How to Use Test Parameters

This task describes how to work with test parameters.

To learn more about test parameters, see Test Parameters Overview.

Business Process Testing/UFT: When working with a business-process or GUI-Test test type, different options are available for working with test parameters. For more details, see the HPE Business Process Testing User Guide: How to Handle Data in Business Process Testing, and the HPE Unified Functional Testing User Guide.

1. Prerequisites

   A manual test is defined in the test plan tree. For more details, see How to Plan Tests in ALM.

2. Define test parameters

   In the Parameters tab, plan and define the test parameters you will use in the test design steps. For user interface details, see New Test Parameter/Test Parameter Details Dialog Box.

3. Add parameters to a design step

   While creating design steps, click Insert Parameter  to add a parameter to a design step. The Parameters dialog box opens. For user interface details, see Parameters Tab/Parameters Dialog Box.

   Alternatively, in the description or expected result of a design step, type a new or existing parameter name, using the syntax <<<parameter name>>>. If you typed a new parameter, it is automatically added to the test parameter grid.

   If you apply formatting to a parameter name in a design step, you must apply the same formatting to the entire parameter name, including the <<< and >>> characters. For example, if you want to italicize the parameter <<<password>>>, you must italicize the entire string <<<password>>> and not just the word password.

4. Assign actual values to parameters

   Before you run a test, ALM prompts you to assign actual values to the parameters included in the test. The actual value is the data that is used during the test run. You can take the parameter default values and use them as actual values.

   ALM prompts you to assign actual values at three stages of designing your test. For user interface details, see Called Test Parameters/Parameters of Test Dialog Box.

   According to your testing policy, you can assign actual values at any of these stages:

   • When you call a test with parameters. If you assign actual values to parameters when you call a test, the values are automatically applied to each test instance that you create from the calling test.

   • When you create a test instance. If you assign actual values to parameters when you create a test instance, the values are automatically applied to each run of the test instance. You can also assign actual values to test instances in the Execution Settings view of a test instance. see Test Instance Details - Execution Settings View.

   • When you run a test. If you assign actual values to parameters for a test run, the values apply to that test run only. If you do not assign actual values at this stage, the test will run with null values.

   At each of these stages, you can only assign values to parameters that have not already been assigned values.