What are the four phases of TestDirector ?

TestDirector use can be divided into four phases:
- Test Requirements Management
Requirements Manager is used to link the requirements with the tests to be carried out. Each requirement in the SRS has to be tested at least once. In SRS, the functional and performance requirements are specified. Functional requirements are generated from use-case scenarios. Performance requirements are dependent on the application.
- Test Planning
In test planning, the QA manager does a detailed planning and addresses the following issues:
- Hardware and software platforms.
- Various tests to be formed.
- Time schedule to conduct the tests.
- Roles and responsibility of the persons associated with the project.
- Procedure for running the test.
- Various test cases to be generated.
- Procedure for tracking the progress of testing.
- Documents to be generated during testing process.
- Criteria for completion of testing.
Test design is done during test planning phase which involves defining the sequence of steps to execute a test in manual testing. The test plan is communicated to all the test engineers and also the development team.
- Test Execution
The actual testing is carried out based on the test cases generated, either manually or automatically. In case of automated testing, the test scheduling is done as per plan. A history of all test runs is maintained and audit trail, to trace the history of tests and test runs, is also maintained. Test sets are created. A test set is a set of test cases. In addition execution logic is also set. The logic specifies what to do when a test fails in a series of tests.
- Test Results Analysis
In this phase, test results are analyzed i.e. which tests passed and which failed. For the tests that failed, an analysis is carried out as to why they failed. Bug is classified based on severity. A simple way of classification is critical, major, minor. A more detailed way of classification is:
- Cosmetic or GUI related.
- Inconsistent performance of application.
- Loss of functionality.
- System crash.
- Loss of data.
- Security Violation.
The bug report is stored in a database. The privileges to read, write, and update the database need to be decided by the QA manager. Based on the bug tracking and analysis tools, QA manager and the project manager can take the decision whether the software can be released to the customer or still more testing is required.

Test Director : Important Features and Capabilities of test management tools

To deliver quality product, the testing process has to be managed efficiently. Testing management tools are very useful in such situations. Mercury Interactive's TestDirector is an excellent tool for managing the testing process efficiently. It is a web-based tool so it is very easy to use. Even if the development team and the testing team are located at different locations, the testing process can be managed very effectively.

Features of TestDirector
- A web-based tool and hence it facilitates distributed testing.
- As testing the software is linked to the requirements of the software, it provides the feature of linking the software requirements to the testing plan.
- It provides the features to document the testing procedures.
- It provides the feature of scheduling the manual and automated tests and the testing can be done during nighttimes or when system load is less.
- Keeps the history of all test runs.
- The audit trail feature allows keeping track of changes in the tests and test runs.
- It provides the feature of creating different users with different privileges.
- It keeps a log of all defects found and the status of each bug can be changed by authorized persons only.
- It provides the features of setting groups of machines to carry out testing.
- It generates test reports and analysis for the QA manager to decide when the software can be released in market.