As part of our test management complexities series we’re looking here at assignment of testcases within Quality Center. Assignment within QC typically works at the “testcase” level within the Plan and Lab areas. We can extend assignment to sets and steps but this requires custom field set up (which we look at in the video).
In this video we first put this in context by looking at some of the key Quality Center concepts for planning and execution; the Plan where we define cases, with steps and group them into folders. and the Lab where we create sets which link to a number of cases from the plan area. With this concept we can then link the folders, that contain the sets, to a release and cycles. When we run these sets we create runs containing testcase instances.
So how does assignment work within this framework? At the plan level we can define the designer of the test and the reviewer of the test. Note that these assignments have no bearing on the assignments at run time. They are just assignments with respect to the creation and development of the testcase.
Within the Lab area we have assignement for the testcases within a Set (this is prior to execution) and Runs (during execution). Within the Sets tab we can ONLY assign at the set level or set folder level by creating a custom field. There is no default capability to assign at the set level or folder level without customizing.
Assignment is achieved at the testcase level within a set. When we look at the “Execution Grid” we’ll see ‘instances’ of cases assigned to a responsible tester. We can see the responsible tester field for a particular ‘Test Instance’. So The default responsible tester is defined for the “TestCase instance” when the case is included within test set.
However, the same set can be copied (so that we can run it against different releases/cycles). At this point different responsible testers can be assigned to the different instances of the same testcases. Modifying the assigned tester can then be accomplished by using find and replace or individually selecting/modifying at the instance level. Note that it’s not possible to bulk select a group of instances and change the responsible tester.
Once execution has started the person responsible for running the testcases is defined in the tester field. This can be changed when you enter the details for the run. Once the run is complete you can modify the tester value for the run retrospectively.
Assignment at the set or step level requires a little bit of customization. If you need to assign at the step level this requires the configuration of a custom field for the steps. And If you need to assign at the set level you can then again setup a custom field. These custom fields will then be visible when you are writing and running the set/step.
If you want to see tests assigned to a tester we have two quick ways we can do this. You can create a simple filter. Or you can add a summary graph. If you need to see assignment at the set level within the lab then you will need need to create cross filter based on the Test Instances within the set.
In short assignment of testcases within Quality Center works, firstly, at the case level for a set. And secondly, at the testcase instance level for the set executed within a run. This structure gives Quality Center a degree of more configurability in terms of setting up assignment than any other test management tool. However, it’s important to understand how QC approaches this and work out how that approach will map to your requirements.
