Using XML for Test Case Definition, Storage and Presentation

Michael E. Ensminger (MEE)
Software Quality Assurance (SQA)

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Prepared for and presented at The 2002 Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference on October 16, 2002.

Abstract

The current interest in web services fuels the rise of XML as a popular technology. The advantages provided by XML in application development and enabling application integration apply equally to supporting the test effort. This paper provides a short overview of XML and related technologies, and an example of the application of these technologies to test management. A simple test case DTD and example XML document is developed. This XML is then transformed into an HTML page via an XSL stylesheet. These simple examples demonstrate the power of this approach and also identify some of the issues that are encountered during implementation. Building on the simple example, a more complex (and realistic) definition of test suite XML is developed using XML schema. Finally, some additional XML documents and their uses in a test management system are discussed.

Paper (pdf)
Slides (ppt)

Examples

XML / XSL Basics
Example XML	Example DTD	Example XSL	Example Rendered XSL
	Example Schema

How to Store XML
Apply Stylesheet to XML syntax	Simple Database Schema

Simple Test Case XML / XSL
Example A XML	Test Case DTD	Test Case XSL	Example A Rendered XSL
Example B XML	Test Case Schema		Example B Rendered XSL

Full Featured Test Suite XML / XSL
Example XML	Test Suite Schema	Test Suite XSL	Example Rendered XSL

Other Uses for XML - Test Execution Results
Sample Result XML		Full Detail XSL	Full Detail Rendered XSL
		Summary XSL	Summary Rendered XSL
		Bugs Entered XSL	Bugs Entered Rendered XSL
		Failed Test Cases XSL	Failed Test Cases Rendered XSL

Other Uses for XML - SQL Transformation
Example A XML		Insert SQL XSL	Example A Rendered XSL
Example B XML			Example B Rendered XSL
		Update SQL XSL	Example A Rendered XSL
			Example B Rendered XSL