The material in this contribution consists of templates and samples of those templates in use to help in defining tests and providing a workplan for test execution for applications.  This material (the test scripts) can be used to generate specific test cases, or as a specification for automated testing.

For the purpose of this contribution we define the following hierarchy of documentation that should be provided to define testing:

Testing approach and strategy (To be added to this entry) – a high level document describing the testing approach, what testing will be conducted and what will not be conducted (e.g., functional testing may not include performance testing) and how the QA team will report issues, work with the development and user communities.

Test Work Plan (included)– this is embodied in the attached Test Planning Spreadsheet TEMPLATE.xls and acts as a workplan for a test cycle as well as a primary communication vehicle between development and QA.

Test Scripts (included) – The detailed scripts to be followed in testing each piece of application functionality

Test Cases (not included) – Test cases are needed for extensive user testing of critical business applications.  A test case has specific values for the test and specific expected results – e.g. a new order with customer X for items a,b,c should result in a total order amount.  Some testing does not require this level of detail.  It is important tune the level of detail for testing to a practical and usable level.  Test cases are also needed for automated testing tools.  Test scripts can be used as a guide to developing meaningful test cases.

Issue/Defect Tracking Some tool is needed for tracking bugs that are discovered.  For small projects, a spreadsheet might work fine and a link is provided to a template spreadsheet in this database.  Larger projects should use a more robust issue tracking tool.  These tools are not addressed in this entry.