From: Titelbaum, Alan Subject: Test Design - Deriving Test Cases from Use Cases -NESQAFMEETING December 7, 1999 Date: Wednesday, November 03, 1999 6:45 PM NOTICE OF UPCOMING NESQAF MEETING New England Software Quality Assurance Forum Meeting Meeting Date: December 7, 1999, 6:30-9:00 PM Refreshments served 6:00-6:30 PM Topic: Test Design - Deriving Test Cases from Use Cases Presenter: Bruce R. Katz, CQA Summary: Recent studies indicate that the top skills needed in software development today and five years from now include object-oriented development, and modeling and design skills. At the heart of both of these skills is the use of new tools, techniques and notations such as visual modeling, the Unified Modeling Language (UML), and Use Cases. These changes in development have tremendous impact on Testers. It influences the information we receive. It influences the amount of detail (or lack of detail) contained in the information. And it influences what we can do with the information (either manually or through automation). This presentation takes the perspective that the test case is at the heart of our test efforts. That is, it is the test case that identifies the specific scenario, condition, or event(s), executed against the software-under-test (SUT). Test cases represent a major method of assessing test coverage. And it is the results of executing the test cases that are used to indicate the SUT's quality. However, test cases just don't appear. We derive them from a multitude of input sources, including software specifications, requirements documents, previous test cases, etc. This presentation introduces a new input source and describes how to use it. Specifically, we'll look at the notation used to model and describe a use case and the different diagrams related to use cases. We'll look at the use case and how, through the different phases of software development, the use case matures and what information it provides the tester. We'll look at how this information is used to derive test cases. This presentation is not about use cases per se. Nor is it about test cases. It is about a new input source for deriving test cases. It is about using this new input source. And lastly, it is about what information is needed by the tester to derive test cases - independent of the source of information. Location: Lotus Development Corporation, One Rogers Street Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts It is the One Rogers Street Building across from the Cambridgeside Galleria Mall. Free parking in the One Rogers Street garage. Dial (617) 693-4732 for directions. Call Alan (617) 856-2467 for more information about NESQAF. Tentative NESQAF Meeting schedule for the 1999-2000 January 11, 2000 TBA February 1, 2000 TBA March 7, 2000 TBA April 4, 2000 TBA May 2, 2000 TBA June 6, 2000 TBA Presenter Bio: Bruce R. Katz, CQA is a Process Engineer and Senior Test Consultant at Rational Software Corporation. His primary responsibilities include identifying, researching, and incorporating the best practices for software testing in the Rational Unified Process, Rational's software engineering process product. Mr. Katz has over fifteen years in software testing and is certified by the Quality Assurance Institute (QAI) as a Certified Quality Analyst (CQA). In addition to working at Rational Software, Mr. Katz has worked for several start-up companies and Fortune 50 companies. His professional experiences include having been an individual contributor and manager, establishing QA/QE departments, roles and processes, performing test process audits, and resolving specific test automation problems. Mr. Katz has been involved with companies in many different industries including independent software vendors, healthcare information, government agencies, insurance, finance, and e-business. Since 1989, Mr. Katz has focused his efforts on the techniques, processes, and tools for introducing and implementing test automation into the life cycle.