What you'll learn
- How to export test cases from PractiTest
- Use a script to convert the exported CSV test cases to an Xray compatible CSV file
- Import different test cases (with different fields and options)
- Validate that the test cases were imported to Xray
Overview
This tutorial explains how to export test cases from PractiTest and import them into Xray.
PractiTest is a test management tool that runs independently in the cloud. In this tutorial, you will learn how to export the test cases from PractiTest in an CSV format, how to use a script (available in GitHub) to convert the PractiTest CSV file into a Xray compatible CSV so that it can be imported into Xray using the Test Case Importer.
This tutorial will provide different examples of exporting and importing test cases from PractiTest into Xray.
Features and Limitations
Below is a list of the support features and current limitations.
Migration from PractiTest is limited to the information we can export from PractiTest and how it can be mapped to Xray entities.
Most of the test case information will be migrated seamlessly, but please check the following table for more details.
| Supported Features | Unsupported |
|---|---|
|
|
How it works
In PractiTest, users can specify and organize tests into test sets. Each test set can have multiple tests.
On the creation screen, users can create tests of one of the following test types: Scripted, Exploratory, BDD, and Automated. The Scripted type allows you to describe the test case in different steps with action and expected result. Another option is to create a Exploratory test that has specific fields that let you define the test charter and some guide points. It's also possible to define Behaviour Driven Development (BDD) test scenarios using Gherkin. An Automated type is also available to abstract automated tests.
In PractiTest, to execute tests, you need to associate them to a test set.
PractiTest uses different entities to describe tests and the flow, so we have synthesized into the next table the existing mappings between PractiTest and Xray.
| PractiTest | Xray | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Test | Test | PractiTest does not support data sets, only manual/automated test steps. In PractiTest, when you choose to export using CSV format, it will export all tests. All steps are exported except for the called tests, which have an empty description. |
Precondition (Field in Test entity) | Precondition (independent entity) | In PractiTest, the precondition is one field in the test case. In Xray, a Precondition is a different entity and one Test Case can be linked to several Preconditions. The precondition field from PractiTest is converted into a Precondition issue in Xray and linked back to the Test. |
Prerequisites
Examples
In each example, we will show how we obtained the CSV file from PractiTest, made the files available in GitHub, how to use the scripts to convert the CSV files into compatible CSV files, and finally, how to import the CSV files into Xray.
We will showcase different possibilities when exporting test cases from PractiTest, using a combination of fields and possibilities that should cover most usages.
All of the examples in this tutorial have a CSV file exported from PractiTest, a CSV file with the definition of the test cases to import, and a configuration file that will configure all associations and fields for the importation to be successful.
Export to CSV from PractiTest and Import into Xray
In PractiTest, when you choose to export, it will export everything; no option is given to choose to specify what you want to export. In this example, we are focusing on that option.
To export from PractiTest, we are using the Export All Tests option in the Project Settings → Import & Export upper menu entry.
Once clicked PractiTest will generate the file and make it available here. Click on the link "click here to Download" to download the CSV file.
Plan your test exportation because PractiTest limits the exportation to once every 2 hours and the new file will replace the old one.
After 72 hours the files are automatically deleted.
Looking into more detail on what we have in PractiTest, we can see that we have 7 tests defined:
- 4 Scripted Tests
- 1 API test
- 1 Exploratory test
The file generated by PractiTest has the following content:
To import into Xray, we created one script to convert this CSV file into a CSV-compatible file to be imported into Xray.
The script will parse the PractiTest CSV file and create a CSV file that can be imported into Xray. To execute the script, use the following command:
python3 practitest2Xray.py -i practitest_export.csv -o practitest_xray_results.csv
The output file has all the test steps and, if you have used a precondition in PractiTest, it will create a precondition in Xray and link it to the test.
To import it into Xray, we use Test Case Importer with the recently created CSV file; you can use the configuration file provided with the .json extension (importConfiguration.json).
Once imported we can see that it has created two Preconditions and five Tests with all the properties defined in the CSV.
More Details
Let's look into some specificities of this approach and some test particularities.
Precondition field into Precondition issue
In PractiTest Preconditions are another field in the Test.
The precondition is exported in a 'preconditions' field as we can see below.
When converting into a CSV for Xray we are creating a new issue of type 'precondition' and linking it to the Test.
Once imported into Xray, we can see that the first line creates a Precondition in Xray.
The next line creates a Test and links the Precondition created in the same operation.
Scripted Tests into Manual Test Case
PractiTest allows you to create Manual Test Cases with steps (using action and expected result).
We have created one test case using the steps separated into fields. The CSV output is the following:
After running the script that converts the above PractiTest CSV into an Xray CSV file we can see that, as explained above, the Preconditions issues are created and linked back to the Tests. Each Test is created and the steps filled with the information extracted from the exported CSV.
The first line corresponds to a precondition that is imported as described in the previous section.
The second line (after the precondition) corresponds to a Manual Test Case with the summary obtained from the CSV and several steps with Action and Expected Result.
Notice that the format is kept for the table and styles added in PractiTest.
Called tests in steps are not exported; PractiTest inserts an empty description when exported. The script inserts a step with the description: 'Test step imported from another test.'.
BDD Tests into Cucumber Test Case
PractiTest allows you to create BDD Test Cases with a scenario definition.
The BDD test case in PractiTest is composed by one scenario field with the gherkin scenario and a description field. The CSV output is the following:
After running the script that converts the above PractiTest CSV into an Xray CSV file we can see that the Cucumber Test is created with the scenario definition extracted from the exported CSV.
The summary and description is kept with the style imported from PractiTest.
The imported test is of type 'Cucumber' and the scenario imported into the Scenario field in Xray.
Other Tests
The script will convert all tests of type Scripted or BDD; all the other types will be discarded, and no output is created in the resulting CSV file.
Tips
- Use the CSV file provided to import the examples and the JSON configuration associated to have the setup and mapping correct.
- Ensure you are using the scripts available for the right version of Jira (Cloud or Server).