- And
<steps>above the first<step>tag and</steps>below the last</step>tag. - Replace any
"Type"with"type".
Other comments:
type="sample", normal steps
type="vp", verification points
type="rp", report points
Use the Rational Quality Manager importer to import one script
Code Listing 1 shows the command format.
Listing 1. Command for import action
"<RQM_Home> \tools\import\import.bat" /S "<RQM_Host:port> " /U <UserName> /P <Password> /A <RQM_Project_as_destination> /T testscript /F <xml_file_to_be_imported> /N <New_TestCaseID_in_RQM> |
- <RQM_Home>: Rational Quality Manager installation path, such as
D:\Program Files\IBM\RQM - <RQM_Host:port>: Rational Quality Manager host name and port, such as
https://localhost:9443 - <UserName>: Rational Quality Manager console user name, such as
ADMIN - <Password>: Password for
<UserName> - <RQM_Project_as_destination>: Project in Rational Quality Manager, must be defined previous of the importing, such as MigrationPrj
- <xml_file_to_be_imported>: Files prepared for the import action, such as
C:\temp\export_Migration\TutorialCreateScript.xml(the file must match the format required by importer) - <New_TestCaseID_in_RQM>: This ID is not mandatory, but it is needed if a test case is imported using the Rational Quality Manager importer and the importer associates this test script with the test case. For example, it is needed if you want to create a relationship between a test case and test script by using Rational Quality Manager importer when you import them. The value can be 1, 2, or any string, such as the file name.
Listing 2 shows an example of a command.
Listing 2. Example command with full parameters
"D:\Program Files\IBM\RQM\tools\import\import.bat" /S "https://localhost:9443/" /U ADMIN /P ADMIN /A MigrationPrj /T testscript /F "C:\temp\export_Migration\TutorialCreateScript.xml" /N "TutorialCreateScript.xml " |
Open the test script in Rational Quality Manager (Figure 20) to check these field values:
- Title in XML is the test script title in Rational Quality Manager
- Step in XML will be one line in Rational Quality Manager (the description of the step in XML is mandatory, because it is the step description in Rational Quality Manager)
Figure 20. Check the import result
Benefits and limitations of these two methods
As described in the previous sections, the two methods of migration from Rational Manual Tester to Rational Quality Manager are significantly different. Table 1 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages and offers suggestions based on our experience.
Table 1. Benefits and limitations summary
| Migration tool | Export and then import | |
|---|---|---|
| Advantage | Strongly supported by Rational Quality Manager migration plug-in. Function of this tool is very strong and stable, as well as easy to use it. | We can still do the migration if we cannot access Rational Quality Manager from Rational Manual Tester side. We can have another solution to create a test script outside of Rational Quality Manager without support from Rational Manual Tester. |
| Disadvantage | Cannot support special needs. For example: No network access to Rational Quality Manager. | This method is based on the Rational Quality Manager Version 1.1 Sample, but it is not a formal, published migration method. This means that Rational Quality Manager might not provide the import toolkits in the future or the toolkits might be changed. You need to update the exported XML files to match the format requirement by the Rational Quality Manager importer |
| Comments | It is best to use this method to migrate Rational Manual Tester assets to Rational Quality Manager. If there is any special requirement, you can then use the other method as an alternative or additional solution. | It is best to use this only when there are not many resources in your project or when you want to change a script before doing the migration. When there is no connection access to Rational Quality Manager, you could get an XML file package and then use this method for the migration. |
Learn
- Useful information that is related to this article:
- Check the Rational Quality Manager page on IBM® developerWorks® for links to product documentation, articles, tutorials, courses, downloads, and other useful areas.
- Explore the Rational Quality Manager Information Center for technical details.
- For tips, read these developerWorks articles by Michael Kelly:
- Getting started with IBM Rational Quality Manager (December 2008)
- For Managing your first project with IBM Rational Quality Manager (October 2008)
- Browse the IBM Quality Management page to learn more about what is available.
- Learn about other applications in the IBM Rational Software Delivery Platform, including collaboration tools for parallel development and geographically dispersed teams, plus specialized software for architecture management, asset management, change and release management, integrated requirements management, process and portfolio management, and quality management.
- Visit the Rational software area on developerWorks for technical resources and best practices for Rational Software Delivery Platform products.
- Explore Rational computer-based, Web-based, and instructor-led online courses. Hone your skills and learn more about Rational tools with these courses, which range from introductory to advanced. The courses on this catalog are available for purchase through computer-based training or Web-based training. Additionally, some "Getting Started" courses are available free of charge.
- Subscribe to the IBM developerWorks newsletter, a weekly update on the best of developerWorks tutorials, articles, downloads, community activities, webcasts and events.
- Browse the technology bookstore for books on these and other technical topics.
Get products and technologies
- Download the free trial version of Rational Quality Manager.
- Download these IBM product evaluation versions and get your hands on application development tools and middleware products from Rational®, DB2®, Lotus®, Tivoli®, and WebSphere®.
Discuss
- Join the Rational Quality Manager forum, which also includes discussions about Rational Test Lab Manager.
- Check the Rational TestManager forum on developerWorks.
- Check out developerWorks blogs and get involved in the developerWorks community.

Lv Yang Qing is a staff software engineer who joined IBM China Development Lab in 2006 and now works there in SAAS MBPS in solution technology Level 2 support. He has more than 10 years of working experience as a software developer and tester in various fields, including banking, retail, and telecommunications. He is familiar with Rational testing products and has had one previous article by IBM developerWorks, China.







