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Many businesses need to pay more attention to test data management when developing application development processes, even though this would increase test automation efficiency and application quality.
Even when making efforts toward smooth test automation and quality enhancement, many still overlook testing data management procedures used during quality assurance (QA), which could reduce return on Investment for their QA procedures if appropriate data management strategies and technologies weren't in place - many company technology leaders being unaware of proper procedures when it comes to software testing, making test data management even harder in environments with many technologies in use.
Why Is Test Data Management Necessary, And What Does It Mean?
Test data management in software testing projects involves efficiently overseeing test data to ensure all test scenarios have access to it when needed, using methods like automated end-to-end testing to provide a smooth experience and provide test scenarios with access to suitable testing material in their optimal format and volume requirements.
Test data management is also often implemented during operations related to end-to-end automated testing processes.
Test data must meet specific essential criteria before being utilized for any testing exercise, including quality, availability, timeliness of access, and compliance with legal or policy frameworks that regulate its usage.
Delivering an uninterrupted client experience across digital touchpoints is becoming ever more critical as more businesses rely on digital channels as primary avenues for conducting their businesses.
Therefore, rigorous QA checks must be carried out to confirm this assurance provided by applications; companies must verify every workflow and feature used; it must simulate actual operation conditions for applications; realistic test data must cover many testing domains with plenty of coverage in modern enterprise application development projects requiring strong test data management as a result.
Read More: Automated vs.
Manual Testing: Which Saves You More Time and Money?
Best Practices For Managing Test Data
Let's examine some test data management best practices that may increase return on investment:
Examine Before Deciding On Data
Assuring all data sets necessary for test execution is one of the critical techniques of test administration. Say we're in the acceptance testing stage.
In this scenario, data generation projects that bring all types of end-to-end acceptance testing-relevant information should be managed via test data management processes and shared through data generation projects that collect all kinds of relevant end-to-end testing information must be undertaken via this route; every element that will make up part of a cycle test cycle should also be researched thoroughly within this management procedure and documented via investigation process.
Copy The Production Environment
Apart from data analysis, another critical aspect of data organization is understanding your production environment.
Gaining this understanding allows for proper identification and recording of any missing data into test data management records.
Encourage Automation
Producing test data is significant in today's digital application testing programs, especially given their extensive and rigorous requirements.
But creating it need not be such a demanding process if automated test automation is implemented as part of the test data management strategy; automation helps decrease errors that enter test data by reducing human intervention; it will make increasing accuracy easier by comparing multiple results of repeated executions within one test scenario more straightforward; best of all reaching process itself can even be automated for an even smoother experience.
Safeguard Private And Sensitive Information
Many enterprise apps today utilize cloud computing or follow the cloud-native model, and testing must, therefore, involve using large volumes of sensitive and classified data within an enclosed test environment to assess its performance.
Protecting private information within test environments against disclosure or illegal access is paramount. Companies must devise a suitable plan to guarantee all organizations participating in their test cycle adhere to data protection guidelines and policies.
Continue To Have An Organized Test Data Repository
Enterprises can streamline upcoming test initiatives significantly by maintaining a centralized test data repository with access to testing operations at all times and migration of new types to it upon discovery of any such.
Such configuration also makes standards and compliance frameworks simpler to apply.
Establishing an organized plan for handling test data is critical to creating and managing automation scripts efficiently and seamlessly.
Here, we discuss some Test Data Management Best Practices for Automation that you can apply regardless of the chosen design pattern - they are used equally well.
Externalize The Test Results
Permanently save automation test data as files with extensions, such as. Property or.csv for ease of maintenance purposes if data may change over time - this allows automated testers to update quickly without navigating through our code base to edit it.
For Instance:
Consider, for instance, using a test credit card and environment to evaluate PayPal. When reviewing these test cards, they could change in the future; should this happen, it makes more sense to update a separate file than alter the actual programming code directly.
Automate Unique Precondition Data
Please make every attempt to generate unique precondition data for each automation run by creating it directly within the automation itself; this way, avoid repeat use of identical information, which would cause issues.
Furthermore, if your application employs service-oriented design principles, web services could provide quick and simple methods of producing necessary precondition data; since they don't involve user interface complexity or updates, this method will make maintenance much more straightforward and faster than similar attempts using API's directly.
For Instance:
Take Paypal, for example: to add cards, we would need to log in with our Paypal accounts in order to add one at any time.
Here, create a separate user registration in every automation run rather than manually setting one up every time and utilizing that one credential across many runs; doing this ensures each automation run has unique credentials assigned each time with distinct users and that we use that card multiple times with various users, thus circumventing traditional limitations on number of test cards used at once.
Take Into Account Every Testing Environment
Consideration must be given to the fact that many projects span multiple environments when developing a test automation data strategy.
Therefore, how can we organize our automation data across various settings so it remains easily managed, scalable, and flexible? Let's investigate this further. If multiple environment-specific data handling in test automation exists, divide the data into two distinct groups.
- Some data would be universally applicable across all situations.
- Particular to a given setting: Information that varies depending on the environment.
Once your data has been divided between categories, create one (or multiple, depending on your project) common data file to store this common information across environments.
It only needs one copy for all settings, and only one file is created per environment where relevant. Create 5 * 3 = 15 files when dealing with three domains, each requiring specific files: 5 files per environment X 3 environments = 15.
Now add these common data files (and their copies for individual settings) into your automation project structure where applicable and store each environment-specific folder separately, as illustrated here by an illustration below of what we discussed above.
For Instance:
Environment-specific data would be any online application's URL since this data must always remain environment-specific and should always be stored within its subdirectory.
Conversely, mailing addresses represent common data that can be shared among contexts by staying consistent across contexts.
Localization
If your program is intended for global audiences, testing in different locales should be part of its development plan.
A site refers to language plus nation; for instance, en-GB indicates British English, while US English would be defined as being in both categories. En-US/enGB is defined as two separate locales.
What difficulties arise from having multiple locations? While other solutions exist, our focus will solely be on automating data management for multi-location apps.
Handling large volumes of location-specific data poses an obvious challenge. For instance, if we had 100 data rows across 30 locales, we'd need 3000 rows. Hence why, it is imperative that we effectively utilize location-specific information.
Alright, let's outline our plan of action here. This strategy follows similar lines to our environment-specific data approach.
Still, instead of having multiple files per locale, we will keep only one here - to avoid overcrowding locale-specific files, with all data for that locale being contained within one file. Instead, it would be best to carefully evaluate which pieces of local data we should keep and retain them in local files only where needed.
For Instance:
We should avoid saving card numbers, user credentials, and most user input in locale files, as these do not correspond with specific locations.
On the other hand, locale-specific files should still exist for labels, error messages, and any messages generated by an application; thus, by providing one file per locale, we can fully evaluate and retain only data specific to that locale in those files.
Caution: Avoid Using Excel as the Primary Source for Test Data in Automation
Encountering challenges in using Excel in test data management is discouraged due to the reasons outlined below:
- Performance: Excel reading and writing operations tend to be much slower than their equivalent operations in lightweight file formats such as.properties or.csv files.
-
Maintenance: If you use Excel files for reading purposes, chances are good that an external API such as JExcel or Apache POI will likely be needed to complete this task.
With external APIs coming and going over time - such as version incompatibilities between Excel files and API versions, for example, a later Excel version might no longer work with older API versions and vice versa - thus incurring increased maintenance costs and higher ongoing support expenses.
However, reading Excel files may sometimes make more sense; one such situation would be when using macros to produce test data for validation purposes.
Advantages And Selecting The Best Test Data Management Technology
Utilizing test management technologies allows companies to speed product delivery by streamlining testing processes.
Implementing automation increases speed while helping control overall costs for testing while making this process efficient and seamless. Test execution workflows benefit greatly from test management systems in several ways:
- Transparent approach for monitoring system testing activities and ensuring all activities are planned and executed as efficiently as possible.
- Active cooperation, communication, and data analysis enable testing processes to be tailored accordingly.
- With everything happening through one application, the method may become simpler by monitoring progress, faults, and test results in one convenient place.
- Tools for managing test data can be adjusted to meet more complex testing tasks and accommodate larger volumes.
Here Are The Critical Components Of An Ideal Test Data Management Tool
- Testers will find the user interface appealing and the design intuitive.
- Access various projects and user rights easily.
- Adaptable in terms of organization and scheduling.
- Accountability must accompany every endeavor undertaken.
- Deliver the necessary analytics and monitoring.
Conclusion
Sustaining corporate success demands unlocking the full potential of testing efficiency. Achieving a competitive edge through automation testing requires adopting complete test data management solutions like those promoted by CIS.
Refrain from poor test data handling to thwart your goals. Enhance your testing methods using our expertise for unrivaled digital return on Investment. Connect with us today for a personalized demo and to rethink your testing strategy.
