Static data are sets of values provided for each parameter directly from within ALM.

When creating test configurations for manual and automated business process tests, you can create a set of static data for each use-case. For each test configuration, you can also add iterations and define different parameter values for each iteration. For task details on creating test configurations that access static data, see the HPE Application Lifecycle Management User Guide: How to Associate Static Data.

Business process test configurations can access dynamic data. Dynamic data are sets of values that are provided for each iteration’s parameters from outside of ALM, in an external data table uploaded in the Test Resources module. The external data table is a Microsoft Excel file.

When the business process test instance runs using a configuration that accesses dynamic data, the test instance fetches the parameter values for each iteration of the configuration from the list of parameter values in the Microsoft Excel file.

You can supply ALM with dynamic data resources:

• At the test level. You can supply a Microsoft Excel file that contains all parameter values for each iteration of the configuration is specified at the test level. The Microsoft Excel file is uploaded as a data table in the Test Resources module, and associated with the business process test configuration in the Parameters tab of the Test Plan module.

• At the configuration level (overriding any test-level data resources). You can supply an alternate Microsoft Excel file, overriding the test-level data resources file that is associated with the business process test as a whole. The Microsoft Excel file is uploaded as a data table in the Test Resources module, and associated with a specific configuration of the business process test in the Test Configurations tab of the Test Plan module.

For task details, see the HPE Application Lifecycle Management User Guide: How to Associate Dynamic Data.

Consider the following business process test and its three configurations for a banking application comprising three business components: Login, ApproveLoan, and Logout:

• The entire business process test tests the following aspects of the application:

  • Access rights are correct, based on the identity of the user.

  • Load is handled well, such as when a bank manager approves many loans using an external list of data created in Microsoft Excel.

  • A bank manager can approve urgent, high priority loans, based on a different external list created in Microsoft Excel. This external list is to be further narrowed down to include only those loans that have manager authorization.

• To test access rights, a configuration named UserAccessData accesses static data, which provides different values for the test parameters Username and Password for three test iterations: One iteration provides the login information for an average loan processor, another for a bank manager, and the third for a system administrator for the application. Each of these users has different permissions and access to the application. The parameter values are specified within ALM.

• A configuration named LoanData accesses dynamic data for one hundred different values for the LoanID input parameters used by the ApproveLoan component. These values are provided in a Microsoft Excel test resource of the data table type. A test iteration is run for each value in the Microsoft Excel file, so the test instance that uses this configuration runs one hundred times.

  Configurations can supply data values for test iterations and component iterations.

• To test urgent loans, a configuration-level data resource can be defined to override the test-level data resource for the business process test. This data resource, UrgentLoanData, only contains high priority loans that are to be approved. One test iteration is run for each value that matches the filter criteria in the alternative configuration-level Microsoft Excel file (in this case, urgent loans that have been authorized for approval).