About the Customer
Industry: Industry Specific
Test data management is a process of creating realistic test data for other than production environment such as development, QA, UAT or training environment.
Managing required test data effectively and efficiently. Also ensuring test data compliance with regulatory and organizational standards.
Having Test environment and complex test cases are not enough. It is a challenge in Testing that it needs accurate and complete test data – especially in this era of agile which brings business benefits, but also mandates need for continuous testing. It should be ensured that test data set is of necessary quality level.
Key Challenges
In some scenarios, there is high impact on quality if an end to end data is not synchronized.
- Test Coverage: If the test data is inadequately designed then such test inputs are not covered the all possible test scenarios, which impact the quality of the software application under test
- Impact on Quality: If test data is inadequate then all test scenario is not covered which will hamper the quality of software application
- Re-usable Test Data: Sometimes it’s not possible to create the completely new set of test data for each and every build.
- Maintenance: To check redundancy for a set of Test data is a very tedious and time-consuming job and identify redundant test data and remove it from repository
- Duplicate efforts: Chances of Test data duplication by individual Tester for their own application
- Type and Size: Numerous type of Test data with various possible file formats Audio, Video, images with different file formats like .jpg, .png, .mov, .gif, .avi, .mpg , .flv, .wma. Different size of test data varied from few KB to GB
Our Solution
It is very difficult to design Test data in era of Agile or during continuous testing. To overcome this, we have defined different approach to managing test data.
- Coverage: Prepare test data based on the Test scenario and categorized accordingly for complete test coverage
- Test Data Generation Tools: Identify tool which will be used to generate test data automatically in bulk as per defined data type in different formats like excel, csv, SQL, XML etc
- Map with the Business requirement: Map your set test data with specific Test scenarios which help test team during execution
- Centralized repository: Create repository of generalized test data which is commonly used amongst all applications
- Accurate Test data: It should be accurate so that business requirement becomes testable for defined test cases
- Categorized Test Data: It should be categorized so that it can be utilized in any project e.g. No data, Invalid data, Valid data, Illegal format, Boundary condition, equivalence partition, Decision table, Data set for
- Test Data Version Control: When there is a test data request from the client, it is necessary to do version control of test data when test data is modified. It can be shared with the client that application was tested with which specific version of test data
Tools and Technologies
Implementation
We have been preparing and managing Test data based on Project type/size/requirements as follows:
- Support and Maintenance Project: Production data dump is utilized into Test environment which helps to check the business scenarios with more realistic data with fewer efforts
- Small size or the small amount of test data: Custom field is created in Test link tool (Test case management) called “Test Data” where test data values can be defined with specific Test scenario. In this case, Test data is mapped with the scenario which will be helpful to the testing team at the time of execution as Test Data is readily available. So, no need to put efforts at the time of execution as it is taken care in Test Design phase of STLC
- Manual Test Data: Generalized template is identified for creating Test data manually and then it can be attached to a specific scenario/Test Case in Test link tool
- A Large amount of test data: “GeneratData” tool is used which helps us to generate data automatically. This tool provides data in different file formats like excel, csv, text, SQL, XML which can be used as per project requirements. The tool creates bulk data which reduces manual efforts
- Generalized Test data: Centralized Test Data Repository is created from where a team can reuse those test data. Those generalize test data includes different type and size of images which used for upload functionality, set of test data combinations which helps a team to cover all the aspects of test data like No data, Invalid data, Valid data, Illegal format, Boundary value, Equivalence partition
- Appropriate to the Environment: Keep in mind while identifying test data that on which environment it will be used for testing. It is not always advisable that we have test data same as the production environment, it should be clear that we are testing in the test environment and not in production so test data should be chosen accordingly
Outcome
Test data plays an important role while executing test cases. Designing of proper test data is the main part of the application test environment so that realistic test data is used to test application for better customer satisfaction. Complete test data set makes testing easier and faster the tester. Well-designed test data allows you to identify serious flaws in the functionality of an application. Test Data is an asset to the Testing Team for effective and efficient utilization of manual efforts.
