GUI test automation is a popular and interesting subject in the testing industry. Many companies plan to start test automation projects in order to implement efficient, less expensive software testing. However, there are challenges for the testing team who lack experience performing GUI tests automation. Many GUI test automation projects have ended in failure due to mistakes made during the early stages of the project. The major work of this thesis is to find a solution to the challenges of establishing new test automation projects and determine an appropriate method to build GUI tests automation. Due to the particularity of GUI tests automation, keyword driven test approach is introduced in this thesis. The advantages and disadvantages are shown by undertaking comparison with the Record and replay testing method and the data driven testing method. The research also includes a feasibility study of GUI tests automation. The analysis report points out which kinds of test projects should be automated and which kinds should not be automated. Test automation tool selection is a critical step for an test automation project. This thesis shows the correct procedure for selecting a testing tool and explains the strategies of testing tool selection. It also summaries the mistakes made during the tool selection process. Several classical types of testing tools which support Qt software testing are compared and evaluated. Based on the in-depth analysis and comparison of testing tools, the thesis explains how the different tools fit with the different test projects. The implementation procedure of a test automation is demonstrated in this thesis. The procedure includes test case design and testing framework implementation. The test script is created based on the structure of a keyword driven test framework. The thesis also discusses several interesting topics related to GUI tests automation for future research.

This report describes a design approach for implementing a software test automation solution that can accommodate existing test processes in an organization. The process of implementing a software test automation solution is a large undertaking and requires careful planning to avoid unsuccessful implementations. This report outlines a design that can integrate with existing business and development processes in an organization, and recommends automation and development frameworks for achieving the test automation goals. Considerations for a heterogeneous test environment with varying types of supported operating systems, such as Windows and Linux, and multiple test execution environments, such as Java and .NET, have been made in this design and in the tool selections for the system implementation. The report also describes some of the challenges and caveats of automation in a heterogeneous environment along with recommended solutions to these challenges. / text

This report is the proof of concept that shows how Coded UI can be used for the automation of GUI tests. For this thesis-work, an industrial case study is done on 26 different test cases provided at the company Basalt AB. The problem they had was that testing was very time consuming and was therefore not done as often as needed to keep the level of quality required for the system developed. The method that has been used are called the validation method and the work was according to that divided into five steps: choosing test cases, a learning process, implementation, compare the results and then draw conclusions. Test automation has benefits of time savings and the fact that tests will be reused. Testing will take minutes instead of hours and the tests can be executed over and over again as many times as needed. So by changing from manual testing to automated testing, tests can be run faster and therefore more often. The investment of automated testing will be repaid before the end of the fourth test round. So conclusions can be drawn from the results of this thesis and it shows that it absolutely is worth the investment of automating the testing process.

ITC/USA 2007 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Third Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 22-25, 2007 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / Imagine that a test vehicle has just arrived at your test facility and that it is fully instrumented with sensors and a data acquisition system (DAS). Imagine that a test engineer logs onto the vehicle’s DAS, submits a list of data requirements, and the DAS automatically configures itself to meet those data requirements. Imagine that the control room then contacts the DAS, downloads the configuration, and coordinates its own configuration with the vehicle’s setup. Imagine all of this done with no more human interaction than the original test engineer’s request. How close to this imaginary scenario is the instrumentation community? We’re not there yet, but through a variety of efforts, we are headed towards this fully automated scenario. This paper outlines the current status, current projects, and some missing pieces in the journey towards this end. This journey includes standards development in the Range Commander’s Council (RCC), smart sensor standards development through the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, efforts by the integrated Network Enhanced Telemetry (iNET) project, and other projects involved in reaching this goal.

The NASA Space Network (SN), which consists of the geosynchronous Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation and its associated ground elements, is a critical national space asset that provides near-continuous, high-bandwidth telemetry, command, and communications services for numerous spacecraft and launch vehicles. The Space Network includes several key ground system elements, one of which is the White Sands Complex Data Interface Service Capability (WDISC). The WDISC has undergone multiple cycles of modification and technology refresh over its lifetime, making test automation an attractive option for reducing system verification and validation cost. This paper considers the implementation of automated testing for the WDISC as a case study in technology sustainment, discusses the principal benefits and challenges of implementing test automation for a legacy system, and presents findings that demonstrate the effectiveness of such automation models.

In IT the waterfall model is being replaced by agile development processes. When transitioning into agile processes software products are delivered in iterations, or cycles, of the same software. That software will be tested repeatedly, by the same tests. When the same test is executed several times test automation comes into consideration. With test automation organizations aim to cut costs but also have predictable and efficient test execution. Over time though, research suggests that maintenance of test automation could become a burden rather than a success.  This thesis aims to investigate and research problem areas that affect test automation maintenance and what measurements can be taken to manage maintenance. In total seven semi-structured interviews are conducted with software testing professionals. The gathered empirical data have been analyzed using a thematic approach, which is the result of this study. The outcome of the thematic analysis resulted in four themes Maintenance Issues, Minimize Maintenance, Coding Guidelines, and Collaboration Guidelines. Findings from those themes and underlying codes revealed several sources and problem areas in test automation maintenance. Respondents mentioned several challenges with Flaky tests, unreliable environments, and usage of incorrect tools. When it comes to reducing maintenance, respondents evaluated a list of guidelines but also mentioned a set of tools or approaches to use, to keep maintenance to a minimum.

<p>Testing plays a very important role for assuring the quality of developed software. In a modern vehicle, more and more of the functionality is controlled by software and the complexity of the software always increases. The expectations on automating the testing process are to save time and to reach an even higher quality.</p><p>In this thesis, which was performed at ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a new tool for automated tests is studied. The tool is used for software in the loop simulation based system tests. The user specifies which outputs that shall be observed and which inputs that can be controlled. Based on these prerequisites, test cases are generated.</p><p>It has been studied how to apply the tool, how the test case generation can be influenced, on which systems it successfully could be used and which results that could be reached with the tool. The tool has been evaluated on the hand of two real-life examples; the software of an automatic transmission and of a pressure controller, a module of this software. It was found that there are many interesting possibilities to apply the tool in order to support the present testing process.</p>

<p>Ericsson has a very big and expensive test environment with a lot of GSM AXE equipment. In order to decrease the cost of testing Ericsson has developed a combination of simulated and real hardware, the Hybrid Test Environment (HTE). There is no formal supervision and testing of the HTE system today and this has left the HTE system unstable and the testers have been avoiding using HTE. It is important for Ericsson that the confidence for HTE will increase. The goal of this thesis is to produce a method for testing the HTE system. An automated test tool has been implemented in order to monitor and test the HTE system. During the two weeks that the test tool has been operational it has discovered 4 servers in 3 different HTE rigs that malfunctioned. These servers were fixed and were operational before the end-users could discover any problem.</p>

Testing plays a very important role for assuring the quality of developed software. In a modern vehicle, more and more of the functionality is controlled by software and the complexity of the software always increases. The expectations on automating the testing process are to save time and to reach an even higher quality. In this thesis, which was performed at ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a new tool for automated tests is studied. The tool is used for software in the loop simulation based system tests. The user specifies which outputs that shall be observed and which inputs that can be controlled. Based on these prerequisites, test cases are generated. It has been studied how to apply the tool, how the test case generation can be influenced, on which systems it successfully could be used and which results that could be reached with the tool. The tool has been evaluated on the hand of two real-life examples; the software of an automatic transmission and of a pressure controller, a module of this software. It was found that there are many interesting possibilities to apply the tool in order to support the present testing process.

<p>In order to develop and secure the functionality of its cellular communications systems, Ericsson deals with numerous R&D and I&V activities. One important aspect is interoperability with mobile terminals from different vendors on the world market. Therefore Ericsson co-operates with mobile platform and user equipment manufacturers. These companies visit the interoperability developmental testing (IoDT) laboratories in Linköping to test their developmental products and prototypes in order to certify compliance with Ericsson's products. The knowledge exchange is mutual, Ericsson as well as the user equipment manufacturers benefit from the co-operation.</p><p>The goal of this master's thesis performed at Ericsson AB is to suggest areas in which the IoDT testing can be automated in order to minimize time consuming and tedious work tasks. Primarily the search should be aimed at replacing manual tasks in use today.</p><p>The thesis suggests a number of IoDT tasks that might be subject for automation. Among these one is chosen for implementation. The thesis also includes an implementation part. The task that has been chosen for implementation is the network verification after base station controller software upgrade procedure. This is not a core IoDT function but it implies a lot of work, and is often performed.</p><p>The automation project is also supposed to act as a springboard for future automation within IoDT. The forthcoming LTE standard will require a lot of IoDT testing, and therefore the automation capabilities should be investigated. The thesis shows that automation work is possible, and that the startup process is straightforward. Existing tools are easy to use, and well supported. The network verification automated test scope has been successful.</p>