Software QA Testing - a guide for beginners

Are you familiar with any Defect Tracking Tool?

2011-08-18T15:22:00.001-07:00

In past I have used Quality Center which is a very popular tool from HP. I have used it to plan my testing, to write test cases and loading it to test lab based on testing scenarios. I have experienced using MS Product Studio and MS Team Foundation and One open source tool call Bug Tracker

Why testing?

2011-08-18T15:21:00.001-07:00

Testing helps to, quality of software can be measured. Testing helps to find defects in software product from different point of views. Testing gives confidence about software's quality.

What is functional specification?

2011-08-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

It is a document describing how your end product, your program look and work. It defines what is the application supposed to be, What it supposed to do and who will be using it in general.

How to find elements by CSS?

2011-07-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

Before learning how to use CSS, lets learn little bit about CSS itself.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A Web page with no styling appears as white background and black font. It it the browser default style. CSS adds style to a web page.sELECTORS rhe most mportant aspect of CSS. It helps to select tag to apply certain style.Two major selectros are: ID and Class selector.
ID selector starts with '#'. It applies only to the tag in a page that contains id=name, and only one element on a page.
HTML:

<!--

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> 
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>example one</title>

</head>

     <body>

<h1>this is header</h1>

</div>

<ul>

<li>We are <em>list items</em></li>

<li>in <strong>lefty</strong>.</li>

</ul>

</body>

</html>

-->

CSS:

/* Applies to id="header" */

# header

{

text-align:center;

color:red;

}

Class:
Class selector can be applied to any number of tag in any page. It starts with a dot (.) followed by the class name. Name is case sensitive and should begin with a letter. The class selector's style applies those tag that have class name.
Example:

HTML:

<div id="heading">
<h1>Heading</h1>
<ul>
<li>names</li>
</ul>
<p class="mark">para1.</p>
</div>

CSS:

/* class selector */
.mark{
background-color:#ff0;
}

Selenium IDE and its useful features

2011-06-22T23:41:00.000-07:00

Selenium IDE, a firefox extension is the easiest way to record, edit, debug and run web test. Selenium is a web application testing system and selenium IDE (sometime refereed as SIDE) is a part of it. Once download, it appears as a Firefox plug-in under 'tools'. Selenium IDE works only with Firefox browser. A Selenium test recorded in Selenium IDE can be run in other browsers with the Selenium Server.

Installation :
You can download Selenium IDE from:
http://selenium-ide.openqa.org/download.jsp

If you want to open it, lunch the Firefox browser then go to Tools> Selenium IDE.You will see the following window.

Selenium IDE is a lightweight tool and it doesn't have a lot of features as well. Some of the important features are:

Base URL: The base URL of the application. Selenium IDE automatically captures it. Test starts with this URL and all 'open' command will be relative to it unless a full path is specified with 'open' command

User Extensions: You can add new actions and assertions in selenium IDE with javascript. Create your own user-extension and save it as .js file. Go to Tools-> Options and browse your js file here. Next time when you open lunch your Selenium IDE, it will be available in command drop-down. To learn more about Selenium User Extension visit here.

Selenium HTML-Testrunner framework with 2.0rc2

2011-06-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

There are so many languages and frameworks for selenium, such as JAVA, jUnit framework, and C# .Net. These are excellent if you are comfortable with one of the languages and tools. It will help you to create dynamic, advanced test framework according to your test need. Moreover, it opens door to use powerful development language in your test. For example if and else logic.
However, this HTML framework is easy and requires low maintenance. It is powerful enough for most of the automation need and you can use javascript to make your test more meaningful if necessary. You as an automation tester do not need development language either.

Please follow these steps if you want to adopt this for your test automation purpose. I have used website facebook login page for this tutorial. I am assuming you know about selenium IDE and recording the recording. If answer is ‘no’ then going to this page and come back here.

Download Selenium Server

Go to http://seleniumhq.org/download/. It is also known as Selenium Server.
If you cannot find stable build find from this page: http://code.google.com/p/selenium/downloads/list.
It is a .ZIP file. Once download is completed unzip it in C:\selenium
Test it. To test it runs properly follow the following step:

1. Open command line.

2. Go to the folder that contains the selenium server. (You can go using DOS cd command to navigate from one folder to another.). Type following commands: java -jar selenium-server-standalone-2.0rc2.jar. If it runs successfully, you will see the following screen:

If it doesn't run check the error message. Usually, problem is with the port. Selenium server’s default port is 4444. If it is taken already, problem occurs. Easy solution is to restart your machine.

Next step is to run your script from the command line. Before I explain more about it, let me share my file and folder structure with you. Please look at the files/folders inside 'selenium' folder carefully before you try to run script from the command line.

fb_1

I have stored my Scripts in this fb_1 folder. Second picture is about where I have put my Selenium Server 2.0

In this folder I have my script file 'login'. I hope you have saved or renamed all your script with .html extension. If not please do that.

testsuite:

I have created one more .html file named 'testsuite'. (Or you have directly save your test script as "save test suite as"). Here I am going to explain about HTML file I have saved as testsuite.

This .html file is a part of selenium HTML-testrunner framework and should be kept inside same folder. My script is associated with this file. Let me copy and paste what I have inside my testsuite file:

It is a batch file to run test with one click.

result1:

It is the result. It should get updated after each test run.

selenium-2.0rc2

This is simply unzipped selenium server.

Now we are ready to run our test. You can name your folder and file name anything. But make sure your command is pointing to right path.

Running Test:

I am able to run my test successfully with the help of following command:

java -jar selenium-server-standalone-2.0rc2.jar -htmlSuite "*firefox" "http://www.facebook.com" "c:\\selenium\fb_1\testsuite.html" "c:\\selenium\fb_1\result1.html"

This command invokes test runner. This looks like:

To run test in different browser replace *firefox with :-
*chrome
*iexplore
*safari
Once you can run your script successfully, save your command in a notepad with .bat extension. Next time when you want to run your test, just double-click this batch file. You can schedule your batch file to run automatically at a specific time as well. For this use windows scheduled Task utility. You can add as many test script as you want in your batch file. Another will run automatically once previous stops running.
Always remember, Selenium is an open source tool, you might get so many errors before a successful test run. Try to make fewer errors from your side.

Selenium - All you need

2011-06-09T12:19:00.000-07:00

Selenium Interview Questions - Answers

HTML-Test-runner-rc2.0 framework -how to set up?

On the way...
Selenium Starter Kit

Selenium IDE - Introduction and its useful features

2. Selenium Scripting - Simple

3. How to create a test suite in Selenium?

5. Variable substitution, Store command, regular expression.

6. Javascript solutions for selenium.

7. Using xPath - xPath solutions.

8. How to find elements by CSS? - very useful

How to create test suite using jUnit and eclipse in selenium

ISTQB - ALL YOU NEED

2011-06-01T13:36:00.000-07:00

Know before getting started

ISTQB Questions and Answers

ISTQB Question set # 1

2011-05-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

Highlight the area next to the 'Answer:' for right answer.

1. Which one of the following are non-functional testing methods?
a. System testing
b. Usability testing
c. Performance testing
d. Both b & c

Answer: d

2. Pick the best definition of quality
a. Quality is job one
b. Zero defects
c. Conformance to requirements
d. Work as designed

Answer:C

3. Boundary value testing...
a. Is the same as equivalence partitioning tests
b. Test boundary conditions on, below and above the edges of input and output equivalence classes
c. Tests combination of input circumstances
d. Is used in white box testing strategy

Answer: b

5. White Box Techniques are also called as

a. Structural Testing

b. Design Based Testing

c. Error Guessing Technique

d. Experience Based Technique

Answer: a

6. Which of the following is a MAJOR task of test planning?

a Scheduling test analysis and design tasks.

b Initiating corrective actions.

c Monitoring progress and test coverage.

d Measuring and analyzing results.

Answer: a

7. Where may functional testing be performed?

a. At system and acceptance testing levels only.

b. At all test levels.

c. At all levels above integration testing.

d. At the acceptance testing level only.

Answer: a

8. Who would USUALLY perform debugging activities?

a. Developers
b. Analysts

c. Testers

d. Incident Managers

Answer: a

9. As part of which test process do you determine the exit criteria?
a. Test planning.
b. Evaluating exit criteria and reporting.
c. Test closure.
d. Test control.

Answer: a

10.What is beta testing?
a. Testing performed by potential customers at the developers location.
b. Testing performed by potential customers at their own locations.
c. Testing performed by product developers at the customer's location.
d. Testing performed by product developers at their own locations.

Answer: b

11. A thermometer measures temperature in whole degrees only. If the temperature falls below 18 degrees, the heating is switched off. It is switched on again when the temperature reaches 21 degrees. What are the best values in degrees to cover all equivalence partitions?

a. 15, 19 and 25.
b. 17, 18 and19.
c. 18, 20 and22.
d. 16, 26 and 32.

Answer: a

12. Which of the following is TRUE?
a. Confirmation testing is testing fixes to a set of defects and Regression testing is testing to establish whether any defects have been introduced as a result of changes.
b. Confirmation testing is testing to establish whether any defects have been introduced as a result of changes and Regression testing is testing fixes to a set of defects.
c. Confirmation testing and Regression testing are both testing to establish whether any defects have been introduced as a result of changes.
d. Confirmation testing and Regression testing are both testing fixes to a set of defects.

Answer: a

13. Deliverables of the test design phase include all of there except:
a. Test Data
b. Test Data Plan
c. Test Summary report
d. Test Summary Plan

Answer: c

14. Which of the following is not decided in the test-planning phase?
a) Schedules and deliverables
b) Hardware and software
c) Entry and exit criteria
d) Types of test cases

Answer: d

15. Deciding how much testing is enough should take into account:
i. Level of Risk including Technical and Business product and project risk
ii. Project constraints such as time and budget
iii. Size of Testing Team
iv. Size of the Development Team

a) i, ii, iii are true and iv is false
b) i, iv are true and ii is false
c) i, ii are true and iii, iv are false
d) ii, iii, iv are true and i is false

Referring to ISTQB Syllabus:

1.1.5 How Much Testing is Enough? (K2)
Deciding how much testing is enough should take account of the level of risk, including technical, safety, and business risks, and project constraints such as time and budget. Risk is discussed further in Chapter 5.

Testing should provide sufficient information to stakeholders to make informed decisions about the release of the software or system being tested, for the next development step or handover to customers.

Answer: c

16. Which of the following is not phase of the Fundamental Test Process?
a) Test Planning and Control
b) Test implementation and Execution
c) Requirement Analysis
d) Evaluating Exit criteria and reporting

Referring to ISTQB Syllabus:

1.4 Fundamental Test Process (K1) 35 minutes

The fundamental test process consists of the following main activities:

Test planning and control
Test analysis and design
Test implementation and execution
Evaluating exit criteria and reporting
Test closure activities

Answer: c

17. COTS is:

A. Commercial off the shelf software

B. Compliance of the software

C. Change control of the software

D. Capable off the shelf software

Answer: a

18. The bug tracking system will need to capture these phases for each bug.
I. Phase injected
II. Phase detected
III. Phase fixed
IV. Phase removed

A. I, II and III
B. I, II and IV
C. II, III and IV
D. I, III and I

Answer: B

19. Correct bug life cycle
A. Open, Assigned, Fixed, Closed
B. Open, Fixed, Assigned, Closed
C. Assigned, Open, Closed, Fixed
D. Assigned, Open, Fixed, Closed

Answer: A

Functions available in SQL

2011-05-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

There are two types of SQL functions:

Single row functions: This type of functions operate in single row only and result one result per row. Some useful single row functions are: Date, Character, Conversion, Number. It is usually used with SELECT statement, WHERE and ORDER BY clause
Multiple row fictions: Also known as group function, this type of functions manipulate group of rows to give one result per group of rows.

Character Functions:

Character functions accept character data as an input and can return both character and numeric values. Character functions can be divided into case-conversion and character manipulation types.

LOWER, UPPER, INITCAP are the three case conversion functions.

Some Character -manipulations functions are : CONCAT, SUBSTR, INSTR, LENGTH, LPAD, TRIM

Number functions:
Number functions accept numeric input and return numeric input.
ROUND: rounds to the nearest unit of 100.
TRUNC: truncates the column, or value to n decimal places.
MOD: finds the reminder of the first argument divided by second argument. It is frequently used to determine whether a value is odd or even.

Date related functions:
Oracle's default date format is : DD-MON-RR. RR date is similar to YY but it also specify century. RR determines the default value for century in INSERT.
SYSDATE function: returns current database server date and time. If your database in London and you are in California, it will display London current time. CURRENT_DATE functions returns date, time in the session time zone. So use it for California time.
Some other date manipulation functions are: MONTHS_BETWEEN, ADD_MONTHS, NEST_DAY, ROUND, TRUNC.
Date function can be combined with Arithmetic function: date+number, Date-number, date-date, Date +number/24.

Conversion Functions:
Nesting Functions:

Database Related Interview Questions

2011-05-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

This is useful for advanced level Database Test Professional and Database Developer and DBA beginner. All questions-answers are based on Oracle Database Management System.

1. What is a Database?

An organized collection, storage of information.

2. What is DBMS?

To manage database, you need some type of system which, that system in Database Management System(DBMS). So, it is a program that stores, retrieves, and modifies data in database based on request.

3. Name some types of databases.

There are four main type of databases: hierarchical, network, relational, and object relational (this type is a new one).

4. What is Data Models?

It is a model developed before building a database system to explore the ideas, improve and understand overall database design. A data model should contains details for database developers, Database Administrators to build and maintain a database system.

5. What is a unique identifiers(UID)?

UID is any combination of attributes or relationships, or both that serves to distinguish entity. Each entity occurrence must be uniquely identifiable. Each attributes that is part of UID is tagged with #, secondary UID with(#).

6.What is primary key and foreign key?
here

7. How do you operate relational database?
By using SQL language. To access database, you can use SQL statements. There are other application programs and tools are also available. But these also use SQL language based on user's request.

8. Tell me about different types of SQL statements.
Data Manipulation Language(DML) ----- SELECT, INSERT,UPDATE,DELETE, MERGE
Data Definition Language(DML) ----- CREATE, ALTER, DROP, RENAME, TRUNCATE, COMMENT
Data Control Language(DCL)----- GRANT, REVOKE
Transaction Control----- COMMIT, ROLLBACK, SAVEPOINT

9. What is table join, which SQL statement do you use to join tables?
Joining brings together data that is stored in different tables by specifying the link between them. It helps to display data from multiple tables. SELECT statement is used to join tables.

10. What is a Null value?
If a row lacks a data value for particular column, that is called a null. Null value means value is unavailable or inapplicable. It is not a zero or blank space. Some constraints like NOT NULL or PRIMARY KEY prevent null value being used in the column.

11. What is Concatenation Operator?
It is used to link columns to another columns, arithmetic expressions, constant value to make a single output column. Operator sign is - || and it is used with select statement where output column name comes after AS keyword. For example:
SELECT column1||column2 AS "OutputColumnName" from table

12. What is a Literal Character Strings ?
A literal is a character, a number, or a date that is included in a SELECT statement. It is not a column name or alias, it is something you use between || and || which will be displayed with query result. ' ' is used for date and character literal. It is used with select statement.

13. What is 'Rules of Precedence'?
It determines the order in which expression are evaluated and calculated. You can override the default order by using parentheses around the calculation that you want to calculate first.

14.How do you display the Table structure?
You can display table structure by using DESCRIBE command.It will display the column names, the data types and constraints(if any).

15: what is SQL Function?
here

16: what is RR Date Format?
It is the default date format of some database including Oracle.The default date format is: DD-MON-RR. RR date is similar to YY but it also specify century. RR determines the default value for century in INSERT.

17. Explain about different types of joins in brief.
Natural joins:The NATURAL JOIN clause is based on the all columns in the two tables that have the same name and data types.
Self Join: Joins a table to itself.
Nonequijoins: A join condition containing something other then an equality(=) operator.
Outer Joins: returning results with no direct match.
LEFT OUTER JOINS
RIGHT OUTER JOINS
CROSS JOINS

18. What is a schema?
A schema is a collection of objects such as table, views.

What is Relational Databae Management System(RDBMS) ?

2011-05-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

A relational database is a collections of relations among two-dimensional tables. In this model, you create several tables to store pieces of information. There are operators/a set of operators that to produce the relations.

In RDBMS, Each row of data in a table is uniquely identified by a primary key and logically relate data from multiple tables using foreign key.

Table: Employee

Employee_ID	First_Name	Last_Name	Department_ID
101	Kobe	Bryant	55
102	Rhojan	Rondo	50
103	Ray	Allan	45

Table Name: Departments

Department_ID_ID	Dept Name	Manager_ID
10	LAL	4
11	CEL	34
11	CEL	4

Data about different entities is stored in different tables.You may need to combined information from two tables to get a particular information. In RDBMS, information is related by foreign keys that refers to the primary key in the same table or another table.
Above, table 'Employees' contains information about employees and table 'Departments' contains information about departments. Department_ID which is Foreign Key in Employees table is Primary Key in Departments.

There are some rules/guidelines for assigning Primary Key and Foreign Key.
You cannot use duplicate value in primary key
Primary key generally cannot be changed
Foreign key is based on data value and is a logical pointer.
A foreign key must reference either a primary key or a unique value column.
A foreign key value must match an existing primary key value or unique key value, otherwise it must be null.
RDBMS are composed of objects or relations and are governed by constraints.

Database Testing - Conceptual Understanding

2011-04-21T13:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever think about what happens when you deposit any amount in your bank account?
when you deposit amount, an event occurs, a program is executed and changes the database values according to event occurred in a corresponding way. It should not only add deposit to one table and not affect other relational tables.

Basic theory is ACID, basic properties of a database transaction:

Automaticity:
An action must be either completed or aborted. The transaction cannot be partially successful. It must do ALL what it supposed to do or NOTHING. If one part of transaction fails entire the database transaction must be aborted.
If the transaction successfully completes it is said to commit. The system is responsible for ensuring that all changes to the database have been saved. If the transaction does not successfully complete, it is said to abort. The system is responsible for undoing, or rolling back, all changes the transaction has made.

Consistency:
The transaction takes the resources from one consistent state to another. Application developer is also responsible who must make sure that all known integrity constraints are enforced by the application level as well. All integrity check, constraints, Rules, and triggers must be applied during transaction.

Isolation:
Transactions execute in sequence. Each one starts after the previous one completes. Execution of one transaction is not affected by the operations of another since they do not overlap in time. The execution of each transaction is isolated from all others. (Serial execution is inadequate from a performance perspective.)

Durability:
Changes made by the committed transaction are permanent, data should be changed permanently.

A tester needs to think about capacity of database; size while deploying the QA box, how much data is there and how system is behaving with different size of data. Data mapping and Default data integrity are also important. (consistency). Now a days, Big business Software developments use OOP (Object Oriented Programming). Front end JAVA, C#, and back end Oracle, SQL Server. Another important aspect of RDBMS and OOP is related ‘object’. Mapping Objects to the relational DB based on relationship is one of the major tedious, but sensitive tasks. (Just a gist of data mapping, I am stopping this topic right here, because data mapping is a heavy weight topic and more relevant to talk within ETL).
Compatibility is another big issue. Tester is not the one to decide about what is compatible with what; it should be more on project level than test level. But, a tester can do parallel testing, migration testing, etc. after migration to new version or after adding new system.

Stored Procedure Testing:
A SP needs to broken into action based on functionality and needs to be tested separately. A tester can write negative and positive test cases based on number of arguments, data types, orders of arguments, and return value and data type of return value being passed. People often consider it is difficult (being white box type) but. If there is an existing document explaining all these, SP test is not that complex. Of course knowledge of SQL language is vital.
Other important aspects of Database testing are data type. Sometime developers mess up using same kind of data-type in front end and back end. A DB tester should make sure about it. Data type, size is also a performance related issue. It always make your marks as good tester if you to bring those issues during meetings. (if you are sure about what kind of Data-type is right from business, performance and other technical point of view).
Data-Driven Testing is a method to test many data with same script. Creating a script to provide data is an important task of a tester. There are many automation tools to create a capture and playback the script.

Software testing theory

2011-03-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

Frequently Used Software Testing Terms - Must for interview

Importance of Software Testing Theory

Software Testing Lifecycle(STLC), V-Model

Traceability matrix

Roll of a Tester in different phases of SDLC

Software Testing Techniques

Bug Life Cycle - BLC

Bug Classification - Severity, Priority and Triage

Web Application Testing Tricks

Basic- Database Testing - A DB Software Tester should know

Database Testing - Conceptual understanding

Test Planning, Test Plan

Team Foundation Server(TFS)

SCRUM Process and role of a Tester

Basic/Useful Technologies for a Software Tester:

Useful Protocols

Useful UNIX commands

2011-03-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Sometime rose's just a rose.

No pearl--- no girl

ISTQB preparation guide - 1. Know this before getting started.

2011-03-15T19:54:00.000-07:00

- 40 multiple-choice questions, total time - 60 minutes. No negative point. 65% is required to pass the exam.

- Questions are from the syllabus. Read it carefully focusing on the TERMS given on the top of the chapters before jumping to other books or joining any training. Questions are not that hard but answers are confusing and similar.

- Prepare based on K1, K2, K3 and K4 breakup of syllabus, questions are divided according to it : K1-50%, K2-30%, K3, K4-20%(most of the time)

Fundamental of testing - 7
Testing throughout the Software Life-Cycle -           6
Static Techniques                    3
Test Design Techniques          12
Test Management                  8
Tool support for Testing        4

- Prepare some software testing terms. Go here to know some software testing terms.

Just a Thought

2011-03-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

* few snaps of Butchard Garden Canada

QA Interview Questions - all you need

2011-03-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

Software QA Testing Interview Questions-Answers

QA HR Interview Question-Answers

QA Technical Interview Questions-Answers

Selenium Interview Questions-Answers

Database Related Interview Questions

Frequently Used Software Testing Terms - Must for interview

Butchart Garden, Canada

2011-03-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

JAVA Topics

2011-02-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

Under Construction...

Selenium Interview Queations-Answers

2011-02-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

How do you use javascript into script?
by putting javascript{} into the target or value box within the Selenium IDE.

What is Selenium?

Selenium is a widely used automation tool for web based testing. It is easy to learn and use.

What is Selenium 2.x?

The NEXT GEN selenium. It is the Selenium Server-Webdriver replacing Selenium RC

What is required?

Basic knowledge of HTML, web based testing and web technologies is required. No other software development language is required. JAVA Script is nice to have.

From where to download?

Go to Selenium’s official site for all the information about it. You can download different version and mirror from its official site. which is -http://seleniumhq.org/

Getting started with selenium.

Selenium is a very good tool for Acceptance and Cross-Browser testing. It is also very useful for Functional testing. About how - Selenium has different components. Lets download selenium IDE’s latest version. Selenium IDE is a Firefox add-on, version 2+. Once it is download, you can record and play scripts in Firefox. I will talk in detail about how to use it in different section. for now lets download IDE, play around it and get familiar with most commonly used selenium commands. Selenium script is convertible in different development languages such and JAVA, C#, Pearl. With the help of Selenium-RC, user can run it different browsers and language environment.

How to use selenium IDE?

For now please go to http://seleniumhq.org

What is the selenium's recording language?

HTML

What are the steps to run automation using selenium?

The very basic steps are:

1. Record the test steps using selenium-IDE

2. Modify the script according to the testing needs. Add validation points, Java Scripts, Time-out etc.

3. Run the test

4. View the result after test run complete analyze.

Automation steps using Selenium C# language

1.Record the Test Steps using selenium-IDE. Test will be recorded in HTML language
2. Modify the script
3. Convert the scripts into c# using selenium IDE

4. Open the Visual Studio and create the test project there. Add a c# file

5. Copy your c# script from Seleniun-IDE and paste into c# file you have created earlier. You can modify your script here as well such as adding if-else. This is the advantage of using other language.Call the Reporting file from here to store the result.

6. Compile the code and debug if error occurs.

7. Add the Compiles DLLs in NUNIT

8. Run the test.

9. Analyze the test result.

What is Selenium Test Suite? how to develop it?
Grouping test cases together as test suite is one of the major concept of software testing. In selenium, it is a HTML file that contains links of test cases. Test Runner is a Selenium IDE plug-in to run the test suite.

What is SIDE?

Selenium IDE

How to run test case recorded using Selenium IDE in other browsers?
With the help of Selenium -Remote Control

What are three major parts, components of IDE?

Command, Target, and Value

How do you edit the recorded command in IDE?

By selecting them and choosing the desired value from drop-down.

What is the command to run selenium server from command prompt?

Open the command prompt, CD to the folder (CD Command) having selenium server and run command : java -jar selenium-server.jar

What is the Selenium server default port number?

4444

How to run Selenium server, other than the default port 4444?

java -jar selenium-server.jar -port

Name some common commands
click, type, verify, assert, open

What is the purpose of 'verify' and 'assert' commands?

'assert’ or ‘verify’ are used for verification checks. Test case keeps running if verify command fails, test case stops running if assert fails.

What command is used for synchronizing the test execution?

Commands ending with ‘AndWait’ is useful for synchronization purpose. It makes script to wait until the page or element to be available after the action has been made. To handle ajax, ‘waitFor’ commands is used.

QA HR Interview Questions

2010-01-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

Tell me about yourself

Click for answer

Why are you looking for another job?

Again, be positive. "I have to say that I really enjoyed my years at Corporation. There are a lot of good people over there. But I am looking for a more progressive organization with greater opportunities for growth, and recognition. I am looking for a team to join where I can make real contributions and advance my career."

Why QA?
I always had an interest and desire to know about how all computer related technology works together. I always had a curiosity why certain application such and such features? Is there a way that I can break it? That’s the major things which drag my attention to QA Testing.

What do you know about our company?
Before interview, spent some time to know the company. Find out as much as you can and make a note. So you can answer some other question related to it like Why do you want to work for us? Go online and Google about company. Also review other job posting from the same company. It will give you a lot idea about what type of person they are looking for QA position. For example, a job positing for a .NET developer from same company can give you some idea that they are using .NET framework and you can prepare about it in advance.
Also find out about products, size, income, reputation, image, skills, history and philosophy. If they ask about why do you like you can answer something ..always want to work for well reputed company like ...

Where do you see yourself in 1-2-4 year?
Doing something meaning in software testing field, working together with great professional… I see myself technically more knowledgeable, more efficient in my work and a dependable pillar of organization or team I will work for.

What are your career goals?

Short term - "I want to be the best in my current position, while learning additional responsibilities. This, in itself, will assure my commitment to the firm and raise me to the next level of responsibility and promotion. I see myself wanting to stay technical but learn the necessary skills to lead people and projects."

Long term - "After proving my abilities, I see myself in a firm with the possibility of moving into a level of management that allows me to keep my skills sharp."

What is your strength?

(Always have answer before interview)Dependability, willingness to work hard, eagerness, fast-learner, technical skills, politeness, and promptness, expressed in concrete terms and good examples.

What is your weakness?
Always prepare an answer for this question before interview. You can should make interviewer to realize that you know your mistake and you are working to improve it.
example answer: Based on the job requirement, I believe I am an outstanding match. This position requires expertise on ...., which is one of my great strength and subject of interest. However I had a small concern about my ability to..... But I feel I have improved a lot in this area in my past job and won't cause any problem to perform my job.

Why have you been out of the work for so long?
Give an honest reason if you have one such as family change, relocation, pursuing degree or something else. You do not need to think much if you have one.
One good example answer is : My area of interest is ....(interest should be this number 1 job requirement, for example if they are looking for a load tester, say my interest is load testing) and really want to focus on this area at this point of my career. Which automatically has limited my job search. So rather than jumping into next opportunity, I have decided to consider only the right opportunity. Fortunately this job requirement is the one i am looking for.

Do you prefer to work alone or as a part of a team?

Both. Describe two examples working as a team player and working individually and conclude with you have been been successful in both work situations.

What do you know about our company?

Before interview, spent some time to know the company. Find out as much as you can and make a note. So you can answer some other question related to it like Why do you want to work for us? Go online and Google about company. Also review other job posting from the same company. It will give you a lot idea about what type of person they are looking for QA position. For example, a job positing for a .NET developer from same company can give you some idea that they are using .NET framework and you can prepare about it in advance.

Also find out about products, size, income, reputation, image, skills, history and philosophy. If they ask about why do you like you can answer something ..always want to work for well reputed company like ...

What if dev-team is not ready to accept your bug?
There is very less chance of this to happen if bug is written with full detail information for a developer to reproduce the incident. In case if it happens, and a developer is not ready to trust your outcome, a constrictive way of communication can helps a lot to avoid such bad feeling between developers and testers. In the time being, mutual trust can be developed with collaboration rather than battles, communication bugs with facts without criticizing anyone and being neutral. Sometime it is more psychological rather. But believe and I have experience from past that, a good developer never takes a bug as a personal criticism on him, he rater thinks information provided will help him to improve his own work. Anyway,as a software testers, I should be fair to and supportive of my colleagues, and promote cooperation with software developers.

Software QA Testing Interview Questions

2010-01-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Why testing?
Testing helps to, quality of software can be measured. Testing helps to find defects in software product from different point of views. Testing gives confidence about software's quality,

Are you familiar with any Defect Tracking Tool?
In past I have used Quality Center which is a very popular tool from HP. I have used it to plan my testing, to write test cases and loading it to test lab based on testing scenarios. I have experienced using MS Product Studio and MS Team Foundation and One open source tool call Bug Tracker.

Have you ever written a Test Plan?
I have written short UAT test plan in past. This was focused on how to conduct UAT. It had features like UAT Prerequisites, Participant and there Roles and testing responsibilities, Schedule, Featured to be tested, Pass/ Fail Criteria, and signing of activities. And I have contributed in some parts of Master test plan.

Have you ever written Test Case?
I have written different kind of test cases in past based on the requirement and communication with other related team members. I have also written some scenario based User stories as well.

Tell me about your experience on different level of testing .
There are many different ways and levels to test software based on project SDLC. It is always confusing. Tell same this what you have written in resume. But don't miss these
Integration Testing.
System Testing:
System testing one of the major level testing that cannot be bypass. During this level of testing, a QA tests system as a whole and verifies it works as expected. There are some specific types of testing that can be during during system level testing. some are : Recovery testing :( how well the system recovers the failure.) Security Testing : (capability of system to defend itself ), Load & Stress Testing (System is capable to handle maximum load and figure out the extreme load points), Performance Testing (determine the processing speed)Installation Testing (Installation & uninstallation is checked out in the target platform.)
Regression Testing
Acceptance Testing

What is Scenario based Testing ?
A scenario is a hypothetical story, used to help a person think through a complex problem or system. Scenarios are used to describe the functionality and behavior of a (software) system in a user-centered perspective. As scenarios form a kind of abstract level test cases for the system under development.Scenarios cover a number of steps/cases. In Test Director, after completing writing test cases, a tester can create test sets adding possible test case in it to make a test scenerio. Test suites and scenarios can be used in concert for complete system tests. How to create a scenerio; The scenario creation procedure:
Find all actors (roles played by persons/external systems) interacting with the system.
Find all (relevant system external) events.
Determine inputs, results and output of the system.
Determine system boundaries.
Create coarse overview scenarios (instance or type scenarios on business process or task level).
Prioritize scenarios according to importance, assure that the scenarios cover system functionality
Create a step-by-step description of events and actions for each scenario (task level).
Create an overview diagram and a dependency chart.
Have users review and comment on the scenarios and diagrams.
Extend scenarios by refining the scenario description, break down tasks to single working steps.
Model alternative flows of actions, specify exceptions and how to react to exceptions.
Factor out abstract scenarios (sequences of interactions appearing in more than one scenario).
Include non-functional (performance) requirements and qualities in scenarios.(if in scope)
Have users check and validate the scenarios (Formal reviews)
(This answer is enough to answer in interview. To learn more about it go to Here In this Kaner, has explained in detail.

When Does Testing Stop?
Testing might stop when Deadline has been met.
Testing comes to a halt when the budget has been exhausted.
Testing might stop when all test cases have been run or when a predetermined percentages have been passed
Testing might stop when a cettain coverage % is made.
Testing might stop when bug rate, severity/priority falls to comfortable zone.

What is Test Matrix?

Data collection mechanism. Tt provideas a stricture way of testing the effects of combining variables, events or hardware. Table’s row and columns head describes the test conditions where cells keeps the execution result.

Tell me about test process or fundamental test process.

Test planning:

It starts with Test Planning phase. The main activities in this phase are defining the objectives of test and creating on the high level testing approach.
Test Analysis and design:
General testing objectives and high level design are transformed into detail test conditions, test cases and test deliverable. Other major tasks during this phase are prioritizing the test, designing detail test cases, gathering required test data, identifying tool, infrastructure required for test, designing and setting up test environment, creating requirement traceability matrix.

Test execution:

Creating, running, and managing test suites based on priority, updating test data, updating test cases, automation scripts creation(if necessary), logging test results and many more activities.

Exit criteria evaluation and reporting:

Evaluating the pre-defined exit criteria are met or not, assessing if more testing is required for this level of testing and ready to move to next level or not, or any change in exit criteria is necessary. Creating an test summary report.

Test closure :

Usually happens when software is ready for release or certain milestone has been achieved, a test project is completed. Some major test closure activities are: checking the deliverables are ready or not, reviewing and taking appropriate action to open bugs, handling over project to maintenance/production, documenting acceptance test plan, documenting lesson learned for future test purpose.

QA Technical Interview Questions

2010-01-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

QA Technical Interview Questions:

What is Protocol?
Protocol is defined as the format or rules of transmitting the data. When two or more computers communicate in Internet, they must have a common way in which to communicate. They use protocol to do it. Simply, protocol is an agreement by which two or more computers can communicate.

What is HTML?
HTML Stands for Hyper Text Mark-up Language is a mark up language for describing a web page. HTML defines the syntax and placement tag of web page.

What is a HTML tag?
HTML markup tags are usually called HTML tags. The basic structure of an HTML document includes tags, which surround content and apply meaning to it. HTML tags are keywords surrounded by angle brackets like . HTML tags normally come in pairs like and
The first tag in a pair is the start tag, the second tag is the end tag Start and end tags are also called opening tags and closing tags

What is an attribute?
In general, an attribute is a property or characteristic of tag.. Attributes are properties that extend or refine the tag’s functions. In HTML, Attributes are added within a tag to extend or modify the tags’ action.
What are properties?How page elements (whether it is heading or a block of codes) should be displayed in page is describe by property. Two main section of selector are selector and value.
o Selector {property:value}

What is an Element?
An element is anything that you define with XHTML tags.
Tags tend not to do much more than mark the beginning and end of an element. Elements are the bits that make up web pages. You would say, for example, that everything that is in-between and includes the and tags is the body element. As another example, whereas '' are tags, '' is a title element.

What is Function?
A function is a rule which relates the values of one variable quantity to the values of another variable quantity. A function contains code that will be executed by an event or by a call to the function. You may call a function from anywhere within a page (or even from other pages if the function is embedded in an external .js file).
Functions can be defined both in the and in the section of a document. However, to assure that a function is read/loaded by the browser before it is called, it could be wise to put functions in the section

What is OOP?
Object oriented programming is a technique for programming – a paradigm for writing ‘‘good’’ programs for a set of problems. OOP is programming which is oriented around objects, thus taking advantage of Encapsulation, Polymorphism, and Inheritance to increase code reuse and decrease code maintenance.
Object Oriented Programming enables you to put data and functions in one container. This container is referred to as an object. An object enables you to model your application as closely as possible to the real world

What is an object?
An object is contains methods and attributes and data that work together. Objects are usually grouped into classes. A class contains objects that all have the same operations or methods behaving in the same way and attributes or properties representing the same things.
OBJECT-ORIENTATION is a set of tools and methods that enable software engineers to build reliable, user friendly, maintainable, well documented, reusable software systems that fulfills the requirements of its users

What is Java Script?
JavaScript is a client-side language that adds interactivity and conditional behavior to a web page. With java script you can display additional information about links, create mouse hover effects, change the contents of the page based on certain condition. JavaScript works with HTML to bring interactivity to otherwise static documents.
Java Script can be embedded inside HTML documents in three ways. -The code is placed between tags. -Code is included inside an HTML tag. -The entire code is placed in another file, which is called through the SRC.

What is ASP.NET?
ASP.NET is a web application framework. A Web server technology for dynamically rendering HTML pages using a combination of HTML, Javascript, CSS, and server-side logic.

What is Web Service?

Web services allow different applications from different sources to communicate with each other. The standard XML technologies normally used in web services include SOAP, WSDL, UDDI and XSD. Web services are not tied to any one operating system or programming language. For example, Java can talk with Perl, Windows applications can talk with UNIX applications

What is API?
An API,.. 'application programming interface' is a way for website or service to talk to another website or service. APIs let you mix information and media from other services into your own site or application.
Example: The Blogger Data API allows client applications to view and update Blogger content. Your client application can use the Data API to create new blog posts, edit or delete existing posts, and query for posts that match particular criteria. API uses Protocol and technologies like SOAP, JavaScript, and XML

What is CSS?
CSS is a web page styling language that describes how to present certain element in a web page. It works together with HTML.
In a big picture, a web site or a web page consists of Source code in HTML tags and style sheet. The source code defines how the page will look in a Web browser The rendered page shows only the content, organized and structured as indicated by the tags. CSS is separate and defines the element's style. Stylistic properties are about how the element looks, such as its size, position, color, and font. Web developers can design page lay out, sizing and positioning of elements, with the help of CSS.

What is .NET?
The .NET Framework is Microsoft's application development platform that enables developers to easily create Windows applications, web applications, and web services using a myriad of different programming languages, and without having to worry about low-level details like memory management and processor-specific instructions.

What is Virtual Server?
Virtual Server is a server application that enables users to run a range of OS, environment simultaneously on a single physical server. From testing perspective it is very useful to create quick test environment with different configurations value. Once test is completed, tester can discard that environment and can go to base line environment and create new environment for other testing. My experience is with Installation and deployment environment. I had created a baseline environment to testing installation MSI, after running MSI once, it was not possible for me to delete everything manually such as folder, register key…….. but With the help of virtual server I can discard go back to my baseline environments in no time and I am ready to test next build. Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2

Tell me about yourself

2009-12-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

Tell me about yourself

A software test professional with about .....of years of manual testing experience in different project and technological environment. During that time I wrote testing documents and conducted different kind testing for web and window based application. My personality is easy going and easy to get along with. Currently I am doing(study, work) ............................... Am looking for an opportunity where I can apply my past testing experience and knowledge I gained form classes at ....

OR (long)

This is a most common, important, and crucial for each and every interview. Because this is the first question you have to answer. So, I personally suggest to prepare a script for best performance and practice at least couple of times looking at mirror to make interview in your advantage. First, provide a brief overview of your most relevant experience, focus on your recent project, and most important project from job requirement point of view. Second, highlight education and personal qualities. Focus on your personal interest on this particular job (Why? -matching skill set, love for technology. growth opportunity)"I'm a QA engineer with expertise and skills in .NET, QTP, UNIX and, Apache, White box, black box, manual as well as automation. My most recent experience .................before that .....My industry experience encompasses the telecommunication health and, loan industries. My background also includes roles as QA engineer at ABA , QA Analyst (position title) and, ,....... I am (CSTE, ASTQB) certified and graduated from.. (Boston University). Colleagues from past describe me as Team player, easy going person and detail oriented , and, supervisor describes me as a dependable, goal oriented. They remember me for positive attitude and energy.