Workshop U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Rockville, Maryland Pacific Northwest National Laboratory November 15-17, 2005 Auto Testing

2 Development Time line Quality Expectation Software Development Testing Investment ($) Why Automate? Cost Drop While Expectations Rise Expectations in quality surpass investment in testing. Fast reproducibility of testing. System level tests need to be repeated as components are updated. Documentation needs to keep up with changes. Transfer testing experience to clients. Support demo/tutorial materials.

3 How Does Automation Fit into Quality Assurance? What is “Science-based Software” SBMS definition An application is the use of information resources to satisfy a specific set of user requirements. Application software is a discrete set of programs, modules, databases, and jobs that, combined, satisfy a business function or requirement. Databases Spreadsheet calculations Automation can repeat testing that is already required Automation can make testing transferable Clients Auditing New testing staff Product migrations

4 When Do You Need Automation? As soon as tests begin to repeat or multiply Mature system that has several small changes and small testing budgets assigned to those changes Version transition verification When testing needs to be delivered Accommodates iterative process of development

5 When Do You Start Automating? Concurrent code development and test plan development Testing can begin during code development Engaging coders DURING code focus on requirements definition Consider use software during developing

6 Why Use this Test Automation Tool/Approach? Language independent Backward compatibility Utilize scientific testers (i.e., does not require coding background) Keep documentation current Cost effective support available Tools are free

t.NewTestCase("Constituent Data","Add constituents into model"); t.Plan("Right Click Con Icon"); a.Send("{SPACE}{ENTER}u"); a.Sleep(t6); t.Plan("Type 'Chromium III'"); a.LeftClick(190,240+y); a.Send("chromium III"); a.Sleep(t1); t.Plan("Click Add"); a.Send("!s"); a.Sleep(t1); Automated HTML Documentation of Test Plan and Test Status Easy to Read/Write Automated Test Script Automated Keyboard and Mouse Commands