Quick Test Professional (QTP) - Quality Center Connection

Quality Center is a comprehensive test management tool which is a web-based repository for all testing assets. As mentioned it is a web-based tool and supports high level communication and association among various stakeholders (Business Analyst, Developers, Testers etc.). It help in driving a more effective and efficient global application-testing process.

QuickTest Professional (QTP) is an automated functional testing tool. It is pivotal in the areas of smoke/sanity testing, regression testing, functional testing and other testing areas.

Automation Tools like QTP, Win Runner and Load Runner can be integrated with Quality Center. You can also create reports and graphs for Analysis and Tracking for Test processes.To ensure comprehensive testing of your application, you typically must create and run many tests. HP QC can help you organize and control the testing process. In this article, you will learn how to integrate QTP with QC following HP best practices. Designing the integration and setting up QC for integration provide keys to success.

Top 5 advantages of integrating QTP with QC:

1. Mapping manual test cases to automation
2. Version tracking of automation suite
3. Scheduling of test suite from QC
4. QTP resource storage
5. One repository of the entire automation reusable framework

Connecting QTP with QC

To work with QC we first need to connect QTP to QC. To connect QTP to QC, Open QTP and go to menu Tools->Quality Center Connection

To access

Use one of the following: ➤ Select File > ALM/QC Connection. ➤ Double-click the ALM/QC icon in the status bar

Functions

➤ Connect. The connection process has two stages. First, you connect QuickTest to a local or remote HP ALM or Quality Center server. This server handles the connections between QuickTest and the HP ALM or Quality Center project. Next, you log in and choose the project you want QuickTest to access. The project stores tests and run session information for the application you are testing. Projects are password protected, so you must provide a user name and a password. ➤ Disconnect. You can disconnect QuickTest from an HP ALM or Quality Center project or from an HP ALM or Quality Center server at any time. If you disconnect QuickTest from an HP ALM or Quality Center server without first disconnecting from a project, the QuickTest connection to that project database is automatically disconnected. If an HP ALM or Quality Center test or shared file (such as a shared object repository or Data Table file) is open when you disconnect from HP ALM or Quality Center, then QuickTest closes it.

Once connected, we can save the script(s) in QC as shown in the Figure

In case there is need to switch from the QC test plan to the file system then we can click on the File System, button as shown in the Figure

Saving script in QC provides a way to have a centralized repository for the scripts

QC Paths

Once a test case is saved to the repository it well then be presented on the QC test plan tab. the root folder of this lab is named "Subject". So any QC path referenced in QTP will start with "[QualityCenter] Subject". Once the tests scripts are moved to the QC repository all the folder paths on QTP's Tools->Options->Folder(Tab) need to be changed to the appropriate QC path for the scripts to work correctly. By default QTP takes the <CurrentTest> location as one of the path to search for various files. Any associated resources i.e. resource libraries, shared objects repositories and data tables stored as an attachment in the Attachment tab of the script inside QC, will be available to the test. These paths are also used to resolve any external reusable action call.

QTP functions which use file path for reading purpose as parameter, can also use QC paths. All of the statements given below are valid in QTP.

'Import the data table from Quality Center

DataTable.Import "[QualityCenter] Subject\Input\TestCase1.xls"

DataTable.ImportSheet "[QualityCenter] Subject\Input\TestCase1.xls", "Global", Global"

'Load the VBS file from Quality Center

ExecuteFile "[QualityCenter] Subject\ScriptConfigurator.vbs"

NOTE: QC path won’t work with functions like DataTable.Export, DataTable.ExportSheet etc. as they are writing files to QC and not reading