Course Specifications

Course Code: CS-6302

Course Description: APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT

Effectivity: November 2019 Docu Code: Revision No.: 00 Issue No.: 01

BS IT

Course Developer:
Course Developer
Mariesher B. Zapico, MIT
Candidate, MCP, MCTS

Course Description and Objectives:

This course provides the tools needed to implement and use Application Lifecycle
Management. Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the
development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests, through
monitoring defects.

At the end of the course, the students should be able to:

1. Create basic scripts from a manual test case

2. Enhance basic tests with synchronization and verification
3. Parameterize tests to run with multiple sets of data
4. Create and reuse modular actions
5. Use the Object Repository
6. Use debugging tools
7. Write custom checkpoints to create more precise verification points within a test
8. Use the Object Repository Manager
9. Resolve object recognition problems

Recommended / Required Texts:

 Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials Student
Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education
Lecture Quizzes Class Major Exam
Standing
Prelim 40% 10% 50%
Midterm 40% 10% 50%
Final Term 40% 10% 50%
Online Grade Prelim Grade x 30% + Midterm Grade x 30% + Final Term Grade
x 40%

Course Geography and Procedures:

The online classroom is organized per week. Modules and presentation for one week are
provided for each topic. Video lecture, related readings, two quizzes and one major exam per
period. Students need to accomplish quizzes and major exam in sequence as the classroom
implements completion tracking.

Other Policies:
Commonly Utilized Netiquette Rules (adapted from http://jolt.merlot.org/vol6no1/mintu-
wimsatt_0310.htm)

 Do not use offensive language. Present ideas appropriately.

 Be cautious in using Internet language. For example, do not capitalize all letters
since this suggests shouting.
 Popular emoticons such as J or L can be helpful to convey your tone but do
not overdo or overuse them.
 Avoid using vernacular and/or slang language. This could possibly lead
to misinterpretation.
 Keep an “open-mind” and be willing to express even your minority opinion.
Minority opinions have to be respected.
 Think and edit before you push the “Send” button.
 Do not hesitate to ask for feedback.
 Using humor is acceptable but be careful that it is not misinterpreted. For example,
are you being humorous or sarcastic?
 Be reminded that support staff answering student queries may be mentors and
teachers for other courses. Be mindful of your language.
Week by Week Schedule:
Week #: Topic/s and Activities: Instructional Material/s: Resource/s:
1 Introduction to ALM 12.0 Course Module
Module and Presentation: Introduction to ALM 12.0 Powerpoint
presentation
Related Readings
Video Lecture
2 Module and Presentation: ALM 12.0 Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
Prelim Quiz 1
3 Module and Presentation: Working with Releases Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
4 Module and Presentation: Project Planning and Tracking Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
Prelim Quiz 2
5 Prelim Exam

6 Module and Presentation: Working with Release Powerpoint presentation

Course Module
Video Lecture
7 Module and Presentation: Test Planning Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
Midterm Quiz 1
8 Module and Presentation: Test Execution Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
Related Reading
9 Module and Presentation: Intersection of Surfaces Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
Midterm Quiz 2
10 Midterm Exam
11 Module and Presentation: Isometric Projection Powerpoint presentation
Course Module
Video Lecture
12 Module and Presentation: Oblique and Perspective Powerpoint presentation Course
Projections Module

Related Reading
Final Quiz 1
13 Module and Presentation: Conversion of Isometric Views Powerpoint presentation
to Orthographic Views and Vice Versa Course Module

Final Quiz 2
14 Final Exam
 Week 001
INTRODUCTION TO
APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Describe HP’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) product

• Describe the ALM hierarchy and roadmap
• Navigate through the ALM modules
• Describe the key features and benefits of ALM
• Identify what’s new in ALM version 12.0
• Identify additional helpful resources
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

Introduction

Applications are more complex than ever. Unlike single mono-

block Super Apps that were somehow easy to control, applications now
are made of multiple building blocks that must run coherently to
deliver business processes.

Therefore, change in one place means change to the whole.

Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

Challenge: Delivering Change Continuously and

Fast Is Risky
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

Introducing HP ALM 12.0

Because quality matters. Now more than ever.
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

ALM supports each of these key areas in the application build process.
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

ALM User Interface

(UI)
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0
Week 001: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 001 INTRODUCTION TO

APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Describe HP’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) product

 Describe the ALM hierarchy and roadmap

 Navigate through the ALM modules

 Describe the key features and benefits of ALM

 Identify what’s new in ALM version 12.0

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Page |2

 Identify additional helpful resources

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to

supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

Challenge: Delivering Change Continuously and

Fast Is Risky

Applications are more complex than ever. Unlike single mono-block

Super Apps that were somehow easy to control, applications now are made of
multiple building blocks that must run coherently to deliver business processes.
Therefore, change in one place means change to the whole.
Change is constant for applications. New implementations, support
packs, and customizations continuously change apps. Speed of any change has
bottom-line impact. Change also comes with a cost, whether it is
implementation cost (project running cost per day) or maintenance cost. The
faster the change implemented, the lower the implementation costs.
As a result, delivering application changes under immense time-to-
market pressures increase the applications’ costs and, therefore, the business
costs. And this risk grows over time as more and more application changes built
on top of each other.
That’s why quality assurance by comprehensive testing is essential to control
risks while delivering changes fast.

Application Lifecycle Management

HP’s strategy and software approach for modern application delivery

starts with a unified platform. This platform is shared by HP ALM, HP Quality
Center (QC), and HP Performance Center (PC) and is designed to unify and
simplify the processes associated with delivering software applications and
enterprise releases. ALM allows stakeholders to work in their unique user
environments yet share information, workflows, tasks, and assets between
domains with complete traceability.
The integrations and traceability between these areas is key to ensuring
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management, visibility, and quality in the application lifecycle.

ALM addresses the key personas involved in the application lifecycle and who
are working toward one single, collaborative solution. These include:

 Business analysts
 Project reams
 Development reams
 QA reams

The Core Application Lifecycle

ALM empowers IT to manage the core application lifecycle, from

requirements through deployment, granting application teams the crucial visibility
and collaboration needed for predictable, repeatable, and adaptable delivery of
modern applications.
ALM supports you through all the phases of application lifecycle
management. By integrating the tasks involved in application management, ALM
enables you to better align IT with your business needs.
ALM has the following features:
 Provides a web-based repository for all testing assets and a
foundation for the entire testing process
 Establishes seamless integration and smooth information flow from
one stage of the application lifecycle process to the next
 Supports the analysis of test data and coverage statistics to provide
a clear picture of the accuracy and quality of an application at each
point in the lifecycle

The ALM Roadmap

This slide shows the ALM roadmap. ALM supports each of these key areas in the
application build process.
Release Specifications
ALM allows you develop a release and cycle management plan that will help you
manage application releases and cycles more efficiently. You can track the progress
of an application release, divide a release into cycles and then assign requirements
and defects to those release and cycles. You will then have the ability to review
those requirements and defects against your plan to determine whether your
release is on track.
Requirement Specifications
ALM helps you define requirements to meet your business and testing needs.
You can manage the requirements and conduct multi-dimensional traceability
between requirements, tests, and defects across multiple releases and cycles.
ALM provides real-time visibility of requirements coverage. The links you create
allow you to keep track of the relationship between your requirements and tests.
In the Test Plan module, you create requirements coverage by selecting
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requirements to link to a test. Requirements coverage assists you in assessing the

impact of a change in the test or requirement. A test can cover more than one
requirement. The direct coverage status of a requirement reflects the execution
status of the tests covering the requirement and associated defects to evaluate
quality and business risk.
Test Planning
Based on the project requirements, you can build test plans and design tests.
ALM provides a repository for both manual and automated tests.
Test Execution
You can create a subset of the tests in your project designed to achieve
specific test goals. ALM supports sanity, functional, regression, and advanced
testing. You can execute scheduled tests to diagnose and resolve problems.
Lab Management
You can run server-side functional test sets immediately or you can schedule
them for the future. Functional test sets are run without user intervention and
can be run as a part of a build verification suite to automate and streamline the
deployment and testing process.
Defect Tracking
You can submit defects and track their repair progress. Analyzing defects and
defect trends helps you make effective go/no-go decisions. ALM supports the
entire defect lifecycle from initial problem detection through fixing the defect
and verifying the fix.
Throughout the application lifecycle, you can monitor and control strategic
points by generating reports and graphs.

The ALM Core Portfolio

The full ALM edition contains additional features that enable sharing
across projects. These features include the ability to import, synchronize, and
share libraries, share defects, and perform cross-project customization.
This course is based on ALM 12.0. For information about training for
the full ALM edition, contact the HP Software Education group at
www.hp.com/software/education.

ALM User Interface (UI)

The ALM landing page has seven links:

The ALM Desktop Client and the ALM Web Client links provide access to
ALM through either the traditional desktop client or the new v12 Web client.
Note: You can view the Web client using a variety of web browsers, but the
traditional desktop client is limited to the standard browsers.
The Lab Management link supports continuous integration and delivery
practices, by providing tools for automatically deploying test environments and
scheduling functional and performance tests with or without user intervention.
The My Performance Center link is most often used by the performance test
team, to manage and execute performance based automation and test results.
An HP ALM – Performance Center license must be purchased and installed for
this module to be in working order.
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Your site administrator uses the Site Administration link to perform such
tasks as managing ALM domains and projects and for controlling ALM user
access.
The Tools link provides access to additional tools available for use with
ALM. For example, the HP Quality Center Connectivity add-in enables you to
work with other HP and third-party testing tools.
The Readme link provides access to the latest product release notes.

ALM Hierarchy

At the top level of ALM is the domain. You can set up domains in ALM in
any way you want based on your requirements and associated processes.
For example, you can use a domain to distinguish a particular line of business
(LOB) within an organization. An LOB is an independent business unit within an
organization that has its own set of rules, standards, processes, resources, and
objectives. Each LOB can customize its ALM domain to align directly with its
own unique business requirements and internal processes.
Each LOB is typically responsible for one or more software applications.
You can manage each application within an organization separately and group
them by projects in ALM.
You can develop and manage software development projects using
different releases. A release represents a group of software changes that is
available for distribution to a customer at the same time.
Each release can have a number of cycles. A cycle represents a
development and QA cycle based on a project timeline. Both releases and cycles
have defined time lines.

ALM Site Administration

The ALM system administrator creates and manages both domains and
projects using the ALM Site Administrator feature. This screenshot displays how
the domains and projects are managed from the Site Administrators point of
view.
To understand more about Site Administration and Project
Customization, you can register and attend the ALM350 – ALM Site and Project
Administration course.

ALM UI – Web Client

The ALM Web client offers a new alternative UI for managing the lifecycle
of your application, and is part of HP's ongoing commitment to providing
innovative products and solutions. The ALM Web client is user-friendly and easy
to navigate, and with its new features and functionality, shortens work
processes and provides an improved user experience.
Currently, the modules supported by ALM Web client are Requirements
and Defects.
The ALM Web client has features not available in the ALM Desktop client, such
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as:
Author mode – A document-centric viewing mode that enables you to see
a list of requirements in a single document view and allows for quick
editing of descriptions. This helps you to better understand the big
picture.
 Category views – A dynamic hierarchical structure based on virtual
folders allows for flexibility in manipulating the Requirements view.
Views can be updated on-the-fly by selecting new category fields. This
flexibility lets you determine the way in which requirements are
organized.
Because the ALM Web client does not download client components on to
your computer, you do not need administrative privileges to use ALM. The ALM
Web client is not browser-dependent and works on various operating systems.
See the ALM Release Notes for supported browsers and operating systems.
To access ALM, open your Web browser and enter your ALM URL:
http://<ALM server name/IP address>[<:port number>]/qcbin
Note: If ALM was configured for external authentication, the Name and
Password fields do not appear in this window.

ALM Cross-Browser Support/What’s New

Seamless Identity Management/What’s New

External Authentication
ALM supports external authentication systems, such as Smart Card
Authentication and Single Sign-on (SSO):
 Smart Card Authentication – Smart cards are physical devices used to
identify users in secure systems. These cards can be used to store
certificates both verifying the user's identity and allowing access to
secure environments. Currently, ALM supports one type of smart card
authentication, Common Access Card (CAC). ALM is Joint
Interoperability Test Command (JITC) certified
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 Single Sign-on – SSO is a session/user authentication process that

permits a user to enter one name and password to access multiple
applications. Currently, ALM supports one type of SSO authentication,
SiteMinder.
ALM can be configured to use these external authentication systems in place
of the standard model of each user manually entering a user name and
password.

ALM UI – Accessing the Web Client

Requirements Management and Defects Management are the two

modules that have been completely redesigned as part of this release of ALM.
Working in the Requirements module using the ALM Web client helps
you to define, manage, and track requirements at all stages of the application
lifecycle.
Using the ALM Web client, you can report flaws in your application and
track their repair during all stages of the application management process.

ALM UI – Web Client Requirements Page

Managing Requirements/What’s New

New Traceability View

The new Traceability view feature provides more comprehensive
traceability capabilities, including:
 Grid views are available for drilling-down to specific traceability links. In
these views, you can filter items and select the fields to be displayed
 When viewing traceability for requirements, you can choose to include
child requirements. You can also include both direct and indirect links
when viewing
Defects Linked to a Requirement
You can now search requirements by description name and then link
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Page |8

them, rather than just linking them by ID.

Authoring Requirements/What’s New

The improved functionality when authoring multiple requirements as

part of a single document now lets you:
 Add or delete requirements from within the document view
 Choose between using the ALM Desktop Client Rich Text tab or the
Description field as the body of each requirement in the document
 Export requirements to HTML, PDF, and Word formats

ALM UI – Web Client Defects Page

Managing Defects/What’s New

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Creating and Sharing Workspaces/What’s New

Simple Customization/What’s New

General Enhancements Added to Customization

Enhancements include:
 A new Edit & Lock feature that enables one administrator to have
exclusive access to customization, while others can view existing
settings.
 Staging and production. You can now define your business rules and
forms in a project set up for staging, and when ready, export the business
rules to the project in production
Forms
Improvements to the form designer and to form rendering make it easier to
create forms:
 Drag and drop fields can be reordered when you design a form.
 A read-only system default form is now available. You can duplicate this
form to create your own forms. You can also always revert to the system
default form, if necessary
 The ALM Web client can now optimize space by determining how many
fields fit on one line in a form.
Business Rules
Additional functionality provides the administrator with more capabilities for
enforcing organization policies and for dictating workflow. Key new business
rules features include:
 Filtering the list of rules in the grid by entering text. Only rules whose
action, condition, or remark match the text are listed.
 Creating rules without a condition. That is, they will be evaluated
unconditionally.
 Basing your rule condition on the values of fields that refer to other
modules, such as a Target Release or Target Cycle from the Releases
module
 Defining rules that:
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 Select different lookup for both user-defined and system fields

 Limit filed lookup list values to a subset of those values
 Send emails when an entity is created, deleted, or modified
 Set field values when an entity is created or a field is modified

ALM UI – Desktop Client

The ALM Desktop client opens the ALM client application in the browser
or stand-alone with access to all project modules.
Each time ALM is run, it carries out a version check. If it detects a newer
version, it downloads the necessary files to your machine.
If file downloads are prohibited through your browser, you can install
these files by using the HP ALM Client MSI Generator add-in, available from the
HP Application Lifecycle Management Add-ins page (Help ␣ Add-ins).
After the ALM version has been checked and files have been updated (if
necessary), the ALM Login window is displayed.
Note: If ALM was configured for external authentication, the Name and
Password fields do not appear in this window.
To access ALM, open your Web browser and type your ALM URL:
http://<ALM server name/IP address>[<:port number>]/qcbin

Simplified User Experience/What’s New

ALM UI – Desktop Client GUI

The ALM masthead, sidebar, and Pinned Items panel are common to all
ALM views.
You can pin a requirement, test plan, or defect to enable you to jump to
that item quickly, no matter which module you are in.
Example
Assume you are a program manager and want to monitor the
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implementation of a specific requirement. By pinning it, you can quickly access

it from any module in ALM, without having to open the Requirements Module
and search for it. ALM lets you pin as many as 10 items for any project. A pinned
item is specific to the user name with which you logged on.
To exit and return to the ALM Login window, click the Logout button
located in the upper-right corner of the window. Alternatively, on the ALM
masthead, click <Domain, Project> and choose Select to log in to a different
project.
Note: When an ALM user session is inactive for a period of time, the session
expires. This releases the license in use, making it available for other users.

ALM UI – Help and Documentation

The Help section enables you to open the ALM documentation library
and other online resources.

Focus, Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide Part 1 of 2. Micro Focus. VitalBook file.

The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

Project Planning and Tracking

ALM project planning and tracking (PPT) functionality enables quality

assurance managers to track application readiness by defining goals for
activities of an application release. You can track application readiness by
defining milestones for application release activities in the Releases module and
use of KPIs to analyze the data of your defined milestones.
The overall health and deployment readiness of a release is displayed as
a scorecard. The scorecard monitors and tracks how well each milestone is met
on a daily basis. To further analyze your output, you can generate dashboard
reports and graphs.

Baselining

Baselining allows you to capture a group of requirements, tests, or test

assets at strategic points in the project lifecycle to mark specific milestones. You
can compare baselines to assess the impact of changes and enable rollback of
assets, if required.
Key Benefits
The key benefits of baseling include:
 Providing a snapshot of the project state at a particular point in time
 Enabling rollback of assets to key points in the application lifecycle
 Comparing baselines to assess changes
 Using baselines in test execution
Key Capabilities
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The key capabilities of baseline include:

 Creating baselines, including traceability between assets
 Comparing baselines, both at a high level and in drilldown to specific
changes
 Reporting and printing baselines for sign-off
 Controlling who can create and modify baselines

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 002
INTRODUCTION TO
APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2

Course Objectives

• After completing this module, you should be able to:

• • Describe HP’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) product

• • Describe the ALM hierarchy and roadmap
• • Navigate through the ALM modules
• • Describe the key features and benefits of ALM
• • Identify what’s new in ALM version 12.0
• • Identify additional helpful resources
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Week 002: INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2

References and Supplementary Materials

• Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
• Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
• http://hp.com/software/education

• Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial

ALM (Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 002 INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION

LIFECYCLE 12.0 PART 2

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Describe HP’s Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) product

 Describe the ALM hierarchy and roadmap

 Navigate through the ALM modules

 Describe the key features and benefits of ALM

 Identify what’s new in ALM version 12.0

CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
INTRODUCTION TO APPLICATION LIFECYCLE 12.0 part 2
Page |2

 Identify additional helpful resources

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to

supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

Requirements Management
When creating requirements, you are translating business
goals/objectives into a realized software-enabled business process. You should
understand the business goals and objectives and you should care about the IT
approach and impact. This is a strategic control point in the process; you could
fail in the end if you have not delivered against the requirements, even if you do
everything else perfectly.
When you begin to understand the perspective of each side, you can see
how the requirements help bridge the gap between IT and the business.
Key Benefits
The key benefits include:
 Manage requirements changes and impact
 Multi-dimensional traceability
 Requirements coverage analysis
 Requirements linkages to requirements, tests, defects
 Bi-directional traceability across the application quality lifecycle
Key Capabilities
The key capabilities include:
 Managing complete and verifiable requirements and dependencies
 Tracking multiple requirements types
 Analyzing requirements change impact
 Leveraging existing assets in MS Word
 Integrating with demand systems, both strategic and operational

Business Process Modeling

The ALM Business Models module addresses the need for a stronger
connection between business process modeling, quality assurance
management, and requirements definition. This module integrates business
process models into the application lifecycle.
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This integration fosters collaboration between the various roles involved

in the business process modeling and testing lifecycles, thereby facilitating
communication between business users and those in more technical
departments. This collaboration facilitates better business outcomes by
identifying high-level activities, thus guiding the QA manager in determining the
high-level test requirements.
Integrating business process models into ALM involves importing
business process models into ALM and linking requirements and tests to
models, activities, and end-to-end business flows. After executing tests, you can
display quality status views on the business process model level.
To work with business process models in ALM, you must first design
models with standard modeling tools, and import the models into ALM.
In addition to the standard business process model entities, ALM enables
you to perform quality testing on end-to-end business flows (paths).

Version Control

Versioning allows distributed teams to collaborate on joint development

of tests without the risk of overriding each other’s changes. You no longer have
to worry about making multiple copies of the assets and can be automatically
notified when an asset changes so you can stay in synch with the latest version,
or choose to continue using the version that you have.
Version control is enabled for requirements, tests, and test assets to
allow distributed teams to collaborate and manage multiple versions of assets
in parallel while maintaining data integrity and providing an audit history of
changes throughout the project lifecycle.
An entity can be checked out for update, and then checked back in when
changes are complete. All projects using that asset are automatically notified of
the change and can choose to accept or reject the change as they manage their
version of assets.

Risk-based Quality Management

The highly competitive business environment today is forcing

organizations to do more with less. While resources available to IT
organizations are shrinking, applications are growing in number, size, and
complexity. The business risk associated with this scenario can now be managed
through ALM Risk Analysis.
 Stakeholders can assign business risk to the requirements that help test
managers calculate how much effort to spend on testing each
requirement. This helps you develop a strategic plan and develop a
business contract between QA and business managers
 Tests can now be designed based upon requirements. ALM can manage
both automated and manual tests in the same repository to facilitate the
ease of reusability of these assets.
 Advanced test planning capabilities allow various types of testing,
including functional, regression, load, unit, and integration testing—each
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with its own set of requirements, schedules, and procedure. You can run
tests unattended and emulate real life business processes.

Comprehensive Requirements Traceability

Requirements traceability defines a relationship between two or more

requirements. When analyzing the impact of a change proposed in a specific
requirement, the traceability links indicate the other requirements that the
change might affect.
You can add traceability links to and from a selected requirement:
 Trace from links indicate requirements that affect a selected
requirement.
 Trace to links indicate requirements that are affected by a selected
requirement.
When a requirement changes, ALM can alert the affected requirement.

Test Plan

Developing a clear and concise test plan is fundamental to successful

application testing. A good test plan enables you to assess the quality of your
application at any point in the application management process.
To outline a strategy for achieving your requirements, as defined in the
Requirements module,. ask yourself two basic questions:
How should you test your application?
 Which testing techniques will you use (stress tests, security tests,
performance and load tests, and so on.)?
 How will you handle defects (severity classification, authorization to
open and close defects, and so on)?
What resources do you require?
 What resources do you require to test (personnel, hardware, and son
on)?
 When will the various tasks be completed?
Example
Consider a flight reservation application that lets you manage flight
scheduling, passenger bookings, and ticket sales. Testing requires designing
both manual and automated tests. You could assign testing personnel with
programming experience the task of designing automated tests, while non-
programmers could design manual tests.

Test Resources

The Test Resources module enables you to manage resources used by

your tests. You can organize your resources by defining a hierarchical Test
Resource tree containing resource folders and resources. For each resource in
the tree, you select and upload a set of resource files to the ALM repository.
These files can be used by one or more tests.
You can then define dependencies between resources and tests.
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Business Components

The Business Components module enables subject matter experts

(SMEs) to work with Business Process Testing (BPT), the HP test automation
solution. You use reusable business process components and flows to create
business process tests. You can also combine manual components to manually
test your application. Access to this module is dependent on your ALM license.
A business component is the building block on which business process
testing is based. A business component is an easily-maintained, reusable unit
comprising one or more steps that perform a specific task and their component
steps describe the condition or state of the application before and after that task.
You can use business components in multiple tests and flows. A business
component can be defined as a manual or automated component. Business
components may require input values from an external source or from other
components, and they can return output values to other components.

Test Execution

You begin test execution by creating test sets and choosing tests to
include in each set. A test set contains a subset of the tests in an ALM project
designed to achieve specific test goals. As your application changes, you can run
the manual and automated tests in your project to locate defects and assess
quality.
You can run ALM tests in different ways. You can:
 Run tests using Functional test sets
 Run tests using Default test sets
Following test runs, you review and analyze test results. Your goal is to
identify failed steps and determine whether a defect has been detected in your
application, or if the expected results of your test need to be updated. You can
validate test results regularly by viewing run data and by generating reports and
graphs.
You can also set a test as a draft run to instruct ALM to ignore the run results.

HP Sprinter

You can run tests manually from ALM, using HP Sprinter. Sprinter
provides advanced functionality and tools to assist you in the manual testing
process. Sprinter is fully integrated with ALM, enabling you to get the maximum
benefit from both solutions.
Manual testing often requires that you leave your testing application to
accomplish tasks related to your test. For example, you might need to use
graphic software to take a screen capture of your application, or you might want
to record a movie of the application during the test, or you might need to switch
to your defect tracking software to report a defect.
Sprinter addresses these needs of the manual testing process, and
enables you to accomplish these tasks without disrupting your test flow. With
Sprinter, you can also perform many of the repetitive and tedious tasks of
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manual testing automatically. Sprinter includes many tools to help you detect
and submit defects. These features ensure that you can perform all the tasks
necessary for your manual test with minimum interruptions to your testing
work.
With Sprinter you can:
 Create and annotate screen captures
 Capture movies of your run
 Record and run macros on your test application
 Automatically enter data into fields in your application
 Automatically include the list of your steps or user actions in any defect
you submit
 Replicate your user actions on multiple machines with different
configurations
Note: Sprinter is not available for ALM Essentials Edition or Performance Center
Edition. If you are not working with Sprinter, you can run tests manually with
the Manual Runner.

Defect Management
Locating and repairing application defects efficiently is essential to the
development process. Using the ALM Defects module, you can report design
flaws in your application and track data derived from defect records during all
stages of the application management process.
You use the Defects module to:
 Create application defects for an ALM projects
 Track defects until application developers and testers determine that the
defects are resolved
Defect records inform members of the application development and
quality assurance teams of new defects discovered by other members. As you
monitor the progress of defect repair, you update the information in your
project.
You can link a defect to the following ALM entities: requirements, tests,
test sets, business process tests, flows, test instances, runs, run steps, and other
defects.
Examples of when defect linkage is useful include:
 A new test is created specifically for a defect. By creating a link between
the test and the defect, you can determine if the test should be run based
on the status of the defect.
 During a manual test run, if you add a defect, ALM automatically creates
a link between the test run and the new defect.
You can share defects across multiple ALM projects. Sharing defects
across multiple ALM projects is available for ALM Edition only.
You share and synchronize defects using the HP ALM Synchronizer.

Reports, Graphs, and Dashboards

ALM provides you with analysis tools that enable you to analyze and
display ALM data in various formats.
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Dashboard Modules
In the Dashboard module, you analyze ALM data by creating graphs,
project reports, and Excel reports. You can also create dashboard pages that
display multiple graphs side-by-side.
The Dashboard contains the following modules:
 Analysis View module – Contains the Analysis tree in which you organize
all of your analysis items. Analysis items can be any of the following
analysis types: graphs, project reports, and Excel reports.
 Analysis Menus tab – Users with the required administrator permissions
also have access to the Analysis Menus tab. This tab enables you to
manage the analysis items that are generated from within the Analysis
menu in specific modules, such as Requirements and Test Lab.
 Dashboard View module – Contains the Dashboard tree in which you
organize dashboard pages. In dashboard pages, you arrange multiple
graphs that you created in the analysis tree, and display them in a single
view.
Additional Analysis Tools
Live Analysis graphs – Enable you to create and display a dynamic graphic
representation of data related to test plans and test sets.

Attachments/What’s New

Clicking the attachment icon for an entity lets you view the list of
attachments. You can open the attached files directly from the list.

Zoom-in and Zoom-out to View Memo Fields/What’s New

Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons have been added to the toolbar for rich
content memo fields.

Key Developer Integration and Collaboration

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Complete Mobile Testing/Test Anywhere

Building a Center of Excellence (CoE)

Flexible Delivery
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Additional Resources
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P a g e | 10
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P a g e | 11

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 003
WORKING WITH RELEASES

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 003: Working with Releases

Course Objectives

• After completing this module, you should be able to:

• • Identify the relationship between a line of business (LOB), applications,

releases, and cycles
• • Create a Releases tree
• • Recognize the significance of assigning requirements to releases and cycles
• • Recognize the significance of assigning tests to releases and cycles
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases
Week 003: Working with Releases

References and Supplementary Materials

• Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
• Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
• http://hp.com/software/education

• Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial

ALM (Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Page |1

Module 003 WORKING WITH RELEASES

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Identify the relationship between a line of business (LOB), applications,

releases, and cycles

 Create a Releases tree

 Recognize the significance of assigning requirements to releases and

cycles

 Recognize the significance of assigning tests to releases and cycles

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Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to

supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

The ALM Roadmap

ALM enables you to organize and track your upcoming releases by
defining releases and cycles.
A release represents a group of changes in one or more applications that will be
available for distribution at the same time. Each release can contain a number
of cycles.
A cycle is a set of development and quality assurance efforts performed
to achieve a common goal based on the release timeline. Both releases and
cycles have defined start and end dates.
After defining releases and cycles, you define and review requirements
and assign them to releases and cycles. Requirements describe in detail your
application needs, and are used as a basis for creating a test plan. The tests you
create during the test plan phase should cover these requirements.
After assigning requirements to releases and cycles, you create test set
folders and assign them to cycles. A test set is a group of test instances in an ALM
project designed to achieve specific test goals. After assigning test set folders to
a cycle, you run the test sets under these test set folders.
If an application flaw is detected while running a test set, you can submit
a defect. ALM automatically creates a link between the test run, associated
release and cycle, and the new defect.
Release Specifications
The testing process begins with defining releases in the Management
module. You use this module to align business priorities and quality
expectations of the business unit with project requirements, tests, and defects.
You develop a release and cycle management plan to help you manage
application releases and cycles more efficiently. You can track the progress of
an application release against your plan to determine whether your release is
on track. You can divide a release into cycles and you can then assign
requirements and defects to the release and cycles.
Release

Defining a Line of Business (LOB)

A line of business (LOB) is an independent business unit within an

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organization, with its own set of rules, standards, resources, objectives, and
applications. For example, the figure above illustrates the Online Banking and
Credit Cards LOBs in a bank. These LOBs are concurrently developing software.
The current version of Online Banking (v10.0) enables users to perform
basic online banking transactions, such as reviewing checking, savings, credit
card accounts, and statements, transferring funds between savings and
checking accounts, and paying bills. Version 10.5 of Online Banking will provide
new functionality, such as linking savings and sharing trading accounts.
In ALM, a version of an application is referred to as a release, which
represents a group of changes in an application that is available for distribution
to customers at the same time. While the Online Banking and Credit Cards LOBs
are developing different versions of their software, the release coordinates the
testing activities of both LOBs.
A release is developed within a specified time. For example, release 10.5
of the Online Banking application must be developed within six months. During
these six months, the release goes through a series of testing cycles. In ALM, a
testing cycle is referred to as a cycle.
Each cycle has a specific purpose. For example, release 10.5 of the Online
Banking application goes through a series of four cycles. The first cycle tests the
new features included in release 10.5. After the first cycle is complete, you are
certain that new features are included in the release and are working.
After the first cycle, the release goes through further testing cycles to test
aspects, such as functionality and performance of the application. The
development team fixes the defects logged by the testing team in a cycle. After
fixing the defects, the testing team verifies and closes the defects in the same
cycle or in subsequent cycles, depending on the testing process used in an
organization. The number of cycles varies from one application to another and
depends on the number of changes within a release. After all cycles are
complete, you are ready to distribute the release to customers.

Releases and Cycles throughout ALM

Define Releases and Cycles

Define releases and cycles in a hierarchical releases tree.
Assign Requirements
Assign requirements to releases and cycles in the Requirements module.
Assign and Run Test Sets
Assign test sets folders to cycles, and then run the test sets in the Test Lab
module.
Assign Defects
Assign defects to a target release and a target cycle in the Defects module.
Analyze Releases and Cycles
View statistics and graphs to track the progress of your releases and cycles in
the Dashboard module.
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Understanding Releases and Cycles

Suppose you are developing a flight reservation application and in four

months you plan to release version 10.6. Your release includes four cycles.
The first cycle is for testing new features. The second cycle includes regression
testing. The third cycle is for sanity testing. The fourth cycle verifies the full
functionality of the application.
Your version 10.6 release tree could be defined as in the image above.

A Sample Release Tree

You begin the testing process by defining releases in the Management

module. The foundation of the Management module is the Release tree. You use
the Release tree to model the upcoming releases of an application using a
hierarchical structure. The Release tree consists of a release folder. The release
folder contains different releases of an application. A release consists of cycles,
in which each cycle has a predefined objective.
A release’s start date and end date must encompass all cycles within that
release. However, cycles can exist independent of one another, or they can
overlap if they do not interfere with each other. For instance, the project
manager of an application might decide to overlap the performance testing cycle
with the cycle that is responsible for regression testing.
Examine the example above of the Release tree for the Mercury Tours
application. It shows the Mercury Tours Application folder containing Release
10.6 and the following cycles:
 Cycle 1– New Features – Tests the new features of the application
implemented in the release. After the new features are tested, the
development team fixes the defects logged during testing. The testing
team validates the defects fixed by the development team. However,
depending on the criticality or severity of defects, some defects might be
fixed in the next cycle.
 Cycle 2 – Integrated System Testing – This cycle tests the new features
with existing features that might have been impacted by the changes.
 Cycle 3 – Performance Testing – Tests the performance of the application
for criteria such as number of concurrent users that the application
supports and the response time of the application.
 Cycle 4 – User Acceptance Testing – This cycle ensures that the new
features meet the expectations of the business.

Release Module Icons

You create a Release tree to define the hierarchical framework of

releases. Depending on the testing process followed in an organization, you
might create one release folder per application or a single release folder for
multiple applications.
By default, the left pane of the Management module displays the Releases
folder. This is a predefined folder and you cannot delete it. If you want, you can
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rename the Releases folder according to your requirement and add releases to
it. When you create a new release folder, it is created one level below the
Releases folder.

Specifying Cycle Details

After adding a cycle to a release, you specify the details for the cycle using
the Details tab. The details include the start date, end date, and a brief
description of the cycle. To specify details for a cycle:
1. From the Release tree, select the cycle for which you want to specify the
details. The Details page of the selected cycle is displayed in the right
pane of the Management module.
2. On the Details page, perform the following tasks:
a. From the Start Date list, select the date on which the cycle starts.
b. From the End Date list, select the date on which the cycle ends.
c. In the Description field, type a description of the expected
objective for this cycle.

Adding Attachments to a Cycle

You can add attachments to a cycle. For example, if you use Microsoft
Excel to plan the time and resource estimates for a release, you can attach this
spreadsheet to a cycle within the release for developers to track time. You use
the Attachments tab to add an attachment to a cycle.
To add an attachment to a cycle, perform the following steps:
1. In the right pane of the Management module, click the Attachments tab.
2. From the toolbar on the Attachments page, click the button
corresponding to the type of attachment you need.

Type of Attachments
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Assigning Requirements to Releases and Cycles

After defining requirements in the Requirements sub-module, you create

cycles in the Management module and assign requirements to a release or to a
cycle. You use requirements to define what needs to be tested in an application.
For example, in the Online Banking application, you need to test if users can log
on to their bank accounts. For this functionality, you create a Login requirement
that specifies the requirements for a valid username and password. The
Username and Password requirements are children of the Login requirement.
The requirements you define are the basis for identifying and creating
tests in the Test Planning phase. For example, you create tests to test the
Username and Password requirements. You specify the conditions under which
the test must fail.
When you assign a requirement to a cycle, the requirement is
automatically assigned to the release. However, the requirement is not assigned
to other cycles within the release. Assigning a requirement to a release does not
automatically assign it to all cycles in the release.
Assigning requirements to releases and cycles allows you to generate
graphs and reports showing the quality and progress of a release and
requirements coverage by cycle.

Assigning Tests to Cycles

A test set folder in the Test Lab module contains tests that are covered by
your requirements. Before executing tests for testing your requirements, you
assign test set folders to a cycle for:
 Reviewing the progress of tests in the Management module
 Determining the number of resolved and outstanding defects at a release
or a cycle level
 Enhancing the reporting granularity for the test set folders
The figure above illustrates that when you assign a test set folder to a cycle,
all tests within the test set folder are automatically assigned to the cycle. You
can assign a test set folder to only one cycle.
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CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 004
PROJECT PLANNING AND TRACKING

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Define Project Planning and Tracking (PPT)

• Understand the terminology used in PPT
• Work with PPT including:
Defining scope items
Assigning content to scope items
Defining and configuring milestones
Assigning and configuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Creating a custom KPI
Viewing the scorecard
• PPT Best Practices
• Troubleshooting PPT
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking
Week 004: Project Planning and Tracking

References and Supplementary Materials

• Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
• Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
• http://hp.com/software/education

• Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial

ALM (Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
PROJECT PLANNING AND TRACKING
Page |1

Module 004 PROJECT PLANNING AND TRACKING

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Define Project Planning and Tracking (PPT)

 Understand the terminology used in PPT

 Work with PPT including:

 Defining scope items

 Assigning content to scope items

 Defining and configuring milestones

CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
PROJECT PLANNING AND TRACKING
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 Assigning and configuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

 Creating a custom KPI

 Viewing the scorecard

 PPT Best Practices

 Troubleshooting PPT

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to

supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

Project Planning and Tracking (PPT)

ALM PPT enables quality assurance managers to track application
readiness by defining goals for activities related to an application release. PPT
is available in the full HP ALM edition only. You can also use PPT to track your
application releases. PPT helps you make more informed release decisions
using real-time KPIs.

PPT Terminology

For each release, you define release scope items. A release scope item is
a subdivided section of a release, such as a new feature, a change to an existing
feature, or a new theme. For each scope item, you define the related
requirements, tests, test sets, and defects. To measure the progress of the
release scope items, you associate them with milestones.
A milestone is a point in the timeline of a release that signifies the
completion of a deliverable. It enables you to track and validate the progress of
the release. You can associate a milestone with one or more release scope items.
PPT collects and analyzes the data from the defined milestones using KPIs. A KPI
is a quantifiable measure designed to track a critical performance variable over
time, and measure the essential outcome of quality assurance activities.
For each KPI, you define threshold levels to set warning limits. PPT uses
KPIs to analyze a milestone's readiness data, and to show the overall health and
deployment readiness of a release in the form of a scorecard. The scorecard
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monitors and tracks how well each milestone is met on a daily basis. To further
analyze your output, you can generate dashboard reports and graphs.

The PPT Workflow

In the planning phase, the QA/project manager defines the scope,

milestones, and KPIs for the project in ALM.
In the definition phase, the business analyst defines the scope items. The
QA/project manager defines the testing milestones and links the scope items to
milestones. After defining the scope items and testing milestones, you
determine the KPIs.
In the execution phase, the testers execute their testing cycles. In the
evaluation phase, managers evaluate the KPIs and adjust project dates as
appropriate.
To define releases, release scopes and milestones, and track release scope
status, use the following in the Releases module:
1. Define releases:
a. Open the Releases module – On the ALM sidebar, under
Management, select Releases.
b. Create folders – Right-click the Releases root folder and select
New Release Folder. To create a sub-folder, right-click a folder
and select New Release Folder.
c. Add releases – Right-click a release folder and select New Release.
Alternatively, if you are working with a project that is linked to a
template project, you can create a release by copying from the
template project. Right-click a release folder and select New
Release from Template.
2. Define release scope items – In the releases tree, select a release. Click
the Release Scope tab. Add release scope items and define the related
requirements, tests, test sets, and defects.
3. Define milestones:
a. Add milestones – In the releases tree, right-click a release and
select New Milestone. The New Milestone dialog box opens.
Define timelines for your milestone.
b. Associate release scope items – In the releases tree, select a
milestone. Click the Milestone Scope tab. Associate the milestone
with release scope items.
c. Associate KPIs – Click the KPIs tab. Configure related KPIs and set
boundaries for performance against those KPIs.
4. Analyze progress:
a. View scorecard – In the releases tree, select a release. Click the
Scorecard tab. View the status and progress of your defined
milestones.
b. View Gantt chart – In the releases tree, select a release. Click the
Master Plan tab.
c. Create PPT graphs.
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Defining Scope Items

Release Scope Tab

The Release Scope tab enables you to define and update release scope items.
To access this tab in the Releases module, select a release and click the Release
Scope tab. The user interface elements include:
 New Scope Item – Opens the New Scope Item dialog box, enabling you to
define a release scope item.
 Delete – Deletes the selected release scope item.
 Refresh – Refreshes the release scope grid so that it displays the most
up-to-date information.
 Select Columns – Opens the Select Columns dialog box, enabling you to
determine which fields to display in the release scope grid and their
order.
 Filter/Sort – Enables you to filter the data according to the criteria that
you choose.
 Scope Item Details – Opens the Scope Item Details dialog box, enabling
you to display the details of the selected release scope item.
 Show/Hide – Shows/hides the Description and Content tabs.
 Content tab – Enables you to select content to be included in the release
scope item.
 Description tab – Describes the release scope item. Click in the text box
to display a toolbar for formatting and spell checking the text.
New Scope Item/Scope Item Details Dialog Box
The New Scope Item dialog box enables you to define and update the
release scope items. You can access this dialog box from the Releases
module, by selecting a release and clicking the Release Scope tab. In the
Release Scope tab, right-click the release scope grid and select New Scope
Item. The New Scope Item dialog box opens.
The Scope Item Details dialog box enables you to view scope item details.
You can access this dialog box from the Release Scope tab by right-clicking a
release scope item and selecting Scope Item Details. The Scope Item Details
dialog box opens.
User interface elements include:
 First/Previous/Next/Last Entity – Allows you to browse through the
release scope items. Available from the Scope Item Details dialog box.
 Clear All Fields – Clears all the fields in the dialog box. Available from
the New Scope Item dialog box.
 Spell Check – Checks the spelling for the selected word or text box.
 Thesaurus – Displays a synonym, antonym, or related word for the
selected word.
 Spelling Options – Enables you to configure the way ALM checks
spelling.
 Name – The release scope item name.
 Details – Displays details of a release scope item.
 Defects – Displays the defects grid. Define a filter to determine the
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defects to be included in the release scope item.

 Description – Describes the release scope item. Click the text box to
display a toolbar for formatting and spell checking the text.

Assigning Content to Scope Items

The Content tab enables you to select content to include in the release scope
item. It includes the following tabs:
 Requirements – Displays the requirements tree. Expand the tree and
select the folders/requirements to include in the release scope item.
 Tests – Displays the test plan tree. Expand the tree and select the
folders/tests to include in the release scope item. To only include tests
covered by the requirements selected in the Requirements tab, select
Tests covering selected requirements.
 Test Sets – Displays the test set tree. Expand the tree and select the test
set folders to include in the release scope item. To only include test sets
that contain tests selected in the Test tab, select Test sets containing the
selected tests.
 Defects – Displays the defects grid. Define a filter to determine the
defects to be included in the release scope item.

Defining and Configuring Milestones

Milestones are used to measure progress in project planning and

tracking. A milestone is a point in the timeline of a release that signifies the
completion of a deliverable. It enables you to validate the progress of the
release. You can associate a milestone with one or more release scope items.
New Milestone Dialog Box
The New Milestone dialog box enables you to define milestones. To
access, right-click a release and choose New Milestone in the Releases module.
To limit the number of milestones that can be defined for each release,
use the MAX_MILESTONES_PER_RELEASE parameter in the Site Configuration
tab in Site Administration. The user interface elements include:
Clear All Fields – Clears all the fields in the dialog box. This element is available
from the New Milestone dialog box.
Spell Check – Checks the spelling for the selected word or text box. Thesaurus –
Displays a synonym, antonym, or related word for the selected word. Spelling
Options – Enables you to configure the way ALM checks spelling.
 Name – Identifies the milestone name.
 Details – Displays milestone details.
 Description – Describes the milestone.
Milestone Scope Tab
The Milestone Scope tab enables you to associate milestones with release
scope items. To access this tab, select a milestone and click the Milestone Scope
tab.
Milestone Scope Grid
User interface elements in the Milestone Scope grid include:
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 Select Scope Items – Opens the Scope pane, enabling you to select the
release scope items.
 Remove Scope Items – Removes selected scope items from the grid.
 Refresh – Refreshes the milestone scope grid so that it displays the most
up-to-date information.
 Select Columns – Opens the Select Columns dialog box, enabling you to
determine which fields to display in the milestone scope grid and their
order.
 Filter/Sort – Enables you to filter data according to the criteria that you
choose.
Scope Pane
User interface elements include:
 Add Scope Item – Adds selected release scope items to the milestone
scope grid.
Tip: You can also add release scope items by dragging them from the
scope item grid to the milestone scope grid.
 Show Scope Item Details – Opens the Details dialog box for the
selected scope item in read-only mode.
 Refresh All – Refreshes the scope item grid.
 Find – Searches for a specific release scope item in the scope item
grid. Type the name (or part of the name) of the release scope item
in the Find box and click Find. If the search is successful, the release
scope item is highlighted in the scope item grid.
 Filter/Sort – Filters and sorts the release scope items in the scope
item grid.
 Select Columns – Opens the Select Columns dialog box, enabling you
to determine column appearance and order.
 Go to Scope Item by ID – Opens the Go to Scope Item dialog box,
enabling you to find a specific test by Scope Item ID.
Note: You can only go to release scope items that are in the current filter.

Assigning KPIs

KPIs Tab
The KPIs tab enables you to define the KPIs for tracking the milestone
scope and setting the KPI thresholds. To access the KPIs tab, select a milestone
and click the KPIs tab.
Important: You can customize the default KPIs and create your own KPIs.
You can limit the number of KPIs that can be defined for each milestone
using the MAX_KPIS_PER_MILESTONE parameter in the Site Configuration tab
in Site Administration. You can limit the number of threshold values that can be
defined for each KPI using the MAX_THRESHOLD_VALUES_PER_KPI parameter
in the Site Configuration tab in Site Administration.
Main Area
KPI Pane
 Add KPI _Opens the KPI pane, enabling you to select KPIs.
 Delete KPI– Removes the selected KPI from the new milestone grid.
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 Show KPI Details– Opens the KPI Details dialog box, enabling you to
update KPIs and thresholds.
 Refresh – Refreshes the grid so that it displays the most up-to-date
information. The grid displays thresholds for a selected KPI column. This
option is enabled by selecting a single cell. Includes the selected KPI in
the defined milestone scope. Excludes the selected KPI from the defined
milestone scope. Opens the New KPI dialog box, enabling you to create a
KPI based on a selected KPI.
 Show/Hide – Shows/hides the Thresholds pane.
Thresholds Pane
The Thresholds pane enables you to manage threshold values for selected KPIs.
KPIs Pane
UI elements include:
 Add KPI – Adds the selected KPI to the main area in the KPI tab.
 Show KPI Definition Details – Opens the KPI Definition Details dialog box
for the selected KPI in read-only mode.
 Find – Searches for a specific KPI in the KPI grid. Type the name (or part
of the name) of the KPI in the Find box and click Find. If the search is
successful, the KPI is highlighted in the KPI grid.
 Filter/Sort – Filters and sorts the KPIs in the KPI grid.
 Select Columns – Opens the Select Columns dialog box, enabling you to
determine column appearance and order.

Configuring KPIs

Thresholds Pane View

The Thresholds view enables you to manage threshold values for a selected
KPI. To access, use one of the following options:
 Select a milestone. Click the KPIs tab. Click Create As KPI. The New KPI
dialog box opens. Click Thresholds.
 Select a milestone. Click the KPIs tab. Click Show KPI Details. The KPI
Details dialog box opens. Click Thresholds.
 Select a milestone. Click the KPIs tab. The Thresholds pane displays at
the bottom of the window.
UI elements include:
 Add Threshold Value – Opens the New Threshold Value dialog box,
enabling you to define the threshold values for a selected KPI.
 Delete Threshold Value – Removes the selected threshold value from the
thresholds grid.
 Restore Default Thresholds – Restores the default KPI threshold.
 Refresh All – Refreshes the new thresholds grid so that it displays the
most up-to-date information.
 Date – The threshold value date.
 OK Above – A value lower than OK Above and higher than the warning
limit indicates a warning KPI state. A value lower than the warning limit
indicates a critical KPI state.
 OK Below – A value higher than OK Below and lower than the warning
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limit indicates a warning KPI state. A value higher than the warning limit
indicates a critical KPI state.
 % Warning Range – Determines the KPI's warning range. A value lower
than OK Above and higher than the warning limit indicates a warning KPI
state. A value higher than OK Below and lower than the warning limit
indicates a warning KPI state.
 Threshold Preview – Provides a visual indicator of the thresholds of the
selected KPI over the duration of the milestone. Includes the following
color-coded thresholds:
 Green – Indicates a good KPI state
 Yellow – Indicates an acceptable or a warning KPI state
 Red – Indicates a bad KPI state
New Threshold Value Dialog Box
The New Threshold Value dialog box enables you to set threshold values for
selected KPIs. To access, use one of the following options:
 Select a milestone – Click the KPIs tab. Click Create as KPI. The New KPI
dialog box opens. Click Thresholds. Click Add Threshold Value.
 Select a milestone – Click the KPIs tab. Click Show KPI Details. The KPI
Details dialog box opens. Click Thresholds. Click Add Threshold Value.
 Select a milestone – Click the KPIs tab. The Thresholds pane is displayed
on the bottom. Click Add Threshold Value.
UI elements include:
 Date – The threshold value date.
 OK Above – A value lower than OK Above and higher than the warning
limit indicates a warning KPI state. A value lower than the warning limit
indicates a critical KPI state.
 OK Below – A value higher than OK Below and lower than the warning
limit indicates a warning KPI state. A value higher than the warning limit
indicates a critical KPI state.
 % Warning Range – Determines the KPI's warning range. A value lower
than OK Above and higher than the warning limit indicates a warning KPI
state. A value higher than OK Below and lower than the warning limit
indicates a warning KPI state.

Defining New KPIs

You can customize each KPI to reflect your needs. You can customize
system-defined KPIs or create user-defined KPIs. When analyzing the overall
health and deployment readiness of your release in the PPT scorecard, you can
further enhance your output by customizing the KPI graphs displayed in your
scorecard.
Project Planning and Tracking Page
This page enables you to customize the PPT KPIs. To access, in Project
Customization, click Project Planning and Tracking in the left pane. UI options
include:
 Save – Saves your changes to the Project Planning and Tracking page.
 New – Opens the New KPI Type dialog box, enabling you to define a new
KPI by specifying a KPI name, an entity type, and measurement type.
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 Create As – Opens the Create As dialog box, enabling you to create a KPI
based on a selected KPI.
 Delete – Deletes the selected KPI from the KPI Types list.
Note: You cannot delete a KPI type that is in use.
 <KPI types list> – Lists available KPI types.
 Filter – By KPI types associated with the selected entity type are
displayed in the KPI type list. To view all KPI types, select None.
 General tab – Displays the properties of a selected KPI type.
 KPI Analysis tab – Displays the KPI drill-down properties of a selected
KPI type.
Project Planning and Tracking – General Tab
The General tab enables you to customize the properties of a selected KPI
type.
To access, in Project Customization, in the left pane, click Project
Planning and Tracking. Select a KPI type. The KPI properties display in the
General tab.
General Area
UI elements are described below:
 Name – The name of the selected KPI.
 Entity – Type the entity type of the selected KPI. Possible values are
Requirement, Test, Test Instance, and Defect.
 Description – The description of the selected KPI.
Threshold Settings Area
User interface elements include:
 KPI is better when values are – The expected growth direction of the
values of the selected KPI. The higher or lower the value, the better it is.
The default is Higher.
 Default Threshold OK Above/Below – A value greater than the specified
amount indicates a good KPI state.
 Warning Range – A percentage value relevant to the OK Above/Below
threshold. If a KPI is better when a value is higher, the OK Above
threshold is set to 100, and the warning range is set to 10%, then any
value between 90 and 100 will trigger a warning. Any value below 90
indicates a bad KPI state.
Measurement Area
The Measurement area enables you to define how to measure the KPI
values.
Important: When defining the properties for the Percentage measurement
type, the Measure percentage of section indicates the numerator to be used for
percentage calculations. The Out of section indicates the denominator to be
used for percentage calculations.
 Measurement Type – The method of measurement.
 Function – Indicates one of the following:
 Count – Counts the number of entities.
 Sum values of field – Totals the values of a specified field for all the
entities.
 Measured Entities – Enables you to filter on entities of the type specified
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for the selected KPI:

 Set Filter/Sort – Opens the Filter dialog box enabling you to define
a filter.
 Clear Filter – Clears the defined filter.
 Consider Transitions – Enables the Configure button. When
transitions are configured, the KPI aggregates field changes instead
of counting the changes.
 Configure – Opens the Configure Transitions dialog box, enabling
you to define how field changes are counted when measuring KPI
values.

Calculating KPIs

PPT tracks application readiness and displays the status of your release
in the form of a scorecard. The scorecard monitors and tracks how well each
milestone is met on a daily basis.
To view progress in the scorecard, you must run PPT calculations for
your project. You can schedule calculations for your ALM site, and enable
scheduled calculations for specific projects and include them in your daily
progress calculations. In addition, you can manually trigger calculations for a
selected project to refresh its results without waiting for an upcoming
scheduled calculation.
Scheduling Calculations for a Site
This section describes how to schedule PPT calculations for an ALM site. To
schedule calculations for a site:
1. In Site Administration, click the Project Planning and Tracking tab.
2. Schedule calculations in the Project Planning and Tracking tab.
3. Enable projects for automatic calculations.
Project Planning and Tracking Tab
The Project Planning and Tracking tab enables you to manage PPT
calculations for your entire site.
To access, in Site Administration, click the Project Planning and Tracking
tab.
Important: You use the database server time displayed on the bottom right of
the Project Planning and Tracking tab to schedule calculations.
By default, ALM performs calculations on a project that has been in use
in the past 7 days. If a project has not been in use in the past 7 days, no
calculations are performed. To change the number of days, edit the
QPM_RECENTLY_ USED_PROJECTS_THRESHOLD_MINUTES parameter in the
Site Configuration tab in Site Administration.
By default, if 10% or more of the KPI calculations within the release fail,
ALM aborts project planning and tracking calculations on a release and skips to
the next release in a project. To change the percentage value, edit the QPM_KPI_
FAILURES_PERCENTAGE_ PER_RELEASE_FUSE parameter in the Site
Configuration tab in Site Administration.
Miscellaneous Elements
UI elements include:
 Refresh Status – Refreshes the Project Planning and Tracking tab so that
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it displays the most up-to-date information.

 Automatic Refresh – Instructs ALM to automatically refresh the Project
Planning and Tracking tab. By default, the tab is automatically refreshed
every 60 seconds.
 Set Refresh Rate – Opens the Set Refresh Rate dialog box, enabling you
to change the automatic refresh rate in seconds. Terminates all PPT
activities. Enables PPT for your site.
 Current Status –Includes the following options:
 Enabled/Disabled – Indicates whether PPT is enabled for your
site.
 Active/Inactive – Indicates whether the scheduled calculation is
currently running.
 Apply Settings – Applies scheduling changes.
Scheduling Area
The Scheduling area enables you to schedule PPT calculations for your entire
site. User interface elements include:
 Automatically Run Calculations On – Indicates whether scheduled
calculations are performed on your site
 Daily Calculation Start Time – Sets the start time for scheduling PPT
calculations
 Calculation Recurrence – Runs calculations periodically at a specified
time
 Abort Calculation After – Ends scheduled calculations at a specified time
Purge Area
The Purge area enables you to purge calculations after a specific time
period.
The X days option lets you delete data older than the defined value. The default
value is set to 120 days.
Note: To retain the scorecards, ALM does not purge the last five days of the
milestone's results.
Advanced Area
The Advanced area enables you to increase the number of parallel
calculations performed on an entire site. You can also change the speed of
scheduled calculations.
User interface elements include:
 Override Settings – Enables the advanced settings.
 Number of Engines – Sets the number of parallel calculations performed
concurrently on an entire site.
 Engines Throttle – Changes the speed that it takes for ALM to calculate
the KPI data. A value of1 indicates a slower processing speed and
minimum database stress. A value of 10 indicates a faster processing
speed and maximum database stress.

Automated Calculations

Enabling or Disabling Automatic Calculations for a Project

The following describes how to enable PPT calculations for a project to
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include the project in the automatic daily calculations of your site. When your
business needs change, you can disable calculations for a project.
Note: PPT is enabled by default when creating a new project.
To enable or disable automatic calculations for a project:
1. In Site Administration, click the Site Projects tab.
2. In the Projects list, select a project.
3. In the Project Details tab, under Project Planning and Tracking, click
Automatic Calculations State. Click OK to confirm.

Manual Calculation

Launching Calculations for a Project Manually

The following describes how to manually trigger PPT calculations for a
project to refresh its results without waiting for the next scheduled calculation.
To manually launch calculations for a project:
1. In Site Administration, click the Site Projects tab.
2. In the Projects list, select a project.
3. In the Project Details tab, under Project Planning and Tracking, click the Run
Now button.

Viewing the Scoreboard

The Scorecard tab displays KPI calculations that enable you to determine
the status of your release. You can view a detailed analysis of each KPI cell and
display the calculation as a graph. You can also view details of the entities that
contributed to the KPI data. To access the scorecard, select a release and click
the Scorecard tab in the Releases module.
User interface elements include the following. Unlabeled elements are
shown in angle brackets.
 Generate – Refreshes the scorecard table, so that it displays the most up-
to-date information
Note: ALM calculates KPIs at predefined hours on a daily basis.
Milestones are calculated after they reach their due date.
 Scorecard Layout – Opens the Scorecard Layout dialog box enabling you
to configure the scorecard table
 Save Graph Image – Saves the scorecard table as an image
 Full Screen – Displays the scorecard table in full-screen mode
 Show KPI Analysis – Opens the KPI analysis of the selected cell as defined
in project customization
 KPI Numerator/KPI Denominator – Opens the Drill Down Results dialog
box, which displays details of the entities that contributed to the KPI
value
 Example: If your release scope item contains 50 defects, of which 10 have
been rejected, then the value for the Rejected Defects KPI is 20%. To view
details of the rejected defects only, click KPI Numerator. To view details
of all the defects, click KPI Denominator.
Note: KPI Denominator is only available for percentage KPI types.
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 <KPI cell> – Displays a tooltip containing the KPI's threshold values

when you hover over a KPI cell

KPI Drilldown Analysis

The Active Defects window shows calculations of a KPI cell. The top area
shows changes in the KPI calculations over time. The bottom area shows KPI
breakdown calculations.
To access:
1. In the Releases module, select a release and click the Scorecard tab.
2. Select a KPI cell.
3. On the Scorecard tab toolbar, click Show KPI Analysis.
Important: The graph page can contain up to two additional graphs. You can
customize this page and determine whether to display these additional graphs.
User interface elements include the following. Unlabeled elements are shown in
angle brackets.
 Export to PDF – The Save As dialog box enables you to save the graph as
a PDF.
 Generate All Graphs in Page/Generate Graph – Refreshes all the graphs
on the page, or the selected graph, so that they display the most up-to-
date information.
 View Page in Full Screen – Displays the dashboard page in full-screen
mode.
 View Graph in Full Screen – Displays the graph in full-screen mode.
 Milestone – The name of the selected milestone.
 Milestone Scope Item – The name of the selected milestone scope item.
 Last KPI Date – Indicates when the KPI was last calculated.
 <graph area> – Displays a tooltip containing additional information
when you hover over a graph segment.
 Breakdown Over Time link – Click to drill down to the graph's data and
show specific points during a period of time. Opens a breakdown over
time graph.

Master Plan Gantt Chart

Master Plan Tab

The Master Plan tab displays the progress of a release in a Gantt chart.
To access this tab, select a release and click the Master Plan tab in the Releases
module.
User interface elements include:
 Show Details – Opens the appropriate Details dialog box, depending on
the selected entity. You can select the following entities: Cycles,
milestones, and release scope items.
Tip: You can also double-click an entity on the chart. The appropriate
Details dialog box opens.
 Refresh – Refreshes the chart.
 Reschedule – Reschedules the start and end date of a release, cycle, or
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milestone.
 Zoom In/Out – Changes the magnification of the chart.
 Display Entire Release – Restores the chart to its normal size. This button
is enabled when the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons are in use.
 Full Screen View – Opens the chart in a new window and maximizes its
display.

PPT Best Practices

Defining the Right Release

A well-defined release takes schedule and scope into account. To define
the right release for your needs, start by setting release start and end dates. A
release's duration should span over the time that release activities are carried
out and tracked within the organization.
Use Scope Items
A basic factor in every release is the definition of the release scope. In
Project Planning and Tracking releases, the scope is defined by means of scope
items. A scope item represents a unit within the release deliverable(s). It may
be a business requirement, feature, theme, Change request (CR) or a backlog
item that is to be delivered as part of the release. Scope items are the units
tracked in a Project Planning and Tracking release. Well defined scope items are
the basis for setting up tracking and analysis reports that will provide release
stakeholders with the most value.
Use Milestones
Milestones are checkpoints on a release timeline used to verify that the
release and its interim deliverables are progressing as planned. Some examples
are code freeze, end of system and integration tests phase, beta release, and
many more. Project Planning and Tracking milestones provide the tracking
platform for releases. KPIs are tracked and reported against milestones. The
combination of KPI readings and statuses provides an overall picture of the
release health throughout the release duration. A good setup of milestones is
the basis for effective tracking and maintenance of the release. It allows
stakeholders to track the relevant KPIs at all times and to respond to problems
as they occur.
Using KPIs
KPIs — Key Performance Indicators — are the building blocks of release
tracking. Project Planning and Tracking KPIs measure release activities by
means of the related ALM assets. They provide the actual measure: status
evaluation over time, and breakdown measurements. Together, these enable
ongoing tracking of release status and early detection of bottlenecks and
problems as well as analysis and resolution means.
A good setup of KPIs will provide release stakeholders a clear picture of
what is important, what the current state is, and what they need to do or change
in order to reach the release goals. KPIs may be divided into three categories
based on the performance aspect they measure: progress, quality, and
productivity.
Using Thresholds
Thresholds are the means for setting objectives on Project Planning and
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Tracking releases and for planning and tracking release progress towards these
objectives throughout its duration. As we learned so far: a release is tracked
using KPIs and their statuses. The statuses indicate how close or far the release
situation is from its planned goal & A KPI’s threshold defines how its measured
value is evaluated to a status. It splits the range of possible measured values of
a KPI into three sub ranges, thus defining the three statuses—green (OK), yellow
(Warning) and red (Critical) — and the KPIs status is established based on the
sub range into which its measured value falls
Release Analysis
Tracking a release is essential for achieving release goals — it allows for
early problem detection and resolution. Project Planning and Tracking provides
several tracking tools. The scorecard provides release status at a glance; it
displays the results for the release KPIs along with their statuses. The KPI
graphs analyze the results of a single KPI.
Release Scorecard
The scorecard view provides the release status at a glance; it displays
release KPI results and statuses in a table format. We also refer to the results as
scores. The scorecard enables ongoing tracking of the release status and early
detection of bottlenecks and problems. It also provides analysis and resolution
means using drilldown capabilities on the KPIs.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 006
WORKING WITH REQUIREMENTS
AND ANALYZING RISK

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk

Course Objectives

• After completing this module, you should be able to:

• • Specify requirements
• • Identify the characteristics of a useful requirement
• • Add requirements to a project
• • Create a requirements tree
• • Assign requirements to releases and cycles
• • Add traceability links using traceability
• • Add traceability links between requirements
• • Perform risk analysis for requirements
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk
Week 006: Working with Requirements and Analyzing Risk

References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 005 WORKING WITH REQUIREMENTS

AND ANALYZING RISK

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Specify requirements

 Identify the characteristics of a useful requirement

 Add requirements to a project

 Create a requirements tree

 Assign requirements to releases and cycles

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 Add traceability links using traceability

 Add traceability links between requirements

 Perform risk analysis for requirements

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to
supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

The ALM Roadmap

After creating releases in the Management module, you continue the
application testing process by defining requirements. Requirements detail what
needs to be tested in an application. When planning a project, you must allocate
time to clearly define the requirements of the testing process.
Requirements measure the progress of a project. This helps you plan and
execute the successive stages of the Application Lifecycle Management process.
For example, you use the requirements data during the Plan Tests stage to
create tests for testing the requirements. In the Execute Tests stage, you execute
these tests to check whether the requirements have been met. In the Track
Defects stage, you log and track defects to ensure that the final product does not
contain any errors.
Requirements must be based on a thorough knowledge of your
customer’s expectations and the requirements of your business processes.
After defining requirements, you navigate to the Management module and
create cycles within the release. After creating cycles, you again navigate to the
Requirements module and assign requirements to the releases and cycles
defined in the Management module.
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How to Use Requirements in ALM

Prerequisite – Clearly Defined Requirements

Requirements are the foundation of the entire testing process and should
describe in detail what needs to be solved or achieved to meet the objectives of
your application under development.
Defining requirements clearly and correctly at the beginning of a project has
the following advantages:
 Aids development and testing – Clearly defined requirements help
developers set a target for themselves and the testing team to identify
their testing priorities.
 Helps prevent scope creep – Documented requirements are the best
defense against scope creep, where requirement documents are
continually amended and appended, impeding software development
and testing efforts. Avoid constant changes with clearly defined goals at
the start of the project. You can then use that goal as a reference to focus
on individual efforts.
 Sets clear expectations between teams – Defining requirements and
gaining approval from relevant stakeholders is the best way to ensure
that expectations have been agreed upon by all parties involved—
product marketing, customer service, IT, and documentation. Ensure
that all necessary parties are involved in creating requirements. Then
confirm and validate their expectations.
 Saves time and money – “Measure twice, cut once” is a phrase used in
carpentry, but it also applies to defining requirements. Save time and
money by taking time at the beginning to invest in your requirements.
Characteristics of a Useful Requirement
A useful requirement is always:
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Unique – Is this the only requirement that defines this particular

objective?
 Precise – Is there any language that is difficult to interpret?
 Bounded – Are there clearly defined conditions for measuring the
objectives?
 Measurable – Build one or more test cases that completely verify all
aspects of a requirement.
Determining Requirements Scope
Determine the requirements scope by gathering information such as
functional and technical specifications, marketing and business
requirements documents, and stakeholders’ goals.
Example
Some questions you might want to ask are:
 What is the main purpose and direction of the application?
 What are the critical constraints of the application?
 What are the major features of the application?
 What is the relative importance of each element in the application
functionality?
 What are the critical or high-risk functions of the application?
 What are your business or testing priorities?
 Do your customers/end users agree with your priorities?
 What are your overall quality goals?

Requirements Module Views

The Requirement module includes the following views. You select a

view from the View menu.
 Requirements Tree – Enables you to view your requirements
hierarchically in a tree.
 Requirement Details – Enables you to create links between
requirements and other entities. It also enables you to calculate
and analyze requirement risk.
 Requirements Grid – Enables you to view requirements in a flat
non-hierarchical view. Each line in the grid displays a separate
requirement.
 Coverage Analysis – Enables you to analyze the breakdown of
child requirements according to test coverage status.
 Traceability Matrix – Enables you to view traceability
relationships between requirements and other requirements or
tests in a matrix.

Requirement Types

Because the requirements management model can differ for each

company, ALM supports a variety of requirement types. These include
business requirements that meet the high-level objectives of the
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organization. ALM also supports functional requirements that describe

how the software should behave.
In addition, non-functional requirements, such as usability,
efficiency, portability, and maintainability, are supported in ALM by the
Testing and Undefined requirement types.
You can organize all requirement types using the Folder and
Group requirement types. Functionally, the two requirement types are
the same; however, you typically use folders to group requirements at a
higher level, while you use groups to group together similar, and yet very
specific, requirements. For example, you could organize all security-
related requirements in a folder, while organizing field validation
requirements in a group.
A Requirement tree is a visual organization of the relationship
between requirements. Requirements are defined in a hierarchy,
starting with business requirements on the highest level and drilling
down to functional and non-functional requirements on the lowest level
of the Requirement tree.

Specifying Requirements
What Is a Requirements Tree?
ALM helps you define requirements for the testing process in a
hierarchical form. You use the Requirements module to build a
Requirements tree to outline and organize the requirements of a project.
You typically organize requirements according to the functional
components of the application under test. The functional category is then
further broken down according to the type of requirements, such as
functional compared with performance. Your organization can follow
other conventions.
For example, the figure on the slide above shows the requirement
tree for the Mercury Tours application.
The Requirements tree also includes the Performance
requirement, which indicates the performance area that requires testing.
A test is a series of steps that check whether a requirement is met.
A test can be manual or automated and can be executed in a single stage
or in multiple stages of the testing process. If a test fails, you log defects
to indicate that a requirement has not been met.
Using the Requirements Tree View
You use the Requirements Tree view to add requirements within
the requirements hierarchy.
The Requirements Tree view displays the parent-child
relationship between requirements. This enables you to analyze
requirements with respect to their position in the requirements
hierarchy. Viewing requirements in the Requirements Tree view enables
you to determine the relationship of requirements with other entities,
such as tests and defects. If a child requirement is linked to a test, its
parent requirement automatically links to the same test. Similarly, if a
defect is logged against a child requirement, the same defect appears in
the Requirements Tree view for the parent requirement.
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Requirement Module Icons

Tools for Building a Requirements Tree

You start building a requirements tree by creating a requirement
within the Requirements folder at the root level. After creating a
requirement, you create requirements within the folder. Depending on
the need identified in the testing process, you might decide to create a
parent or a child requirement.
The table on the slide lists the tools for defining requirements and
building the requirements tree.
Note: You can create a requirement of type Folder only within another
requirement of type Folder. By default, ALM provides a Folder type
requirement with the name Requirements at the root of the
Requirements tree.

Toolbar Buttons in the Requirements Module

ALM provides a toolbar in the Requirements module for

managing requirements. The table on the slide above lists the available
toolbar buttons.

Creating a Requirement
To create a requirement, perform the following steps:
1. From the Requirements tree, select Requirements and click the
New Requirement button. The Create New Requirement dialog
box is displayed.
2. In the Create New Requirement dialog box, from the Requirement
Type list, select the type of requirement you want to create.
3. In the Name field, type an appropriate name for the new
requirement and click the OK button. The New Requirement
dialog box is displayed.
Note: A requirement name cannot include any of the following
characters: \ ^ *.

Specifying Requirement Details

The following is the list of the standard fields that you can use to
describe each requirement in more detail. If your project needs to
capture additional data, your ALM administrator can configure the
Requirements module to include custom-defined fields and selection
lists.
 Name – Assigns a short description of the requirement. ␣
Requirement Type – Indicates the type of the requirement,
which may be business, folder, functional, group, testing, or
undefined.
 Author – Indicates the name of the user who created the
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requirement. By default, the current user is set as the author.

 Direct Cover Status – Indicates the execution status of tests that
are linked to a requirement. It can be set to any one of the
following: Not Covered, Failed, Not Completed, Passed, No Run, or
N/A.
 Priority – Sets the priority level of the requirement. Selections
include 1-low, 2-medium, 3-high, ␣␣very high, and 5-urgent.
 Product – Indicates the component of the application on which
the requirement is based.
 Reviewed – Indicates whether the requirement has been
reviewed and approved.
 Target Cycle – Indicates the cycle to which the requirement is
assigned.
 Target Release – Indicates the release to which the requirement
is assigned.
After specifying a name for the requirement, you specify the details
for the new requirement. To specify the details for the new requirement,
perform the following steps:
1. In the New Requirement dialog box, select the appropriate values
for the various fields.
2. In the Description text box, type a detailed description of the
requirement.
3. Click the Submit button.
4. Click the Close button to add the new requirement to the
Requirements tree.

Viewing Requirement Details

You use the Requirement Details view to view and change the
values specified for various fields of a requirement. In addition, you use
the Requirement Details view to display requirements according to tests
with which they are associated, the requirements with which they are
traced, and the defects with which they are linked.
To display the Requirement Details view, from the Requirement
module menu bar, select View →Requirement Details. The Requirement
Details view is displayed.
In the Requirement Details view, in the left pane, select a
requirement. The right pane displays the following tabs for the selected
requirement:
 Details – Enables you to view and change the values of fields
specified for the selected requirement
 Rich Text – Enables you to add, view, and edit rich text using an
editor from within ALM
 Attachments – Enables you to add attachments to a requirement
 Linked Defects – Lists the defects linked to the currently selected
requirement
 Requirements Traceability – Enables you to associate the selected
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requirement with other requirements in the requirements tree

 Test Coverage – Lists the tests associated with the currently selected
requirement

 Business Models Linkage – Lists the business model entities linked

to the currently selected requirement

 Risk Assessment – Calculates and analyzes risk for the currently

selected requirement

 History – Displays a list of changes made to the currently selected

requirement

Description and Comments Tabs

In the right pane of the Requirement Details view, the Details tab
displays the following tabs:
 Description – Displays a description of the selected requirement.
You type this description while creating a requirement. You can
modify this description.
 Comments – Displays the comments added by various users for
the selected requirement. It also displays the username of the
user who added the comment and the date and time when the
comment was added. If required, you can add a new comment.

Rich Text Editor and Requirement Templates

The rich text editor has the same functionality for data input as
Microsoft Word. The content is fully searchable and reportable.
You create templates using the rich text feature. These allow you
to standardize and control your requirements by enforcing customized
templates and to facilitate capturing requirements in a consistent
structure across your entire organization.
The rich text editor includes the following features:
 An HTML editor
 Expanded viewable area
 Available as searchable field
 Enables using a rich text template
Note: You use the Tools →Customization menu to create templates.
To open the rich text editor, perform the following steps:
1. Click View→ Requirement Details.
2. Click the Rich Text tab.
To apply a Requirements template using the Rich Text feature, perform
the following steps:
1. Click the Apply Rich Text Template button. A warning message is
displayed stating that the template will overwrite the existing
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content.
2. Click the Yes button.

Viewing Multiple Requirements

The Requirements Grid view provides a non-hierarchical view of

the requirements data. Each line in the grid displays a separate
requirement. You can use this view to record and review the
requirement details.
To navigate to the Requirements Grid view, select View ␣
Requirements Grid from the menu bar in the Requirement module. The
Requirements Grid view is displayed.
The Requirements Grid view also enables you to filter
requirements based on different fields. For example, you can click the
text box below the direct cover status field, and click the browse button
that is displayed within the text box. Clicking the browse button displays
the Select Filter Condition dialog box. You can select the filter condition
and click OK to display the filtered Requirements Grid. In addition, you
can group requirements based on their attributes.

Editing Multiple Requirements

In addition to filtering requirements, you use the Requirements

Grid view to edit multiple requirements. You can replace field values for
a selected requirement and all of its child requirements, or for all
requirements in the requirements tree.
To edit multiple requirements, perform the following steps:
1. In the Requirements Grid view, select Edit ␣ Replace from the
menu bar. The Replace dialog box is displayed.
2. In the Replace dialog box, select or type the field for which you
want to replace values in the Find in Field list.
3. In the Value to Find box, select or type the value you want to
search.
4. In the Replace with dialog box, select or type the value to replace
the existing field values.
5. Click Replace All to replace the field values of all the
requirements.

Assigning Requirements to Releases and Cycles

After reviewing requirements in the Requirements module, you

assign a requirement to a release or to a cycle.
Assigning a requirement to a release enables you to track
requirements coverage by release. For each release, you can identify the
number of requirements that are covered. You can also create reports
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that are based on the requirements coverage.

In addition to assigning a requirement to a release, you can assign
a requirement to a cycle. You assign a requirement to a cycle when you
want to test a function or feature only during a single cycle within a
release. For example, consider that the Online Banking application has
an existing feature to print the Savings account statement. To test this
existing functionality, you assign a requirement to a cycle that tests the
overall functionality of the Online Banking application. This is an existing
feature and you do not need to assign it to a cycle that tests only new
features.

Assigning Requirements to Releases

You assign a requirement to a release to test the requirement in all

cycles within the release. To assign a requirement to a release, perform
the following steps:
1. From the Requirements module menu bar, select View
→Requirements Tree. The Requirements Tree view is displayed.
2. From the Requirements tree, right-click a requirement and select
Assign To Release. The Select Releases dialog box is displayed.
3. In the Select Releases dialog box, expand the Release tree and
check the release check box to which you want to assign the
requirement.
4. Click the OK button to close the Select Releases dialog box. The
requirement and its child requirements, if any, are assigned to a
release.

Assigning Requirements to Cycles

You assign a requirement to a cycle to test a requirement only

within a specific cycle of a release.
To assign a requirement to a release, perform the following steps:
1. From the Requirements tree, right-click a requirement and select
Assign To Cycle. The Select Cycles dialog box is displayed.
2. In the Select Cycles dialog box, expand the Release tree and check
a cycle check box.
3. Click OK to close the Select Cycles dialog box.
The requirement and its child requirements, if any, are assigned to the
cycle.

Using Traceability

After creating a requirement in the Requirements tree, you can

establish traceability between requirements. Requirement traceability is
an ALM feature that enables you to create a relationship, and define a
link, between multiple requirements. While analyzing the impact of a
change proposed in a specific requirement, the traceability link enables
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you to identify other requirements that the change might affect.

You use the Requirement Details view to add traceability links to
and from a requirement. In the right pane of the Requirement Details
view, click the Requirement Traceability tab.
The Requirement Traceability tab provides the following tabs for
working with traceability links:
 Relationships – Enables you to add and remove traceability links
between requirements
 Impact Analysis – Enables you to analyze the impact of
requirement changes by reviewing requirement relationships

Requirement Relationships

You use the Relationships tab to view traceability links that exist
between requirements. In addition, the Relationships tab enables you to
add and remove traceability links between requirements. The
Relationships tab provides the Trace From and Trace to grids for
working with traceability links.
The Trace From grid displays requirements that affect the
requirement selected in the Requirements tree. For example, the
screenshot in the above slide shows that the Flight Tickets requirement
is affected by any changes to the Flight Reservation Service requirement.
The Trace To grid displays requirements that are affected by a
change to the requirement selected in the Requirements tree. For
example, the window in the slide above shows that any change to the
Flight Tickets requirement affects the Origin and Destination and the
Service Class requirements.
The Relationships tab provides tools for working with traceability
links. The window in the slide above shows the available tools.

Adding Traceability to Requirements

The Relationships tab enables you to add a traceability link between

requirements. To add a traceability link, perform the following steps:
1. Select the requirement you will add traceability to.
2. Select the Requirement Traceability tab.
3. On the Relationships toolbar, click the Add Requirement
Traceability button. The Requirements tree is displayed in the
right pane.
4. From the Requirements tree, expand Requirements and select a
requirement.
a. To add the selected requirement to the Trace From list,
click the Add to Traceability arrow and select Add to
Traceability (Trace From). The selected requirement is
displayed in the Trace From grid.
b. To add the selected requirement to the Trace To list, click
the Add To Traceability arrow and select Add To
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Traceability (Trace To). The selected requirement is

displayed in the Trace To grid.

Impact Analysis

After establishing traceability relationships in the Relationships

tab, you use the Impact Analysis tab to analyze the impact of requirement
changes by reviewing the relationships.
The Impact Analysis tab displays requirements in a hierarchical
structure. In addition, each requirement in the Requirements tree
displays an icon. You use these icons to understand the associations and
dependencies that exist between requirements.

Traceability Matrix

The traceability matrix enables you to determine the extent of

relationships between requirements and other requirements, and
between requirements and tests. It helps you verify that all requirements
are met, and identify changes to the scope of your requirements when
they occur.
The traceability matrix lists:
 The source requirements and their associated requirements and
tests
 The total number of relationships for each source requirement
A low value can imply that the source requirement is not associated
with enough requirements or tests.
A high value can imply that the source requirement is too complex
and can perhaps be simplified.
A zero value indicates that no relationship exists.
To create a traceability matrix, perform the following steps:
1. In the Requirements module, click View ␣ Traceability Matrix on
the menu.
2. Click the Create a Configuration link. The Configure Traceability
Matrix dialog box is displayed.
3. Click the Define Source Requirements link.
4. Click the Set Filter/Sort button to filter/sort the source
requirements. The Filter Requirements dialog box is displayed.
5. Click the dropdown for Requirement Type or the filter condition
for the fields. The Select Filter Condition dialog box is displayed.
6. Enter the Filter Condition and click the OK button in the Select
Filter Condition dialog box.
7. Click the OK button in the Filter Requirements dialog box.
8. Click the Filter by Linked Requirements link.
9. Select the Filter by Linked Requirements checkbox.
10. Select one of the four available options for Include Source
Requirements:
 Affected By
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 Not Affected By
 Affecting
 Not Affecting
11. If you selected Affecting or Not Affecting for Include Source
Requirements, select one of the three options:
 Direct Children And Traced To Requirements
 Direct Children
 Traced To Requirements
12. Click the Set Filter/Sort button to set the filter/sort for linked
requirements.
13. Click the filter by linked tests link.
14. Select the checkbox for Filter by Linked Tests.
15. Select Include Source Requirements Linked To Or Not Linked To
The Following Tests.
16. Click the Set Filter/Sort button to set the filter and sorting for the
linked tests.
17. Click the OK button in the Configure Traceability Matrix dialog
box.

Using Risk-based Testing

While planning tests for your requirements, you often face

challenges, such as inadequate resources, which force you to
compromise and only partially test some requirements. You identify
requirements that have a low criticality or have only a minor risk
associated with them.
After identifying the criticality and risk associated with
requirements, you use the risk- based testing feature in ALM to calculate
the level at which each requirement must be tested. The four testing
levels defined in ALM are Full, Partial, Basic and None. Risk-based testing
uses the requirement type and resource availability to calculate the
testing level.

Risk-based Quality Management

To perform risk-based quality management, you:

 Establish business criticality – You determine how critical a
requirement is for your business. You do not measure how
difficult it is to implement a requirement. For example, the Online
Banking application requires that users must be able to access the
application for at least 23 hours a day. If the application stops
working, it has a negative impact on your business. Therefore, the
availability of the Online Banking application is a highly critical
requirement for your business.
 Establish failure probability – You determine the likelihood of
failure of a test associated with a requirement. Determining
failure probability enables you to devise mitigation strategies
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well in advance. For example, if there is a high probability that the

Online Banking application is inaccessible, you can deploy a back-
up server for load sharing when a large number of users access
the Online Banking application. This ensures that your business
is not affected.
 Assess functional complexity – You determine the complexity of
the requirement’s implementation. For example, a requirement
with implementation that involves making significant changes to
your application to enable it to communicate with other systems
would probably be assigned a high complexity value.
 Perform risk analysis – Based on the business criticality and
failure probability of a requirement, you allocate testing time for
the requirement. Based on the testing time, ALM calculates the
testing level for the requirement and you use this testing level to
determine whether a requirement should be tested fully or
partially.
 View analysis results – After performing risk analysis, you view
the analysis results using graphs.

Analyzing and Assessing Risks

Based on the type of a requirement, ALM enables you to analyze or

assess the associated risks. For example, a requirement of type Folder is
at a high level in the Requirements tree and has child requirements. You
assess the risks associated with all child requirements and based on this
assessment, analyze the risks associated with the parent requirement.
The parent requirement is the analysis requirement and the child
requirements are the assessment requirements.
 Assessment Results tab – This area displays the assigned or
calculated values of the risk and functional complexity of an
assessment requirement.
 Assessment Questions tab – This tab enables you to determine the
business criticality, failure probability, and functional complexity
of a requirement by assigning it values directly or by assigning
values to a set of criteria.

Establishing Business Criticality

To establish business criticality for a requirement, perform the following

steps:
1. In the Requirement Details view, from the Requirements tree,
select a requirement and in the right pane, click the Risk
Assessment tab. On the right pane, click the Assessment
Questions tab.
2. Click The Business Criticality tab. The Business Criticality page
displays a list of criteria used to determine the business criticality
of the selected requirement.
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3. To assign a value to a criterion, from the Criterion column, select

a criterion name. A description of the selected criterion appears
in the Description of Criterion field.
4. From the Value column, select a value for the criterion.
After you assign a value to each criterion, ALM calculates the business
criticality of the requirement and displays it in the Calculated
Business Criticality field.

Establishing Failure Probability

After defining the risk category for each requirement, you

determine how much time each requirement needs to be tested. The time
needed to test a requirement depends on the failure probability of the
requirement. You generally need more time to test a requirement with a
failure probability that is high because it is likely that the
implementation of this requirement contains defects.
To establish the failure probability of a requirement, perform the
following steps:
1. In the right pane, click the Failure Probability tab. The Failure
Probability page displays a list of criteria used to determine the
business criticality of the selected requirement.
2. To assign a value to a criterion, from the Criterion column, select
a criterion name. A description of the selected criterion is
displayed in the Description of Criterion field.
3. From the Value column, select a value for the criterion.
After you assign a value to each criterion, ALM calculates the failure
of the requirement and displays it in the Calculated Failure
Probability field.

Establishing Functional Complexity

You can assign or calculate the functional complexity category of

an assessment requirement. A requirement’s functional complexity
indicates the complexity of the requirement’s implementation. It has
three possible values: High, Medium, and Low
For example, a requirement with an implementation that involves
making significant changes to your application to enable it to
communicate with other systems probably has a high complexity and
would be assigned a high functional complexity.
In contrast, a requirement that involves no significant changes to
enable your application to communicate with other systems would
probably not have many associated risks, and so is likely to be assigned
a low functional complexity.
To determine the functional complexity category for a requirement,
perform the following steps:
1. On the right pane, click the Functional Complexity tab. The
Functional Complexity tab displays a list of criteria used to
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determine functional complexity.

2. Assign a value to each criterion. To assign a value to a criterion, in
the Criterion column, click a criterion name and select a value
from the Value column. You can view a description of a criterion
in the Description of Criterion box. After you have assigned a
value to each criterion, the calculated functional complexity is
updated according to the values you assigned to the criteria.

Performing Risk Analysis

After establishing the failure probability for assessment

requirements, you perform risk analysis by allocating testing time to the
analysis requirement. You can perform analysis without specifying a
testing time, but providing the testing time results in better analysis. In
the early stages of a release, you can estimate testing time based on a set
of generalized criteria to establish some baselines and to gauge the
magnitude of the testing effort.
Is the screen new or existing? Are we adding calculated values to
a new database field or populating them with user data? Answers to
these types of questions might be stated in terms of very general testing
numbers. For instance, all new screens in this release might be allocated
80 hours of testing, whereas changes to existing screens might only be
allocated 40 hours. Database changes involving new fields might be
estimated at 60 hours, but populating existing fields might only require
20 hours.
Later, as requirements become less fluid, you can make more
precise allocations. At the same time, you can move hours to those
requirements that need more testing time. Analysis can help a project
stay on track because it clearly illustrates where one set of requirements
has an excess of hours that might benefit another.
To perform risk analysis, complete the following steps:
1. In the Requirement Details view, from the Requirements tree,
select the analysis requirement you want to analyze. It is a folder
or group of fields.
2. In the right pane, click the Assessment Results tab.
3. In the Total Allocated Testing Time field, type the time available
to test the requirement and its children.
4. Click Analyze and Apply To Children. ALM calculates the testing
time and testing level of each assessment requirement. This
calculation is based on the risk category of the assessment
requirements, and the testing level and testing time of the
analysis requirement.

Viewing Analysis Results

The results of the risk analysis calculation display in the following ways:
 The Total Required Testing Time field – Displays the total testing
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time needed to test all assessment requirements included in the

risk analysis
 The Total Required Development Time field – Displays the total
time needed to develop all the assessment requirements, based
on the required development time you estimated for each
assessment requirement
 No. of Requirements Graph – Displays the number of child
requirements associated with each risk category
 Total Testing Time Graph – Displays the total calculated testing
effort needed to test all requirements of a particular risk category

Drilling Down into Results

To view the requirements included in each risk category, click a

segment in the No. of Requirements graph. The Drill Down Results
window is displayed with a list of requirements in the risk category. You
can customize the order and appearance of the columns and view details
for an individual requirement. You can also export the contents of the
grid as a text file, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Microsoft Word
document, or HTML document.
To display the requirements that were not included in the
analysis, click the Excluded link. The Drill Down Results window displays
a list of requirements that were not included in the analysis.
After viewing and drilling down into results, compare the total
calculated testing time with the number of available resources. If the
number of available resources is not sufficient to test the requirement,
you should reduce the testing level of the assessment requirements or
reduce the testing time assigned to each testing level. After reducing the
testing level or the testing time, perform the risk analysis again.

Generating a Risk Report

After finalizing the testing policy for your requirements, you can
generate a risk report that details your testing strategy for the analysis
requirement.
To generate a risk report, perform the following steps:
1. On the Risk page, click the Report button. The Generate Report
dialog box is displayed.
2. In the Generate Report dialog box, type the name and location of
the Word file to which you want the data to be exported in the
Default Location field. Alternatively, click the browse button to
select a location from the Save As dialog box.
3. To add the report as an attachment to the analysis requirement,
check the Add Report as Attachment checkbox.
4. To include a list of assessment requirements included in the risk
analysis, check the Include List of Requirements in the Report
checkbox.
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5. Click the Generate button. ALM generates and saves a report in

the specified location.

Test Coverage

You begin by defining your requirements in the Requirements

tree and then assigning them to a release or a cycle in the Releases tree.
In the planning stage, you build a Test Plan tree based on these assigned
requirements. To keep track of the relationship between your assigned
requirements and tests, you add links between them. In the Test Plan
module, you create requirements coverage by selecting requirements to
link to a test. Alternatively, in the Requirements module, you create test
coverage by selecting tests to link to a requirement. You can also create
coverage by converting requirements to tests in the test plan tree.
Coverage is automatically created between the requirements and their
corresponding tests.
A test can cover more than one requirement and a requirement
can be covered by more than one test.

Linked Defects

You can link defects to the following entities: requirements, tests,

test sets, test instances, runs, run steps, and other defects. Defect linkage
is useful, for example, when a new test is created specifically for a defect.
By creating this linkage, you can determine if the test should be run
based on the status of the defect.
You can link a defect directly or indirectly to an entity. When you
add a defect link to an entity, ALM adds a direct link to this entity and
indirect links to other related entities. In addition, during a manual test
run, if you add a defect, ALM automatically creates a linkage between the
test run and the new defect.

Mailing Requirements

You can send an email about a requirement to other users in your

ALM project. This enables you to routinely inform them about the status
of your requirements. A link included in the email message enables the
recipient to go directly to the requirement.
Note: By default, ALM sends email in HTML format. To send email as
plain text instead, edit the Mail Format parameter in the Site
Configuration tab in Site Administration.
To Mail a Requirement
Follow these steps to mail the requirements:
1. Select one or more requirements and click the Send By Email
button. The Send Email dialog box opens.
Tip: You can automatically send the email to a specific user type.
This can be any requirement column with a user name value,
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including user-defined fields. Click the Send By Email arrow and

choose an option. For example, choose Send By Email to Author
to send the email to the user who wrote the requirement.
2. Type a valid email address or user name. Alternatively, click the
To button or Cc button to select users. The Select Recipients
dialog box is displayed. You can sort the users list, search for
users, group users by user groups, and select users from the list
or from a group tree.
3. In the Subject box, type a subject for the email.
4. Choose whether you want to include the requirement’s
attachments, history, test coverage and/or traced requirements.
If you include the requirement’s attachments, any rich text for the
requirement is included as a separate attachment.
5. Click Send to send the email.

Working with Business Process Models

The ALM Business Models module addresses the need for a

stronger connection between business process modeling, quality
assurance management, and requirement definition. The module
integrates business process models into the application lifecycle.
This integration fosters collaboration between the various roles
involved in the business process modeling and testing lifecycles, thereby
facilitating communication between business users and people in more
technical departments. This collaboration facilitates better business
outcomes by identifying high-level activities, thus guiding the QA
manager in determining the high level test requirements.
Integrating business process models into ALM involves importing
those models and linking requirements and tests to models, activities,
and end-to-end business flows. After executing tests, you can display
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quality status views on the business process model level.

To work with business process models in ALM, you must first design
models with standard modeling tools, and import the models to ALM.

Working with Application Lifecycle Intelligence (ALI)

To fully gain insight and remove the latency in decision-making,

an IT staff needs traceability down to the actual artifacts and systems
used by development teams to build the applications.
HP Application Lifecycle Intelligence (ALI) delivers this
traceability. ALI is embedded in ALM to aggregate information from
multiple development tools and to establish complete ALM traceability.
By linking requirements and testing activities with source code
analysis and build management systems, ALI can surface actionable
information and help application stakeholders make informed decisions.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
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 Week 007
TEST PLANNING

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 007: Test Planning

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Organize subjects and tests in a Test Plan tree

• Create tests that define the steps for testing an application
• Use parameters in tests
• Generate test scripts from design steps
• Define test configurations
• Generate a live analysis graph from a Test Plan tree
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning
Week 007: Test Planning

References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 006 TEST PLANNING

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Organize subjects and tests in a Test Plan tree

 Create tests that define the steps for testing an application

 Use parameters in tests

 Generate test scripts from design steps

 Define test configurations

 Generate a live analysis graph from a Test Plan tree

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Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to

supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecycle
Management of Application

Introduction

The ALM Roadmap

The third stage of the testing process is test planning. After the
requirements are approved, the testing team designs tests that validate whether
the application meets these requirements. The efficiency of the test runs
depends on how you plan and execute these tests.

Test Planning Overview

Developing a clear and concise test plan is fundamental to successful

application testing. A good test plan enables you to assess the quality of your
application at any point in the application management process.
To outline a strategy for achieving your requirements, as defined in the
Requirements module, you must answer two basic questions:
How should you test your application?
 Which testing techniques will you use (stress tests, security tests,
performance and load tests, and so on)?
 How will you handle defects (severity classification, authorization to
open and close defects, and so on)?
What resources do you require?
 What resources do you require to test (personnel, hardware, and so on)?
 When will the various tasks be completed?
Example
Consider a flight reservation application that lets you manage flight
scheduling, passenger bookings, and ticket sales. For testing, you must design
both manual and automated tests. You could assign testing personnel with
programming experience the task of designing automated tests, while non-
programmers could design manual tests.
To develop a test plan, perform the following steps:
1. To develop a Test Plan tree:
a. Create subject folders in the Test Plan tree.
b. Define the specific tests within each subject folder.
2. Add manual steps for each test.
3. Build test scripts, as appropriate.
4. Link tests to requirements.
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Opening the Test Plan Module

The typical application is too large to test as a whole. The Test Plan
module enables you to divide your application according to functionality. You
divide your application into units, or subjects, by creating folders in a Test Plan
tree. This is a graphical representation of your test plan, displaying your tests
according to the hierarchical relationship of their functions.
You perform all test-planning tasks from the Test Plan module. To navigate to
this module, click the Test Plan icon under the Testing group from the ALM
sidebar.

The Test Plan Tree

The test plan is displayed in the left pane of the Test Plan module. The
Test Plan tree is a graphical representation of your project test plan. It contains
the Subject folder at the root level. You create folders in the Subject folder and
add tests to these folders.
The Test Plan tree:
 Organizes tests according to the functional units or subjects of an
application
 Provides a clear picture of the testing building blocks and assists in the
development of actual tests
 Shows the hierarchical relationships and dependencies between tests
When planning your Test Plan tree, consider the hierarchical relationships
of the functions in your application. Divide these functions into subjects and
build a Test Plan tree that represents the function of your application. The slide
above shows an example of a Test Plan tree for an online travel agency. The main
test subject Flight Reservation is displayed as a first-level folder. To break down
complex subjects, you use second-level folders or subjects as you see for Book
Flight, Flight Confirmation, Flight Cost, and Flight Finder.

Converting a Requirement to a Test

After you create the Requirements tree, the requirements are used as a
basis to define your test plan in the Test Plan module. ALM has a built-in wizard
that converts your project requirements to tests.
You convert requirements to tests to automatically create a one-to-one
mapping between requirements and tests. ALM replicates the hierarchy in the
Requirements tree in the Test Plan tree. In addition, during this conversion
process, ALM enables you to decide whether a particular requirement should be
converted to a folder, a test, or a design step.
Converting a requirement to a test has some limitations. For example,
while defining requirements, you list the objectives that the requirement must
meet. However, you do not specify the impact of a failing requirement on the
testing process. After you convert a requirement to a test, you must manually
specify the impact of a failing requirement on the testing process. In addition,
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you must specify the pass and fail conditions for every test.
For example, the requirements for an application login process specify
valid values for the user name and password fields. You could convert these
requirements directly to tests, where the pass or fail condition for each test
would be based on the allowable values for each field. However, a failure of
either test would mean that the application user could not be authenticated,
resulting in a serious impact to the testing process.
Selecting an Automatic Method for Conversion
To convert requirements to tests, you select an automatic conversion
method that determines whether tests are converted to design steps, tests, or
test folders.
To select an automatic method for conversion, perform the following steps:
1. In the ALM sidebar, click the Requirements icon under the Requirements
group.
2. From the ALM menu bar, select View → Requirements Tree.
3. From the Requirements tree, select a requirement.
4. From the ALM menu bar, select Requirements →Convert To Tests. The
Choose An Automatic Conversion Method dialog box is displayed.
5. In the Choose An Automatic Conversion Method dialog box, under
Automatic Conversion Method, select a conversion method and click the
Next button. The Manual Changes To The Automatic Conversion dialog
box is displayed.

Making Changes to the Automatic Conversion

After you select an automatic method for conversion, you can customize the
conversion. For example, you select the Convert Lowest Child Requirements To
Design Steps automatic conversion method. During the conversion process, you
realize that some of the converted requirements should be represented as
folders in the Test Plan tree. ALM enables you to select a requirement and
convert it to a test plan folder. To make changes to the automatic conversion,
perform the following steps:
1. In the Manual Changes to the Automatic Conversion dialog box, from the
Name list, select a requirement.
2. From the toolbar, click one of the following buttons:
 Convert To Subject – Converts the selected requirement to a subject
folder
 Convert To Test – Converts the selected requirement to a test
 Convert To Step – Converts the selected requirement to a test step
 Convert To Description – Converts the selected requirement to a test
description
 Exclude From Conversion – Excludes the selected requirement from
the conversion process
3. Click the Next button. The Choose the Destination Subject Path dialog box
is displayed.
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Selecting the Destination Path

After you manually change the automatic test conversion, you select the
destination path for the newly created tests.
To select the destination path, perform the following steps:
1. In the Choose the Destination Subject Path dialog box, click the Browse
button in the Destination Subject Path field. The Select Destination
Subject dialog box is displayed.
2. In the Select Destination Subject dialog box, select a test plan folder and
click the OK button from the Test Plan tree.
3. Click Finish to close the Choose The Destination Subject Path dialog box.
The Information message box informs you that the conversion process
is successfully completed.
4. Click the OK button to close the Information message box.

Creating Test Subjects

To create the Test Plan tree in the Test Plan module, you manually create
folders and add tests to these folders. The Test Plan tree starts with the Subject
folder, which is available by default. From the Subject folder, you create main
subject folders and add subject subfolders within each main folder.
To add a folder, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Plan tree, select the Subject folder to create a main subject
folder.
Note: You can select an existing main folder to create a subfolder.
2. On the ALM toolbar, click the New Folder button. The new test Folder
dialog box is displayed.
3. In the Test Folder Name field, type a name for the new test subject.
Note: A folder name cannot include any of the following characters: \, ^, or
*.
4. Click the OK button to add the folder to the Test Plan tree

Adding a Test

To add a test to the Test Plan tree, you define basic information about the
test, such as its name and type.
To add a test, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Plan tree, select the subject folder in which you want to
add the new test.
2. On the ALM toolbar, click New Test. The New Test dialog box is
displayed.
3. From the Type list, select a type for the test.
4. In the Test Name field, type a name for the test.
Note: A test name cannot include any of the following characters: \, /, :,
“, ?, <, >,|,*,%, or‘.
5. Click the OK button to add the test to the Test Plan tree.
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Key Pointers for Defining Tests

After defining the subjects in the Test Plan tree, the next step is to add and
define the specific tests to be performed for each subject. You need to write tests
that define the set of inputs, events, actions, and expected outcomes to verify
that the application complies with a specific requirement. When you create
tests, you must ensure that the tests are:
 Accurate – Each test should have a distinct objective, such as verifying a
specific function or system requirement.
 Economical – A test must include only the necessary steps and fields that
are needed for its purpose.
 Consistent – Each iteration of the test must execute consistently.
 Appropriate – A test must be appropriate for its testers and its
environment.
 Traceable – A test must map to a requirement or a process.
To define a test, perform the following steps:
1. Add a test to the test plan tree.
2. Specify the details of the test.

Test Types

Populating the Details Tab

You use the Details tab to define the basic information about a test, such
as its status, creation date, and designer. In addition to the standard fields
provided, you use the Description field to provide a brief overview of the test.
For example, the slide above shows the Description field that contains a
statement about the test.
Note: You can provide additional information about a test by adding
attachments in its Attachments tab. This tab provides the same functionality as
the Attachments tab in the Requirements module.
Note: A test name preceded by an exclamation point in the Test Plan tree
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indicates an alert for the test. A red exclamation means that the alert is new. A
gray exclamation means that the alert has been read. The site administrator can
define and activate alert rules that create alerts and send email when changes
occur in the project.

Design Test Steps

After defining manual tests, you specify the detailed steps to execute
each test. Adding a test step involves specifying the actions to perform on the
application, the input to enter, and the expected output.
To add and define a test step, perform the following steps:
1. From the test plan tree, select a test.
2. In the right pane, click the Design Steps tab.
3. On the Design Steps page toolbar, click the New Step button. The design
step Details dialog box is displayed.
4. In the Step Name field, type a name for the test step.
5. In the Description field, type the instructions for this step.
6. In the Expected Result field, type a description of the expected result for
this step. In addition, specify detailed instructions that testers can use to
verify the result.
7. Click the OK button. The test steps are displayed on the Design Steps
page. A footprint icon appears next to the test name in the Test Plan tree.
This icon indicates that the steps are defined for the test.
How to Design Test Steps
 Prerequisites – Tests, and basic test information, are defined in the Test
Plan tree.
 Create test steps – Describe the steps a tester must perform to run a test.
A test step includes the actions to perform on your application, the input
to enter, and the expected results.
 Call a template test (optional): – To include commonly used instructions
in your test, for example Log in to the application, you can call a template
test from within your test that includes common instructions.
 Generate an automated test (optional) – After you have created steps for
a manual test, you can generate a test script skeleton in which you can
write scripts to run the test as an automated test
 Results – The design steps that you add appear in the Design Steps tab.
The first time you add design steps to a test, a footprint icon is displayed
in the Test Plan tree next to the test icon, indicating that steps were
defined for the test.
Considerations for Designing Test Steps
When designing test steps, be sure to define all application operations to
completely test the application. To ensure that you clearly and accurately
capture all of the actions required to complete an operation:
 Write the test steps in active voice. When you use active voice, the person
executing the test gets clear instructions about how to perform the test
steps.
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 Use one action per step and clearly state whether the tester or the
application performs the action.
 Ensure that you do not leave out a step.
 Use consistent terminology throughout the test.
 Validate that the fields indicated in the test exist and are labeled the same
way as they are labeled in the system being tested.
 Specify the pass and fail conditions for the test.

Calling a Test

You can build test steps to include calls to other tests. This enables you
to modularize and reuse a standard sequence of steps across multiple tests. For
example, the slide above shows that the Define Savings Goal test contains a call
to another test, Calculate Goal.
To call another test as a step within a test, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Design Steps tab of the calling test.
2. On the Design Steps page toolbar, click the Call to Test button. The select
Test dialog box is displayed.
3. Select the test to call and click the OK button. This adds a step in the
current test and labels it as Call <Test_Name>. If you call a test that has
unassigned parameters, the Parameters of Test dialog box are displayed.
You now assign the parameters values.

Test Parameters

A parameter is a variable that can be assigned a value during test

execution. Parameters provide flexibility by enabling each calling test to
dynamically change its values. You use parameters to control test execution by
specifying data values at run time.
When working with a manual test, you can add parameters to the design
steps from within the test or you can add parameters by calling them from other
tests. This is useful if you have common steps you often want to perform as part
of other tests. When working with an automated test, you can define parameters
for a test script from within the test or you can load parameters from a shared
test resource file.
The slide above shows that Step 1 of the Login test uses a parameter for
Username. When another test needs to perform the Login function, it can call
the Login test and assign its own set of values to these parameters. The
parameters defined in the Login test are:
<<<Username>>>
<<<Password>>>
You can use parameters in the Description and Expected Result sections of a test
step.

Defining a Parameter

To define a parameter, perform the following steps:

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1. From the Test Plan tree, select a test.

2. Click the Design Steps tab.
3. On the Design Steps page toolbar, click the New Step button. The Design
Step Details dialog box is displayed.
4. Place the cursor in the Description field or the Expected Result field of
the step in which you want to define the parameter.
5. Click the Insert Parameter button. The Parameters dialog box is
displayed. Click the New Parameter button. The New Test Parameter
dialog box is displayed.
6. In the Parameter Name field, type a name for the parameter and click the
OK button.
7. Click OK in the Parameters dialog box. The new parameter is added
within the step as <<<parameter_name>>>.
Note: A parameter name cannot include any of the following characters:
~ ,?, ‘, <, or >.
8. Click the OK button to close the Design Step Details dialog box.

Calling a Test with Parameters

When you call a test that contains parameters, you can set the values that
you want to pass to these parameters. The Define Savings Goal test in the slide
above calls the Calculate Goal test and passes specific values to the Calculate
Goal test.
To call a test and pass values to its parameters, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Plan tree, select the calling test.
2. Click the Design Steps tab of the calling test.
3. Click the Call to Test button. The Select Test dialog box is displayed.
4. Select the test that you want to call.
Note: If you check the Show Only Template Tests checkbox, only
template tests are displayed in the Select Test dialog box. Template tests
are test designs that contain steps and parameters that are generally
reusable across different tests. However, it is not necessary to convert a
test to a template before you can call it from other tests.
5. Click the OK button. The Called Test Parameters dialog box is displayed.
6. Type the values that you want to pass to the parameters in the called test.
7. Click the OK button to add a new step that contains the call to the selected
test and the values that need to be passed to the test parameters.

Editing the Values of Called Parameters

You can edit the values that you assigned to parameters even after you
define a test call. For example, you can still edit the test step in the slide above
to change the values that it assigns to the parameters of the Calculate Goal test.
To edit the value of a called parameter, perform the following steps:
1. Right-click the calling step and click Called Test Parameters.... The called
Test parameters dialog box is displayed.
2. Click the Actual Value column of a parameter and type a new value.
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3. Click the OK button to update the test call to display the new value.

Creating Template Tests

You can copy and use any existing manual test as the basis for creating a
new manual test, but marking a manual test as a template test gives it special
designation. While a template test is no different from any other manual test in
composition or function, ALM can use the designation in dialog boxes which
have the Show Only Template Tests checkbox.
To configure a test as a template test, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Plan tree, right-click a manual test.
2. Select mark as template test.
When you select the Show Only Template Tests checkbox in a dialog box,
manual tests without the template designation will be filtered from the list of
available tests.

Generating a Test Script

A test script contains the actions that must be performed during test
execution. To automate the test, you can generate an automated test script from
the manually defined test steps. Based on these test steps, ALM creates an
automated template test script for the automated testing tool of your choice.
Automating a test allows unattended execution of the test at high speed. It also
makes the test reusable and repeatable. For example, you automate functional,
benchmark, unit, stress, and load tests, as well as tests requiring detailed
information about applications.
To convert design steps into a test script, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Design Steps tab.
2. On the Design Steps page toolbar, click the Generate Script button. A
drop-down menu is displayed.
3. Select the automated testing tool that you want to use to record the
business process and complete the test.
4. When the script is generated, the Test Script tab is displayed with an
asterisk.
5. Click the Test Script tab to view the test script.
Note: After you generate the test script, the manual test icon in the Test
Plan tree is replaced with an icon corresponding to the automated test
that you selected. To open and modify the test script directly from the
testing tool for which it was created, click the Launch button on the Test
Script page.
Considerations for Test Automation
Frequency of Execution
Tests that will run with each new version of your application are good
candidates for automation. These include sanity tests that check basic
functionality across an entire application. Each time there is a new version of
the application, you run these tests to check the stability of the new version,
before proceeding to more in-depth testing.
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Tests that use multiple data values for the same operation (data-driven
tests) are also good candidates for automation. Running the same test
manually—each time with a different set of input data—can be tedious and
ineffective. By creating an automated data-driven test, you can run a single test
with multiple sets of data.
Stress/Load Testing
You should also automate tests that are run many times (stress tests) and
tests that check a multi-user client/server system (load tests). For example,
suppose a test must be repeated a thousand times. Running the test manually
would be extremely impractical. In this case, you can create a test that runs a
thousand iterations.
When Not to Automate Tests
Generally, the more user involvement a test requires, the less appropriate it
is to automate. The following describes test cases that should not be automated:
 Usability tests—tests providing usage models that check how easy the
application is to use
 Tests that you only have to run once
 Tests that you need to run immediately
 Tests based on user intuition and knowledge of the application
 Tests with no predictable results

Test Configurations

You can design tests that run according to different use-cases, each with
different sets of data. Each use-case is called a test configuration. Values for the
test configurations are supplied from within your ALM project or from an
external data resource.
The following is an overview of test configurations:
 A test configuration is a set of definitions that describe a specific test use-
case.
 You can associate different sets of data for each test configuration.
 Working with test configurations enables you to run the same test under
different scenarios.
 When creating a test, by default, ALM creates a single test configuration.
This test configuration is created with the same name as the test.
 Using the Test Configurations tab of the Test Plan module, you can create
as many additional test configurations as needed.
 You associate a test configuration with data defined in the Parameters
tab of the Test Plan module. You can associate different data with each
test configuration.

Defining Test Configurations

To define test configurations, perform the following steps:

1. In the Test Plan tree, select a test and click the Test Configuration tab.
2. Select the existing configuration and click the Test Configuration Details
button.
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3. In the Details tab, change the name to a configuration name and click the
OK button.
4. In the Data tab, enter the actual value for each parameter by clicking the
dropdown in the Actual Value column for each parameter name.
5. To create a new test configuration, click the New Test Configuration
button. The New Test Configuration dialog box is displayed.
6. Enter the name for the new test configuration and click the OK button.
7. In the Data tab, enter the actual value for each parameter by clicking the
dropdown in the Actual Value column for each parameter name.

Adding Configurations to Requirements Coverage

To add a test configuration to requirements coverage, perform the following

steps:
1. In the Test Plan module, select a test with multiple test configurations.
2. Click the Req Coverage tab.
3. Click the Select Req button. The Requirement tree is displayed at right.
4. Select the appropriate requirement and click the Add to Coverage button.
The Add Configuration Coverage dialog box is displayed.
5. To select specific configuration(s), select the configurations and click the
OK button. If you do not select any configuration, the requirement is
covered by all the configurations.
6. Click the OK button.

Generating a Live Analysis Graph from the Test Plan

You can generate a live analysis graph from the Test Plan module. A live
analysis graph provides a visual overview of all the tests within a folder in the
Test Plan tree. When you update a test in the test folder, the data change is
reflected in the graph. In addition, the layout and settings of the graph are
preserved when you select another test folder in the Test Plan module. This
feature enables you to view the same graphical analysis of different folders
without the need to recreate graphs.
To generate a live analysis graph, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Plan tree, select a test subject folder.
2. Click the Live Analysis tab.
Note: The Live Analysis tab is divided into two panes, each of which can
display a graph.
3. Click the Add Graph link in the pane in which you want to display the
graph. The Graph Wizard: Step 1 Of 2 dialog box is displayed.
Note: If you already have two graphs displayed and want to create a new
graph, delete one of the existing graphs. To delete a graph, perform the
following steps:
a. Click the Remove Graph button located at the top of the graph you
want to delete.
b. Click the Yes button to confirm. The graph is deleted from the
selected pane and the Add Graph link is displayed.
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c. Click the Add Graph link. Under the graph type, select the type of
graph that you want to generate. You can generate the following
types of graphs:
 Summary – Displays the number of tests that are present in the
selected test subject folder.
 Progress – Displays the number of tests that are present in the
selected test subject folder at specific points during a period of
time.
 Trend – Displays the history of changes to specific fields in the
Test Plan module for a specified time interval.
4. Click the Next button.
5. The Graph Wizard: Step 2 of 2 dialog box is displayed. In the Group By
drop-down menu, select how you want the test to be grouped in the
graph and click the Next button.
6. In the X-Axis drop-down menu, select the field that you want to use for
the X-axis.
7. Click the Finish button. The graph is displayed in the panel that you
selected.

Modifying the Appearance of a Live Analysis Graph

After you generate a live analysis graph, you can modify the appearance of graph
according to your requirements. For example, you can change the field that you
want to use for the X-axis.
To modify the appearance of a live analysis graph, perform the following steps:
1. Within the pane in which the graph is located, click Set Graph
Appearance. The Graph Appearance dialog box is displayed. In the Graph
Appearance dialog box, the Titles tab is clicked by default, and the values
for the Graph Title, Y-Axis Title, and X-Axis Title fields are displayed. You
can modify these values. Click the Reset Titles button to get back the
original titles.
2. Click the Appearance tab. Use the General section to choose the Default
Layout, Legend Position, 3D Graph, and Vertical X-Axis Labels. Use the
Colors section to modify the color for legends.
3. Click the Bar Parameters tab to modify the position and style of marks
that appear on the graph.
4. Click the OK button to close the Graph Appearance dialog box.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 008
TEST EXECUTION

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 008:Test Execution

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Create and organize folders in a Test Sets tree

• View all test runs for a project
• Create test sets
• Add tests and test configurations into test sets
• Manage test execution flow and test dependencies
• Execute manual and automated tests
• Record and view the results of test execution
Week 008:Test Execution
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Week 008:Test Execution
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Week 008:Test Execution
Week 008:Test Execution
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References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 007 TEST EXECUTION

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Create and organize folders in a Test Sets tree

 View all test runs for a project

 Create test sets

 Add tests and test configurations into test sets

 Manage test execution flow and test dependencies

 Execute manual and automated tests

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 Record and view the results of test execution

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to
supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecycle
Management of Application

Introduction

The ALM Roadmap

The fourth stage of the application lifecycle management process
involves organizing tests into test sets and running the tests. After running the
tests, you have complete documentation that lists the inconsistencies, issues,
and defects in the application. You can subsequently report these problems into
a defect tracking system for further investigation, correction, and retesting.

Using the Test Lab Module

You perform all test execution tasks from the Test Lab module. In the
Test Lab module, you organize tests into test sets. A test set is a group of tests
designed to achieve specific testing goals. After creating test sets, you assign test
sets to the releases defined in the Management module. The goals of a test set
must synchronize with the testing goals of the release to which it is assigned.
After you assign a test set to a release, you schedule the execution of tests
within the test set. You can also specify the conditions and sequence for test
execution. Based on the execution conditions, you execute manual tests within
a test set. ALM automatically executes automated tests based on the date, time,
and dependencies you specify. After test execution is complete, you analyze the
test results to determine whether a defect should be logged for failing steps.
To navigate to the Test Lab module, on the sidebar, under Testing, select
Test Lab.

Test Execution Workflow

ALM provides the framework and tools to efficiently execute tests. The
stages for using this framework are:
1. Develop the Test Sets tree – Provides a clear picture of the test building
blocks and assists in the execution of the actual tests. It helps you plan
for data dependencies and identify common scripts that can potentially
be reused for future testing. To develop a Test Sets tree, perform the
following steps:
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a. Create folders in the test sets tree.

b. Create test sets.
c. Add tests to test sets.
2. Organize test runs – Enables you to control the execution of automated
tests by setting test run conditions and creating a schedule. This
automation enables the tests to run unattended, overnight, or when the
system is in least demand for other tasks. The test run automation also
makes test scripts more reusable and easier to maintain, therefore
enabling you to create more modular tests and schedule them in a
sequence. To organize test runs, perform the following steps:
a. Define test run sequence and conditions.
b. Schedule execution date and time.
3. Set automation options – Enables you to instruct ALM to automatically
send a status alert email to the author when the test set completes
execution. Additionally, you define rules that specify the number of test
reruns and clean-up tasks that should be performed whenever an
automated test fails.
4. Link test set folders to releases and cycles – Enables you to track the
progress of your tests under the Management module.
5. Run the tests – Enables you to manage the execution of manual and
automated tests and document their results.

Test Sets

A test set is a group of tests designed to achieve specific testing goals. A

test set can contain a combination of manual and automated tests. You can add
a test multiple times to the same test set and across different test sets so that
you can reuse routines.
To understand the concept of test sets, consider smoke testing. Smoke
testing is non-exhaustive software testing that you use to verify the most crucial
functionalities of a software application. Smoke testing does not test the finer
details of a software application.
Consider that you want to test the logon functionality of an online
application and you perform smoke testing for this purpose. You build a test set
to include tests that validate the logon functionality. This test set includes tests
that validate the user name and password used to log on to the online
application.
You build another test set to include tests that verify the logon
functionality in a particular Windows environment. This test set includes tests
that validate the logon functionality on different Windows operating systems,
such as Windows XP and Windows 2000 Professional, and on different web
browsers.
The two test sets combined together test all aspects of the online
application.
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Test Sets Tree

The Test Sets tree organizes and displays test sets hierarchically.
Developing a Test Sets tree helps you organize your testing process by grouping
test sets into folders and organizing the folders in different hierarchical levels.
The Test Sets tree can contain main folders at the root level to indicate
the general classifications of test sets. The main folders can contain subfolders
that further classify the test sets in each hierarchy. For example, the example
above shows a Test Sets tree that contains the Mercury Tours Website. This
folder contains the Functionality and UI and Performance and Load subfolders,
which classify test sets based on the test types. Each of these subfolders has test
sets under them.

Creating a Test Set Folder

The Test Sets tree always starts with the Root folder. In this folder, you
can create main folders and add subfolders to these main folders.
To add a folder, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Sets tree, select the Root folder to create a main folder or
select an existing folder to create a subfolder.
2. On the toolbar, click the New Folder button. The New Test Set Folder
dialog box is displayed.
3. In the New Test Set Folder dialog box, type a name for the new folder in
the Test Set Folder Name field.
Note: A folder name cannot contain any of the following characters: \, ^ ,
or *.
4. Click the OK button to add the folder to the Test Sets tree.
Note: Folders can contain subfolders, and each subfolder can contain
further subfolders. Each folder or subfolder can contain a maximum of
676 subfolders.

Creating a Test Set

After creating a test set folder, you create test sets within the folder. To create a
test set:
1. From the Test Sets tree, select the folder to which you want to add a new
test set.
2. On the toolbar, click the New Test Set button. The New Test Set dialog
box is displayed.
3. In the New Test Set dialog box, in the Test Set Name field, type a name
for the test set.
4. In the Description field, type a description for the test set. Note: A test set
name cannot include any of the following characters: \, ^ , or *.
5. Click the OK button to close the New Test Set dialog box. The new test set
is displayed in the Test Sets tree.
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Test Execution Overview

You begin test execution by creating test sets and choosing tests to
include in each set. A test set contains a subset of the tests in an ALM project
designed to achieve specific test goals. As your application changes, you can run
the manual and automated tests in your project to locate defects and assess
quality.
Different Ways to Run ALM Tests
Run tests using Functional test sets – Tests in Functional test sets are run
using server-side execution. This means you do not have to be around to initiate
and control the tests. Functional test sets are run using timeslots, so you can
schedule a test set to be run immediately, or you can schedule it to be run at a
future time. When you schedule the test, ALM ensures that the necessary
resources are reserved for the test set. The test set is launched without user
intervention and run in sequence with the input you provide in advance.
 You can schedule the execution of Functional tests or Functional test sets
in the Timeslots module. If there are currently available hosts for your
test, you can also use the Execution Grid to arrange for tests to run
immediately.
 Functional tests run on testing hosts that are configured in Lab
Resources in ALM or Lab Management. To run tests in a Functional test
set, you must have testing hosts available to your project.
 When you schedule a test, an appropriate testing host is reserved for
your test and that host cannot be reserved for another test unless
another appropriate host can be found for your test.
 ALM manages host allocation dynamically. If the testing host reserved
for your test becomes unavailable before your test can be run, ALM is
able to automatically reshuffle the remaining testing hosts and, if
possible, reallocate another suitable testing host for your test.
Run tests using Default test sets – Tests in Default test sets are run using
client-side execution. You control the test directly from your local computer.
You can run Default test sets manually or automatically in ALM.

Adding Test Set Details

After creating a test set, you can add details to the test set, such as its
closure date and the testing cycle in which it executes.
To provide additional information for a test set, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Sets tree, select a test set.
2. In the right pane, click the Details tab.
3. Under Details, specify the values for the following fields:
 Close Date – Displays the planned closing date for the test set.
 Baseline – In Baseline, select a baseline to which to pin the test set.
 Open Date – Displays the planned start date for the test set.
 Status – In Status, set the status of the test set to Open or Closed.
Note: To add attachments to a test set, use the Attachments button. This
provides the same procedures and options for adding attachments as in the
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Requirements module.

Adding Tests to a Test Set

After creating a test sets tree, you select and add tests to each test set. To
add tests to a test set, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Sets tree, select a test set.
2. In the right pane, click the Execution Grid tab and click Select Tests. The
Test Plan Tree tab is displayed on the right side of the screen and
displays the Test Plan tree.
3. From the Test Plan tree that is displayed on the right side of the screen,
click a test folder to add an entire group of tests or click a test name to
add a specific test to the selected test set.
4. Click Add Tests To Test Set. This adds the test to the test set and prefixes
a number to the test name.
Note: If you select a folder containing tests that are already included in the test
set, you are prompted to select the tests in the folder that you still want to add.
Additionally, if the tests have unassigned parameters, you are prompted to enter
values for parameters. You can also drag and drop tests from the Test Plan tree
to the Execution Grid page.

Adding Test Configurations to a Test Set

A test set can include any single test configuration, the entire test
configurations defined for a test, or it can include test configurations based on
requirement coverage.
When you run a test set, the parameter values are retrieved from the data
resource according to the settings defined for each test configuration.
To add all test configurations to a test set, select the test from the Test Plan tree
and click the Add Tests To Test Set button. The test configurations associated
with the test are added to the execution grid.
To view the status of the test configuration after the test run, after
running the test in the execution grid, click the Test Runs tab. The Test Runs tab
lists the test configurations and the status of each configuration.

Test Configurations Based on Requirements Coverage

To add test configuration(s) based on requirement coverage, perform the

following steps:
1. Click the Requirements Tree tab.
2. Select the requirement from the Requirements tree.
3. Expand the Test Coverage pane. Select the Test Name and click the Add
Test button. A confirmation message box is displayed asking you to
confirm the addition.
4. Click the Yes button. The test configuration(s) associated with the
requirement are added to the execution grid.
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Assigning Test Set Folders to Cycles

A test set folder contains tests that you can assign to cycles in the
Management module. This association allows you to review the progress of
tests, determine the number of resolved and outstanding defects, and enhance
your reporting ability.

Linking Test Set Folders to Cycles

After creating the Test Sets tree, you link test set folders to cycles defined
in the Management module. When you link a test set folder to a cycle, all test
sets included in the folder are executed in the cycle with which the folder is
linked.
To link a test set folder to a release cycle, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Sets tree, right-click a test set folder and select Assign To
Cycle. The Select Cycles dialog box is displayed.
2. In the Select Cycles dialog box, expand the Releases tree.
3. From the Releases tree, select a cycle.
4. Click the OK button to close the Select Cycles dialog box.
The test set folder is linked to the release cycle that you selected in the Select
Cycles dialog box.

Using the Execution Flow Tab

After adding tests to a test set, you define the execution flow of tests to
determine the sequence in which tests are executed. You also specify the
dependency between successive tests. For example, you can specify that a test
should execute only if the preceding test passes.
In the Test Lab module, you use the Execution Flow tab to:
 Graphically map the execution flow between the tests of each test set.
 Schedule tests to run based on the execution completion status of other
tests. These tests are connected to their controlling tests with a solid line.
For example, in the figure above, the Auto Save and Existing Account
tests are connected with a solid line.
 Schedule tests to run independently from other tests. These tests are
connected to the test set icon with a broken line.
 Schedule tests to run on specific dates and times. These tests are
displayed with a clock icon. For example, in the above figure, a clock icon
is displayed with the Savings Account test. The clock icon displays the
date and time when the test executes.

Defining Test Run Sequence and Conditions

You can establish dependencies between test executions by defining

conditions that state whether specific tests need to finish or pass before others
can proceed.
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To define test execution conditions, perform the following steps:

1. From the Test Sets tree, select a test set, and click the Execution Flow tab.
2. On the Execution Flow page, double-click a test. The Run Schedule: Test
dialog box is displayed and the Execution Conditions tab is displayed.
3. To add a condition, click new execution condition. The new execution
condition dialog box is displayed.
4. In the New Execution Condition dialog box, from the Test list, select the
test that specifies when the current test is executed. In the next field,
select the completion status of the controlling test that triggers this
execution.
 Select Finished to set a rule that the dependent test is executed after
the controlling test finishes its execution, regardless of whether the
test completes successfully.
 Select Passed to set a rule that the dependent test is executed only
after the controlling test finishes and passes its execution. Under the
Execution Flow tab, you can see a solid green line going from the
controlling test to the dependent test.
5. Click the OK button to close the New Execution Condition dialog box.
6. To set another condition for the same test, repeat Steps 3 through 5.
7. Click the OK button to close the Run Schedule: Test dialog box.

Scheduling Execution Date and Time

In addition to defining test run sequence and conditions, you can specify
the date and time at which a test executes.
To specify the date and time for test execution, perform the following steps:
1. From the Test Sets tree, select a test set, and click the Execution Flow tab.
2. On the Execution Flow page, double-click a test. The Run Schedule: Test
dialog box is displayed.
3. In the Run Schedule: Test dialog box, click the Time Dependency tab.
4. Select the Run at Specified Time option.
5. Check the Date checkbox and type the scheduled date or select a date
from the calendar.
6. Check the Time checkbox and type a scheduled time.
7. Click the OK button to close the Run Schedule: Test dialog box. The test
appears under the Execution Flow tab with a clock icon. The icon
displays the date and time when the test is executed.
Additional Options for Scheduling
To define the execution sequence of tests, you can use one of the following
two methods:
 Hold down the Ctrl key and click the tests on the Execution Flow page.
Then select the Tests → Order Test Instances command from the menu
bar. The Order Test Instances dialog box is displayed. Rearrange the
sequence of the tests using the up and down arrow buttons from this
dialog box to define the sequence of test execution.
 Select the icon and drag a line from the controlling test to its dependent
test to set up the Finished execution condition for the dependent test.
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Note: By default, both the options create a solid blue line between the
controlling test and the dependent test.
To set test conditions, double-click the line between the controlling test
and the dependent test. The Execution Condition dialog box is displayed. Select
Finished or Passed to indicate the status that the controlling test should have
before the dependent test is executed.
To set a scheduled date and time, click Add Time Dependency to Flow.
This adds a clock icon to the Execution Flow page. Drag the clock icon to the icon
of the test that you need to schedule. You can now see a blue line between the
test and the clock icon. Double-click this line to open the Time Dependency of
Test dialog box. Set the specific date and time of the execution.

Setting On-Failure Rules

Each test set can contain on-failure rules that define how many times a test
should be rerun and the clean ups that should be performed whenever an
automated test fails. To set on-failure rules, perform the following steps:
1. From the test sets tree, select a test set.
2. In the right pane, click the Automation tab.
3. In the section On Automatic Test Failure, use one of the following options
to set the on- failure rules:
 To set a common or default on-failure rule for all the automated tests
in the test set, perform the following steps:
i. Check the Rerun Test check box. In the Maximum Test Reruns,
specify the number of times that each test should be rerun.
ii. Click the browse button with Cleanup Test Before Rerun to select
a common clean up test for all selected tests.
Note: The browse button enables you to select a clean-up test from the Test Plan
tree.
 To set different on-failure rules for each automated test in the test
set, perform the following steps:
i. Click Settings Per Test.... The on test failure dialog box is displayed,
which lists all automated tests in the test set.
ii. Set the number of Reruns for each listed test.
iii. Set the Cleanup Test for each listed test and click the OK button
4. To define what needs to happen on failure of any test, select Do Nothing,
Stop The Test Set, or Rerun The Test Set.

Setting a Test Set Notification

You can configure a test set to automatically send a status alert email to the
author of the test set when it completes execution. To set a notification for a
status alert email, perform the following steps:
1. From the test sets tree, select a test set.
2. In the right pane, click the Automation tab.
3. To send notifications, under the Notification section, select events for
which an email message should be sent.
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Note: You can select the Environmental Failure event to send an email if the test
set fails due to reasons other than the test logic itself. This could include failures
due to function calls that do not return results, access violations, version
incompatibility between application components, missing dynamic link library
(DLL) files, or inadequate permissions.
4. To specify the email recipients, type their valid email addresses, or select
their user or user group names by using the To button.
5. In the Message field, type the body of the email message.

Running Tests

You can run ALM test and test sets manually or automatically.
Running Tests Manually
You can run manual and automated tests manually in ALM. When you
run a test manually, you follow the test steps and perform operations on the
AUT. You pass or fail each step, depending on whether the actual application
results match the expected output. You can run tests manually in ALM using:
 HP Sprinter – Sprinter provides enhanced functionality to assist you
in the manual testing process.
 Manual Runner – If you are not working with Sprinter, you can run
tests manually using Manual Runner.
Running Tests Automatically
When you run an automated test automatically, ALM opens the selected
testing tool automatically, runs the test on your local machine or on remote
hosts, and exports the results to ALM.
 You run tests automatically using Automatic Runner.
 You can run manual and automated tests automatically.

Running Manual Tests with Sprinter

You run tests manually from ALM using HP Sprinter. Sprinter provides
advanced functionality and tools to assist you in the manual testing process.

Using the Manual Runner

To manually run and record the results of a test:

1. From the test sets tree, select a test set.
2. In the right pane, click the Execution Grid or Execution Flow tab and
select a manual test.
3. On the ALM toolbar, click the Run arrow and select Run Manually. The
Manual Runner: Test Set dialog box is displayed.
4. To start the test run, click Begin Run. The Manual Runner: Test Set dialog
box is displayed.
Note: If the tests contain unassigned parameters, you are prompted to
assign values to the unassigned parameters in the Parameters Values For
Run dialog box. Type the parameter values and click the OK button. The
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Manual Runner dialog box is displayed.

5. Perform the test step as outlined in the Description field of the Manual
Runner: Test Set dialog box.
6. Record the status and actual result of each step using the provided fields.
7. To end the test run, click End Run.
Note: To run a test with a status that is not completed, on the ALM
toolbar, click the Run arrow and select Continue Manual Run.

Tools for Recording the Results of Manual Tests

While running manual tests, ALM provides you with different options to
record the results.
You use the following options to record the results of a manual test run:
 Compact View button – Enables you to toggle between Steps Grid and
Compact View. You use Compact View to individually view and update
the Description, the Expected fields, and the Actual fields of each test
step.
 Status column – Enables you to record the execution status of a test.
 Actual field – Enables you to record additional details about the actual
test execution results.

Automated Tests

You use automated testing to execute test cases multiple times. ALM
enables you to create and execute test cases for various automated tools, such
as HP Unified Functional Testing, HP QuickTest Professional and HP
LoadRunner. When you run automated tests, ALM invokes the appropriate
testing tool, runs the test on the host you specified, and gathers the test
execution results.
Running Tests Automatically
To run an automated test, perform the following steps:
1. From the test sets tree, select a test set.
2. In the right pane, click the Execution Grid or Execution Flow tab, and
select an automated test.
3. Click Run Test Set. The Automatic Runner dialog box is displayed,
showing the tests you selected.
4. Specify the location for running the tests.
 To execute tests locally, check the Run All Tests Locally checkbox.
 To execute tests remotely, uncheck the Run All Tests Locally
checkbox. From the Run on Host column, select a host or host group
name. This column provides a browse button that opens a Select Host
dialog box.
Note: If the Select Host dialog box does not list the host computer that
you need, use the Test Sets ␣ Hosts Manager menu command to update
this list.
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5. To start the test execution, select the first test in the Automatic Runner
dialog box and click Run.
6. To terminate a test run, click Stop.

Key Guidelines for Running Automated Tests

The following are important guidelines for running automated tests:

 You can set a test to run on a remote host group to ensure that the test
runs only on the first available host in the group and not on every host in
the group.
 To run a test concurrently on multiple remote hosts, add multiple
instances of the test to your test set. Next, from the Automatic Runner
dialog box, select a different host from the Run on Host column of each
test instance.
 To run the same test set concurrently on multiple remote hosts, set and
execute an individual test run for each test set. To do this, open one
Automatic Runner dialog box for each test set. Each Automatic Runner
dialog box enables you to set and execute an individual test run.
 Before running a test on a remote host, you must first set up hosts in the
Host Manager dialog box.

Host Manager
Setting Up Hosts for Remote Test Execution
You can run tests on any host connected to your network. Using the Host
Manager dialog box, you can create a list of available hosts for test execution.
You can also organize hosts into groups to be used for a specific project.
Note: If you specify a host group for remote test execution, ALM runs the test on
the first available host, not every host in the host group.
To set up hosts for remote test execution, perform the following steps:
1. Choose Test Sets → Host Manager. The Host Manager dialog box is
displayed. If no hosts are displayed in the Hosts list, click the Add All On
The Network button. ALM scans the Network Neighborhood directory
and inserts each host found into the Hosts list. To synchronize the hosts
in the Hosts list with the hosts in the Network Neighborhood directory,
click the Add All On The Network arrow and choose Synchronize Hosts
In The Project With Hosts On Net. ALM adds hosts found in the Network
Neighborhood directory and deletes hosts that were not found in the
Network Neighborhood directory.
2. To add a host to the Hosts list, click the New Host button. The New Host
dialog box is displayed. In the Host Name box, type the name of the host
machine. In the Description box, type a description of the host. Click the
OK button.
3. To delete a host from the Hosts list, select the host and click the Delete
button. Click Yes to confirm.
4. To create a host group, click the New Host Group button. The New Host
Group dialog box is displayed. In the Group Name box, type a name for
the host group. In the Description box, type a description of the host
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group. Click the OK button.

5. To add a host to a host group, select a group from the Groups list. Select
a host from the Hosts list, and click the Add Host To Host Group button.
6. To remove a host from a host group, select a group from the Groups list.
Select a host from the Hosts In Group list. Click the Remove Host From
Host Group button.
7. To delete a host group, select the group from the Host Group list. Click
the Delete Host Group button. Click the Yes button to confirm.
8. Click the Close button to close the Host Manager dialog box.

Viewing Test Run Results

To view the results of the automated tests that were executed, you view
the Execution Grid page. The Execution Grid page contains the Last Run Report
pane, which displays the most recent test run statuses.
Last Run Report displays the execution results of the selected test from
its last test run. The Step Details display the details of the selected step.
For automated tests, the Last Run Report pane shows an additional button,
Launch Report, to open the report generated by the testing tool that you used.
For example, you can use the Launch Report button to open the results of an Lr-
Scenario test in LoadRunner Analysis.
On the Execution Grid page, double-click a test name to view the results
of other test runs. The Test Instance Details dialog box is displayed and the Runs
link contains a log of all the runs of the selected test.
For example, in the figure on the slide, the Execution Grid page shows the
latest run results of a test set. The upper section of the grid displays the results
of each test in the test set. The lower section displays the results of the steps
that are included in the currently selected test. The Test Instance Details dialog
box shows that the Existing Account test executed one time and passed.

Using the Test Runs Module

The Test Runs module allows you to view all test runs for your project in
a grid.
By default, the grid is filtered to show test runs from the current calendar month
only, in reverse chronological order (most recent first). To clear this filter, clear
the value This Month from the Exec Date field.

Purging Test Runs

Yu can purge tests in the following ways:

 In the Test Lab →Test Sets tab, select Test Sets →Purge Runs.
 In the Test Runs →Test Runs tab, select Test Runs→Purge Runs.

Managing Linked Defects

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Defects can be associated with your test by:

 Clicking the Run Details button
 Clicking the Linked Defects link
 Clicking the Add/Edit Defects button
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
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Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

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Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Review and understand the manual test lifecycle

• Understand Sprinter features and functionality
• Use Sprinter
• Author tests
• Perform exploratory testing
• Define storyboarding
• Use Sprinter to long defects
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References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 008 HP SPRINTER 12.0

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Review and understand the manual test lifecycle

 Understand Sprinter features and functionality

 Use Sprinter

 Author tests

 Perform exploratory testing

 Define storyboarding
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 Use Sprinter to long defects

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to
supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecycle
Management of Application

Introduction

Adopting the Shift – Manual Testing

Testing is shifting to adopt Agile and Continuous Integration
methodologies.

Manual Testing Today must be Modernized

Minimizing QA – Development Tension

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Introducing HP Sprinter

Sprinter Overview

HP Sprinter is HP's solution for manual testing. Sprinter provides

advanced functionality and tools to make manual testing more efficient and
effective.
Manual testing often requires that you leave your testing application to
accomplish tasks related to your test. For example, you might need to use
graphic software to take a screen capture of your application, you might want
to record a movie of the application during the test, and you need to switch to
your defect tracking software to report defects.
Sprinter enables you to accomplish these tasks without disrupting your
test flow. With Sprinter, you can also perform many of the repetitive and tedious
tasks of manual testing automatically. Sprinter includes many tools to help you
detect and submit defects. These features ensure that you can perform all the
tasks necessary for your manual test with minimum interruptions to your
testing work.
Sprinter runs manual tests in ALM from the Test Lab module. In Basic
mode, Sprinter provides a variety of tools to assist in the manual testing process.
You can:
 Change display options to allow you to see more of your application
 Edit parameters during your test run
 Submit defects to ALM or set a default reminder if you do want to
interrupt your test run
 Create and annotate screen captures and record movies of your run
In addition to running basic manual tests, Sprinter’s Power mode also allows
you to:
 Record and run macros on your test application
 Automatically enter data into fields in your application
 Use storyboards that display each action you performed in your test
 Replicate your user actions on multiple machines with different
configurations

Sprinter – New Features in Version 12

 Integration with UFT – When working in Power mode, you can save
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manual Sprinter can import the XML file and convert it to an automated
GUI test.
 Performance Improvements – Performance improvements have been
made in many areas of the product, such as opening, loading, and running
tests.
 Manual Mapping tests as XML files which are compatible with HP Unified
Functional Testing (UFT). In UFT you – In Data Injection, you can
manually map fields in your application to columns in your data set.
 Mobile Application Testing – You can now test Web or Native
applications using a cloud mobile provider (Perfecto Mobile).
 Expanded View – You can now view screen captures, in the Step tab, as
full images in Run mode.
 Link to existing defects – You can now link a test run to an existing defect
 ALM Reporting Capabilities Improvements – You can now see the run
steps of manual tests executed with Sprinter in ALM reports.

Welcome Dialog Box

Welcome dialog box options let you open or create a test or business
component. To access the Welcome dialog box, do one of the following:
 Start Sprinter.
 In the main window, select Welcome Screen from the drop-down menu
next to the Help button.
When you select the Show on startup option, Sprinter displays the Welcome
dialog box each time it is launched. You can configure Sprinter to bypass the
Welcome dialog box in the General Settings pane (Settings dialog box) or you
can just de-select the Show on Start-up checkbox.

Starting to Use Sprinter

There are two ways to open a test in Sprinter: either select a test in ALM‘s Test
Lab module and launch Sprinter from there, or you can open Sprinter on your
desktop, connect to ALM, and open the test from ALM’s Test Lab module.
To launch HP Sprinter from the desktop, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Sprinter shortcut on the desktop. HP Sprinter opens showing
the Open a Test window. Close the Open a Test window.
2. Double-click the HP ALM connection button.
3. Enter the address, user name, and password and click the Authenticate
button.
4. Enter the domain and project and check the Reconnect on Startup check
box since you typically work on the same HP ALM server.
5. Click the Login button. Sprinter connects to HP ALM and the Open dialog
box appears.
General Settings
Select your General Settings choices.
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Sprinter Main Window – Plan Area

The main Sprinter window enables you to manage your test and
components, set test and component definitions, view test results, and configure
Sprinter settings.
Test and Component Authoring Overview
Sprinter’s Plan mode enables you to create and edit tests or components
directly in Sprinter and save them to ALM. You can create and edit steps
manually in the Steps tab, or use Steps Capture to automatically generate steps
based on your user actions. You can then add screen captures or attachments to
steps. You can define input parameters for each step, and also output
parameters for components.
Developing a clear and concise test plan is fundamental to successful
application testing. A good test plan enables you to assess the quality of your
application at any point in the application management process. It allows you to
outline a strategy for achieving your requirements, as defined in the
Requirements module.
Considerations for Planning Application Testing
How should you test your application? – Which testing techniques will
you use (stress tests, security tests, performance and load tests)?
How will you handle defects (severity classification, authorization to open and
close defects)?
What resources do you require? – What resources do you require to test
(personnel, hardware, and so forth)? When will the various tasks be completed?
As an example, consider a flight reservation application that lets you manage
flight scheduling, passenger bookings, and ticket sales. Testing requires
designing both manual and automated tests. You could assign testing personnel
with programming experience the task of designing automated tests, while non-
programmers could design manual tests.
To access the Plan area, complete the following steps:
1. Start Sprinter and close the Welcome window, if open.
2. Select Plan from the main toolbar.
3. Click the New button in the Tests and Components list to create a new
test.
4. In the Test tab, in the Details pane, provide information for the test, such
as description and comments.
5. Add an attachment and Parameters that will be used for the test.
New Button
You use the New button to create a new test or component and add it to
the Tests and Components list.
Drop-down options:
 New HP ALM Test – Adds a new blank test to the Tests and Components
list.
 New HP ALM Business Component – Adds a new component to the Tests
and Components list.
Open Button
You use the Open button to add an existing test or component to the Tests and
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Components list.
Drop-down options:
 Open HP ALM Test (Default) – Displays the Open ALM Test dialog box.
The tests you select are added to the Tests and Components list.
 Open HP ALM Business Component – Displays the Open ALM Business
Component dialog box. The components you select are added to the Tests
and Components list.
Save Button
You use the Save button to display the Save/Save As dialog box, which
enables you to save the selected tests or components in the Tests and
Components list.
Drop-down options:
 Save – Saves the selected test or component.
 Save As – Saves a copy of the selected test or component to the specified
location.
Note: The save options are disabled when more than one test or component is
selected.

Authoring a Test or Component

Creating Test and Business Components

Sprinter's Plan mode enables you to create and edit tests or components
directly in Sprinter and save them to the Application Lifecycle Management. You
can create and edit steps manually in the Steps tab, or use Steps Capture to
automatically generate steps based on your user actions. You can then add
screen captures or attachments to steps. You can define input parameters for
each step, and also output parameters for components.
Creating a New Test
To create a new test, click the New button in the Plan area. The new test
is added to the Tests and Components list. To create a new business component,
select New →New HP ALM Business Component. The new business component
is added to the Tests and Components list.
The New HP ALM Test button opens the Authoring pane and adds a new test
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entry to the Tests and Components list. If you are not connected to ALM, the
ALM Connection dialog box opens to enable you to connect to ALM.
Steps Tab
Use the Steps tab to:
 Add, edit, move, and delete test or component steps
 Import steps from Excel or CSV files
 Format steps using rich text editing capabilities
 Add screen captures and attachments to steps
 Insert calls to an external ALM test
 Insert parameters to steps
Find Section
The ribbon’s Find section lets you search the text associated with the steps.
The UI elements include:
 UI Elements Description <search text> – You can search for text in the
Name, Description, or Expected Results fields, or in any user-defined
field.
 Search Down/Up – You can choose the direction of the search.
 Match whole word – This instructs the search engine to find a whole
word.

The Steps Tab – Manually Add and Edit Steps

The ribbon’s Step section lets you manage steps of the test or component.
The UI elements include:

– Adds a new step to the steps grid. Drop-down options include:

 After Current Step (Default) (Alt+N)
 Before Current Step (Shift+Alt+N)
 After All Steps (Ctrl+Alt+N)

– Starts a Steps Capture session, in which you navigate your application

and perform user actions as you would in a regular run session. Sprinter
captures each user action, converts it to a step, and adds it after the selected step
in the steps grid.

– Cut/Copy/Paste Steps allows you to cut, copy, and paste individual

or multiple steps.

– Move Step Up/Down. Moves the selected step up or down the steps grid.
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– Delete Steps. Deletes the selected steps.

– Insert Parameter. Opens the Insert Parameter dialog box that enables
you to insert a parameter at the cursor’s location in the Description or Expected
Results fields.

– Add Attachment. Adds a file from the file system as an attachment to the
selected step (tests only).

– Screen Capture. Enables you to add a screen capture to the selected

step (alt+C). Drop-down options include:
 Take Screen Capture – Opens the Capture sidebar, allowing you to take a
screen capture of the desktop and attach it to the selected step.
 Delete Screen Capture – Removes the attached screen capture from the
selected step.

The Steps Tab – Steps Capture

You must first identify the application that you will be using. Then you
use the Steps Capture feature to automatically generate test steps based on your
user actions. The actions that you perform on the application during the test are
captured and saved as steps. You have the option to save each single action as a
new step or to group actions into a step.

Authoring Tests – Manage Test Parameters

You add parameters to your tests and/or components using the

Parameters pane of the Test/Components tab. You can then associate these
parameters with steps in the Steps tab.

Authoring Tests – Attachments Pane

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Running Test Concepts

Running a Test with Steps

Sprinter enables you to run steps that you manually add to your test or
those that you imported from an external file.
When you run your test, the steps are displayed in the Steps sidebar. From the
Steps sidebar you can:
 Navigate your steps
 Mark the status of your steps
 Modify the actual results of your steps ␣ Add attachments to steps
 Add screen captures to the actual results of your steps
 Edit the details of your steps
 Submit defects
 Search in your steps
 View the parameters in your steps (Business Process Testing only)
The Steps sidebar also provides a Subtitles mode, which displays your step
descriptions and enables you to navigate and mark your steps in a one-line
subtitle, while providing more screen real estate for your application.
When you finish your run, Sprinter saves your changes to the run results for
your run. If you made changes to the details of your steps, Sprinter prompts you
to save your changes to the Test Plan module in Application Lifecycle
Management.
If your test is checked-in, Sprinter automatically checks it out, saves your
changes, and checks it back in. If your test is checked-out to another user,
Sprinter warns you that your changes cannot be saved.
Running a Basic Test
You perform the user interactions as specified in the Steps window,
evaluate the expected results, pass or fail the step, and make annotations for the
actual results as necessary.
To execute the test, complete the following steps:
1. Ensure that the Steps sidebar opens automatically. If not, click the Steps
tab.
2. Follow the instructions for the first test step. In this example, you enter
the Agent Name.
3. Evaluate whether the application is responding as expected and then
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select either Pass or Fail from the tool bar.

4. Continue to proceed through the steps until you have finished.

Improving Communication While Running Tests

Enter a Smart Defect

To enter a smart defect, complete the following steps:
1. Click the drop-down menu for the Smart Defect button. Select the Smart
Defect option. This includes the list of user actions and a movie of the run
that lead to the defect.
2. When the run is in progress, if you find a defect but do not want to disrupt
the run, you use Add Defect Reminder. The reminder is included with the
test results and can be viewed at the end of your test. You can then
submit the defect later from the test results. The same information you
have available during the test is also available to you from the results. So
you can include annotated screen captures, movies, and step or action
information in the defect at that time.
Add a Defect Reminder
To add a defect reminder, complete the following steps:
1. Click the drop-down menu for the Smart Defect button. Select the Add
Defect Reminder option.
2. In the Defect Reminder dialog, type the description of the defect and click
the OK button.

Simplifying and Improving Defect Communication

Annotations highlight the problem in the images that are attached to a

step, run, actual result or defect.
To annotate a screen capture, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Save Annotation As Actual Result button in the Actual Result
dialog box. The annotation workspace is displayed.
2. Use the annotation tools to mark up the screen capture.
3. Click the Save To Actual Result button.
4. Click the Close button. The annotated image is displayed in the image
section of the Actual Result dialog box.

The Test Run Summary

To View the Run Summary, complete the following steps:

1. Click the Stop button in the Run Control sidebar to end the run. The
sidebars close and the Run Summary pane is displayed in the main
window. The summary includes test and run information, the number of
actions you performed (Power mode tests only), the number of defects
you submitted, the number of defect reminders you created, the number
of comments you added (Power mode tests only), and the status of each
step performed.
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2. Select the Submitted Defects node to view a list of the defects you
submitted during your test. Click Defect ID Number to open the HP ALM
Defect Details dialog box for that defect.
3. Select the Defect Reminders node to view a list of the defect reminders
created during the test. You can select a reminder and click Submit Defect
to submit the defect to ALM.
4. Select the User Actions node and view a list of the user actions performed
during the run. This list of user actions can be exported to an Excel
spreadsheet.

Running Tests in Power Mode

Power Mode Overview

When you run a Sprinter test in Power mode, Sprinter is able to learn
your application's display and identify its objects. This ability gives you access
to Sprinter's advanced functionality including data injection, recording and
replaying macros, and working with mirroring (replicating user actions on
multiple computers).
When you are in Power mode, Sprinter keeps a record of all your user
actions, which you can view as a list or in the Storyboard at the end of your run.
You can also include the list of your steps or user actions in any defect you
submit to let Sprinter automatically create a defect scenario for you.
You can export the list of user actions at the end of your run to an Excel
spreadsheet, modify them for use as steps, and then import them to a test in the
future.
After a test run, you can use the test steps as a template and automatically
generate a test.
To use Power mode, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Off button in the Power Mode group under the Tests list. The
Welcome to Power Mode! dialog box is displayed.
2. Click the Close button in the dialog box.
3. Click the Add button to manually define an application.
4. Enter the name of the application.
5. Choose the type of the application by clicking one of the available types.
6. For a desktop application, enter the location and additional settings. For
web applications, provide the URL and select a browser.
7. Choose the appropriate technologies used in the application.
8. Choose Start the Application When the Run Begins or Record On Any
Open Application, if required.
9. Click the OK button.

Exploratory Testing

With Power mode enabled, you can navigate your application without
the need to follow predefined steps. While you navigate your application,
Sprinter captures each user action that you perform. You can then export these
user actions to a new manual test or to an Excel file.
If your test does not have steps, you can begin your test run and perform
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exploratory user actions.

Exploring Your Application
Begin the run session and perform any user action in your application. Sprinter
captures all of the user actions that you perform. Use the Run Control sidebar to
manage how you capture user actions and view the status of your exploratory
run.
Reviewing and Exporting the Captured User Actions
At the end of the run session, review the captured user actions in the User
Actions pane of the Results Group.
In this pane, you can export the captured user actions to:
 A new manual test with steps – In the new test, each user action is
converted to a manual step. Before saving the new test to ALM, you can
edit its details, steps, and any user-defined information that your ALM
project requires.
 An Excel or CSV file – This file contains all the user actions that you
performed during the run session. You can edit the content of the file and
then import it into an existing test or component.

Facilitating Agile Testing and Exploratory Testing

You can navigate your application without predefined steps and Sprinter
automatically logs all user actions performed during the test and creates a user
log of those actions. You can then export these actions to a new manual test, to
a UFT, or to an Excel file.

Minimizing Repetitive and Tedious Work

Data injection enables you to select rows of data to be sent automatically

to the relevant locations in a form.
Creating Data Injection Data Sets
To create data injection data sets, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Data Injection node under the Power Mode group. The Data
Injection frame is displayed on the right side.
2. To add a data set from ALM, click the Add Data Set drop-down and select
Add From HP ALM. The Data Set Details dialog box is displayed.
3. Click the Browse button. The Resources tree is displayed. Expand the
Resources tree and locate the data set on your system.
4. Click the Open button. The name of the resource is displayed as the
default name.
5. Click the OK button. The data set is added to the Data Injection frame.
Running in Power Mode Using Data Injection
To run in Power mode using data injection, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Run the Active Test button. The Data Injection sidebar is
displayed on the perimeter of the display.
2. Click the Data Injection sidebar.
3. Click a row of data and click the Inject Data button. The screen grays out
and shows Analyzing... until the data injection completes. If the data
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injection completes successfully, a green tick mark displays in the Data

Injection tab. If the data injection does not complete successfully, a red
cross mark displays in the Data Injection tab.
4. Double-click the tick mark or cross mark. The Data Injection Status
dialog box is displayed and shows the status.

Minimizing Repetitive Tests and Saving Time

Mirroring lets you run the same test scenario on different configurations.
With mirroring, every user action you perform in your application on your
primary machine is replicated on the defined secondary machines.
To work with mirroring, complete the following steps:
1. Select the mirroring node in the Power Mode group.
2. Click the Add button to add a new machine for your application.
3. In the General tab, provide a name, description, and machine name or IP
address for the machine being used as the secondary machine.
4. In the Run Configuration tab, choose an option for configuring how
Sprinter would launch the application on the machine and choose a
browser.
5. If you want to open a remote desktop connection to the machine during
the test, in the Remote Desktop Connection tab, enter the domain name,
user name, and password and click OK.

Running Tests with Macros

During the testing process, parts of your test might require you to
perform a series of user actions that you want Sprinter to perform for you. You
might also have parts of your test that involve performing the same set of
actions in multiple areas of your application. Having Sprinter perform the set of
actions can save testing time and reduce errors.
A macro is a series of actions that you can save and run as a single command.
Sprinter can perform these actions for you when you create and run macros. For
example, you might want to use macros to:
 Automate a login procedure
 Perform a series of introductory steps to set up your application for
testing
Sprinter only saves a macro if it contains at least one user action. Your user
actions are only recorded after they are completed. For edit boxes and combo
boxes, the action is not complete, and will not be recorded until you move the
focus off the box.
Recording a Macro
To record a macro, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Macros sidebar.
2. Click the Record Macro button.
3. Perform the steps that you want to record in the macro.
4. Click the Macros sidebar again.
5. Click the Stop Recording button. The Macro Details dialog box opens.
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6. Enter the name and description for the macro.

7. Click the OK button.
Running a Macro
To run a macro, complete the following steps:
1. Click the Macros sidebar.
2. Select a macro from the drop-down list of macros.
3. Click the Run button. Once the macro runs successfully, a green tick mark
displays in the Macros tab. If the macro does not run successfully, a red
cross mark displays in the Macros tab.
4. Double-click the green tick mark or the red cross mark. The Macro Status
dialog box is displayed, showing the status of the macro run.
5. Click the Close button to close the Macro Status dialog box.

Defect Scanner Overview

During the testing process, you might want to check that different
aspects of your application behave or display correctly. You can select which
scanners to use both prior to the run session and during the run session. After
each scan is completed, you can see the scan results in the Scan Results Viewer.
In the Scan Results Viewer, you can perform several actions, such as creating
smart defects and defect reminders.
Sprinter includes the following scanners:
 Broken links scanner – This scanner, relevant only for web applications,
checks your application for broken hyperlinks and missing referenced
content. You can set the threshold time. This is the time in seconds after
which the link is considered broken.
 Localization scanner – This scanner checks your application for errors
resulting from translating the application’s UI into different languages.
You can scan for the following issues:
 Incomplete strings – Suppose that after translating the user
interface strings in your application, the main title of the page is
too long to be displayed within the title bar. When this option is
selected, the Localization scanner identifies the string as
incomplete. Make sure to set the target language, as the scanner
performs a check against this language during the scan.
 Untranslated strings – Suppose that after translating the UI
strings of your application, you want to verify that all of the
strings were translated from the source language to the target
language. When this option is selected, the Localization scanner
compares any string that is not spelled correctly with both the
target dictionary and the source dictionary. If the string is found
in the source dictionary, the scanner identifies the string as an
untranslated.eral action, such as creating smart defects and defect
reminders.
 Spell check scanner – This scanner checks your application for spelling
errors. You can define up to two dictionaries for the scanner to use. This
enables you to check spelling for applications that contain strings in
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more than one language.

 Web standards scanner – This scanner checks that the web page
complies with web standards for HTML validity, as defined by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The scanner detects and reports any web
standard errors that are found in the web page during the run session.
The Web standards scanner is available only if you select a web
application in the Application pane (Power Mode Group).
 Custom scanner – Sprinter allows you to extend the scanner’s
capabilities by defining custom scanners. This allows you to design a
scanner that detects the desired items in your application. You can use a
sample scanner provided with Sprinter as a starting point for designing
your own custom scanner.

Scanner Configuration

To use scanners, you must first enable Power mode and configure an
application for your test.
Configuring Scanner Settings
To configure scanner settings, complete the following steps:
1. Before the run session begins, use the Scanners pane (Power Mode
group) to turn on the relevant scanners.
2. During the run session, in the Scanners sidebar, click the Scanner
Settings button. The Scanner Settings dialog opens. This dialog box
contains all of the available settings that the Scanners pane (Power Mode
group) contains.
Scanning Your Application During a Run Session
In the Scanners sidebar, click the Start Scan button. The progress
window opens, displaying the status of each scanner.
Analyzing Scan Results
After the scan ends, click Continue in the Scan Progress window, to open
the Scan Results Viewer. Handle the results for each scanner by creating a defect
or a defect reminder, or performing a custom action. For example, for spell
check scan results, add the word to a dictionary.
Tip: If you closed the Scan Results Viewer, click the Last Scan Results button in
the Scanners sidebar to display the results of the last scan.

The Scan Progress Window

To access the Scan Progress window, during a run session, click the Start
Scan button on the Scanners Sidebar tab.
By default, only summary information is displayed. You can expand the
window to view detailed information about each scanner. If all scans run
successfully and results are found, this window closes after the scan is
completed, and the Scan Results Viewer opens. If one or more scans fail, the
failure reason is displayed in a tooltip when you hover over the scanner name.
The UI elements include (unlabelled elements are shown in angle brackets):
 <Scan status> – The overall progress of the scan
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 Potential defects found – The total number of scan results, which might
indicate defects in the application
 <Scan status details> – The scanner name, potential defects, and status
for each scanner that you selected to use
 Details – Shows or hides the scan status details

The Scan Results Viewer

After each scan completes, the scan results display in the Scan Results
Viewer. In the Scan Results Viewer, you can perform several actions, such as
creating smart defects and defect reminders.
The Scan Results Viewer also enables you to address the results by
submitting defects to ALM based on the results. You can also create defect
reminders to be submitted after the run session ends.
The Scan Results Viewer displays results only from the last scan that you
performed. The Scan Results Viewer is available only during the run session.
UI elements include (unlabelled elements are shown in angle brackets):

– Opens the Smart Defect Settings dialog box enabling you to

automatically include defect scenario information in your defect. The defect
summary includes a description of the selected results.

– Opens the Defect Reminder dialog box enabling you to add a

reminder to open a defect for the selected results at a later time.
 Add to Target Dictionary – Adds the selected results to the target
dictionary. Available only when localization results are selected.
 Add to Dictionary (<language>) – Adds the selected results to the
primary dictionary. Available only when spell check results are selected.
 Exclude Category – Creates a rule that excludes the selected results
category from future scans. Available only when Web Standards results
are selected.
 Scan Results – The list of results for each scanner: Summary and Action.
1. Click the arrow adjacent to each scanner to expand its results.
2. Select one or more results in the list to perform actions on them using
the right- click menu or toolbar buttons.
3. To perform an action on all results for a specific scanner, select its
parent node and expand the right-click menu.
 <Results display> – The display of the results. The results are indicated
in red boxes. This pane also contains a slider control, which allows you
to zoom in or out.
Note:
 Results are not available when Broken Links or Web Standards
results are selected.
 If the results are located outside of the captured area of the
application, they are not shown in the display.
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 <Results description> – A textual description of the selected results.

Scanning – Spell Check

The Scanners pane and the Scanner Settings dialog box enable you to
select which scanners to use during a run session. You can also configure
settings for each scanner.
The example in the slide shows a Spell Check failure. Departing From and
Service Classes have errors. Spell check runs using the default dictionary. You
can add dictionaries.

The Storyboard Window

Sprinter includes a storyboard feature that displays each action you

performed in your test. For each action, you can see a screen capture of the
action, any defects that you reported, and defect reminders and comments you
added to your run. If you run the test with multiple configurations, you can view
the differences between the displays of different computers.
You can select the Storyboard node and the Storyboard opens. The top of
the Storyboard displays a screen capture of your application as it appeared after
the selected user action in the timeline was performed and an Action Summary
pane. The bottom of the Storyboard displays a timeline of your run.
Viewing the Storyboard
To view the storyboard, complete the following steps:
1. Select the Storyboard node to open the storyboard. The top of the
storyboard displays a screen capture of the application as it appeared
after the selected user action in the timeline was performed and an
Action Summary pane. The bottom of the storyboard displays a timeline
of the run.
2. In the Action Summary pane, you view a description of each action and
any defects that were submitted, defect reminders or comments that
were added, and, if you ran your test with mirroring, any differences that
were found between the primary and secondary machines.
3. Click the links in the Action Summary pane to open the HP ALM Defect
Details dialog box, create a defect from your defect reminder, or open the
Differences Viewer. You can also submit a new defect from the
storyboard.
4. The bottom of the storyboard displays the timeline of the test. The
timeline contains a thumbnail screen capture of each user action in your
test. You can filter the thumbnails that are displayed in the timeline using
the Filter Defects button to show only those actions where you submitted
a defect.
5. Use the Filter Defects Reminders button to show only those actions
where you created a defect reminder.
6. Use the Filter Comments button to show only those actions where you
added a comment. 7. Use the Filter Differences button to show only those
actions where differences were found.
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Storyboarding

Accessing the Storyboard Window

To access the Storyboard window, do one of the following:
 During a run, click Tools sidebar
 Storyboard. Select the Results →Storyboard node.
 Right-click a test in the Test Runs list, and select Show All Runs. The Test
<Test Name>: All Runs dialog box is displayed. Click the Storyboard
button.
Exporting Storyboards
You can export a storyboard to a Word or PDF file. This file contains the run
summary, step status, and defect information for the run session.

The New Mobile Settings Pane

Sprinter for Testing Real Mobile Devices

Sprinter software gives you the ability to test web or native applications
using a cloud mobile provider.
The solution:
 Testing is done using real devices all over the world.
 Devices are launched over the cloud with zero setup time and zero time
to maintain.
 The cloud can be either private or public.
Key Benefits:
 Accelerate and improve the efficiency of moblie manual testing
 Expand and minimize floating sidebars, as needed, to maximize real
estate
 Accelerate defect remediation
 Capture and record images of test actions and results
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This is the screen presented after you choose a device and start a test.
Steps, Annotation Tools, and Run Control are the Sprinter main capabilities tabs
that are available during your test run.
The Centered box is the handset itself, a real one, and when you perform
actions, those actions are being executed on the device. You can test on a variety
of smart phones and tables from inside Sprinter.
Complete testing information, including active screenshots and video
recordings, is embedded into the Sprinter report.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
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 Week 011
DEFECT TRACKING

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 011: Defect Tracking

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Log defects
• Search and review defects
• Track defects throughout their lifecycle
• Associate defects with entities
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking
Week 011: Defect Tracking

References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
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Module 009 DEFECT TRACKING

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Log defects

 Search and review defects

 Track defects throughout their lifecycle

 Associate defects with entities

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to
supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
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The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecycle
Management of Application

Introduction

The ALM Roadmap

Managing and tracking defects is a critical step in the testing process
because it involves a lot of time and money. If defects are not tracked correctly,
additional effort is required by the testing team to track them at a later stage.
This additional effort can cause delays in a project and can lead to cost overruns.
ALM provides a central defect tracking system that can be used by the testing
and development teams to resolve defects.
Analysing defects and defect trends helps you make effective go/no-go
decisions. ALM supports the entire defect lifecycle from initial problem
detection through fixing the defect and verifying the fix.

Managing and Tracking Defects in ALM

Accessing the Defects through the Web Client

One route to access the Defect module in ALM is the through the ALM
Web client. The ALM Web client offers a new alternative UI for managing the
lifecycle of your application, and is part of HP's ongoing commitment to
providing innovative products and solutions. The ALM Web client is user-
friendly and easy to navigate and, with its new features and functionality,
shortens work processes and provides an improved user experience.
New HTML5-based defects management allows you to:
 View defects
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 Update defect status

 Use a cross-browser interface
 Use the classic UI
 Save and share workspaces

Accessing the Defects through the Desktop Client

The Defects module in ALM provides a complete system for logging,

tracking, managing, and analysing application defects.
Locating and repairing application defects efficiently is essential to the
development process. Using the ALM Defects module, you can report design
flaws in your application and track data derived from defect records during all
stages of the application management process.
You use the Defects module to:
 Create application defects for an ALM project
 Track defects until application developers and testers determine that the
defects are resolved
Defect records inform members of the application development and quality
assurance teams of new defects discovered by other members. As you monitor
the progress of defect repair, you update the information in your project.
You can share defects across multiple ALM projects. You share and synchronize
defects using the HP ALM Synchronizer.
– Defect Tracking
Navigating Defects
To navigate to the Defect module, click the Defects menu on the ALM sidebar.
The Defects module screen is displayed, listing the defects and their attributes.
ALM’s defect tracking tools are organized into the following elements of the
Defects module:
 Defects grid – Provides a tabular list of the defects logged for a project
 Grid filter – Provides filter fields from where you can define criteria for
filtering the data listed in the Defects grid
 Description tab – Provides a text box for entering and reviewing
annotations for each defect
 Attachments tab – Enables you to attach files, snapshots, URLs, system
information, and clipboard images to provide a better explanation for a
defect
 Linked Entities tab – Lists the defects and other entities linked to the
currently selected defect
 History tab – Provides an audit trail of changes made to each defect

Managing Defects – Add a New Defect

ALM enables you to log defects during any stage of the testing process.
Whether you are defining requirements, building a test plan, or executing test
runs, each ALM module provides a common tool for logging defects. For
example, the Requirements and Test Plan modules provide the Linked Defects
tab that you use for logging new defects and associating existing defects with
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requirements or tests.
As a best practice, before entering a new defect, you should search for an
existing defect that might describe the same issue. This prevents duplicate
entries from reducing the quality of your testing. Using either the grid filter or
the Find Defect button on the toolbar, verify that no existing defects match the
defect you would like to enter.
To log a defect from the Defects module, complete the following steps:
1. In the Defects module, click New Defect. The New Defect dialog box is
displayed. The New Defect dialog box can contain data fields and
multiple tabbed pages that your ALM administrator might have custom-
defined for your project.
2. Specify the appropriate information to describe the defect. Besides filling
in the data fields in the New Defect dialog box, you can also add
attachments to a defect to provide further information about the defect.
3. Click the Submit button to save the defect to your project database.
4. To log another defect, use the refreshed New Defect dialog box. If you do
not need to log another defect, click the Close button to close the New
Defect dialog box.
After logging defects, you can use the grid filter to organize the defects grid
and show only the defects that you need to work on.
You can use the grid filter in two ways:
 Use the entry boxes under each field heading in the grid filter to select
the criteria for filtering the data in the defects grid:
1. Click the entry box below a field heading to get the browse button.
2. Click the browse button. The Select Filter Condition window is
displayed.
3. Select a filter condition and click the OK button.
 Use the Filter dialog box to set a filter condition:
1. On the toolbar, click the Set Filter/Sort button to open the Filter
dialog box. You can set the filter condition for a field name in the
Filter dialog box.
2. Click the Group tab.
3. From the Group Items By list, select a field to group defects.
Note: If the field that you need does not appear as a column in the
defects grid, then on the toolbar, click the Select Columns button and
select the columns that you want to add. To clear the existing filter
criteria, on the toolbar, click the Clear Filter/Sort button.
Use the Organize Favorites dialog box to delete a view or change the
properties of a view. You can change the value of the Location field of a view
from Private to Public and the other way around. For example, if you have
created a private view that you now want all your team members to use, you
can change it to public.
Tip: Creating a defect can be an ongoing process that might require switching
between the New Defect dialog box, other ALM modules, and possibly the
browser itself.
To switch to another module while creating a defect, click Close without
submitting the defect. To return to the defect you are creating, click New Defect
from the Defect module again. ALM retains the data so you can continue working
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on the same defect.

Managing Defect – Defect Status

You can assign a defect a status to mark the stages of its lifecycle. You use
the status on the defects grid or the Defect Detail dialog box to assign
appropriate status labels for each project. This field also enables easier defect
tracking. For example, you can use status as the filter criteria for running
queries and reports. The figure on the slide shows how you can use the system-
defined statuses to indicate the different stages in the lifecycle of a defect.
The default defect statuses are:
 New – The default status when a defect is reported.
 Open – The defect is assigned to the development team for review.
 Reopen – The testing team has reopened a defect closed by the
development team.
 Fixed – The development team has fixed the defect, but it is pending for
approval by the testing team.
 Closed – The testing team has verified the application and the defect has
been fixed.
 Rejected – The development team rejected the defect. The development
team provides a rationale for rejecting a defect.
Note: Generally, your organization and the applications that you support have
different requirements. Therefore, you can use status labels unique to your
projects. Using status labels is covered in the ALM: Project Planning and
Customization course. Additionally, each project can have custom rules that
specify which users can set specific statuses and conditions that state when
users can change the defect status. Some examples of custom-defined rules for
tracking defects are: a defect in your project should start with a New status,
defects cannot be closed without first being fixed, and only the QA manager can
set defects to Closed.

Managing Defect – Check for Duplicate Defects

To check for duplicate defects, complete the following steps:

1. Display the defect – Display the defect for which you want to find similar
defects by doing one of the following:
 Select a defect from the Defects grid.
 While creating a new defect in the New Defect dialog box, enter
descriptive information in the Summary and Description fields.
2. Start the search – Click the Find Similar Defects button:
 Select Find Similar Defects to find defects similar to the current
defect.
 Select Find Similar Text to find defects whose summary or
description is similar to a specified text string.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
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Page |6

Managing Defects – Flag a Defect for Follow-Up

ALM users can add a follow-up flag to a specific requirement, test, test
instance, or a defect to remind them to follow up on an issue.
When you click a flag, the Flag For Follow Up dialog box is displayed and you
can specify the follow up date and provide a brief description.
A gray flag indicates that the follow up flag is new.
A red flag indicates that the follow up date has arrived.

Managing Defects – Set Filter/Sort

The Filter button enables you to filter and sort the defects in the grid.

Managing Defect – Track History Through the Lifecycle

The History Tab enables you to view a list of changes made to the defect.
In addition, it displays a history of baselines in which the entity is displayed.

Managing Defects – Associate a Defect with Other Entities

You can attach a defect directly to any entity (defect, run step, run, test
instance, test set, test set folder, test, and requirement). It is automatically
linked indirectly to all entities to the right. If you attach a defect to a test
instance, it is auto-attached to the test set.
If a defect is attached to a test, it is auto-attached to requirements
covered by the test. You should raise defects at the point a test is run to attach
it directly to a run step and everything else indirectly. (You can add defects
manually afterwards.)
If you remove a Defect→Test Instance relationship, the Defect→Test
relationship still exists. It is reported in any new instance of a test.
Defect-Requirement Relationship
To ensure consistency throughout the testing process, you can associate
defects with requirements. You can associate existing defects or add new
defects to a requirement. The defect-requirement association has the following
features:
 The defect-requirement association enables you to use the status of
defects to determine whether requirements have been met. For example,
if a requirement has not been met, a defect is reported for all test runs
associated with the requirement.
 A requirement can be associated with multiple defects.
For example, you have defined a requirement R_01 for your business
process. You identify a defect associated with this requirement and name
it Defect_01. Defect_01 is linked with R_01 throughout the testing
process. This means that when R_01 is linked with a test, Defect_01 is still
linked to R_01. Defect_01 is also inherited by the child requirements of
R_01.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
DEFECT TRACKING
Page |7

Defect-Test Relationship
You can associate defects with tests to ensure their traceability
throughout the testing process. This is a direct link between a defect and a test.
A defect can be indirectly linked to a test through other entities, such as a test
instance, a test run, or a test step.
When a defect is associated with a test, it can be easily traced in all
instances of the test. These test instances can be in the same test set or in
different test sets.
For example, consider a test with the name Test_01, where requirement
R_01, created in the topic Defect-Requirement relationship, is associated with
Test_01. As a result, Defect_01, which was linked to R_01, is now associated with
Test_01. Now there are three instances of Test_01 in three different test sets.
Therefore, whenever you execute an instance of this test in any of the three test
sets, Defect_01 is indirectly linked to that particular test instance.
The defect-test association has the following features:
 You can associate tests from the Test Plan module with defects that have
been logged in the Defects module. This association enables you to use
the status of the defects as the basis for determining if and when the tests
should be run. Additionally, the requirements covered by these tests are
also automatically associated with their corresponding defects.
For example, you might decide to run a test only if the defect status is
Closed. This means that the development team fixed the defect, but it is
pending for your review. This ensures that a protocol is defined for
communication between the development and testing teams, thus
minimizing the time required for rework.
 Defects logged during a manual test run are automatically associated
with that specific test run.
 You can associate a test with multiple defects.
Defect-Test Instance Relationship
If test instances are present in multiple test sets, you can associate defects
with test instances to ensure easy traceability. The defect-test instance
association has the following features:
 You can associate test instances from the Test Lab module with the
defects that have been logged in the Defects module. This association
helps you determine the test instance that is not functioning properly.
 When you log a defect for a test instance, it is automatically logged for a
test. This test is the parent of the test instance.
 If you remove the defect-test instance relationship, the defect-test
relationship still exists. This ensures that the defect is reported for any
new instance of the test.
To associate a defect with a test instance, perform the following steps:
1. Navigate to the Test Instance Details dialog box.
2. Link a defect to the test instance.

Managing Defects – Add a Defect to a Requirement

The Defect-Requirement relationship enables you to identify the status

CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
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Page |8

of defects to determine whether requirements have been met. A requirement

can be associated with multiple defects.
To add a new defect to a requirement, perform the following steps:
1. On the ALM sidebar, click the Requirements menu.
2. In the Requirements module, from the menu bar, select View
→Requirement Details.
3. From the requirements tree, select the requirement to which you want
to add a defect.
4. In the right pane, click the Linked Defects tab.
5. On the Linked Defects toolbar, click the Add and Link Defect button. The
New Defect dialog box is displayed.
6. Type the appropriate information in the required fields. Click the OK
button to add the defect.

Managing Defects – Associate an Existing Defect with a Requirement

To associate an existing defect with a requirement, perform the following steps:

1. In the Requirement Details view, from the Requirements tree, select the
requirement to associate with the defect.
2. On the Linked Defects page toolbar, click the Link Existing Defect arrow
and click Select. The Defects to Link dialog box is displayed.
3. In the Defects to Link dialog box, select a defect.
4. Click Link to associate the selected defect with the requirement.

Managing Defects – Add a Defect to a Test

You can associate tests from the Test Plan module with defects that have
been logged in the Defects module. Defects logged during a manual test run are
automatically associated with that specific test run. A test can be associated with
multiple defects.
To add a defect to a test, perform the following steps:
1. On the ALM sidebar, click the Test Plan menu.
2. In the left pane, from the Test Plan tree, select the test to which you want
to add a defect.
3. In the right pane, click the Linked Defects tab.
4. On the Linked Defects page toolbar, click the Add and Link Defect button.
The New Defect dialog box is displayed.
5. In the New Defect dialog box, type the appropriate information in the
required fields and click the OK button to add the defect.
To add an existing defect to a test instance, click the Link Existing Defect
arrow on the Linked Defects page toolbar. You can type a Defect ID or click Select
to select a defect from the defects grid.

Managing Defects – Navigate to the Test Instance Details Dialog Box

1. To navigate to the Test Instance Details dialog box, perform the following
steps: On the ALM sidebar, click the Test Lab icon.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
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Page |9

2. In the left pane, from the Test Sets tree, select a test set.
3. In the right pane, click the Execution Grid tab.
4. On the Execution Grid page, right-click a test and select Test Instance
Details in the shortcut menu. The Test Instance Details dialog box is
displayed.

Managing Defects – Link a Defect to a Test Instance

You can associate test instances from the Test Lab module with the
defects that have been logged in the Defects module. When you log a defect for
a test instance, it is automatically logged for a test. This test is the parent of the
test instance. If the defect-test instance relationship is removed, the defect-test
relationship still exists.
After navigating to the Test Instance Details dialog box, you link a defect to
the test instance. To link a defect to the test instance, perform the following
steps:
1. In the Test Instance Details dialog box, click Linked Defects on the
sidebar.
2. On the toolbar, click the Add and Link Defect button. The New Defect
dialog box is displayed.
3. In the New Defect dialog box, type the required information and click the
OK button to add a defect to the test instance.
Note: To link an existing defect to a test instance, click the Link Existing
Defect arrow. You can type a Defect ID or click Select to select a defect
from the defects grid.
4. Click the Close button to close the Test Instance Details dialog box.

Managing Defects – Log a Defect during a Test Run

To log a defect during a manual test run, complete the following steps:
1. On the Execution Grid page, select a test and click the Run arrow and
select Run Manually. The Manual Runner: Test Set dialog box is
displayed.
2. In the Manual Runner: Test Set dialog box, click New Defect. The new
Defect dialog box is displayed.
Note: Specific fields in the New Defect dialog box automatically inherit data from
the current test run. For example, the Description field logs the names of the test
set, test, step, and test run that were executing when you logged the defect. This
feature enables you to have all the references you need when reviewing and
resolving defects.
3. Click the CK button to save the defect to the Defect module.

Managing Defects – Update a Defect

You can regularly update a defect to record all the information about an
issue and to record the decisions made as different individuals review the
defect.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
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P a g e | 10

To update a defect, perform the following steps:

1. On the ALM sidebar, click the Defects menu.
2. From the defects grid, double-click a defect. This opens the Defect Details
dialog box. The Defect Details dialog box provides a sidebar from where
you can toggle between different views, Defects, Attachments, Linked
Entities, and History.
3. Click Details to update specific data fields.
4. Click Attachments to attach files to a defect. For example, you can attach
a report file or a snapshot of the AUT to help illustrate a problem. You
can also attach information regarding the system where you are running
the test so that the development team can easily reproduce the problem.
5. Click Linked Entities and then click the Defects tab to link a defect to
another defect.
6. Click the Others tab to link a defect to other entities, such as a test or a
test set.
Note: You can use the Link Comment column to add comments for a link.
7. Click History to view the history of changes made to the defect. For each
change to the defect, the grid displays the date of change, the user who
made the change, the old value, and the new value.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
DEFECT TRACKING
P a g e | 11

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 012
VERSION CONTROL

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 012: Version Control

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Describe version control functionality

• Check out entities
• Check in entities
• View version history
• Compare version
• Promote an older version
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control
Week 012: Version Control

References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |1

Module 010 VERSION CONTROL

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Describe version control functionality

 Check out entities

 Check in entities

 View version history

 Compare version

 Promote an older version

CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |2

Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to

supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

Version Control Overview

ALM has fully integrated version control. The ALM site administrator can
enable version control on a per project basis.
Version control is enabled for requirements, tests, and test assets to
enable distributed teams to collaborate and manage multiple versions of assets
in parallel while maintaining data integrity and providing an audit history of
changes throughout the project lifecycle. A component can be checked out for
update, and then checked back in when changes are complete.
You can view and compare previous versions of an entity, or restore a
previous version. You check out an entity to make changes. This locks the entity,
preventing other user from making any changes. Then you check in the entity to
store the changes, and make the new version of the entity available to other
users. You can view and compare previous versions of an entity, or check out a
previous version.
The project administrator for your organization can enable or disable
version control through ALM Site Administration.

Discussion – User Scenarios

Using Version Control throughout ALM

Version control enables you to create and manage ALM entities while
maintaining previous versions of these entities.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
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Page |3

Note: Version control functionality is available in the following modules:

Requirements, Business Models, Test Plan, Business Components, and Test
Resources.
 Prerequisites – Verify that version control is enabled for your project.
 Check out an entity – To make changes to an entity in a version control
enabled project, the entity must be checked out. Use one of the following:
 Automatic checkout – When you start editing an entity, ALM
displays the Check Out dialog box, enabling you to check out the
entity. To instruct ALM to automatically check out entities that
you start editing, without displaying the Check Out dialog box,
click Don't show this again in the Check Out dialog box.
 Manual check out – Select one or more entities. On the module
toolbar, click Check out icon.
 Undo a checkout (optional) – When an entity is checked out, you
can undo the checkout to cancel your changes. Right-click the
entity and select Versions→Undo Check Out.
 Check in an entity – When you finish making changes, check-in the entity
to create a new, updated version available to other users. Use one of the
following:
 Check in a single entity – Right-click the entity and select
Versions→Check In.
 Check in multiple entities – Select the entities. On the module
toolbar, click the Check in icon.
 View all checked out entities (optional) – You can view all entities in the
current module that you have checked out, and check in or undo the
checkout for selected entities.
 Access version history – To view, compare, and check out previous
versions of an entity, select the entity and click the History tab ␣ Versions
tab.
 Copy, move, or delete checked-out entities – Some restrictions apply
when moving, copying, and deleting checked-out entities.

Using Version Control

After you enable version control, the Versions menu is displayed when
you select the Requirements, Test Plan, Test Resources, or Business
Components modules.
To make changes to an entity in a version control-enabled project, you
must first check out the entity. When you check out an entity, ALM locks the
entity, preventing other users from overwriting any changes you make. The
checked out version of the entity is not visible to other users.
When an entity is checked out, you can undo the checkout to cancel your
changes. When you finish making changes, you check in the entity. The new
version of the entity is then available to the other users.
You can view the list of all entities that you have checked out in your
project, as well as all previous versions of an entity. You can also compare two
versions of an entity to view the changes between versions.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |4

You can create and manage entities in a version control-enabled project

in both tree and grid views. In the tree view, an entity checked out by the current
user displays with an open lock icon that appears green in the
application. An entity checked out by another user displays with a closed lock
icon that appears red in the application. Grid views contain additional
version control fields, such as Version Status, indicating whether the entity is
checked in or checked out.
Note: The following fields are not stored under version control:
 Requirement fields – Reviewed, Direct Cover Status, Target Release,
Target Cycle, and all RBQM fields
 Test fields – Execution Status

Checking Out Entities Manually

In a version control-enabled project, you can only make changes to an

entity by checking it out. You can check out an entity manually or automatically.
To check out an entity manually, perform the following steps:
1. Select the entity that you want to check out. To check out more than one
entity, press the Ctrl key and select the entities.
2. Click the Check Out button. (Alternatively, right-click the entity and
select Versions →Check Out). The Check Out dialog box is displayed.
3. In the Change Comments field, type a brief description of the reason for
the checkout.
4. Click the OK button. In the Test Plan tree view, the entity is displayed
with a lock icon indicating that it is checked out to you.

Checking Out Entities Automatically

If you begin to make changes to an entity in a version control-enabled

project, you are prompted to check out the entity.
To check out an entity automatically:
1. Select an entity and start to edit. The Check Out dialog box is displayed.
2. In the Change Comments field, type a brief description of the reason for
the checkout.
3. Click the OK button. In the tree view, the entity is displayed with a green
lock icon, indicating that it is checked out.

Undoing Check Outs

When an entity is checked out, you can undo the checkout to cancel your
changes. To undo checkouts for entities checked out by other users, you must
have the appropriate user permissions.
When you undo a checkout, any changes you made to non-versioned
fields while the entity was checked out are not cancelled and the new values
remain.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |5

To undo a checkout, perform the following steps:

1. Select an entity or press the Ctrl key and select multiple entities for which
you want to undo the checkout.
2. Select Versions →Undo Check Out or right-click the entity and select
Versions → Undo Check Out.
3. Click the OK button to confirm.

Checking In Entities

After you make changes to an entity, you check in the entity. Each time
you check in an entity, a new version is created. For example, suppose the
current version of a requirement is version number 2. You check out the
requirement and make some changes. When you check in the requirement, ALM
defines it as version number 3. When the entity is checked in, it is unlocked and
available to other users.
To check in an entity, perform the following steps:
1. Select the entity that you want to check in. To check in more than one
entity, press the Ctrl key and select multiple entities for which you want
to check in.
2. Click the Check In button, or select Versions → Check In. Alternatively,
right- click the entity and select Versions → Check In. The Check In dialog
box is displayed.
3. In the Change Comments field, type a brief description of the changes
that were made to this version.
You have the option to select Keep Checked Out to store your changes
with the new version number while keeping the entity checked out.
4. Click the OK button.

Viewing Checked Out Entities

You can view a list of all entities in the current module that you have
checked out, and check in or undo the check out for selected entities.
To view checked out entities, perform the following steps:
1. Select Versions → Pending Check In (or click the Check In button on the
right side of the module toolbar). The Pending Check In dialog box is
opened, displaying a list of all entities checked out by the current user in
the current module.
2. To check in an entity, select an entity from the list, or press the Ctrl key
and select multiple entities. Click Check In.
3. To undo a checkout, select an entity from the list or press the Ctrl key
and select multiple entities. Click Undo Check Out.

Viewing Version History

You can view the history for a selected entity, including all previous versions,
the name of the user who created each version, and the date each version was
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |6

created. You can compare two versions or check out a previous version. You can
also view the baseline in which a version is stored. To view version history,
perform the following steps:
1. Select an entity and click the History tab. The version history for the
entity is displayed.
2. In the Versions and Baselines tab, in the View By field, select Versions.
The version history for the entity is displayed in a grid.
 Version – The version number. If the entity is currently checked out,
the Version column for the checked out version displays Checked out.
 Date – The date the version was created.
 Modified By – The user who created the version.
 Baseline – The baseline in which the version appears.
3. Under Comment For Selected Version, view the comments typed by the
user when checking in the version.
4. To view details of a previous version, select the version and click View. A
Details dialog box opens, displaying read-only details for the version. For
example, you can view details for a previous version of a test.
5. Click a button on the sidebar to view additional details for the version,
such as the Design Steps, Parameters, and Attachments. The buttons
available depend on the data stored under version control for the
particular entity type. Changes to some non- versioned fields are not
stored under version control.
6. Click the OK button to close the Details dialog box.

Viewing Previous Version Details

Comparing Versions

To compare two versions, press the Ctrl key and select each version. Click
the Compare button.
Comparing Versions Example
The product manager finds that product development is being
implemented differently than expected. He reviews the requirements for the
product and discovers that some have changed. He compares the current
requirements with the versions of the requirements that were agreed upon at
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |7

the start of the release.

Restoring an Earlier Version
A QA tester receives a new build of the banking application currently
being developed. She starts to update the relevant tests to meet the needs of the
new release. Then the development team sends out notification of a significant
problem with the build. Development rolls back to the previous build. The tester
decides to check out and revert back to the versions of tests that were used for
the previous build and continue testing from there.
Locking Entities for Editing
A business analyst wants to update certain functionality for an
application. To do this, he must update a set of requirements. He needs several
days to update the requirements and does not want anyone else to make any
changes to the requirements while he is editing them. He checks out the relevant
requirements, and starts to edit.

Promoting an Older Version

To check out a previous version, select the version and click Check Out.
The Confirm dialog box is displayed. Click the OK button to confirm.
Note: To maintain usability and data integrity, ALM stores previous versions of
an entity without most data related to relationships between entities. The
following data are not stored for previous versions: requirements and tests
coverage, requirements traceability, and defect linkage. In addition, risk data
are also not stored for previous versions of an entity.
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |8
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
VERSION CONTROL
Page |9

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
 Week 013
REPORTING AND ANALYSIS

Prepared by: Mariesher B. Zapico

Week 013: Reporting and Analysis

Course Objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Describe reporting and analysis in ALM

• Identify the features of the dashboard
• Create dashboard folders and pages
• Configure the dashboard
• View a dashboard page
• Analyze reports and graphs
• Create and view project reports
• Generate formatted project documentation and Excel reports
• Share graphs that you can open without the ALM client
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis
Week 013: Reporting and Analysis

References and Supplementary Materials

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of
Technology, School of Computing
CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
REPORTING AND ANALYSIS
Page |1

Module 011 REPORTING AND ANALYSIS

“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent effort.”

– John Ruskin

Overview of the Course

Students learn how to manage quality information throughout the

development cycle, from constructing requirements, designing and executing tests,
through monitoring defects.

Students learn how to work with the Desktop client and the new Web client. In
addition, using the HP Sprinter and its new features are discussed, including:

 Using HP Sprinter on manual tests

 Using version control to keep track of changes and also to create and
manage libraries
 Creating and comparing baselines
 Importing and exporting from Microsoft Excel
 Generating reports and graphs using the dashboard
 Using cross-project customization and Project Planning and Tracking
(PPT)

Objectives:
After completing this module, you should be able to:

 Describe reporting and analysis in ALM

 Identify the features of the dashboard

 Create dashboard folders and pages

 Configure the dashboard

 View a dashboard page

 Analyze reports and graphs

 Create and view project reports

CS-6302 APPLICATION LIFECYCLE MGT
REPORTING AND ANALYSIS
Page |2

 Generate formatted project documentation and Excel reports

 Share graphs that you can open without the ALM client
Researching beyond the coverage of this module is highly encouraged to
supplement your understanding of the topics covered. Always, think and see
beyond the box.
The citation provided is a guideline. Please check each citation for accuracy
before use.

So, what are we waiting for? Let us now explore the Lifecyle
Management of Application

Introduction

The ALM Roadmap

You can generate reports and graphs within each ALM module to track
and assess the progress of your project. The Requirements, Test Plan, Test Lab,
and Defects modules of ALM provide predefined report and graph templates.
You can use these templates to retrieve the information that you want to
analyze.

Analysis Overview
Dashboard Modules
In the Dashboard modules, you analyze ALM data by creating graphs,
project reports, and Excel reports. You can also create dashboard pages that
display multiple graphs side-by-side.
The Dashboard contains the following modules:
 Analysis View module – Contains the Analysis tree in which you organize
all of your analysis items. Analysis items can be any of the following
analysis types: graphs, project reports, and Excel reports. Users with the
required administrator permissions also have access to the Analysis
Menus tab. This tab enables you to manage the analysis items that are
generated from within the Analysis menu in specific modules, such as
Requirements and Test Lab.
 Dashboard View module – Contains the Dashboard tree in which you
organize dashboard pages. In dashboard pages, you arrange multiple
graphs that you created in the Analysis tree, and display them in a single
view.
Additional Analysis Tools
Live Analysis graphs enable you to create and display a dynamic graphic
representation of data related to test plans.

Dashboard View
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In the dashboard, you create, view, and manage graphs, standard reports, and
Excel reports, for analyzing ALM data. You also create dashboard pages that
display multiple graphs side- by-side.
The dashboard includes trees for analysis items and dashboard pages.
Each tree consists of Private and Public root folders. Under each root folder you
develop separate trees. Analysis items or dashboard pages that you create in a
public folder are accessible to all users. Analysis items or dashboard pages that
you create in a private folder are accessible only to the user who created them.
Public dashboard pages can include only public graphs.
Analysis items and dashboard pages in public folders may show different
results for different users, depending on the data hiding definitions for the user
group.
To access, on the ALM sidebar, under Dashboard, select Dashboard View.

Creating a Dashboard Page

In the dashboard pages, you can arrange and view multiple graphs on a
single page. You select the graphs to include in the dashboard page from the
graphs in the analysis tree. You can arrange the graphs on the page in any order
you like, and you can expand or reduce their size.
The maximum graphs per page is eight, but you can add as many pages
as you need. Four graphs per page looks best and there is no need to scroll.
You can only build dashboard pages based on graphs. You cannot use reports or
custom queries even though the Excel folder is displayed. To create a dashboard
page, complete the following steps:
1. In the dashboard, click the Dashboard View module.
2. In the dashboard tree, select a public or a private folder.
3. Click the New Page button. Alternatively, choose Dashboard ␣ New
Page. The New Dashboard Page dialog box is displayed. Enter a
dashboard page name, and click the OK button. A dashboard page
name cannot include the following characters: \ ^ * . A dashboard
page is added to the Dashboard tree under the selected folder.
4. Click the Details tab.
The Details tab displays the following fields:
 Name – The name of the dashboard page
 Last Modified – The date and time on which the dashboard
page was last modified
 Modified By – The user who last modified the dashboard
page
 Owner – The user who created the dashboard page.
Permissions to modify public pages may be limited to the
owner only
 Title – The title that displays in the header of the dashboard
page view
 Description – A description of the dashboard page
5. Select and arrange the graphs that you want to include in the
dashboard page.
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6. Click the View tab to view the dashboard page.

Dashboard Configuration Guidelines
Use the following guidelines while creating and configuring the dashboard page:
 You can only add graphs to a page.
 You cannot use reports or custom queries. You cannot write custom SQL
queries for dashboard pages.
 By default, you can add as many as four graphs to a page.
 Public pages allow only public graphs.

Configuring a Dashboard Page

You configure dashboard pages by selecting and arranging graphs on

your page. Each row on the dashboard page can include one or two graphs.
Note: You can change the maximum number of graphs that ALM allows you to
include in a dashboard page, by setting the Dashboard_Page_Item_Limit site
parameter.
To configure a dashboard page, perform the following steps:
1. In the dashboard, click the Dashboard View module.
2. In the Dashboard tree, select the dashboard page that you want to
configure.
3. Click the Configuration tab. The Select Graphs pane is displayed.
4. To refresh the graphs tree, click the Refresh button.
5. Select a graph, and click the Add Graph to Dashboard Page button. You
can also drag a graph to a new row above or below existing graphs, or to
an empty box alongside a graph. A placeholder for the graph is created
in the Configuration tab displaying the graph’s title.
Note: You cannot include a graph from a private analysis folder in a public
dashboard page.
Tips for Configuring Graphs
As you are preparing your graphs, you should keep in mind the following tips:
 To move a graph sideways, upwards, or downwards, select and drag the
placeholder to a new position. You cannot leave blank lines between
graphs.
 To expand the width of a graph to cover a whole row, make sure that the
graph is in a row of its own, and click the Expand button located in the
upper-left corner of the placeholder.
 To reduce the width of a graph to cover half a row, click the Contract
button located in the upper-left corner of the placeholder.
 To remove a graph from the dashboard page, click the Remove button
located in the upper-right corner of the placeholder.

Viewing a Dashboard Page

After you arrange graphs on your dashboard page, you view the graphs in
the View tab. To view a dashboard page, perform the following steps:
1. In the dashboard, click the Dashboard View module.
2. In the Dashboard tree, select the dashboard page that you want to view.
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3. Click the Generate button on the Dashboard View toolbar. Alternatively,

click the View tab. ALM generates and displays the graphs in the
dashboard page. At any time, two rows of graphs are visible in the
window. Use the vertical scroll bar to move up or down the dashboard
page.

Dashboard Page Viewing Options

To view a dashboard page, perform the following steps:

1. In bar charts or pie charts, you can drill down from segments of the graph
to the records that they represent.
2. To view the dashboard page in full-screen mode, click the View Page In
Full Screen button, located in the upper-right corner of the page. To
return to the standard view, click the Close button, located in the upper-
right corner of the page.
3. To view a single graph in full-screen mode, click the View Graph In Full
Screen button, located in the upper-right corner of the graph. You can
use the toolbar buttons to adjust the graph’s display and save or print the
graph. The adjustments you make to the graph’s display are reset when
you next generate the dashboard page. To return to the dashboard page
view, click the Close button, located in the upper-right corner of the
graph.
4. To refresh the data in all the graphs, click the Generate All Graphs In Page
button, located in the upper-right corner of the page. To refresh the data
in a single graph, click the Generate Graph button, located in the upper-
right corner of the graph. ALM refreshes the graph and updates the Last
Generated time and date.
5. To navigate to a graph in the Analysis tree, click the Go To Graph In
Analysis Tree button, located in the upper-right corner of the graph.
Alternatively, double-click the graph. The Analysis View opens and the
graph is selected in the Analysis tree.

Dashboard Drill Down Detail

To View dashboard details, perform the following steps:

1. Display the graph in the pie chart format or the bar chart format.
2. Click a segment or a bar.
3. If the segment or bar represents records from only the project you are
currently working in, the Drill Down Results dialog box is displayed.
4. In the Drill Down Results dialog box, click the Select Columns... button,
located in the upper-right corner, to define which columns appear in the
grid and the order in which they appear.
5. Double-click a record to open the record details.
6. The <Module> Details dialog box is displayed. You can edit the record
details in this dialog box.
7. Click the OK or Cancel button to close the dialog box and return to the
Drill Down Results dialog box.
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8. Close the Drill Down Results dialog box to return to the View tab.

Analysis View

The Analysis view enables you to create, manage, and view analysis
items. Analysis items include graphs, project reports, and Excel reports.
Analysis View tab – Contains a tree which enables you to organize your analysis
items under private and public root folders.
 Analysis items that you create in a public folder are accessible to all
users.
 Analysis items that you create in a private folder are accessible only to
the user that created them.
Analysis Menus tab – Enables you to view and manage the behavior of
analysis items that are generated from within modules, such as Requirements
and Test Plan. Analysis items are listed according to the modules in which they
appear.
To access, on the ALM sidebar, under Dashboard, select Analysis View.

Module – Predefined Reports and Graphs

Each ALM module provides predefined templates for generating reports

and graphs specific to that module. You can run these reports and graphs by
using their default settings or modify them to retrieve the information that you
need. You can organize these reports and graphs according to your
requirements.
To generate reports/graphs using the Analysis menu, complete the following
steps:
1. Navigate to the ALM module that contains the data that you want to use
for the report/graphs.
2. From the ALM menu bar, select Analysis→Reports. A sub-menu is
displayed that lists the types of reports available in the module.
3. Select Analysis→Graphs. A sub-menu is displayed that lists the types of
graphs available in the module.
4. Select the required report/graph type. After the report/graph
generation task is complete, the report/graph output displays in a pop-
up window.
The reports/graphs menu shown in the in the slide lists the standard
report/graphs types available from the Requirements module. This
reports/graphs menu also shows the names of custom reports/graphs that
users have saved as their favorite views.
You can find custom reports/graphs in Analysis ␣ Most Recently Used.
These reports are prefixed with the Public or Private label to indicate whether
access to them is limited. You can save a report/graph as a favorite view.
The Report Selected command from the Analysis ␣ Report menu generates
a report for the currently selected record. For example, you can select multiple
requirements from the requirements tree and click the Report Selected
command to generate a report.
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Project Report

You can use the Project Report reporting tool, available in the Analysis
View module, to design and generate comprehensive reports of project data.
Using templates designed by the project administrator for each entity, users
create project reports, by selecting the entities that are included in report
sections and defining data filters.
Project reports offer the following advantages:
 Rich style and layout option using MS Word templates
 Enhanced performance
 Single configuration for multiple output formats (doc, docx, html)
 Centralized template management
To create a project report, perform the following steps:
1. On the ALM sidebar, select Analysis View under Dashboard.
2. Right-click a folder under the Private or Public root folder and select New
Project Report. The New Project Report dialog box is displayed.
3. Enter the Project Report Name and click the OK button.
4. Select the newly created project report, and click the Configuration tab
to configure the report.
a. Select the output format, document template, style template and
history template.
b. To create a baseline report, select a baseline.
c. Select Embed Text and Image Attachments, to embed text and
image attachments in the report.
d. Select Auto-Update Table of Contents to instruct ALM to update
table of contents entries in the report output.
5. Right-click the Document Root node, and select Add Report Section.
Select an ALM entity to include in the report and click the OK button.
6. To add a sub-section, right-click a section in the report tree, and select
Add Report Section. Select an entity to include in the sub-section and
click the OK button.
7. Select a section or a sub-section, to configure it.
a. Optionally, rename the section title.
b. Assign a project template, if required.
c. Define a data filter, if applicable.
d. Select Keep Hierarchical to have the records ordered
hierarchically in the report.
8. Click the Preview button to display a preview of your report. A preview
contains as many as five records of each section in the report in the file
format you selected.
9. Click the Generate button. The report is saved and opened in the file
format you selected in the Output Format field.
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Managing Reports

You define analysis items—graphs, standard reports, Excel reports—and

dashboard pages using dashboard options. To open the dashboard, click the
Dashboard option on the sidebar.
The dashboard contains the following modules:
 Analysis View module – Enables you to create and manage graphs,
standard reports, and Excel reports
 Dashboard View module – Enables you to create and manage dashboard
pages that display multiple graphs on a single page

Custom Reports and Graphs

To save a report/graph from ALM modules, perform the following steps:

1. Generate a report and define all the custom settings you need.
2. When you have the report output displayed, click Save... button. A dialog
box is displayed.
3. In the Name field, type a name for your favorite view.
4. Select Private or Public. Private stores your favorite view in your private
folder and restricts other users from accessing the report output. Public
stores your favorite view in a common folder and enables all users of the
specified project to access the report output.
5. Click the New Folder button to create a folder under any of these two
folders.
6. Enter a name for the folder and click the OK button.
7. Click Save to add the report to the folder.
Note: Select Analysis → Most Recently Used to see the report added to the folder

Adding Sub-Reports

After you create a report, you can add sub-reports. A sub-report adds an
extra layer of information related to the parent report. For example, if you create
a report of defects, you can add a sub-report of linked requirements. The report
then displays the requirements that are linked to each defect.
To each sub-report, you can add further sub-reports. At each level, you
can include multiple sub-reports.
To add a sub-report, perform the following steps:
1. In the Analysis tree, select a report, and click the Configuration tab.
2. In the Reports pane, select the report or sub-report to which you want to
add a sub- report.
3. Click the Add Sub Report button. In the Type list, select a sub-report and
click the OK button. Alternatively, right-click the report, and select a sub-
report from the Add Sub Report list. The sub-report is added to the
Reports list
4. To delete a sub-report, select the sub-report, and click the Delete Sub
Report button. Alternatively, right-click the report, and select Delete Sub
Report. If you delete a parent report, all its sub-reports are deleted as
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well. The following table contains the report description.

Sample Analysis Report

Each ALM module provides predefined templates for generating reports

specific to that module. You can run these reports by using their default settings
or modify the reports to retrieve the information that you need. You can
organize these reports according to your requirements.
For example, a project manager can generate a defect report, as shown
in the slide to collate information regarding the current project in the New, Open
or Reopen status. To create a similar report, navigate to the Defects module and
from the menu bar, select Analysis → Reports →Standard Defect Report. The
testing team can then use this report during its status meeting to discuss
assignments and points of action.

Generating a Live Analysis Graph

Live Analysis graphs differ from the graphs described in Graphs and
Dashboard pages in that you do not need to re-generate a graph to view data
that have changed. In addition, the layout and settings of the graph are
preserved for all the folders in the same module. This enables you to view the
same graphical analysis of different folders without the need to redesign the
graphs.

The Graph Wizard

You use ALM graphs to analyze the progress of your work and the
relationships between the data that your project has accumulated throughout
the testing process.
The following graph types are available in ALM:
 Summary graphs – Each ALM module provides a summary graph specific
to the tasks that it supports. This graph type shows the total count of
requirements, tests, tests in test sets, or defects that were defined
throughout the testing process.
 Progress graphs – Each ALM module provides progress graphs specific
to the tasks that the module supports. This graph type shows the
accumulation of requirements, tests, tests in test sets, or defects over a
specific period.
 Trend graphs – The Requirements, Components, Test Plan, and Defects
modules provide trend graphs specific to the tasks that they support.
This graph type shows the history of changes to specific fields over a
specific period.
 Age graphs – This graph type is specific to the Defects module. It
summarizes the lifetime of all reported defects. The lifecycle of a defect
begins when it is reported and ends when it is closed.
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You use the Graph wizard to generate a new graph. This wizard takes you
through the steps for generating a new graph.
To run the Graph wizard, perform the following steps:
1. From the menu bar, select Analysis → Graph Wizard. The Graph Wizard
dialog box is displayed.
2. Select an Entity and graph type and click the Next button.
3. Select a Project Selection and click the Next button.
4. Select a filter option and click the Next button.
5. Select a field by which data should be grouped in the graph and an X-Axis
Field and click the Next button.
6. Select the Graph Name and Destination folder and click the Finish button
to confirm your settings and generate the graph. The graph is displayed
in the graph window.

Creating a Graph without the Wizard

You can create graphs in the dashboard that display data from the
Requirements, Test Plan, Test Lab, and Defects modules.
To create a graph in the dashboard, perform the following steps:
1. In the dashboard, click the Analysis View module.
2. In the Analysis tree, select the folder under which you want to add a
graph.
3. Click the New Item button, and select New Graph. The New Graph dialog
box is displayed.
4. Under Entity, select the module for which you want to create a graph.
5. Under Graph Type, select the type of graph you want to create.
6. Under Graph Name, type a name for the graph.
7. Click the OK button. The graph is added to the Analysis tree.
8. Click the Details tab.
9. You can configure the graph content in the Configuration tab.
10. View the graph in the View tab.

Configuring a Graph

You can define what data appear in a graph and how the data are organized.
To configure the graph, perform the following steps:
1. In the Analysis tree, select the graph you want to configure.
2. Click the Configuration tab.
3. Configure the following settings that apply to your graph type:
 Resolution – Available options are Day/Week/Month/Year/Auto
Select.
 Display options:
 Select Regular to view the number of requirements, tests, or
defects over the period of time you selected.
 Select Changes over Time to view the change in the number of
requirements, tests, or defects over the period of time you
selected. Each record begins at 0.
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 Grouped By – Select a field to determine the information by which

ALM groups data in the graph. You can group the data only by string
or list fields.
Tip: For cross-project graphs, select ALM Projects to group the data by project.
 Period – Select the period of time you want the graph to show.
 Set Filter/Sort – To set a filter/sort on the data
 Project Selection – Allows selection of single or multiple projects.
 X-Axis – Select a field to determine the information displayed along
the x- axis of the graph.
Tip: For cross-project graphs, select ALM Projects to display the data by
project.
 Y-Axis – In Defects graphs, you can select the data that display on the
y-axis:
 Select Count to display the total number of items (for example, a
count of open defects).
 Select Sum of and choose a numerical field. For example, choose
Estimated Fix Time to display the estimated time required for
fixing the defects. Choose Actual Fix Time to display the actual
time spent fixing the defects. (Available only in Defects graphs.)

Elements of the Graph Window

The elements of the graph window enable you to customize your graph. You can:
 Use the Save button to Save the graph.
 Use the Set Graph Appearance button to modify a graph layout.
 Use the Copy Graph To Clipboard and Print Graph buttons to reuse a
graph.
 Use the Edit Categories button to select the data that are plotted and
organized in a graph. Alternatively, you can use the options on the right
side of the window to change the X-axis, Y-axis, and data group settings
of the graph.
 Use the Full Screen View button to view a larger display of the graph.
 Click the Line Chart icon to see the line chart and click the Data Grid icon
to view the data in grid format.

Displaying Graph Data

After creating a graph, you can display the data on which the graph is based.
To display the data on which the graph is based, perform the following steps:
1. Click a Summary graph in the Analysis view.
2. Click the View tab.
3. Click the Data Grid icon to display a grid that plots all the data shown in
the graph.
4. To drill down to the details of a specific value, click a value from the grid.
The Drill Down Results window appears and lists the items that the
specific value represents.
Note: You can also display the Drill Down Results window by clicking the Bar
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Chart or Pie Chart tab and clicking a segment within the displayed graph.

Business View Excel Reports

You can export ALM data to an Excel report to analyze the data and
present it in a graph. The Excel report consists of data defined by Structured
Query Language (SQL) queries on the ALM project database. You can execute a
Visual Basic script on the exported data to perform calculations and analyze the
data.
In addition, you can generate a report that contains parameters. Using
parameters in a report enables you to reuse the report for different purposes.
To create an Excel report, perform the following steps:
1. In the dashboard, click the Analysis View module.
2. In the Analysis tree, select the folder under which you want to add the
Excel report.
3. Click the New Item button, and select New Excel Report. The New Excel
Report dialog box is displayed.
4. Under Excel Report Name, type a name for the Excel report.
5. Click the OK button. The Excel report is added to the Analysis tree.
6. Click the Details tab. The Details tab displays the following fields:
 Entity – In Excel reports, this field displays Unspecified Entity.
 Type – The analysis item type.
 Sub Type – In Excel reports, same as Type.
 Name – The name of the Excel report.
 Last Modified – The date and time on which the Excel report was
last modified.
 Modified By – The user who last modified the Excel report.
 Owner – The user who created the Excel report. Permissions to
modify public Excel reports may be limited to the owner only.
 Description – A description of the Excel report.
7. In Configuration Tab → Query Tab, create one or more SQL queries to
define the data that is extracted.
8. Optionally, create a post-processing script in the Post-Processing tab
that runs in Excel after the data are exported.
9. Click the Generate button to generate the Excel report.

Sharing Graphs without an ALM Client

You can share graphs for viewing in a web browser without downloading an
ALM client. To share graphs, complete the following steps:
1. In the Analysis view, right-click a graph and click Share Analysis Item.
The Share Analysis Item dialog box is displayed. Options include:
 Copy Analysis Item URL (Authentication Required) – Copies a URL
of the selected graph to the clipboard. You are required to enter an
ALM user name and password to view the graph.
 Copy Analysis Item Public URL – Copies a URL of the selected graph
to the clipboard. No authentication is required to view the graph.
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 Reset Analysis Item Public URL – If you previously selected Copy

Analysis Item Public URL, selecting this option blocks access to the
public read-only version of the selected graph.
2. Select the first or second option and click the OK button.
3. Right-click the graph and select Copy URL.
4. Open a browser, paste the URL, and click the Go To button.
 If you had chosen the option Copy Analysis Item Public URL, the web
browser displays the graph without authentication.
 If you had chosen the option Copy Analysis Item URL
(Authentication Required) and you are not already logged into ALM,
the ALM application opens and asks for user name and password.
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References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

Micro. Customized Application Lifecycle Management 12.0 Essentials

Student Guide
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
http://hp.com/software/education

Markov, Georgi and Druzhinina, Olga; 2011; Towards an industrial ALM

(Application Lifecycle) Tool Integration; Blekinge Institute of Technology,
School of Computing
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