Running manual tests

Running a test generally involves the following steps.

1. Open the manual test run and review information about setting up the test

Test variant values identify the environment to use for the test. Additional setup instructions may be included in the details and files or scripts required to perform the test may be attached. See Viewing manual test runs.

2. Review the manual test run steps on the Steps tab

Steps are displayed in one of the following views:

  • Grid view displays steps and expected results in rows and columns.
  • Detail grid view displays the entire manual test run and guides you step-by-step through the manual test run. You can enter results (Pass, Fail, Undetermined) for each step in this view.
  • Text view displays steps as text. Markup codes indicate the type of text on each line.

3. Perform the steps in the manual test run

If the actual and expected results do not match, you can add problem statements and attachments to document the issues. See Entering manual test results in grid view, Entering manual test results in detail grid view, or Entering manual test results in text view.

4. Enter the overall test result when you complete the test

See Entering overall results for manual test runs. If you find bugs during the test, you can create issues to report them. See Creating issues from manual test runs.

Helix ALM includes two default report stylesheets useful for manual testing. The TestRunStepsDetailReport.xslt stylesheet generates a report with manual test run steps and fields for handwritten information, including lines for results, problem statements, and signature. The TestRunReport.xslt stylesheet generates a report with test case detail and fields for handwritten information, including lines for results, problem statements, and signature. See Running reports.