About Manual Tester Scripts and Statements

Using the Text Editor, you type testing instructions, called statements, into a Manual Tester script.

There are four statement types you can use in a Manual Tester script:

Step icon Steps are actions you want the tester to perform when running the script; for example, "Start the application."

Verification point icon Verification points ask questions about the application you are testing; for example, "Did the User Login window open?"

Reporting point icon Reporting points are higher-level verification points. They also ask questions, but their answers require higher visibility and often are included in reports. Reporting points might summarize the result of several verification points; for example, "Were you able to log in okay?"

Group icon Groups signal a block of related statements. For example, you can create a group called "Logging in to the Application." Each of the statements indented under the group describes the individual steps required to log in to the application. More about groups later.

Manual Tester uses icons in the Outline view and the Text Editor to distinguish among the four types of statements:
Icon Statement Type
Step icon Step
Verification point icon Verification point
Reporting point icon Reporting point
Group icon Group Folder
Note: The tutorial, Creating a Manual Tester Script, guides you through creating a very simple manual test script. Using a sample application, Classics Java, you will author a script and insert steps, verification points, a group, and reporting points. To start the tutorial:
  1. From the Manual Tester menu, click Help > Tutorials Gallery.
  2. In the left pane of the Tutorials Gallery, expand Do and Learn.
  3. Click Creating a Manual Tester Script.

Commands on the Edit menu, buttons on the Manual Tester toolbar, and pop-up menus make it easy to change one statement type to another in either the Outline view or the Text Editor. For example, to change a step to a verification point, click in the step and in the Manual Tester menu click Edit > Statement Type > Set as Verification Point. Manual Tester changes the step icon to a verification point icon.

Manual Tester uses the first few characters of a statement in the Text Editor as a label for the statement in the Outline view. You can rename the label in the Outline view without changing the text of the statement in the Text Editor.

Manual Tester saves manual test script files with an .rmt extension. You can use any change management system, such as Rational® ClearCase®, to facilitate script file sharing and to control source documents.

When authoring a manual test script, you can associate a file with a statement. For example, rather than including a lot of detail in a complex step, you can attach a Word file that describes the step. You author the step to include a reference to the file; for example, "For more detail, see the attached Word file." You use the Attachments property in the Properties view to attach a file to a statement or to view the attached files.

Note: You do not have to recreate test documents that you have authored using Microsoft Word, Excel, or Rational TestManager's ManualTest. You can easily import these documents into IBM Rational Manual Tester.

To delete a manual test script, use Windows Explorer. The Delete command in the Recent Files view just removes the file from the view, not from the file system.

More About Groups

When you create test scripts in Manual Tester, it is a good idea to modularize the test. That is, instead of creating the test as one long sequence of statements, it is better to divide the entire test into a number of short sequences or groups. Modularized tests are easier to maintain. More importantly, modularized tests make it easier for you to reuse content from one script in other test scripts.

Groups are related blocks of statements. Grouping statements makes it easy to reuse them. With one action you can save a group of several statements and with another action you can reuse them.

After you create the group folder, Manual Tester automatically indents the next statements you type under the group folder. To end the group, type the statement you want to follow the group; and in the Manual Tester toolbar click the Remove from group button Remove from group button.

You can contain groups within groups to form a hierarchy. For example, you might have a group entitled Order Bach CDs and under that group you might have two subgroups, Order Violin Concertos and Order Related Items. You use the Remove from group button Remove from group button and the Add to group button Add to group button to demote and promote statements in the groups.
Note: If you click the Add to group button Add to group button when your cursor is in a statement that is not part of a group, Manual Tester automatically creates a group folder and adds the statement to it.

When you delete a group, you delete all the statements or children of the group. In Outline view, right-click on the group folder and select Delete. Manual Tester displays a message reminding you that when you delete a group you delete all the statements in the group. Click Yes to delete the group or click No to cancel the deletion. You can disable the prompt by selecting Don't ask me again on the message box. You can also disable the message on the Main Preferences page of the Preferences dialog box.

Parent topic: Writing a Manual Test Script

Related concepts
About Importing Test Documents

Related tasks
Creating a New Manual Test Script
Renaming Statement Labels in the Outline View
Attaching a File to a Statement

Related reference
Text Editor

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