Creating test suites

You can create a test suite to group a collection of test cases for test execution purposes. You can associate new or existing test cases with the test suite.

1. In the main menu, click Construction > Create > Test Suite.

   The new test suite opens with a table of contents and an editor.

2. In the new test suite window, enter a name for the new test suite.
3. Select a test suite template from the list, if available.
4. If team areas are enabled for the project area, select a team area from the list.
   Note: You must explicitly enable team areas in Manage Project Properties.
5. Select an owner and a priority for the test suite.
6. Add a description of the test suite.
7. Complete the test suite Summary section or assign the Summary to another team member to complete.
8. Optional: To complete the test suite Summary yourself:
   1. Define categories.

      You can use categories to define a hierarchical organization of test plans, test cases, test suites, test scripts, and other test artifacts. You can also define subcategories and other category relationships. You can use the default categories that are provided or create your own. To define categories, click the Manage Test Suite Categories icon ().

   2. Type a number for the estimate of the work effort that the test suite represents, and select a time interval for the estimate.
      For example, if you type 1.5 in the Estimate field and select days for the interval, the estimate is represented as 1 day 4 hours.

      Later, you can open a test plan to view test execution status and see how closely the actual time spent matches the estimate.

   3. Assign a numerical value for the relative weight of the test suite.

      You can use weight as a means of tracking the relative difficulty or importance of the test suite. It is provided as a measurement of results not a measurement of time. There is flexibility in how you determine the weight value for the test suite, but for time measurements use the Estimate and Time Spent fields. The results of the test suite will include weight (points) calculated based on the success of the test cases included in the test suite. The points for a result can be adjusted to more accurately record the true outcome. Weight is used later on in one of the status bars that show execution progress in the test plan.

      The Calculate weight button is used to calculate the weight of the suite based on the test cases the test suite contains. After adding or removing test cases to the test suite, review the test suite weight and if necessary click the Calculate weight button to update the weight.

   4. Assign values to the custom attribute fields.

      If an administrator defined custom attributes for test suites, the attributes are displayed in the Attributes section of the Summary. The field values for custom attributes can be in the format of text, integer, or date. You can sort or filter your test suites using custom attributes in the same way that you use categories.

9. Optional: To assign completion of the Summary section, or any section of the test suite, to another team member, click Work Item: Create, and complete the fields in the form.
10. Optional: Click Manage Sections to add your own, customized test suite sections or to remove unrequired sections.
11. Complete the remaining test suite sections as needed:
    • Provide additional detail about the test suite in the Test Suite Design section.
    • Set up a formal review process for the test suite.
    • Define test suite preconditions and postconditions.
    • Define the expected test suite results.
    • Identify risks that are associated with the test suite.
    • Associate test cases with the test suite.
      Note: Select a test case and click Move Up () or Move Down () in the action menu to reorder the list of test cases as required.
    • Associate a test cell with the test suite by selecting the Select Test Cell icon () in the Test Cases section. This is only applicable to test suites containing automated test cases. Automated test cases contained within the suite run on the specified test cell.
    • Add execution variables to the test suite.
    • Generate or create test suite execution records for the test suite.
    • Attach related documents to the test suite.
12. Click Save.
13. At any point after you create the test suite, you can add it to one or more test plans.
14. Optional: Click the Duplicate icon ( ) to copy the test suite.
15. Optional: Click the Print View icon ( ) to display a printable version of the test suite.
16. Optional: Click the Set to Lock/Unlock icon () to lock or unlock the test suite. Depending on how your project is configured, you might be required to sign this action electronically by providing your password and a comment. When the test suite is locked, the editable fields are disabled for editing.
    Note: Permission to lock a test suite depends on your role-based permissions.

    To reverse the locking attribute, click the icon again.

17. Optional: Change the execution properties of a test case by selecting the test case and clicking the Edit icon () in the Test Script, Test Environment, or Execution Owner cells. To update the execution properties of multiple test cases, select the test cases and use the Change icon () in the column header.
18. To run test cases one after the other, select Run this suite in a sequence; to run the test cases concurrently, select Run this suite in parallel.
    Note: Most automated test adapters can run only one script at a time. If you select the same adapter for multiple test cases, the scripts on that adapter will run in sequence. For parallel execution, you must select a different adapter for each script.
19. For sequential mode only, choose any of these options:
    • Select Pass execution variables between scripts if your test scripts use execution variables and you must pass the values between scripts during execution.
    • Select Stop suite execution if any test does not pass to stop the suite execution if a test case does not pass.
20. Click Save to save the new test suite.
    Note: You cannot run a test suite until it is saved.
21. Proceed to running a test suite.