Test Case Management¶

Artifact icon and name	Token	Description
Test Step	TS	A single scenario or step to validate during a test
Test Step (linked)	TS	A step in a test case that contains a whole other test case inside it
Test Case (with test steps)	TC	Stores how to test a feature or process, and tracks the results of each test
Test Case (without test steps)	TC	Like a normal test case, but usually used for automated tests where steps are not required

Feature Overview and Tips¶

Test cases are the primary building block of Spira's powerful testing features. Test cases often contain test steps - one test step for each scenario to validate. To run a test case you execute it. This creates a test execution environment for testers with effectively a copy of the test case at that time. Once execution has finished, an immutable test run is created as a permanent record of that execution (whether it passed, failed, and so on).

Use properties on test cases themselves like their type and component, and test case folders to help organize test cases. Extend the power of test cases further with parameters, linked test steps, and test sets.

Tips and TricksKey Artifact LinksAssociation Chart

Link test cases to the requirements that they test the functionality of, and make sure every requirement has at least one test case covering it
Adding test cases to a release is the best way to track if a release has full test coverage
Don’t clone your test cases for each release. Instead add the same test cases to each release. You can then track test case result over many releases
For manual testing, scope a test case as the work that one tester can reasonably do in a single testing session
Keep the number of total test steps in a test case to around 50 and not more than 100
For automated test cases, either don’t use test steps at all or have only one test step in the test case
Test case parameters, especially with linked test steps can make your test cases more modular and powerful

Releases: each test case can be added to many releases - every release that the test case should be used to provide test coverage / validate
Requirements: each test case be added to many requirements, in cases where a test case helps validate multiple pieces of functionality
Program Milestones: group releases across products together into program milestones to track delivery at the program level SpiraPlan

graph TD
TC{{"`**Test Case**`"}} --> RL(Release);
TC --> RQ(Requirement);
TC --> TX(Test Set);
TS(Test Step) --> TC;
TK(Task) -.-> TC;
RK(Risk) -.-> TC;

Test Case List¶

When you click on the Testing > Test Cases link on the global navigation bar, you will initially be taken to the test case list screen illustrated below:

The test case list consists of:

A sidebar on the left that shows:
- the folder tree with triangle icons to expand / collapse each folder
- a quick filter panel to filter by any saved filters or component with a single click
- a charts panel with a donut chart that shows the release test coverage for the currently displaying release. You can read how this data is prepared here
The right hand side shows all the test cases in the product by folder, in a filterable, sortable grid.

When you create a new product, this list will initially be empty, and you will have to use the "New Test Case" button to start adding test cases to the system. A new product will also not have any test folders---only the base "Root" folder will be visible. To add a test folder, you click the "Add' button at the bottom of the folder tree on the left.

The list shows all test folders (shown with a folder icon), and test cases (shown with a document icon) inside the currently selected folder. You can place test folders and test cases into test folders.² All of the items in the list have a name, together with the most recent execution status (passed, failed or not-run), and owner, author, execution date, active flag and test case number. Clicking on a test case's hyperlink will take you to the test case details page for the item in question.

It is important to understand that only test cases are assigned a status themselves; the test folders instead display a test execution bar graph that illustrates the aggregate execution status of its child test-cases. Thus, if the test folder contains two test cases, one of which passed, and one of which wasn't run, the graph will display 50% green and 50% gray.

To determine the exact aggregate test folder execution status information, position the mouse pointer over the bar-chart, and the number of tests in each of the execution statuses (passed, failed, not-run, blocked, caution) will be displayed as a "tooltip". Note that if you change the owner of a test folder, then all the child test cases will be assigned the same owner. This allows you to more easily associate entire folders to test cases to be executed by a specific user.

Add a Test Case¶

Click the "New Test Case" button will add a test case in the currently displayed folder (ie the one marked in bolder on the folder tree and also shown in the yellow information box). The new test case will be added at the bottom of the list.

Once the new test case has been inserted, the item is switched to "Edit" mode so that you can rename the default name and choose an owner and/or author. Note that all new test cases are initially set with an execution status of "Not Run".

Delete¶

Clicking on the "Delete" button deletes all the test cases and/or test folders whose check-boxes have been selected. If any of the items are test folders, then the contents of the folder(s) are not deleted, but instead moved to the root folder.

Execute¶

Clicking on the "Execute Tests" button (accessed from the "Tools" menu or context menu) executes all the test cases selected, together with all the test cases contained with any selected test folders. The test execution functionality of SpiraPlan® is explained in more detail in Test Step Details. NOTE: if the product does not allow you to execute test cases this button will not be available.

Refresh¶

Clicking on the "Refresh" button simply reloads the test case list. This is useful as other people may be modifying the list of test cases at the same time as you, or executing specific test cases, and after stepping away from the computer for a short-time, you can click this button to make sure you are viewing the most current test case list for the product.

Editing a Test Case¶

Each test case in the list has an "Edit" button in its right-most column. When you click this button (or double-click on any of the cells in the row), you change the item from "View" mode to "Edit" mode. The various columns are made editable, and "Update" buttons are displayed in the last column:

If you click "Edit" on more than one row, the "Update" buttons are only displayed on the first row, and you can make changes to all the editable rows and then update the changes by clicking the one "Update" button. Also, if you want to make the same change to multiple rows (e.g. to change the owner of five test cases from "Fred Bloggs" to "Joe Smith"), you can click on the "fill" icon to the right of the editable item, which will propagate the new value to all editable items in the same column.

If you want to edit lots of items, first select their checkboxes and then click the "Edit" button on the same row as the Filters (ie the topmost edit button) and it will switch all the selected items into edit mode.

When you have made your updates, you can either click "Update" to commit the changes, or "Cancel" to revert back to the original information. Alternatively, pressing the <ENTER> key will commit the changes and pressing the <ESCAPE> key will cancel the changes.

Editing a Test Folder¶

Test folders shown on the right hand list pane do not have an "Edit" button. To edit a test folder, first click the "Edit" button at the bottom of the left hand folder tree. This will place the whole folder tree into edit mode---each folder will get a small "Edit" button of its own.

Clicking on the "Edit" button of the folder you want to edit will display a pop up dialog. This allows you to: move the folder into a new or different parent folder; edit the name of the folder; or add a more detailed description. Click "Update" to commit the changes, "Cancel" to revert back to the original information, or "Delete" to delete the folder (and all of its contents). Note that on clicking "Delete" a warning box will appear to make sure you don't accidentally delete something.

Show / Hide Columns¶

This drop-down list allows you to change the fields that are displayed in the test case list as columns for the current product. To show a column that is not already displayed, simply select that column from the list of "Show..." column names and to hide an existing column, simply select that column from the list of "Hide..." column names. This is stored on a per-product basis, so you can have different display settings for each product that you are a member of. The fields can be any of the built-in fields or any of the custom properties set up by the product owner.

Note: If you hide the 'execution status' column, the test case folders will no longer show the count of test cases contained within the folder.

Filtering & Sorting¶

Read about how to create and manage filters, and how to sort the artifact list.

Viewing the Test Status for a Release¶

By default, when you view the list of test cases, it will display an aggregate status for all releases of the product. I.e. the test list will include all the test cases in the system (regardless of which release they apply to) and the execution status will reflect the most recent test run -- regardless of which release it was for.

To change the test case list to just display test cases and execution status for a particular active release, change the release selected in the drop-down list located in the top-right from "All Releases" to a specific release:

As illustrated in the example above, when the drop-down list is changed to select a specific release, the list of test cases is filtered to just those mapped to the release in question. In addition, the execution status for the test cases will only reflect test runs for that specific release (and any child sprints if applicable). As can be seen in our example, many test cases that have been run for other releases now show the "Not Run" status since they've not been run for this specific release.

As a shortcut, when you select a specific release for viewing, subsequent execution of any of the test cases via the Tools > Execute Tests menu option will default the test run to the selected release.

Copying Test Cases¶

To copy one or more test cases, select the check-boxes of the test cases (or test case folder) you want to copy and then select Edit > Copy Items from the menu. This will copy the current test case / test case folder selection to the clipboard. Then select the place you want the test cases to be inserted and choose the Edit > Paste Items option.

The test cases will now be copied to the destination you specified. The name of the copied test cases will have " - Copy" added to the end to distinguish them from the originals. If you are copying test case folders, only the top level folders' name(s) will will have " - Copy" added to the end - the new copies of items in the folder will have the same names as the originals.

Blocking and Unblocking Test Cases¶

To designate one or more test cases as blocked, select the check-boxes of the test cases and then select the Edit > Block Test Cases menu option. This temporarily blocks test cases so that testers know they are not available for testing. Unlike actually executing the test cases and recording an execution status, no test run is recorded and summary metrics (such as requirements test coverage and test set status) are not updated. Likewise, to unblock test cases, select their check-boxes and then select the Edit > Unblock Test Cases menu option. This changes their Execution Status from Blocked to Not Run. The Edit menu will be enabled if the current user has Test Case > Bulk Edit permission.

Moving Test Cases or Folders¶

There are two options for moving test cases or folders:

Click on the test case/folder you want to move in the right hand list and drag it to the folder in the left hand folder tree you want it moved to. The background of the new folder will change to show where it will be inserted:

Once you have the test case/folder positioned at the correct place that you want it inserted, just release the mouse button. To move multiple items simply select their checkboxes and then drag-and-drop one of the selected items.

Alternatively you can simply select the check-boxes of the test cases you want to move and then select the Edit > Cut Items menu option. This will cut the current test selection to the clipboard. Then select the place where you want the test cases to be inserted and choose the Edit > Paste Items option. The test cases will now be moved into the destination specified.

Exporting Test Cases¶

Read about how to export artifacts from one product to another.

Adding Test Cases to a Release, Test Set or Requirement¶

To quickly add a series of test cases to a Release, Test Set or Requirement, select the check-boxes of the appropriate test cases and then click Tools > Add to Release / Test Set / Requirement. This will bring up a dialog box displaying either a list of available releases, test sets or requirements (depending on which option was chosen):

Once you have chosen the destination release / test set / requirement, clicking "Add" will add the selected test cases to that specific destination release / test set / requirement.

Printing Items¶

To quickly print a single test case, test folder or list of test cases you can select the items' checkboxes and then click Tools > Print Items. This will create a printable report of the selected items in a new window.

SpiraPlan® provides a shortcut -- called the context menu - for accessing some of the most commonly used functions, so that you don't need to move your mouse up to the toolbar each time. To access the context menu, right-click on any of the rows in the test case list and the following menu will be displayed:

You can now choose any of these options as an alternative to using the icons in the toolbar.

Test Case Details¶

When you click on a test case item in the test case list, you are taken to the test case details page illustrated below:

This page is made up of three areas;

the left pane displays the test case folders and list navigation;
the right pane's header, which displays: the operations toolbar; the folder the test case is in; the editable name of the selected test case; and the info bar (with a shaded background), which also contains the workflow status transitions (see below); and
the right pane's tabbed interface with rich information related to the test case.

The navigation pane consists of a link that will take you back to the test case list, as well as a list of the peer test cases to the one selected. This latter list is useful as a navigation shortcut: you can quickly view the detailed information of all the peer test cases by clicking on the navigation links without having to first return to the test cases list page. The navigation list can be switched between three different modes:

The list of test cases matching the current filter
The list of all test cases, irrespective of the current filter
The list of test cases assigned to the current user

The operations toolbar lets you, amongst standard operations like save and delete:

create a replica of the current test case by clicking "Clone"
discard any changes made by clicking Refresh
export to a number of files formats or print it via one of the options in the Tools dropdown menu
the Execute button will immediately prepare the current test case for execution and then take you to the test execution screen. NOTE: if the product does not allow you to execute test cases this button will not be available.

When cloning test cases note that:

all standard fields (like type and owner) and custom fields are cloned
description (with formatting) are cloned
parameters and their values are cloned
file attachments are cloned
requirement coverage and its associated releases are cloned
associated artifact and executions status are not cloned
incidents and test runs are not cloned
followers, comments, automation, and history are not cloned

The lower part of the right pane can be switched between a number of different views by clicking the appropriate tab. Initially the pane will be in "Overview" mode, but it can be switched to "Requirements Coverage", "Test Runs", "Releases", "Incidents", "Attachments", "History", and "Test Sets" modes if so desired. Each of these views is described below.

Overview - Details¶

The Overview tab is divided into a number of different sections. Each of these can be collapsed or expanded by clicking on the title of that section. This tab displays the fields, detailed information, and comments associated with the test case.

The top part of this tab displays the various standard fields and custom properties associated with the test case. Fields (both standard and custom) are grouped under the collapsible headings (marked by orange text and underline) in the screenshot below. For instance, all fields regarding dates are grouped together in the "Dates and Times" area.

The Detailed Information section contains the long, formatted description of the test case, as well as any rich text custom fields. You can enter rich text or paste in from a word processing program or web page. Clicking on the shaded areas of one of these detailed fields will display the rich text toolbar.

The Suspect flag is automatically set on an approved test case, when one of the requirements linking to it changes¹. This lets you quickly find all the test cases impacted by a specific requirement change. For this to happen the requirement needs to be in an Accepted or later status (i.e. not Rejected, Rejected, Under Review, Obsolete) and the test case needs to be an approved status (i.e. not Draft, Obsolete, Rejected).

Overview - Test Steps¶

This view displays the name of the test case together with all the defined test steps that a tester would need to perform to verify that the functionality works as expected. The list of test steps displays the position number, the description, the expected result, some suggested sample data and the most recent execution status of the individual test step:

Note: Test steps that are marked with a hyperlink and test case icon (e.g. "Call Login to Application" in the screen shot above) are in fact linked test cases. Linked test cases are a useful way of reusing existing test steps from other test cases. For example if you want to have a set of steps be in more than one test case (e.g. a login step) then you would create a separate test case just containing these steps, then have all the other test cases just link to it. This avoids the need to have duplicate test steps throughout the product.

If you click on the step number hyperlink (e.g. Step 2) you will be taken to the test step details page which allows you to perform additional editing of a specific test step as well as attach documents, associate pre-existing incidents and view the change history.

Insert Step¶

Clicking on the "Insert Step" button inserts a new test step before the currently selected (by means of the check-box) test step. Clicking the "Insert Step" button without selecting a test step will insert a new step at the end of the list. When a new step is inserted, the fields are displayed in "Edit" mode, so the description, expected result and sample data fields are editable, allowing you to enter the data:

Once you have entered the necessary information, you can click either "Save and New" to commit the changes. If you choose "Save and New" another new row will be inserted which is useful if you intend on entering lots of rows at once, whereas clicking "Save" will commit only the current row.

Insert Link¶

Clicking on the "Insert Link" button brings up the following dialog box that allows you to either choose an existing test case to be inserted or create a new test case and step with parameters:

When linking an existing test case, first select its parent folder from the dropdown. Then select the name of the test case you want to insert as a link from the list. If the test case has declared parameters you will see a list of parameters to fill out.

If it makes sense for your tests you can fill out the parameter values and then click "Add". The system will insert the test case as a link. These paramter values are passed down to the linked test at execution. These values override any default parameter values set on the test case. If a test step was already selected the link is inserted above that test step, otherwise the link is added at the end of the test step list.

If you want to create a test step with specific parameters and parameter values, you can do so by clicking the "Create New Test Case". This will change the dialog to one where you can assign a folder, name, and parameters to a new test case. On clicking the "Add" button: the new test case is created; a test step is created within that new test case; the parameters specified in the dialog are assigned to that test step, with the values set as the defaults for the step; and the new test case is added as a linked test case in the list of test steps.