Introduction to HP ALM(Quality Center) Quality Center was
initially a test management tool developed by Mercury interactive.
It is now developed by HP asApplicationLife CycleManagement Tool
(or) ALM that supports various phases of the software development
life cycle. ALM is a web based tool that helps organizations to
manage the application lifecycle right from project planning,
requirements gathering, until testing & deployment,which
otherwise is a time consuming task ALM also provides integration to
all other HP products such as UFT and Load Runner. Why use HP
ALM?The various stakeholders involved in a typical project are
Developer Tester Business Analysts Project Managers Product
OwnersThese stakeholders perform diverse set of activities that
need to be communicated to all concerned team members. If we do not
maintain centralized repository to record, maintain and track all
the artifacts related to the product, the project will
unquestionably FAIL. We also need a mechanism to document and
collaborate on all testing and development activities.
Enter HP ALM! It enables all the stakeholders tointeract and
coordinate,to achieve the project goals. It provides robusttracking
& reportingand seamless integration of various project related
tasks. It enables detailedproject analysis and effective
management. ALM can connect to our email systems and send emails
about any changes(like Requirement change, Defect raising etc..) to
all desired team members.Evolution of ALMIt is important to
understand the history of ALM. Quality Center was earlier known as
Test Director which was developed by Mercury Interactive. In 2008,
Version 8 was released and the product was renamed as Quality
Center. Later, HP acquired Mercury Interactive and rebranded all
mercury products as HP. So Mercury Quality Center became HP Quality
Center In 2011, Version 11 was released and Quality center was
rechristened as HP ALM.
Architecture of QCNow let us understand the technology part of
HP-ALM. ALM is an enterprise application developed using Java 2
Enterprise Edition (J2EE) that can have MS SQL Server or Oracle as
its back end. ALM has 3 components Client, Application Server and
Database Server. 1. HP ALM client:when an end user/tester accesses
the URL of ALM, the client components are downloaded on the
client's system. ALM client components help the user to interact
with the server using .NET and COM technologies over a secured
connection (HTTPS).2. ALM server/Application server:Application
server usually runs on a Windows or Linux platform which caters to
the client requests. App server makes use of the Java Database
Connectivity (JDBC) driver to communicate between the application
server and database servers.3. Database servers: The Database layer
stores three schemas. Site Administration schema:It Stores
information related to the domains, users, and site parameters. Lab
Project:This schema stores lab information related to functional
and performance testing on remote hosts, Performance Center server
data. Project schema:Stores project information, such as work
item/data created by user under the project area. Each project has
its own schema and they are are created on the same database server
as the Site Administration schema.
HP ALM Editions:HP ALM is a commercial licensed tool and HP
distributes ALM in 4 different flavors
ALM Edition Feature ComparisonEach one of the license allows
users to access certain ALM functionalities. Following Table lists
the features that a particular license give you =
Lets study why would you purchase a particular version and whom
is it suited for HP ALM Essentials This is for corporates that need
just the basic features for supporting their entire software life
cycle. It has access to requirements management, test management
and defect management. HP QC Enterprise Edition This license holds
good for corporates who would like to use ALM exclusively for
testing purposes. It also provides integration with Unified
Functional Tester (UFT). HP ALM Performance Center Edition This
license best suits for organizations who would like to use HP ALM
to drive HP-Load runner scripts. It helps the users to maintain,
manage, schedule, execute and monitor performance tests.ALM
WorkflowTo learn the ALM workflow, Let's first study a typical test
process-
We being with planning and drafting, Release details. Determine
no of Cycles in each release & Scope of each release For a
given Release and Cycle we draft the Requirements Specifications.
Base on the requirements, Test plans and test cases are created.
Next stage is executing the created tests plan Next stage in this
test processes is tracking and fixing the defects detected in the
execution stage During all stages, analysis is done, and reports
and graphs are generated for test metric generation.HP ALM provides
a module catering to each stage of the Testing Process. We will
study them in detail in later tutorials. How to install HP ALM
Before Installing ALM 12.0, one has to understand the system
requirements. We will go through how to perform a standalone
installation on a Windows Environment. Users should meet all the
below prerequisites for installing ALM Successfully.Operating
SystemsDatabasesBrowsersMSOffice
Users should be installing ALM on one of the following Windows
Server edition Operating Systems. Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Enterprise SP1 64 BitMicrosoft Windows Server 2012 Standard 64
Bit.One of the following Databases should have been installed
before proceeding to installing ALM. Oracle 10.2.0.5 Oracle
11.2.0.3 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2Microsoft SQL Server 2012
SP1User should use one of the following browsers to access ALM,
after installation. Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 32 Bit Microsoft
Internet Explorer 9 32 Bit Microsoft Internet Explorer 10 32 BitTo
allow importing data from Excel/Word to ALM, users should have
preinstalled one of the following MS Office Suites. Microsoft
Office 2010 SP2 32 BitMicrosoft Office 2013 32 Bit
Here is workflow of the installation process
Part A: DownloadingStep 1: GotoHP ALM site Select "Try Now" Tab
Click "download HP ALM Now" button.
Step 2: The download wizard appears Enter all the required
details Click 'NEXT'.
Step 3: Accept the license terms and click 'I Agree'.
Step 4: Select the installer for Windows ,shown below:
Tip: Its recommended you use HP Download Manager or some other
software as the installation file is big and prone to fail due to
network issuesPart B) InstallationStep 1: Unzip the installer. You
will see the folder structure as below Right click the setup.exe
and 'Run as Administrator'.
Step 2: Select ALM Platform Installation for Windows
environment. The extraction process will continue.
Step 3: The Welcome page of the installation opens. Click 'NEXT'
to Continue.
Step 4: Upon clicking 'Next' from welcome page, the license
agreement dialog opens. Upon accepting the license agreement, user
will be able to proceed with the installation.
Step 5: After accepting the license agreement, folder selection
dialog opens. The HP ALM will be installed in the selected
location.
Step 6: An Installation summary would be shown to the user
before commencing the installation process. Review the summary and
click installStep 7: Upon clicking the 'Install' button in
Installation summary dialog, the installation process kicks
off.Step 8: Upon completing the installation, the status is
displayed to the usInstallation complete!Part C) ConfigurationSo
far, we have just installed/copied across the necessary
installation files for ALM. Upon successful installation, the
installer will continue with server configuration wizardStep 1:.
Use 'Evaluation Key' and select 'Application Lifecycle Management'
and click 'NEXT'.
Step 2: Enter the Server Details. You should have preinstalled
oracle/MS SQL Server. Select the appropriate database credentials
and click 'Next'.
Tip: Use MS-SQL(SQL Auth) because, ALM easily get installed with
this option while MS - SQL(Win Auth) is more error prone due to OS
registries and UAC settingsTroubleShootingIf you get Error "failed
to validate database parameters" inspite of entering Valid Database
parameters, then do following1. In command prompt check Port 1433
is listening. Use command netstat -an2. In SQL Server Configuration
Manager > SQL Server Network Configuration > Protocols for
MSSQLSERVER > Enable TCP/IP Protocol. Restart the SQLServer.3.
Double click TCP/IP in the "Protocols for "Your Instance"" and go
to IP addresses tab. Find IPAll drop down and set the port to 1433.
Click Apply, than ok and restart the server, this should also be
able to resolve this issue.Step 3: Enter the Site Admin Database
Schema Name and password. After entering the details, Click
'Next'.
Step 4: The Security page in the server configuration wizard
opens. You can check 'Use Default Value' and click 'Next'.
Step 5: Enter 'Site Administrator' User ID and Password.DONOT
forget these credentials as these details would be required to
login to ALM successfully.
Step 6: Select the File Repository Path where all the ALM Data
would be stored.
Step 7: User can also select the Port that they would like to
install. In this case it is 8181(default is 8080 which you can
override) and click 'NEXT'.Note: The Default Port 8080 might be
used by other applications, hence it is better to choose other port
numbers.
Step 8: Leave the HP ALM Service as empty as your Windows login
credentials would be used by default. Click 'Next' to continue.
Step 10: Enter the server details to setup mail server for HP
ALM. This is used to send emails using ALM. If you do not want to
specify, click none and move ahead
Step 11) A configuration summary is shown before proceeding.
Click NextStep 12) Configuration proceeds
Step 13: Upon applying the configuration if successful, status
message would be shown appropriately. Click 'Finish' and ALM
service will be started if 'Start ALM Server' has been checked.
Step 14: Now we can launch Quality Center by using the URL
:http://localhost:8181/qcbin/. The ALM 12.0 would be launched as
shown below.Create a Domain, Project, User in HP ALMIn order to
work with ALM, you need to Create Domain Create Project Create
UsersIn practice, these would be created by ALM Site Administrator
as an end user WILL NOT have access to Site Admin page. How to
Create a DomainStep 1) Launch ALM and click 'Site administration'
from the home page. User will be popped up to enter the
credentials. Enter the Credentials that we have created during
Installation.
Step 2) The Admin Dashboard is shown. Click on Create Domain
Step 3) In the pop-up Enter Domain Name (in our case "Banking")
and Click OK
Step 4) The domain would be created as shown below.
How to Create a ProjectStep 1) Select the Domain under which
projects are to be created. In this case it is 'Banking' Domain,
and click 'Create Project' as shown below
Step 2) The 'Create Project' wizard opens. Select 'Create and
Empty Project' from the list and click 'Next' button.
Step 3) Enter the Name of the Project and click 'Next' as shown
below.
Step 4) Select the appropriate Database type and enter the
following. In this case, we have selected 'MS-SQL' as we had
installed Hp-ALM with MS-SQL as backend. If you had installed ALM
with Oracle as your database server, please select 'oracle'. (1)
Database server name (2) Database Admin User Name (3) Database
Admin Password and click 'Next'.
Step 5) Select 'Admin' user and click 'Next'. No other users are
displayed as we haven't created any users in ALM.
Step 6) The summary dialog is displayed and Click on 'create'
button. You will also notice that there are two check boxes in this
window. 1. Activate Project If unchecked, project would still be
created but users will not be able to access this project area.2.
Enable Versioning This will enable version controlling feature
which restricts the users from editing the same work item
(requirements, tests) at the same time to avoid overwriting the
changes made by one user over other.
Step 7) The project creation status would be displayed as shown
below.
Step 8) The project 'GURU99_BANK' has been created successfully
under 'BANKING' domain as shown below.
How to Create a UserStep 1) In order access HP ALM , a user
profile needs to be created. In order to create users, site admin
has to click on 'Site users' Tab.
Step 2) Click 'Add user' icon from 'Site users' tab as shown
below.
Step 3) The 'Add user' dialog box opens. Enter all the necessary
details and click 'OK'.
Step 3) The Added user will be displayed in 'user list' as
highlighted below along with the other existing users.
Step 4) Now we will need to map the user to the project areas as
the newly created user WILL NOT have access to any of the projects.
It is enough to create a user only once to have access to multiple
project areas. In this case we have added the user 'Guru99' to
'GURU99_BANK' Project area which is under 'BANKING' domain.
Release Specifications: Understanding the Management Tab in HP
ALM Management Tab helps users to organize and track releases and
cycles. A release has a definite start date and end date that
corresponds to a group of changes that will be deployed to the end
users in that time interval A cycle which falls within a release
has a set of development and testing efforts in order to achieve a
common goal. ALM users can track the progress of the project in
real time by analyzing the releases tree to ensure if it matches
the release goals. It also enables users to get a quick snapshot of
the quality of that release which displays the outstanding defect
and defect opening rate.
Why do we need Management of Release and Cycles in ALM?In
reality, when a product development happens, there are various
release for a particular product Each release is broken down into a
number of cycles. Let's say we have got 2 releases with each having
2 cycles of development and testing for Guru99 banking application.
Each Release has also a predefined scope and milestone associated
with it. For each cycle there is a specific number of requirements.
Each requirement has a number of test cases associated with it.
Upon executing tests, the defects are logged and mapped to the
corresponding tests after which we can trace requirements and
defects.
The Management TabThis module helps us to create and manage
releases and cycles which is the first step before proceeding to
create any work item such as requirements/tests/defects. It also
helps us work with project planning and tracking. Following
functionalities are vital in this tab. Creating Releases Creating
Cycles Creating Release Scope Create MilestoneNote: before starting
with exercise, refer this interactive tutorial to learn how to
login in ALM
How to Create a ReleaseCreating releases is the first step in
ALM and all other work item such as requirements, test cases and
defects are traced based on the releases/cycles.As explained in
workflow, we will have two releases this year for Guru99 banking
application with the following timelines.Release Name Start Date
End Date
2017 R101/01/201721/06/2017
2017 R201/07/201731/12/2017
Step 1) First step is to navigate to Management tab and click on
"Releases" Tab. The landing page would appear as shown below:
Step 2) Before creating a release, we can create a
container/folder by clicking on a "New Folder" icon in releases
module as shown below. Give the folder name 2017
Step 3) Next step is to create new releases. To create a new
release, click "new release"button and the New Release dialog
opens. Enter the following mandatory details1. Release Name2. Start
Date of the Release3. End Date of the Release4. Brief Description
about the release (Optional)
Step 4) After Entering the above details click "OK". The Release
will be created as shown below.
Likewise you can create other Release R2Step 5) Upon Selecting a
particular Release, one can see the tabs that are relevant to the
Releases.
Step 6) Now let us understand the important tabs available under
"Releases" Module. Select Details Tab to retrieve the information
about the details of the release that was provided during the
creation of the Release.
Step 7) SelectRelease ScopeTab that provides the details about
the scope of that release. We haven't created scope for this
release; hence the scope list is empty. Creation of milestones and
scope will be dealt in detail in a separate module.
Step 8) Master Plan provides the pictorial representation of the
timeline. If cycles are created, the master plan would include
cycle timelines for that release as well.
Step 9) Status Tab shows details about the release regarding the
overall progress of that release. When the release is created
afresh without any work item such as requirements/tests/defects
added to it, the status would be displayed as shown below.
The status would be displayed as shown below when user maps the
work items such as requirements/tests/defects against the
release.
How to create CycleIn reality, each one of the releases is
further broken down into cycles and let us understand how to create
cycles in ALM. Let us say in our case there are two cycles in a
release.Release Cycle Name Cycle Start Date Cycle End Date
Release R1Cycle 101/01/201731/03/2017
Cycle 201/04/201730/06/2017
Release R2Cycle 101/07/201730/09/2017
Cycle 201/10/201731/12/2017
Step 1)Select the Release under which you would like to create
cycles and click on "New Cycles" button and the new cycles dialog
box opens where the release timelines are prepopulated as this
cycle is created under the selected release. User has to enter the
following mandatory details in 'New Cycles' Window: Name of the
Cycle Start Date of the Cycle End Date of the Cycle. Description
(Optional)
Step 2)Once all the cycle is created, user can access the same
under created Release as shown below.
Step 3) Select a particular cycle to access details of that
cycle.
Step 4) Now let us understand all the other important tabs
present under "Cycles". User can attach any attachment under
'attachments' Tab. 'TheProgress tab'gives the status of that cycle
under the selected Release. The Progress will be displayed as shown
below when user created the cycle without any
workitems(requirements/tests/defects) mapped against it.
The Progress will be displayed as shown below after user has
mapped workitems(requirements/tests/defects) to the cycle.
Step 5 ) The Quality Tab provides the information such as defect
opening rate and number of outstanding defects which is the
preliminary information about the quality of the current cycle.
When the user has created the Cycle the 'Quality' Tab will be
displayed as shown below as there are no workitems are mapped
against it.
The 'Quality' Tab will be displayed as shown below once the user
has mapped work items against that release.
How to Create Release ScopeEach Release has a scope and
milestone associated with it that can be added under "Release
Scope" Tab under Releases.Step 1)Upon clicking on "+" icon in
releases scope tab of releases module,New Scopedialog opens.
Enter the following details.1. The name of the scope which is
the only mandatory field2. Priority of the Scope Item3. Owner of
the Scope.4. Description about the Scope.
Step 2) Upon clicking on"OK"button, all the added scope is shown
in the "Release Scope" tab as shown below.
How to Create MileStoneStep 1) New Milestone can be created only
under a release using a "New Milestone" Icon as shown below.
Step 2) While creating a milestone following fields are
mandatory.1. Name of the Milestone2. Start Tracking Date3. End
Tracking Date.4. Description
Step 3) The created Milestone is shown as below.
Step 4) Now user can map a milestone scope against the created
project scope. To perform the same, select the milestone and
navigate to Milestone Scope and select the corresponding scope and
map it.
All About Requirements Specifications module in HP ALM Defining
the Requirements is one of the preliminary phases for software
development lifecycle. Defining Requirements refers to what has to
be delivered to the clients at the end of that specific release.
Establishing requirements with brevity and clarity upfront would
result in minimal rework after development is completed. This
module in ALM enables users to define, manage and track
requirements.We will make use of the sample application (GURU99
Banking) to understand it better. In this tutorial we will learn
How to Create Requirement How to Upload Requirement using Microsoft
Excel How to perform Coverage Analysis (Requirement
Traceability)
How to create RequirementsStep 1)Click on 'Requirements' in
'Requirements' module.
Step 2)Let us maintain all the requirements for this
release(2017 R1) in a specific folder so that it would be easy for
us to access. In addition to that we would like to show the
distinction between 'Functional' and 'Non Functional' requirements
by placing them in different folders. 1. Click 'New Folder' Icon
under Requirements Module2. Enter the Name of the Folder as "2017
R1" to easily identify the requirements for this release.
Step 3)The created folder would be shown as displayed below.
Step 4)Now let us create a folder for 'Functional'Requirements
where are all the Functional requirements documents/work items are
maintained.
Step 5)The Created Folder will be displayed in
'Requirements'module as shown below.
Step 6)Similarly create 'Non Functional' Folder. Upon creating
both Functional and Non Functional folder, we will have the folder
structure as shown below.
Step 7)Click 'New Requirements' icon in the requirements page as
shown below.
The 'New Requirements' dialog opens up and user has to enter the
following mandatory fields. 1. Enter the Name of the Requirement2.
Select the Requirement Type
Step 8)User can also enter the following Non-Mandatory fields.
1. Author2. Priority3. Reviewed4. Target Release5. Target Cycle6.
Description and Comments.Step 9)Requirements also allows users to
enter the requirements in 'Rich Text' format directly as shown
below.
Step 10)Usually, requirements are captured in a word document.
They be uploaded under attachments tab as shown below. ALM also
support all other file types like .xls, .jpg etc. After uploading
click Submit button.
Step 11)The requirement would be displayed to the user as shown
below:
How to Upload Requirements using Microsoft ExcelSometimes, user
won't be creating requirements manually. It is easy to upload all
requirements in bulk rather than creating each one by one, which is
a time consuming process. In order to facilitate uploading into
ALM, HP has come up with an Addin with which the user can upload
from MS excel/MS Word directly. Let us understand the step by step
procedure to upload requirements into QC from Excel. For uploading
Requirements, we need to understand the workflow:
Part A - Downloading:Step 1) Navigate to ALM home
pagehttp://localhost:8181/qcbinand click on "Tools" from the list
of links.
Step 2: Click on "More HP ALM Add-ins" Link from the add-ins
page as shown below.
Step 3) Select 'Add-ins for Microsoft Applications' and select
'Microsoft Excel' from the link as we would be using MS Excel
add-in to upload the Data into HP-ALM.
Step 3) Select HP-ALM Microsoft Excel Add-in for ALM 12.00
link.
Step 4) Select HP-ALM Microsoft Excel Add-in for ALM 12.00 link.
Users can also refer to the 'Read-me' Guide and 'Add-in' Guide.
Upon clicking on the link, the add-in set up file will be
downloaded to default location/user selected location.
Part B Installation:Step 1) Select the downloaded add-in and
perform a right click on the downloaded file. Select 'Run as
Administrator'.
Step 2) Select the downloaded add-in and perform a right click
on the downloaded file. Select 'Run as Administrator' so that we
can install the add-in.
Step 3) Select the installation type. Here we have selected 'For
All Users' which was the default setting. If you wish to install
only for the current user please select 'For Current User Only' and
click 'Next'.
Step 4) Upon completion of the installation, user would get the
status message. Click 'Finish' Button.
Step 5) To verify if the add-in got successfully installed, open
Excel and navigate to 'Add-ins' Tab. You will find an option
'Export to HP ALM' which means the 'add-in' got installed
successfully.
Part C Uploading Requirements into ALM :Step 1) Before uploading
the requirements from excel, we need to prepare the excel such that
it can be uploaded. 1. Select the Fields that you wish to upload
into ALM and create a header in Excel for those fields.2. Enter a
valid data in each one of those fields as shown below.
Step 2) After selecting the data to upload, click 'Export to HP
ALM' from 'Add-Ins' .
Step 3) The ALM Export Wizard opens. Enter the HP ALM Server URL
and Click 'Next'.
Enter the user name and password for authentication and Click
'Next'.
Step 3) Select the Domain, Project Name into which we would like
to upload the requirements and Click 'Next'.
Step 4) Select the type of data that we would like to upload. In
this case, it is requirements. We can also upload Tests/Defects
which we will deal with it later.
Step 5) Enter the New Map name. The first option, 'Select a map'
is disabled because we haven't created a map so far. Hence we
should create new map name and click 'Next'. We haven't selected
'Create a Temporary map' as we would like to reuse every time for
uploading 'Requirements'.
Step 5b) In this dialog, user has to choose the requirement type
behavior. If we are uploading only one type of requirement, then we
should select 'Single Requirement Type'. We are uploading different
requirement types. Hence we have to map against the corresponding
column in excel. As per our template, Column 'E' carries the
requirement type.
Step 6) Upon Clicking 'Next', the mapping dialog opens as shown
below. 1. The left pane grid items that are listed correspond to
the fields that are available for upload in HP ALM.Please note that
the fields marked in 'RED' should be mapped as they are mandatory
fields.2. The right pane grid items refer to the fields that are
mapped so that values in Excel will flow into those corresponding
fields of ALM.
Now let us understand how to map the fields in Excel against the
fields in ALM. Select the Field that user would like to map and
click on the arrow button as shown below.
Enter the column name in Excel that corresponds to the
appropriate column name in HP ALM.
Map all the required columns in excel against the appropriate
fields in HP ALM. After mapping all the required fields, click
'Export'.
Step 8) Upon successful upload, ALM displays the message as
shown below. If errors appear please fix the issue and try
re-uploading the same.
Step 11) Now let us verify the same under 'Requirements' Tab.
All the requirement details including attachments are uploaded as
shown below.
How to do Coverage Analysis (Requirement Traceability)Once the
user has mapped all the requirements, tests and defects as
discussed in each one of those chapters, we will be able to
generate coverage analysis and traceability Matrix. Coverage
Analysis helps us to understand the test coverage against a
specific requirement and details about number of tests
passed/failed/not executed. Step 1)Navigate to requirements module
and Click on 'View' Menu and select 'Coverage Analysis'.
Step 2)The coverage Analysis will be generated against each one
of the requirements placed under 'Requirement Tab' with
consolidated status on a folder level.
Step 3)Upon expanding the folder, the coverage analysis will be
displayed as shown below.
Step 4)Click on each one of those coverage analysis status to
get a drill down report. 1. Click on the Status of a specific
Requirement. The coverage Analysis will be displayed with the
number of failures.2. Click 'Show Test Coverage' which will show
the detailed test status attached to the selected requirement.
Step 5)Uponclicking 'Show Test Coverage', the test execution
status against the selected requirement will be displayed.
Traceability Matrix : The traceability matrix enables the users
to determine the extent of relationships between requirements and
other requirements (or) between requirements and tests. The
traceability matrix lists source requirements and their associated
requirements and tests. The Matrix displays the total number of
relationships for each source requirement.Step 1)First Step is to
navigate to 'View' Menu and select 'Traceability Matrix'.
Step 2)The Traceability Matrix page opens as shown below. Click
'Configure Traceability Matrix' The 'Configure Traceability Matrix'
Dialog Opens.
Step 3)The criteria for generating the traceability Matrix is
shown below. Click 'Filter' under 'Define Source Requirements' The
'Filter Requirements' Dialog opens. Click the filter criteria
button. Select Filter Criteria Dialog Opens. Select 'Functional'
from the list Click 'OK'.
Step 4)The Filter requirement dialog displays the filter
criteria as selected by the user. Click 'OK'.
Step 5)The Configure Traceability Dialog is displayed 1. With
the selected 'Requirement Type'2. Click on 'Filter by linked Tests'
link.
Step 6)Let us generate the traceability matrix between
requirements and tests. Hence upon clicking on 'Filter by linked
tests', the following dialog is displayed to the user. 1. Enable
'Filter by linked tests'.2. Select 'Linked to' the following
tests.3. Let us generate the traceability matrix for those
requirements that has got more than 5 tests. Hence select the
Filter criteria as 'more than'4. Enter a value. In this case it is
'5'5. Click 'Ok'
Step 7)Following screen is displayed to the user with all the
requirements and its corresponding tests if the specified
traceability matrix criteria is met.
Step 8)User can also click on 'Generate Traceability matrix'
that can be exported to excel. 1. Select the details for which the
traceability matrix has to be generated.2. Click 'Generate
Traceability Matrix'.
Step 9)The File save dialog is displayed to the user. 1. Choose
the location where the traceability matrix need to be saved.2.
Enter the File Name3. Click 'Save'.
Step 10)Upon clicking 'Save' Button, the traceability matrix is
generated to the user.
All About Test Plan Module in HP ALM (Quality Center) After
defining requirements, development team kick starts their design
and development process while testing team start designing tests
that can be executed once the build is deployed. Success of any
product depends on the testing processes and the quality of testing
that is being carried out. A Good test plan results in a bug free
product. ALM supports maintenance and execution of manual,
automation and performance tests as ALM is seamlessly integrated
with all HP products such as HP UFT and HP Load Runner.
In this tutorial you will learn How to Create Test Plan How to
Upload Tests using Microsoft Excel How to create Test ResourcesHow
to Create Test PlanStep 1 )Similar to requirements, let us create a
placeholder/folder for each one of the test types such as
Functional and Non Functional. 1. Click on Test Plan link from the
ALM Home page2. Click 'New Folder' Icon3. Enter the Folder Name as
'Functional' and click 'OK'
Step 2)The created folder would be displayed as shown below.
Step 3)Similarly let us creates subfolders for 'Manual' and
'Automated' Tests under 'Functional' Folder. Hence the Final Folder
Structure will be as shown below: Note:We will NOT be able to
create automated test scripts/Performance test scripts from ALM;
instead it has to be created from respective HP tools such as UFT
for functional and Load runner for performance. It is then saved
into ALM so that they can be scheduled, executed, monitored and
reported.
Step 4)It would be better to create a New folder for each one of
the modules of the application so that we don't dump all manual
tests in one folder. For Complex applications there would be
thousands of tests which would be difficult to handle if they are
not aligned properly.
Step 5)Now Let us create a Manual Test for the 'Login' Module by
clicking on the 'New Test' Icon in 'Test Plan' Tab.
Step 6)Enter the following details for creating the new test
successfully. 1. Enter the New test Name2. Enter the Type of the
Test. In this case it is 'Manual' Test.3. User can also enter other
non-mandatory fields such as date, Description as shown below.4.
Click 'Submit' once all the details are entered.
Step 7) Once the test is created, the created test will appear
under the 'Manual' tests folder with other tabs generated as shown
below. Let us discuss each one of these tabs in details in upcoming
steps.
Step 8)Click'Design Steps'tab and click on 'New Step' icon as
shown below. The Design step details dialog box opens 1. Enter the
Step Name2. Enter the Step Description3. Enter the Expected
Result4. Click 'OK'
Step 9)Repeat the Step#6 and enter all the relevant steps to
test the functionality. After creating all the required steps,
'Design Steps' tab displays all the created steps as shown
below.
Step 10)Parameters, helps the user to assign a value to a
variable that allows the user to execute the same test with
different sets of data. In this case, the user name and password
can be two parameters which would be assigned with a value. We will
understand the importance of having parameters while test execution
which will be dealt in Test Lab module. Now, Let us see how to
create parameters. 1. Select the test step against which we would
like to add the parameter.2. The 'Parameter' Icon will be enabled.
Click on the same as shown below.
Step 11)The Parameter dialog will open as shown below. Click on
'New Parameter' button.
Step 12)The test parameter details dialog opens. 1. Enter the
parameter name2. Assign a Value to the Parameter3. Click 'OK'.
Step 13) The 'parameters' dialog is displayed back to the user
1. With the created variable2. The value3. Click 'OK'.
Step 14)Now we can notice that the parameter is added in the
'Test Step' itself as shown below. Repeat the same for password
field as well.
Similarly, create parameter for Password Filed
Step 15)The created parameters can be viewed/edited in the
parameters tab. This dialog also helps us to create, delete the
parameters associated with the tests.
Step 16)The attachment tab allows the user to upload any type of
file such as 'xls', 'jpg' etc.
Step 17)The test configuration helps us to reuse the test for
different use case scenarios. Let us understand how to work with
test configurations with an example. By default there is a test
configuration that is specified as that of test name. Note: We
CANNOT delete the default test configuration but we can edit the
same.
Step 18)Let us say the login functionality can be performed by
three types of business users such as 'helpdesk', 'manager' and
'cluster head'. Let us rename the default test configuration to
'helpdesk' by editing the name field of the 'Test
Configuration'.
Step 19)Now let us add the other two more test configurations
viz manager and cluster head. Click '+' icon under test
configurations.
Step 20)The'New test Configuration' dialog opens up. 1. Enter
the Test configuration name2. Enter other non-mandatory parameters
such as 'created by' , 'creation date', 'description'3. Click
'OK'.
Step 21)Repeat the same step as above to create one more test
configuration for 'cluster head' and the entire test configuration
will be displayed to the user as shown below. This will allow the
testers to execute the same test individually against all the
created configurations during test execution which will result in
no rewriting of tests. Test Configuration should NOT be confused
with test parameters. Hence we should understand the difference
between parameter and test configurations. The Parameters are used
to create variable and assign values for a specific step
(parameterizing the test) while test configuration is applicable
for all the steps and generally used to test different business use
cases/Workflow. During Execution users can change values of the
created parameters while a test case is executed for the selected
configuration. For Example, An online bill payment Application,
user can select the payment mode. In case of 'Credit Card'
Payments, user can either select master card, visa or American
express. Each one of those having its own customer reward points.
In order to test it, we can design a test such that each one of
them are added into test configurations to verify the reward
points.
Step 22)The 'Req Coverage' Tab helps the testers to map the test
against a particular requirement(s) which helps users to generate
coverage and traceability. 1. Click on 'Req Coverage' Tab.2. Select
the 'Requirement' which should be mapped against this particular
test case3. Click ''.
Step 3)The "Select Entity Type" Dialog is displayed to the
user.1. Select the entity for which the Graph has to be displayed2.
Select the Graph type.3. Click 'Next'.
Step 4)The Wizard also allows you to choose projects. The user
has capabilities to add the same graph configuration across
projects.
Step 5)The Wizard also allows you to enter a filter criterion.
If there is NO Filter applied, the graph is generated by
considering all the data available in Defects module.Note: Filter
can be applied against a specific release/cycle. If NO Filter is
set, the graph wizard picks up all the defects that are posted till
date into consideration.
Step 6)The Wizard allows user to choose X-Axis and Group by a
certain field and click 'Finish'.
Step 7)The graph is generated as per the criteria set by the
user in Graph wizard. We can 'Add it to the Analysis Tree' so that
we can just refresh the chart to get the current status.
Step 8)Upon clicking on 'Add to Analysis Tree' the save dialog
opens up.1. Enter the Name of the Graph2. Select the folder where
user would like to save the Graph1. Private The Graph is saved
against the current user profile. Others won't have access to the
same2. Public The generated Graph would be visible to ALL the
project users.3. Click 'Save'.
Step 9)The graph would be added to the Analysis tree as shown
below.
Business View GraphA business view graph involves only those
project entity fields that represent information which is useful
from a business perspective.Business views can either be based on
single entities such as Requirement or Defects, or it can be based
on more complex relationships between entities such as Defects with
Linked Requirements/defects with linked tests.Though on a high
level, both business view graph and entity graph look at the same,
at this juncture let us understand basic different between entity
graph and business view graph.Entity GraphBusiness View Graph
This graph is strictly associated with only one type of entity
(defect or Requirement or Test) in ALMThis Graph is either based on
single entity or based on relationship between defect and
Requirement or defect and tests
The fields involved are those that are contained within that
specific entity.The fields involved are those that represent useful
information from a business perspective.
Step 1)Click '+' and Select 'Graph Wizard'.
Step 2)Select Business View Graph and click 'Next>'
Step 3)Select Defects from the Filter criteria and click
'Next>'.
Step 4)Use the current project data to generate the graph and
click 'Next>' to continue.
Step 5)Let us filter based on Severity and click 'Next>'
Step 6)Enter the criteria for 'X-Axis' and Grouped By fields and
Click 'Finish'
Step 7)The Graph is Generated based on the Criteria selected.
Click on 'Add to Analysis Tree'.
Step 8)The save dialog appears for users to save the generated
graph.1. Enter the Name of the Graph2. Select 'Private' or
'Public'3. Click 'Save'.
Step 9)The created graph is saved in Analysis Tree as shown
below.
Quick Entity Graphs GenerationStep 1)The Entity Graph can also
be generated without going through the Graph Wizard. A Quick Graph
can be generated by clicking on 'New Graph' by clicking on '+'
icon.
Step 2)The New Graph dialog is displayed. Select the Entity
Graph Type Graph Name Click 'OK'.
Step 3)The Created Graph enables users to make changes to the
Configuration based on their requirements. We have selected Defect
Count on Y Axis and Grouped based on 'Status'.
Step 4)Click 'View' Tab to generate the Graph for the specified
criteria.
Generating Excel Report Testers can also generate excel reports
based on business views which reflect only those project entity
fields that is useful from a business perspective. The reports are
created and configured with in Microsoft Excel and then uploaded to
the Analysis View module.Step 1)Click 'Add New' Button and select
'New Business View Excel Report'.
Step 2)Enter the report name and click 'OK'.
Step 3)Click 'Install Addin'.
Step 4)The Installation Status is displayed to the user as shown
below.
Step 5)OpenMS Excel and one would find a new Tab by name 'HP
ALM'. Select 'HP-ALM' and click 'Login'
Step 6)ALM Login Dialog opens up.1. Enter Login Name.2. Enter
Password.3. Click 'Authenticate'.4. Select the Domain.5. Select the
Project.6. Click 'Login'.
Step 7)Now,1. Click 'Add' Button.2. Add Worksheet Dialog Opens
up. Select 'Defects' as we want to generate 'High' / 'Very High'
and 'Critical' defects report.3. Click 'OK'
Step 7)The excel report is generated with all the defects list
and user can configure the same.1. Click 'Filter' Tab from
Worksheet configuration.2. Click 'Severity' Field.
Step 8)The 'Select Filter Condition' dialog opens up.1. Select
the Filter condition2. Click 'OK'
Step 8)Now we need to save the same against the excel report
that we have created.Click 'HP ALM' tab and click 'Save to
ALM'.
Step 9)The 'Save Business View Excel Report' Dialog Opens up.1.
Enter the Report Name2. Select the same report that we created in
Step 2.3. Click 'Save'.
Step 10)Confirm Save Dialog box opens up. Click 'Yes' to
Continue. This dialog pops up as user is trying to overwrite with
the one that is already created.Note: The ALM asks for overwriting
the existing excel report as we have selected the same report name
that we have created in Step 2. In Step 2 the report was NOT
configured and loaded but it was just a placeholder for the report.
Only after performing this step the excel report is available for
the user to generate and save in excel format.
Step 11)Now user can generate the report from ALM. Click
'Generate'.
Step 11)Now report displays based on the criteria set by the
user.Note: User can get the updated report by regenerating the
excel report, if there is an addition or deletion of defects or if
there is a change in the severity of the defect.
Generating Project Report Project reports enable users to design
and generate detailed reports containing information for a specific
project. Users can also define sections and sub-sections each
listing records of a specified ALM entity. Users can customize the
layout and the template format for each section. The Project report
can be generated as HTML, Microsoft Word, or PDF formats.Step 1)To
Create a new project report, click '+' icon from Analysis Module
and select 'New Project Report'.
Step 2)The new project Report Dialog box opens. Enter the Name
of the Project and Click 'OK'.
Step 3)The changes are reflected in the screen as shown below1.
The Project Report is created.2. Click 'Add Report Section
Button.
Step 4)The add report section dialog is displayed.1. User has to
enter the type of section that they would like to include2. Enter
the name of the Section3. Click 'OK'.
Step 5)The Requirement section is now added to the report.
Step 6)Now we will add test report section.1. Click 'Add Report
Section'.2. Select 'Type of Report' to be inserted from 'Add Report
Section' dialog3. Enter the name of the report section.4. Click
'OK'.
Step 7)The report section with the name 'Tests' would be added
as shown below.
Step 8)Similarly create a section for defects and the final
report layout will be as shown below. Once added click 'Generate'
button.
Step 9)The report would be generated by connecting to
server.
Step 10)The project report would be generated as specified by
the user. User can save the project report from the generated
window. If the generated format is a doc or docx, it can be saved
from MS word. If the selected file format is HTML, save it from the
appropriate browser. If the generated report is in PDF format, save
it from PDF reader.
All About Dashboard This module helps users to design a
dashboard page by selecting and arranging graphs on the page based
on their requirements. This module is very helpful for
stakeholders/project managers to get a quick snapshot about the
project status.Step 1)To Create a Dashboard page,1. Click Dashboard
View2. Click 'New Dashboard Page' icon3. New Dashboard Page dialog
opens. Enter Name of the Dashboard Page.4. Click 'OK'.
Step 2)Thecreated dashboard is displayed as shown below.1. The
created Dashboard page2. Click 'Configuration'.3. Graph Tree is
displayed from where user can select all the graphs4. Add it to the
dashboard page by clicking on "