Specifying Test Procedures or scripts

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After the test case creation the next step is to group the test cases in a sensible way for executing them and to specify the sequential steps that need to be done to run the test.
  • a set of simple tests that cover the breadth of the system may form a regression suite, or all of the tests that explore the working of a given functionality or feature in depth may be grouped to be run together.

Some test cases may need to be run in a particular sequence. 
  •  a test may create a new customer record, amend that newly created record and then delete it. These tests need to be run in the correct order, or they won't test what they are meant to test.

The document that describes the steps to be taken in running a set of tests (and specifies the executable order of the tests) is called a test procedure is often referred to as a test script. 

It could be called a manual test script for tests that are intended to be run manually rather than using a test execution tool. Test script is also used to describe the instructions to a test execution tool. 

An automation script is written in a programming language that the tool can interpret. The test procedures, or test scripts, are then formed into a test execution schedule that specifies which procedures are to be run first - a kind of super-script.

The test schedule would say when a given script should be run and by whom. The schedule could vary depending on newly perceived risks affecting the priority of a script that addresses that risk, for example.
The logical and technical dependencies between the scripts would also be taken into account when scheduling the scripts. For example, a regression script may always be the first to be run when a new release of the software arrives, as a smoke test or sanity check.

Returning to our example of the mobile phone company's marketing campaign, we may have some tests to set up customers of different types on the database. It may be sensible to run all of the setup for a group of tests first. 

Writing the test procedure is another opportunity to prioritize the tests, to ensure that the best testing is done in the time available. A good rule of thumb is 'Find the scary stuff first'. However the definition of what is 'scary' depends on the business, system or project.


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