December 30, 2010

Sophisticated New Android Trojan Found in Wild

DECEMBER 29, 2010

Security Alert: Geinimi, Sophisticated New Android Trojan Found in Wild

By tim

A new Trojan (“Geinimi”) affecting Android devices has recently emerged in China

can compromise a significant amount of personal data on a user’s phone and send it to remote servers
the first Android malware in the wild that displays botnet-like capabilities
being “grafted” onto repackaged versions of legitimate applications
it has the potential to receive commands from a remote server that allow the owner of that server to control the phone
the possibilities for intent range from a malicious ad-network to an attempt to create an Android botnet

see: http://blog.mylookout.com/2010/12/geinimi_trojan

So why am I writing about this malware, when I don't even own a smartphone? Because the article was written by my son, Tim.

Back in July (http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/07/go-west-young-man.html) I wrote about how Tim moved to California, and became part of the Security Response Team at Lookout in San Francisco.

As part of his work there, Tim found and reverse-engineered this malware, helped develop Lookout's protection for it, and created this writeup.

As we say in New England, Tim is Wicked Smaht and works Wicked Hahd.

And his Mom and Dad are Wicked Proud!

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

December 28, 2010

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More in 2010

2010 saw some "interesting" bugs show up in the news. Perhaps these companies should have tested more.

Skype supernodes still aren't so super

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/12/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

Target confused about coupons for months

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/11/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more_01.html

Apple apparently just learned about Daylight Saving Time

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/11/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

J.P. Morgan Chase chases some significant downtime

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/09/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more-jp.html

Apple didn't know how to display signal bars

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/07/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

Zappos/6pm.com undercharges customers $1.6 million, nobody gets fired

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/05/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more.html

McAfee decides that Windows XP/SP3 is a virus

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more_22.html

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

December 27, 2010

Top Ten Blog Pages for 2010

Aside from my home page, these were the top ten content pages for 2010. They received the most visits according to Google Analytics:

People in Testing

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/p/people-in-testing.html

My page of links to other testing-related blogs of interest.

Please send me links for sites that you think should be added - your site, or sites that you read.

A Glossary of Testing Terms

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/glossary-of-testing-terms.html

A list of terms in QA and Testing. I originally started this years ago so that I could copy and paste the definitions when people asked "What is...?" I'm happy that you find it useful.

QA and Testing Interview Questions (And Some Answers)

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/qa-and-testing-interview-questions-and.html

Another list I created to help people asking similar questions.

It's hard to be prepared for an interview. I'm happy if this list helps.

25 Things About Me

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/p/25-things-about-me.html

Hmm. I'm guessing browsers were looking for something else here?

How To Reproduce Bugs

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-reproduce-bugs.html

I thought this was funny when I posted it. But it got a lot more hits than I expected.

There are ALWAYS Requirements

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/there-are-always-requirements.html

This is where I send people when they ask "But I don't have any written Requirements. How can I test?"

Optimistic Developers, Pessimistic Testers

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/optimistic-developers-pessimistic.html

This is one of my favorite posts. I'm please others like it, too.

My QA Bookshelf

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-qa-bookshelf.html

A list of the QA and Testing books I own. I need to update this list soon.

Things I Like to Have in my Test Automation Suites

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/things-i-like-to-have-in-my-test.html

A list of attributes that (for me) help to make a test automation suite useful.

Issue Tracking Template

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/issue-tracking-template.html

An old sample template that can still be of use.

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

December 24, 2010

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Skype (Again)

Supernodes not so super?

Skype once again had a worldwide outage related to software problems in their supernodes:

blocked millions of people from making Internet phone calls
crash left a large chunk of Skype's 560 million users with nowhere to go
was completely offline for more than three hours on Wednesday
experienced its biggest global outage in three years
was caused by a “software issue” with the “supernodes”
the company plans to issue compensation vouchers
the bigger question is whether businesses should be relying on these services in the first place

It's not the first time the service has gone down.

In August of 2007, Skype was down for several days. A faulty algorithm in their supernodes was exposed when many users rebooted their client machines while installing a Windows update:

http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/04/perhaps-they-should-have-tested-more_5959.html

Certainly those supernodes are tricky.

But perhaps Skype should have tested more, particularly after the worldwide failure just a few years ago?

November 8, 2010

Vegetable Garden Results

So my first-year vegetable garden harvest is complete.

It was fun to have a small garden, and experiment with lots of different varieties of vegetables. We didn't know what to expect, other than to learn more about what we might want to do in upcoming years.

Some of the plantings worked out really well - others, not so well. All of the herbs flourished, probably because they are so simple to grow and were planted in a great spot. Some of the tomato varieties were delicious - others were tasteless. None of the squashes or cucumbers did anything at all - they were the biggest disappointment.

Next year, we'll grow fewer varieties, and concentrate on the vegetables where "home-grown" really makes a difference. Tomatoes for sure, and zucchinis. And I'll have to pay more attention to the variety and location for cucumbers. We'll grow herbs again, probably more varieties, but in smaller bunches.

I believe I wasn't as careful with the placement of plants as I need to be. I ended up having some tall plants shading the smaller plants. And I need to be more careful with stakes and cages. Some of the tomato plants ended up far taller than I had anticipated, and taller than the tomato cages could handle.

Overall, the garden was fun to do, looked nice in the back yard, and yielded enough vegetables to make it worthwhile, without consuming too much time maintaining it. Now, I can't wait for next spring!

Successes

Basil
Chili Red Pepper
Chives
Curled Parsley
Hot Red Cherry Pepper
Husky Cherry Red VF Tomato
Patio Tomato
Rosemary

Mixed Results

Big Boy Tomato
Bonnie Bell Hybrid Pepper
Bush Blue Lake Beans
Cherry Belle Radish
Red Bell Pepper
Sweet Treat Carrot

Failures

Black Prince Tomato
Boston Pickling Cucumber
Burpless Bush Hybrid Cucumber
Butterstick Squash
Fordhook Zucchini
Sugar Baby Watermelon

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

November 3, 2010

SQAForums Wins Again!

Recently, The Automated Testing Institute ran their 2nd Annual "ATI Automation Honors" competition.

From the ATI website:

The industry's original set of awards dedicated to software test automation is again looking to crown industry leading tools, resources and practitioners with automation's top honor. That means it's time for all of you to get busy! The ATI Automation Honors awards rely on industry practitioners to identify which tools, resources and people are the best, which have the most significant upgrades and/or which are setting the trends that will help to take software test automation to the next level in the coming year.

Last year SQAForums.com won the Best Software Testing Website award. This year they were nominated in the "Best Automated Testing Forum" category.

So the Automated Testing Institute's ATI Automation Honors winner for "Best Automated Testing Forum" is...

SQAForums.com

Congratulations, AJ - well done!

See the official announcement at:

http://www.automatedtestinginstitute.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1344:ati-automation-honors&catid=125:award-honorees&Itemid=1000#Forum

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

November 1, 2010

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Target

National retailer Target Corp. has been shortchanging customers for months when they use some manufacturers' coupons.

Target says it has been aware of the problem since August
Target couldn't explain why the problem was happening nor why it hadn't been resolved
Some customers are finding that a coupon with a face value of $1.50 are being credited for only $1.02
Others who have redeemed $4.00 worth of coupons saw only $2.54 taken off
Target blames the problem on some sort of computer glitch
Target has told its cashiers to check coupons

Perhaps Target should have tested more?

And perhaps they should get going on a fix for the problem before the holiday shopping kicks in?

see:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/28/business/la-fi-target-coupons-20101028

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/yourmoney/blogs/106175083.html

http://jillcataldo.com/node/13555

http://www.totallytarget.com/2010/10/19/the-knorr-report-a-little-different-this-week/

http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/target-blames-computer-for-shortchanging-customers

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2010/10/29/report-target-has-a-coupons-problem.html

http://consumerist.com/2010/10/target-shortchanging-customers-on-coupons.html

http://www.wfrv.com/news/local/Consumer-Watch-Target-shortchanges-customers-with-coupons--106153008.html

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Apple

This morning, iOS 4.1 users in Europe reported that their alarm clocks failed to account for the time change due to the end of Daylight Savings, which shifted their clocks back an hour at 2 am this morning. As a result, their alarms went off an hour too late.

iPhone is getting blamed for making some Europeans late for work this morning
Apple has been having a lot of problems recently and this is just the latest in a line of gaffes
Scores of British iPhone 4 users said they were late for work on Monday
Hundreds of angry comments were posted on microblogging website Twitter
A similar bug was reported a month ago by users in Australia and New Zealand
Apple said last month that a software patch was being developed
Unclear whether that fix would come by next Sunday when the U.S. will be switching to Standard Time

If I recall correctly, this whole Standard Time versus Daylight Saving Time isn't a new invention, right? Perhaps recurring alarms are a new invention?

Perhaps Apple should have tested more.

see:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371850,00.asp

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/alarm-glitch-leaves-european-iphone-users-running-late/?news=123

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gewhEudLlAeYHGm_O-FIzjpC05rQ?docId=CNG.809df977b92d0cf07c212de2205b6b72.ab1

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/11/01/iphone-alarm-bug-wakes-users-up-late/

http://www.phoneplusmag.com/news/2010/11/iphone-glitch-makes-people-tardy-for-work.aspx

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/telecom/Alarm-glitch-hits-Apple-iPhone-4/articleshow/6858647.cms

An update:

No, Apple didn't fix this problem in time for the end of Daylight Saving Time in the US.

But they did say that they would come out with a software fix "soon". Perhaps right now, they are too busy manually resetting all their alarms.

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/11/wait_what_time_is_it.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/11/07/2010-11-07_not_so_smart_phones_apple_admits_it_hasnt_fixed_software_glitch_that_made_thousa.html?r=news/national

http://www.ndchronicle.com/news/Fall_back_2010__Daylight_savings_time_2010_ends_as_iPhone_glitch_becomes_talking_point_1289215012/

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/iPhones-Cant-Take-Time-Change-106851023.html

This article originally appeared in my blog: All Things Quality

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

October 29, 2010

Test Plan

Bob was almost done with his Test Plan, when he heard a knock...

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

October 20, 2010

Our Kayaking Destinations (so far)

A few months ago, my wife and I took up kayaking. (http://strazzere.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-hobby-kayaks.html) It's been a lot of fun.

We were able to get out most weekends, and ended up enjoying four different ponds/lakes.

Spot Pond, Stoneham, MA

This was our first time. We were brought there by instructors, using their kayaks, so we couldn't explore on our own.

Spot Pond is a beautiful lake, but unfortunately, it's not open to the public.

Silver Lake, Wilmington, MA

Silver Lake is the body of water closest to home. It's very small, and not overly scenic. But for a quick, easy paddle, it's nice to have a place so close.

We went together once, and I went once alone. When the water is clear, you can see some fish and turtles, along with the geese and other birds.

Lake Quannapowitt, Wakefield, MA

We had been walking around Lake Quannapowitt many times before, so it was fun to be able to get on the lake itself and paddle around.

The parking can be difficult if you don't get there early enough, but Quannapowitt is big enough that you can explore a bit without being bored, so it's worth the effort.

Winnisquam Lake, Sanbornton, NH

My wife's friend has a home on Winnisquam. We visited and spent several hours on the lake in their power boat, before ending the day with a quick paddle in the kayaks.

Beautiful, big, yet fairly quiet (at least when we were there). Lots to see, including some beautiful lakeside homes, and a loon sanctuary. I wish it were closer to home so we could get there more often.

We hope to get out a few times more before the weather becomes too prohibitive. Unfortunately, we tend to get busier this time of year, so we'll see if that works out or not.

Next year - kayaking on some local rivers?

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

October 16, 2010

Periodicals for my Kindle using Calibre

I purchased a Kindle a few weeks ago, and I've really enjoyed it. Recently, I learned how to use Calibre to enjoy my Kindle even more.

Calibre is a free, open-source tool for managing libraries of e-books. But it also has some features that work particularly well for me.

Calibre can download news from almost any website
Calibre can convert content to many e-book formats
Calibre can email e-books to any address
All of this can be scheduled

Using these features, I can now have almost anything from the web delivered to my Kindle as a Periodical.

For example, I currently have Calibre set up to send me my daily fix of New England Patriots news:

I have Calibre "recipes" set up to fetch Patriots news from The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald
Each are scheduled to run at 5:30 AM every day
The downloaded content is converted to an e-book in .MOBI format
The e-books are automatically emailed to my Amazon free.kindle.com email account
Amazon converts the .MOBI file to .AZW (native Kindle) format, and sends it out to my Kindle via Wi-Fi
Once I turn my Kindle on in the morning, it automatically syncs up and downloads these e-books as Kindle Periodicals, for reading later during the day

It's like having my favorite part of the sports sections tucked into my bag for me, as I leave for work. And it's all free (I'm a big fan of free). When I'm away on vacation, I'll get to read about the Patriots every day, without having to hunt down the out-of-town newspaper stand.

The same process will work for almost any online news source (newspapers, magazines, blogs). I'll certainly be adding a few of them over time.

Customized periodicals delivered to my Kindle automatically. Nice!

Resources:

Calibre - http://calibre-ebook.com/
Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Wireless-Reader-Wifi-Graphite/dp/B002Y27P3M/

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

September 28, 2010

Perhaps Amazon Defines "Nonfiction" Differently?

I like to read a lot. And I tend to prefer non-fiction. Since I order books through Amazon fairly often, their sophisticated systems have detected this, and occasionally send me emails with offers for more non-fiction books.

Today, I got this one:

Notice that "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary" is the top title this week in Nonfiction.

From this, I suppose we must conclude one of the following:

This "new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales" which starts off "The cat had a party to attend, and went to the baboon to get herself groomed." really did occur (or is occuring) somewhere in the world.
Amazon has a unique and interesting definition for the word "Nonfiction".
Someone messed up

Which of the above seems most likely to you?

And if you chose number 1 and have read the book, where do these talking animals all live? I've got a few questions about testing I'd like to ask of both the Sickly Rat and the Healthy Rat, that might make for an interesting debate.

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

September 27, 2010

My Interest Is Kindled In A Nice New Device

For a while, I've had my eye on e-reader devices. I like to read a lot, my bookcase is getting full, and what the heck - it's time to try something new.

My son got a Nook a while back and likes it. He owns pretty much every Android device that exists (and a few that aren't yet available publicly). But I'm not so hooked on Android, so I was also looking at Kindles. When Amazon announced the new generation of Kindle recently (popularly known as the "Kindle 3"), with some interesting features and a reduced price point, I was pretty sure I wanted one. So after a bit of reading I took the plunge and ordered a Graphite Kindle 3G with free 3G + Wi-Fi.

My Kindle arrived a few days ago, and I've had a few hours to play with it. So far, I'm very impressed.

I think it's clear that the Kindle is optimized for reading. The tiny keyboard, and 5-way pointing device make it possible to type and to click, but you would want to avoid that where possible.

My initial thoughts:

Lots of fun so far.
The e-book experience is terrific.
Reading PDFs is very good. Good enough that I'll use it to read work stuff.
It's trivial to email documents in several formats to your free kindle email address and have it automatically re-formatted and wirelessly delivered to your Kinde. Very nice.
The text-to-speech feature is intriguing. The voicing is very good. While not perfect, it may just be good enough that I could have any book read to me on a long drive. I'm going to have to try that out.
Reading many websites (particularly those optimized for mobile devices) using the Kindle browser is good.
While the Kindle has an .mp3 player, it has no UI. Thus, you can't even select which song you want to play without pressing Alt-F until you hear the desired song. Pretty much useless.
The keyboard is tiny. It's usable and handy, but I'll always look for ways to avoid too much typing on it. I'm not planning to use it to write any Test Plans soon!

After a bit of experimenting, I found that I can put my .mp3 files in the Audible folder, rather than the Music folder to have them treated as audio books. On the Kindle, audio books are individually visible, and the player does display a UI with controls. This makes it possible to go to an individual song and play it. The downside is that there doesn't appear to be a way to let the songs in the Audible folder play in the background while I'm reading something. This seems to make my Kindle good for podcasts, or when I only want to listen to one song at a time. Passable, but still not wonderful for background music.

Before buying it, I knew the Kindle was very good as an e-reader, but wondered about some specifics concerning the "experimental" browser (which had the potential to be an extremely useful feature for me).

To answer my own questions about the browser:

Q: Does it work well for the sites you visit?

A: It works well enough for most of the sites - particularly those which are text-heavy and allow reading without a lot of clicking.

Q: Does it work for your use of SQAForums and the Software Testing Club site?

A: Not as well. I tend to skim through SQAForums and STC, clicking here and there. The Kindle isn't really optimized for that.

Q: Does it work for your use GMail?

A: Yes. And it works even better when I use the Mobile version of GMail. For me this is a huge plus. Now I can always be within reach of GMail - either through Wi-Fi, or 3G.

Soon, I plan to experiment with creating my own Kindle-optimized websites, and experiment with using other Google products (Reader, Docs, etc) in the Kindle browser.

Meanwhile, I've already read a few free e-books, and experimented with (tested?) more of the settings and features. Very nice - I like this device!

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

September 20, 2010

When the only tool you have is a buggy whip, everything begins to look like a dead horse

When the only tool you have is a buggy whip, everything begins to look like a dead horse.

Over at SQAForums, a member asked about the choice of relying on his current knowledge of one test automation tool, versus taking a position at a different company, but having to learn a new test tool.

http://www.sqaforums.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=642439

While some short-term jobs (such as contracting jobs) may require little more than specific, single-tool knowledge, most testing and QA positions require something different.

If you tie yourself into a one specific tool, you may get lucky for a while and that tool knowledge will be in demand for a long time. But eventually, it will be replaced by another set of tools. You risk becoming yesterday's news. Better not to become a specialist, but rather become a generalist - one with deep knowledge in a few areas, and broad knowledge in many others.

When I hire QAers, I want someone that knows how to test and is able to use a variety of tools and techinques. If the candidate happens to know the particular test automation tools we happen to be using at that time, it's a plus, but if the candidate knows ANY tools well, I usually find that they can learn others.
The concepts are the important thing here, not the specific tool.

I once had a college professor who said "Life is an open-book test." His point was that using one specific tool or technique, or memorizing a few bits of information isn't enough. In the world today, you must be able to adapt quickly, find the information you need or learn the new tool and technique that is appropriate for the task at hand. copyrightjoestrazzere

Become good at learning new tools and techniques. When you hear about a new tool, find an opportunity to check it out. When you hear about a new technique, read about it and give it a try. Be ready for new requirements that are sure to come your way.

Perhaps you are very good with your buggy whip. That's fine, but make sure you aren't still beating a dead horse.

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

September 14, 2010

Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - J.P. Morgan Chase

Millions of customers who bank online with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. lost electronic access to their accounts as the company's website suffered a severe outage starting Monday at 11:00 PM ET.

At one time today the Chase site reportedly indicated it was undergoing "scheduled system maintenance". But as of 8:30 PM ET Tuesday, the site now says "Our website is temporarily unavailable. We're working quickly to restore access. Please log on later."

There's no indication yet when this outage is expected to end.

The result of a flaw in a software program tailored for J.P. Morgan.
More than 16 million computer and iPhone users impacted
The Chase outage "appeared to be unusually lengthy"
People can't check their balances or pay their bills online
Affects both businesses and consumers
Affects all online transactions

Perhaps Chase should have tested more.

September 13, 2010

WinTask - 99 Bottles of Beer

' 99 Bottles of Beer - WinTask Version

' Inspired by http://www.99-bottles-of-beer.net/

' Author: Joe Strazzere ( http://strazzere.blogspot.com )

BottleCount = 99

While BottleCount > 2

Phrase1$=Str$(BottleCount)+" bottles of beer on the wall, "+Str$(BottleCount)+" bottles of beer."

Phrase2$="Take one down and pass it around, "+Str$(BottleCount - 1)+" bottles of beer on the wall."

MsgBox(Phrase1$+CRLF+Phrase2$)

BottleCount = BottleCount-1

Wend

Phrase1$="2 bottles of beer on the wall, 2 bottles of beer."

Phrase2$="Take one down and pass it around, 1 bottle of beer on the wall."

MsgBox(Phrase1$+CRLF+Phrase2$)

Phrase1$="1 bottle of beer on the wall, 1 bottle of beer."

Phrase2$="Take one down and pass it around, no more bottles of beer on the wall."

MsgBox(Phrase1$+CRLF+Phrase2$)

Phrase1$="No more bottles of beer on the wall, no more bottles of beer."

Phrase2$="Go to the store and buy some more, 99 bottles of beer on the wall."

MsgBox(Phrase1$+CRLF+Phrase2$)

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.

September 10, 2010

An Old Test Plan Template

Last night, I was digging through some old documents, when I stumbled across a diskette containing this Test Plan Template. It was given out as part of a presentation I did during a Users Conference back in 1994.

These days, I generally use a less-formal Test Plan format, although I still occasionally use something like this when warranted.

An oldie but goodie?

Test Plan Template

Test Suite Name

Application: Name of the Application

Version: Version of the Application

Developers: Developer Name

Test Plan Author: Plan Author Name

Date of the Original Test Plan: Month dd, 19xx

Current Revision Date: Month dd, 19xx

Document File Name: TESTPLAN.DOC

Related Documentation for this Test Suite:

Requirements Specifications: Title

Author: Author name

Revision Date: Revision date

Relevant Pages: Relevant pages

Design Specifications:

Author:

Revision Date:

Relevant Pages:

Development Plan:

Author:

Revision Date:

Relevant Pages:

User Documentation:

Author:

Revision Date:

Relevant Pages:

Standards Manual:

Author:

Revision Date:

Relevant Pages:

Other:

Source:

Revision Date:

Relevant Pages:

Application Overview

Overview of Component Functionality

An overview of the relevant application components and their functionality is described here. This helps to guide the thought process and place this test suite in the correct application context. copyrightjoestrazzere

Other Applications/Components Impacted

Any other applications and/or components that may be directly or indirectly affected are discussed here. The Test Suites which will be used to perform testing on those components may also be referenced.

Standards Requirements

When the testing process requires checking the application against any pre-defined standards, those standards are described here.

Performance Requirements

The performance requirements against which this application will be measured are described here.

Defect Tracking System Codes

When defects in the application are found, this section describes how they will be categorized and entered into the defect tracking system.

Scheduled Availabilities

Application Version: The version to be tested.

Build Date: The expected date for the following features.

Features to be included in this build: The features delivered on this date.

Build Date: The expected date for the following features.

Features to be included in this build: The features delivered on this date.

Build Date: The expected date for the following features.

Features to be included in this build: The features delivered on this date.

Test Suite Overview

General Testing Strategy

The overall approach to implementing this test suite is described here.

Test Environment:

Hardware

The hardware environment in which the tests will be executed is described here.

System Software

The system software environment in which the tests will be executed is described here.

Databases/Files

Any databases and files required to execute this test suite are described here.

Utilities/Tools

Any utility programs required to execute this test suite are described here.

Test Suite Summary

It is often useful to have a naming convention to use when naming test cases.

Name of Test Case Brief Description

1. Name of test case here Description of test case here.

Test Case Specification - 1. Name of Test Case One

Overview:

This section describes, in some detail, what is to be accomplished with this test case (i.e., what particular assertion will be tested).

Prerequisites

Any prior tasks which must be accomplished before this test case can be executed are detailed here.

Any advance preparation of the hardware or software environment is detailed.

Utilities and Files used:

Any utilities, database, and files required to execute or validate this test case are detailed here. In addition, their version and location is described.

Test Sequence:

The high-level steps required to execute this test case are described here. This is often the longest portion of the individual Test Case.

Expected Results:

This section describes what results are expected when the above test sequence is executed.

Verification Procedure:

The process for determining if the expected results were achieved is described here.

Script(s):

Any scripts (either written or automated) which aid in execution of this Test Case are listed here.

Time Estimates:

Preparation: The expected amount of prep time required.

Execution: The expected amount of execution time.

Verification: The expected amount of verification time.

My name is Joe Strazzere and I'm currently a Director of Quality Assurance.
I like to lead, to test, and occasionally to write about leading and testing.
Find me at http://strazzere.blogspot.com/.