Use TestLink Tool Like A Pro – A Software Test Management Tool

If you are starting your career in the area of software testing or already have, but have problems finding an excellent software TestLink tool to assist the management of your tests? Your answer is TestLink.

TestLink– The Software Test Tools

TestLink is a software test tool for software testing management. The tool allows software test development engineers to work in sync, either in the same workspace or remotely. Since it presents the system in a software test automation, it allows you to add collaborators with multiple levels of access (Administrator, Test Leader, Test Designer, Tester, and Guest).

The tool allows test projects to register, and their respective Test Plans and Cases to get validated. Then, from the definition of the scope of the test project, you can control and store the execution of the specified test cases. Another striking feature of the tool is the possibility of controlling the execution of tests by designating, for example, a tester to be responsible for running a predefined test suite. Each of us in our research journey would have come across many kinds of research. Maybe we’ve learned some and maybe we’ve worked on some, but not everybody has experience with all the software test types. You can also generate a report of tests that are already running. Besides, it allows integration with various defect tracking tools such as JIRA, MANTIS, BUGZILLA, TRAC, etc.

Why use TestLink?

Below are the reasons to use TestLink:

1. Ability to create multiple projects
2. Enables easy export and import of test cases
3. It enables integration with various defect tracking tools
4. It enables the filtering of test cases from version, keywords, and test case ID
5. Enables the generation of test plans and test reports in various formats
6. Enables the configuration of specific credentials for each user and assign specific roles for each user

Download and Install the TestLink Tool

You can download the tool directly from the official TestLink website. There are two ways to download in the site:

1. Direct download of the TestLink file (requires separate creation of a database)
2. Download TestLink with Bitnami Manager

The site makes the version available for the three main operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux). More information you can find in the project’s Github.

Tool Terminologies

Just like we have a set of terminologies in the Testing and Quality departments, there exist some terminologies in the TestLink tool too. The main terms found in the software test tool are:

• Test Project

This is the basic organizational unit of TestLink. Test projects can be products or solutions from your company that can change their features and functionality over time. The test project also includes requirements documentation, test specification, specific test plans, and user rights, etc. Test projects are independent and do not share data. Consider using only one test project for a test team and/or a product.

• Platform

A test project can have multiple platforms that need to be tested. For example, a website needs to be tested on different browsers and the software needs to run on different operating systems or hardware devices.

• Test Plan

It is the basis for the test execution activity. A Test Plan contains the name, description, collection of test cases, version, test results, milestones, test assignment, and priority definition. Each Test Plan is related to a Test Project.

• Build & Baseline

It is a specific version of the software. Each project in an enterprise is likely to consist of multiple versions in the course of software development. In TestLink, the execution of the tests comprises the software version and its test cases.

• Test Suite

Its base uses are for organizing test cases. Each Test Suite has a title and description that contains valid information about the test cases organized in that test suite. TestLink uses a tree structure to organize the Test Suite.

• Test Cases

The test case is a set of entries, run preconditions, and expected results designed for a specific goal such as exercising a particular program path or verifying compliance with a specific requirement.

Test Project on Testlink

Initially, after installing TestLink, log in with your registered user and password. The version used for the preparation of this tutorial was TestLink 1.9.17 (Alan Turing).

1. Create a Test Project by clicking on the “Manage Test Project” link

When you click the link, the page is redirected to the Test Project creation form: Fill in the data with information about the project you want to create. Click the “Create” button.

2. Create a Test Plan by clicking the “Manage Test Plan” link, which will enable when you create a Test Project.

Click the “Create” button to create a new Test Plan. The page will be redirected to a Test Plan information form. You must provide a unique name that allows you to identify the test plan and description with details about that test plan. In the end, click the “Create” button.

3. Create the Project Baseline/Release by clicking on the “Baselines/Releases” link.

Click “Create” to create a new Baseline. The page will get redirected to a Baseline creation form. Fill in the Release information of the software to test and click the “Create” button.

4. Create the Platform to test the project. To do this, click on the “Platform Management” link.

The page will get redirect to a page with the management of the platforms already created. If you want to create a new Test Platform, click the “Create Platform” button. Fill in the information from the Test Platform you want to add and click the “Record” button.

5. Add a Platform to the Test Plan by clicking on the “Add/Remove Platforms” link

On the next page, select the Platforms you want to add to the Test Plan. Click the double arrow to the right. Platforms should be presented in the “Assigned Platforms” table, as shown in the image below. Click the “Record” button to save the changes.

6. Test the System Requirements Documentation, and add the System Requirements Specification by clicking the “Specify Requirements” link.

Click the folder with the project name (1) and then click the “New Requirements Specification” button (2).

7. Add the Project Test Suites by clicking on “Specific Test Cases”.

The process is similar to the Requirements Specification, done earlier. Write a name for the Test Suite, describe what will be covered in it. Click “Gavar”.

7. (1) To Specify the Project Test Cases, click the previously created Test Suite and then click the button represented by a gear.

Click the green button indicated in the image to add a test case to the “Login” test suite. Set the Status the test is in, the priority (high, medium, low), the type of test run (manual or automated), and the estimated duration time for the test run. Click the “Create” button To add the test case steps, click the created test case (1) and then click the “Create a step” button. Specify the steps, expected behavior, and type of execution. To add new steps, click the “Record” button. If you no longer want to add steps, click the “Record and Exit” button.

This was a basic step-by-step setup of a test project using the TestLink tool. In this example, a Test Project, test plan, release creation, platform, requirements specification, suite creation, and test cases were created.

Also Read: Choosing A Test Management Tool