Anti-Pattern

This anti-pattern is about creating/having manual, script-based Test cases, without Test Steps.

Manual Tests should have clearly defined Steps. If a user is not creating Steps, it may indicate that they are using the wrong Test type and will lead to other testers misinterpretation of what needs to be done. Allowing this anti-pattern to spread will lead to significant issues such as:

• Inconsistent Test Executions.
• Difficulty in reproducing Defects, and ultimately, reduced Test Coverage, since critical actions might have been missed or executed incorrectly. 

Solution

The solution for this anti-pattern goes with internal coaching, clearly defined parameters and standards for Test case documentation, recurrent audit, and also automating repetitive tasks where detailed Steps are critical. Manual, script/structured Test cases should have a number of Steps that explain the intent and the expected goals; we should also avoid adding too much detail into it, as it creates unnecessary bureaucracy and makes our est specification more dependent on the implementation and thus more fragile.

However it may also be the case we are using a wrong Test type, in that case we suggest revisiting the following articles for Generic/Unstructured Test Type.

• Generic/Unstructured Tests in Xray DC
• Generic/Unstructured Tests in Xray Cloud

Audit and Review

We suggest a recurrent audit; you can define its cadence, especially in team meetings or dailies to assist and provide feedback on the spot.

Should you be using Xray Data Center, feel free to use the below JQL as a Saved filter with a Filter Result kind of gadget in a dashboard:

issue in manualTestsWithoutSteps()

or

issue in manualTestsWithoutSteps("saved_filter")

It should look like this:

Filter Results Gadget (Figure 1)using the following Saved Filter: "issue in manualTestsWithoutSteps() AND Project = "Your Project Name""

Figure 1 - Filter

Xray Cloud users can currently obtain information about this anti-patternusing the Xray Document Generator.

Snippet code:

&{for issues} 
#{if (%{'${IssueTypeName}'.equals('Test')})} 
#{if (%{'${TestStepsCount}'.equals('0')})} 
${Key} - ${Summary}
#{end}
#{end}
&{end}