Testing Garage

Shocked for not feeling an electric shock

2011-10-09T14:35:00.009+05:30

Warning! Don't try this at home or outdoor.

What's the scene in between the story?

Have not come across the person so far who is daring enough to take an electric shock, despite seen such people on Television and News Papers. Last Friday my father said he was sensing electric shock in ground floor gate of our house. I did not take that seriously as I opened, closed, climbed, leaned and played with that gate often. Yet moved my hand over each area of the gate and did not feel the shock.

Next day evening father kept staring at the gate with slipper on his feet. It is the sight which I had never seen. Could sense the emotions in his face and words he spoke saying, he felt mild shock again. This was enough for me to wake up and look what actually is happening.

Unexpected actions in the scenes of story

Trying to recollect what changes my father agreed for to install that gate, I looked around the welding done to walls. Having no slipper in my feet inserted the key to gate, did not sense shock. Tightened my right hand palm on the key but could not sense the shock. Moved my hands over the bunch of keys in the key chain and took it in tightened right hand palm.

Ah! Electric shock... sensed like I'm receiving mild electric shock. I did not remove my palm from that bunch of keys. For few seconds my right hand experienced numb senses.

This inferred me to know that a daunting problem exists here. But how could that happen was the question I had. As there was no wiring in that part of the wall to which the gate was welded by threading a bit of supporting rods. Starting to study gate structure, properties and appearance which I never did so keenly, observed interesting things.

Evaluating the actions in story

Gate was of 11 feet in height and 4.5 feet in width. Moving hands over the gate did not feel shock. As visible and hand or finger reachable areas of the gate was painted.
Used electrical instrument 'tester' to see the flow of electric current in gate and other metal bodies in the surrounding place of house. 'Tester' instrument did not indicate flow of current. But still faced shock. Why and how?
Keys were of stainless steel and key chain ring was of brass kind of material. Not sure whether it was of brass or copper coating on it. Sensed electric shock on that ring and keys that touched it. OK, then why I did feel shock when I held just one key in my hand fastening it in palm? All keys in key bunch appeared to have coating of steel.
Other metals in wall did not impart electric shock or mild electric shock. Besides 'tester' too did not show the flow of electricity in them.

Twists in the scenes of story

Requested father to control the central electrical switch board of our house while I was getting ready to take shock.
Inserted the key into gate and fastened my right hand palm to other keys and felt the mild shock.
Asked father to switch off basement power control and still could sense electric shock. So this power control unit probably had no influence for shock I'm getting. Later this power control unit was turned on.
Next was to turn off first floor power control unit and still could sense electric shock. So this control unit probably had no influence for mild shock I was taking. Turned on this power unit.
Next was to turn off the power control unit of water sump. Doing so I could not feel the mild shock I was taking. Turning it on, sensed mild shock again. Looked like I got source of problem i.e. mild electric shock and wanted to cross test it yet again.

Tracing twists in the scenes of story

Recollected how and in what way the wiring for water sump motor is done from central power control unit of house.
Took help of father to know whether path of wiring for sump is right or not.
Observed the iron bit being inserted at bottom of gate frame. This bit of iron was fastened to ground and it was probably on path of wiring.
Switched on the motor of water sump and it pulled out water. This showed there was no short circuit as motor was running.
Father suggested an idea to pull the wire at motor terminal to see if that iron bit is not piercing the PVC pipe which has cable for motor. Observed that cable of motor was coming smoothly. This inferred, piece of iron rod was not blocking the cable.
This flashed me idea to test "will I now sense the shock?" As the cable is pulled by couple of inches, should not feel the shock if the wire is skinned out slightly at time of drilling the iron rod to support frame of the gate. And now the slightly skinned out cable will not be in contact with iron rod.
Switched off and switched on the power control unit of motor. Inserted the key into gate and fastened the palms covering the bunch of keys. Did not feel the shock.

Strategic end of story

Looks like we identified the cause of mild electric shock from the tests I did together with my father.
This testing will know if its tests did identify the actual problem, when an electrician comes this Sunday to house and pulls out the cable of water sump motor.
I and father have not faced electric shock so far inserting the key and holding the bunches of key in palm.

Anyways this happening has not reduced the anxiety in me when some one says 'Electric Shock' and it is helping me to learn useful skills to test.

Cows growled 'Are you seeing us?'

2011-10-06T23:39:00.011+05:30

Practicing testing today looked into Weekend Testing website to update myself with learning I get from there. Words 'Chasing' and 'Spotting' caught my attention there, among other words. These two words were in Weekend Testing Americas session practiced on 3rd September 2011; more details about this, is here.

I had played a dice game once with Pradeep Soundararajan and was not able to crack it. Reading the experience report of this session, I was tempted to play this puzzle now. Read the mission what the facilitator had mentioned and it was 'about pattern analysis and note taking using a bulls and cows game.' Continuing to read further, read the mission provided as below:

Try, practice and learn about the "Bulls and Cows" game.
Compare the differences in a gameplay with and without notes taken.
Report (in a form of discussion during debriefing) your findings and ideas on using note-taken in exploratory testing.

Reading the experience report, tried to understand what is this game with an example given by session facilitator. I did not have a partner to play the game, so opened the online version of it. Looking at description of game got more idea of it and selected 7 digits game.

Number -- 1208175 was populated and I did not know from where and how to start game. Looked back to mission provided then looking at the game I got questions which I took it out on a notepad. Those questions are written below:

I have played games such as Hangman and Dots with friends. What I did there?
I have to make 7 digits in a sequence formulated by an algorithm. How shall I start?
What details about those 7 digits I have with me now?
If I do not have them or have partial or/and ambiguous details, how will I know it?
What should I do now with the data I have?

These helped me to plan and strategize the moves in finding that digit by putting numbers in appropriate places. Plan was to find those numbers in steps that I'm comfort with and note down why I'm choosing it. In parallel, document what I'm doing and use it further to find better step in finding the digit chosen by algorithm.

Moving ahead my mind went blank and it was yet to get started. So what I wanted was those 7 digits and how will I know the 7 digits, was the question running before starting to play. With hard push on self, started saying, "my first move will be to identify those 7 digits among 0 to 9." In between a spam SMS dropped in to my cell phone inbox. Sender had repeating number in the sender number. This triggered a question, I have never thought of number repeating more than once. This helped though I took of my mind from the mission to identify the possibility of repeating numbers in 7 digits.

Kick started to design the tests for identifying those 7 numbers. Entered numbers 0 to 9 that repeated for 7 times, for ex: 1111111. This showed the numbers that were present in the 7 digits. Found a number repeating twice in 7 digits number with help of 'Bulls' count. Finally got those 7 numbers and made note of it.

Next task was to place them in an order; started to play with those seven digits. Felt like it was not so easy. Waiting for a moment, got an idea of using the number that was not available in the 7 numbers identified to find the appropriate position of them in the digit picked by an algorithm. Meanwhile, continued to take the notes in parallel playing the game. This idea of using number not available in the 7 digits number, helped to place the numbers appropriately together with assistance of notes made in course of playing the game.

Strategies kept evolving as playing of game progressed. Have a feel that strategies used to assist and match up with the plan plotted to finish the game, was reasonable at this point of time. If I had used my observations better to look at 'Cows,' probably would have got the all seven 'Bulls' in 3 or 5 steps lesser. Tempted to see how I played? You can see it here.

Patch latching of Testing Challenge 1.2

2011-09-17T21:37:00.027+05:30

You might have read the previous post. If not, it is here. It can help better to know the context of latch work that I'm about to do now. As per the author of this post, there is a major bug underlying in this work. As the word reads, "There was a major bug in Toughest Testing Challenge 1.2" – it also imparts meaning of just one bug i.e. major bug. I cannot take that word, as the author hasn't provided any ground work for knowing that number or how he derived at that figure.

Trying to know what that one major bug is, will get a smell of an unpleasing emotion triggered by pop up dialogs and/or its contents in web application. How did I know that was web application? By reading the URL in dialog title bar and touring that website. Doing so it asks me another question, "that dialog is used as an example to show technical writing stuff for ease of understanding the action or response; where's the problem which Dhanasekar is talking about in the dialog module?" This makes the exercise interesting for me to work on it.

Catching the patch

Now the management has come with idea to give this task for two vendors. Vendor one is asked to come up with test ideas which "*can* be executed in 15 minutes and time is nonnegotiable in this context. Vendor two is asked to estimate time required for testing the dialog module and then generate test ideas for the time estimated. The phrase "generate test ideas for the time estimated" is ambiguous one here. Does it say to arrive at ideas how the time is estimated or to come up with test ideas to test dialog in estimated time? Not sure; I go with second thought now – to come up with test ideas to test dialog in estimated time. I will not work on how I estimated the time required instead I will work on test strategy alone.

Assuming that client has communicated to Vendor One and Vendor Two what the problem is, can start of the exercise. What if the problem is not communicated and asked for the testing service?

In either case, I would like to transpect the client asking her or his time for 3 to 5 minutes in knowing what makes that application more interesting and competitive from business view. Not sure can I get information what I'm looking in those 3 to 5 minutes. Besides I keep reading the client, so I can get the trust of her/him and ask what makes the person to feel concerned about the dialog module and collect few words of it. If I can get few words on these, it helps me. Had you noticed my strategy for testing is already started trying to talk with client in knowing what is bothering them. If client does not give time to talk, we both cannot help each other to the best whatever it is possible.
Know what the client understands for 'dialogue'? Is it same as 'dialog' box I understand? Do we both have same understanding of this?
What types of dialog box or windows exists in application?
The problem described in dialog module is actually from the dialog implementation? Or the problem of else where is being observed in dialog(s)? How will I know this? What is causing the client to be so bothering with dialog?

Before going beyond from here, I will let you know what I understood for word 'test strategy'. I practice it as collection of ideas helping me in building the tests needed. My test strategy will connect the tests I perform and the purpose of the testing carried out.

Latching the patch

Context of tester at vendor one:

A client has approached tester for test ideas that can be executed within 15 minutes of time. Assumptions made here are – client wants immediate service; tester has no time to detail out the service request; and, tester is not aware of what the application is.

Who will be executing test ideas in 15 minutes which I give? Is it me? Or other person and will I part of it? Nothing is specified. This looks like more of imaginary request from client. It cannot be neat job for the context what the customer is in now though if it is delivered as a quick job. Hence I would keep off from testing dialog module in this context. Being a tester I want to be useful for those who hire me and educate them, when it is needed.

If stakeholder(s) wishes to speak further on this job, I will provide free consultation of 15 hours in identifying potential problem(s) in dialog module. Testing is not 'about convincing' or 'to convince'. It is with providing information which critically matters to stakeholder's who have vested interests and seeking testing.

Context of tester at vendor two:

A client has approached tester for a service asking estimating for testing the dialog module. Also to write test ideas for testing in the same estimated time provided by vendor two. No mention of time restrictions explicitly made to tester. From this I can also understand that tester has the time by which the testing has to be stopped.

Strategy of vendor two:

Build the mental model of what will be tested. Sketch it out and use by updating it consistently. This to be in simple representation so that a person who is related to application being tested will understand it with minimal words.
As said will talk to client about what's the concern in dialog. Know about the most important part of application per business needs. Know the potential users of the applications.
Work to know whether the concern with dialog is functional, UI, UX, hardware, software. This can tell me where should my tests focus and look out probable risks and problems.
Use FAILURE heuristic of Ben Simo which may be handy tool in this context.
Try to collect all programmed messages or contents displayed by application along with context. Trigger the condition such that all programmed messages are shown in the dialog. Assess the problem in dialog by this action and extend it beyond to find impact from this behavior if any.
Note if any messages that are not programmed and still seen in form of a dialog box in application. Know its context and evaluate the potential problem. Look what can be done to avoid if this behavior is pestering user.
Collect any specific data or probable data which pops up dialog on screen while using this application. Use such test data in testing and evaluate the context to know the problems from dialog.
What types of dialog boxes exist in the application? Work with programming team or technical person who knows about this.
Look for any prototypes available for dialogs available in application. Think of problems that may arise from it.
What kind of controls exists on dialog box, if any? Does it make sense to user for having it on dialog though it appears as per need and functioning?
Do the buttons or GUI controls are relevant about the actions it does or information it provides? Ex – naming pattern, display of control names.
Does the sentence or phrase or text tell importance of dialog box shown in simple words? Is this understandable by any users who use application?
Is the user is educated what to do when not sure what to do seeing a dialog box while using the application? As application cannot be tweaked to comfort for each user who purchased a license or using it, educating user can help.
Any option exists to stop or avoid or show or to show later, the dialog which user does not want to see?
Enabling and disabling of GUI control should be contextual and can it be understood by the user why it is so then?
If any default values or options available in dialog and it is selected. Will it create problem to user or business in later stages? Any intimation about this while selecting such options?
Content area and spacing of dialog box to be appropriate for various resolutions, screen width and devices.
Collect the count of dialog that user will have to go through for validation of entry made in a web page.
What kind of information shown on dialog box? Can user follow it? Is it interactive enough to fulfill purpose of dialog box? Will it communicate as it is talking to me?
Do dialog helps me take decisions with affirmative questions and/or words and GUI controls?
Does dialog structure have all its details? Ex: Title, type of message or dialog box, action, GUI controls etc.
Can dialog box be minimized, maximized, re-sized? Is it modal in a context where it requires being modal dialog? Is it a non-modal in a context where there is no need for a modal dialog? Will it intimate the user visually when a non-modal dialog exists and trying to use application? If user returns after a while and have modal or non-modal dialog is it easy to identify that?
How the dialog box is identified in online help or contextual help? Can user easily identify and know about this from Help or from customer support or by any other means that suits to context?
Any picture or video or voice in dialog available on dialog? What does it tell to the user?
Accessibility of dialog box. GUI controls in dialog and problems of having it, if any?
Each GUI control has unique name so it helps in identification of it while debugging, investigating, and customer support helping the user?
Which character is used as shortcut key? Is that character is visible enough to know that it is a short cut character for that particular GUI control?
Does clicking on GUI control in dialog box take user to other place from current page? If yes, how does the user come back to the page which was being used? Will data entered be persisted?
Is user intimated of navigating from current page on clicking any GUI control in dialog and its impact, if any?
Indication of action initiated by using dialog box is success or failure?
Is dialog shown for every single validation or user error? Is there any alternate for showing the message and reduce the mouse clicks or keyboard actions?
Showing the related items in a dialog box according to context.
Whether the repetitive controls and contents in dialog box is avoided or reduced in appearance?
Look what actions are invoked using the GUI controls on button? Are those actions as expected?
Look for the data transferred or persisted or modified or updated or left unmodified using a GUI control on dialog box. Any sensitive data or information is under threat in a context by creating problems with costs?
What protocols are invoked using dialog in the application? What problems can it create here?
How the post and partial post back happen using the GUI on dialog, if any such scenario in application?
Can the actions of dialog box be tweaked from possible places where it can be done?
Is it possible to bypass the dialog box operation which is mandatory in an application? If yes how? What are the problems doing so?
If I have any other tester(s) worked/working on these will sit with together and brainstorm ideas how we FAIL if we did not meet purpose of this testing. Collect the ideas how to build our tests and prioritize those per information needed from testing by client.
Collect the contexts where and when the dialog will be displayed in an application. Ex: OS, browser, screen resolution etc. With this I'm focusing on concern by learning application and its users.
If accessible/allowed, will try to get the data from bug tracking system of client to know what kind of problem or behavior is described for dialog shown. What is the decision of management and technical team for such bug? Talk to customer support, sales and marketing team and go through reports of them for dialog problem written if any. Refer online or/and contextual help of dialog in application if any. Search on web and social media if any word has been put out on this application's dialog or similar application or other application.
Recollect testing practice experience to see any such contexts. Make note and tweak it to the present context on finding any such work to present purpose of testing.
If allowed use testing friends who have expertise in this kind of testing on obtaining permission from client. In case not allowed will talk to such friends providing generic example from any one open source application. Learn how they tackle such related problems with the questions I'm finding hard to find answer. Respect to NDA is maintained by adhering to it.
Gather information from test regarding whether dialog shown from application being tested or any other application interacting with testing application. Identify scenarios where the dialog and content in it matters most. And know who are the potential users of this application and think of what would they do. This will ensure I'm practical in terms of executing the tests.
Keep reviewing and updating the strategy to the context so that it benefits the client and tester.

Will explain this strategy to client who wants me to execute the test ideas in the time I will have for testing.

Estimate: I test till the stakeholder is less interested in information that she or he is looking from testing and asks me to stop testing be it for any reason, or I break the contract of job. If I'm not involved in testing with these little ideas, need to talk with client to know more about the how the contract of work will be.

Peaking Testing Challenge 1.2

2011-09-07T00:55:00.007+05:30

All stuffs are worth looking at it but few are to be enjoyed not just looking at it. Go here enjoy the stuff and come back to this page. Observations from the dialog are as below:

The dialog has title 'http://sleepingdeer.com'.
Going through the blog content in sleepingdeer.com, noticed it is focused on UX or User Experience.
The image given by Dhanasekar is available at URL -- http://www.sleepingdeer.com/yawp/?cat3 and http://www.sleepingdeer.com/yawp/foundations/technical-writers-as-user-experience-designers-a-revolution/ .
What I infer from actual blog post from where the dialog is being picked, the author of post is more interested in the simplicity of message which relates to edit actions along with user experience though not said literally in words.

I'm trying to construct the functional tests for UX and message, to know does it do what it is supposed to do and what it actually does.

Test Ideas:

What does the dialog shows if just one item is selected? Will it say ‘item’ or ‘items’?
Does the same dialog and message will be shown on selecting other content available in other module of application? In that case will the word ‘items’ will confuse the user?
What kind of message it is from application? Is it warning, informative, error or a question for a user? That is not available in the dialog displayed? Dialog is not saying what kind of message is being displayed to user.
Do this dialog and other dialogs in application will be displayed in all other browsers, OS and devices? Does the dialog, message, font type, font size, font color, background color will appear to be same in them? Does the title bar read same in all the above said?
Are there any accessibility standards available in this dialog and others? If yes what are they and will it had to UX value of this application?
The message does not tell whether it deletes the file permanently from database or not. It just says ‘Want to delete the selected items?’ Can the user get back the item(s) deleted later if needed? This is not highlighted in the message, though message is simple and clear.
Looks like the theme is MS Windows Classic theme. If yes, then it should meet the standards of Microsoft UI and UX guidelines.
If the user machine is not MS Windows but using classic Windows theme, later changing the theme should show GUI and controls appropriate to the changed theme. Is that happening?
What kind of application is this? So that the default action in the dialog can be decided. If it has important and critical items or files, the default action in the dialog would be ‘No’ and not ‘Yes’.
If I change the screen resolution, does the dialog and controls in still remain pleasing and intact with its functionality?
What happens If I leave the dialog as it is for a time period? Will it close itself with an informative message left behind to a user?
In what all ways I can close this dialog without performing the action of deletion?
How this dialog appears to users who are visually challenged?
What if the user zooms in or zooms out, the screen? Will this dialog appears to be pleasing and does its job still?
Will it show any other dialog or message on clicking button ‘Yes’ and ‘No’? If yes, what are they and how will they are presented? Ex – time taken to delete is beyond expected; unable to delete the file; file is already deleted by other user or same user in other instance; or the file being deleted is being opened or edited; file being deleted is already deleted.
If display properties of system – Windows and buttons, color scheme and font size is changed, will the dialog remains functional from its UX and UI aspect?
What if the color system is changed? Will font color of text and the size of dialog will have any impact on UX functionality?
Does the border and sizing of spacing in and around the dialog is consistent? So that it does not irritate or strain the eyes more of user. Will screen tool tip displayed will also be appropriate and contextual for the changes happened or happening?
Message in the dialog need to be conversational with user. Does that message in dialog is more conversational? Does the message tell the impact of action?

Stopping here for now.

Is your cup overfull?

2011-06-13T17:44:00.010+05:30

Most times, a person trying to be a student and mentor or coach or teacher, does not practice or forgets the lesson I learned in a book 'Turning Numbers into Knowledge' by Jonathan G Koomey. I have been blessed to keep learning from teachers (who are students too) who spark the questions within the student or questioner rather than discouragement. One of the strong strength of these teachers is keeping their mind open and transpecting the questions asked to them by learning the mind of student or questioner. I see the replies from those teachers will be a question that motivates the questioner to continue the work in more energy and passion with self motivation.

Unfortunately few of us wanting to be a student and mentor or coach or teacher, fail to spark the questions in the other person and gradually inhibit the growth of the questions in other and self. May be that questioner will not turn up unless he she or he has strong strengths to bear those laughter, teases, and overseeing discouraging words. However skillful the person is and wants to be a student and mentor or teacher or coach, if not skillful to know his cup is open enough or overfull to fill the questions she or he gets, it does not help.

Below is the excerpt from the above said book:

A Japanese Zen master received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. It was obvious to the master from the start of the conversation that the professor was not so much interested in learning about Zen as he was in impressing the master with his own opinions and knowledge. The master listened patiently and finally suggested they have some tea. The master poured his visitor's cup full and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the cup overflowing until he could no restrain himself. "The cup is overfull, no more will go in."

"Like this cup", the master said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

--- BRUCE LEE

Being or(and) pretending to be rude and having belief that have given enough information to crack is not going to help, unless one has seeded questions in questioner and making the learning fire to sustain, provided questioner is back to you with questions. If I'm right, remember hearing the words from Jackie Chan, in a movie "Karate Kid" of Tamil release that looked like this if I have said it correctly, "There are no bad students, there is only a bad teacher."

Another English movie "The King's Speech" shows the power of effective student and coach or mentor or teacher. Geoffrey Roy Rush, plays the role of Lionel Logue -- who is a speech therapist from Australia. I see the character of Geoffrey Roy Rush as a student and coach or mentor or teacher. Despite few discouragement from the person who wanted his help, he never stops himself from sparking the questions and hope within the person he wanted to help to speak better. If he had said I have given enough information to crack the things together with time and turned down, one and first among the greatest speech from Prince Albert who was Duke of York and later became King George VI, would not have been so popular and inspiring or probably impossible.

At end would like to say do not discourage or stop one from questioning by comparing it with your or others skill sets and potentials. If at all did that, one will be blind enough to never know the questions that are worth more than the treasures one have come across or can never come across. Questioning is the mother and an essence of all other skills one masters and practices. Kindly do not kill this mother.

Is your cup overfull?

Why the 'Garage'?

2010-12-08T19:28:00.014+05:30

I got a question while talking to one my friend and colleague, why the 'Garage' and 'Testing Garage'? I was thrilled hearing that question. Four years back, I asked for meaning of a word and why this product is called by that word. And that product was in market for almost 3 years i.e. before I started my professional testing career. Today it is getting sold successfully probably bringing good revenue. Finally I did not know why the product was called by that word and what it meant. Later I got an opportunity to meet the global technology chief of the organization of that time and asked him the same question. I did not get an answer except saying "It does not have any meaning." which in turn made me to ask "then why that name?” Let me stop this here. The same with software products I have tested so far, most of the time I did not get answer why was it is called by that name. I do not want to assume myself what that name mean without knowing the actual one, and why it is used; you see the testing begins right with name of the software product being tested and knowing its purpose of existence and for whom, with a question "why should I test this?". Hope you know now, why I was thrilled when my friend asked me about word ‘garage’ in Testing Garage.

Back to garage, Testing Garage. My father repaired his cycle and I use to watch sitting beside him. Near to my home, shops usually called 'cycle shops' that repaired, serviced, rented and sold the cycles exists. Still my father use to repair cycle for himself. I use to ask him, are you a mechanic while he removed parts of his cycle. Today he repairs his scooter for himself most of the time and I keep watching it.

Now what my father did was few observations or inferences while riding his cycle or scooter. He felt something unusual; maybe he compared and evaluated the differences. Inferred something is not as expected or unusual from how it was or how it should be. Later he continued to evaluate with experiments then made a decision what actually the problem is that brought in the differences. What he did here was 'Testing' and while he fixed the problems he thought how this may cause difference again. But whatever he did to fix difference, it gave birth to new differences or brought back same differences gradually.

After seeing father repairing the cycle I wanted to see how big vehicles would get repaired. I went to garage with my father which use to service ambassador car and scooter. I saw the mechanics heard the words of customer and started to look into the vehicle asking questions to customer. Again here what mechanic did was not just comparison, but evaluation too.

I made few common observations here. Both my father and mechanic used tools when needed and they used their ears and senses together with replies of other concerned people to know what they are making out. Tools were used when needed and they were spread out on the floor in garage. Father asked me to pedal cycle and use to watch the differences before and after fix. At garage mechanics use to analyze and talk to each other and one use to say this is the problem; probably maybe he was a chief mechanic there at that time. At home father talked to me while repairing the cycle. We shared and my father trusted my words and questioned while I pedaled cycle. In garage, mechanics and customers communicated about the problem by trust with questions to each other and customer who had a concern.

An interesting observation what I made is, father used same tool for different repair and also said that to his friends in repairing their cycle. Looks like I made similar observation with mechanic in garage too. They invented new ways of using the same tool when they needed it. To repair a cycle the tools used were not just made of metal but things like stone, a broom stick, piece of cloth, a rope etc. were used as tools. Garage too had such tools apart from metal tools. Things available around us were used as tools depending on the situation while the cycle was repaired.

I was attracted by this for:

Working in pair when required amplified learning, problem identification and solving skills. This was evident for me in garage and repairing a cycle at home.
Brought new radical ideas while fixing the problem in the conversational talk. These ideas brought primal changes sometimes which satisfied the customer or concerned person.
A skilled mechanic had an objective to know the problem and to fix the problem; focus of mechanic on this was evident.
A mechanic evaluates and assesses his or her progress while servicing and make sure that expected is being carried out.
I figured out skilled mechanic using strategies with a plan, while trying to know the problem and/or cause of the problem in a vehicle.
Mechanic relied upon human skills rather than thinking or saying this cannot be done without a tool. Existing tool or things available around were reinvented as new tools. But tool alone did not do task; a human was needed to do the task and analyze it. Tools helped mechanic to make the job bit simpler.
Previous experiences and relative knowledge or information of other repair and problem which is not related to garage or vehicle, was used in evaluation before repair and after repair on comparison using as reference.
In garage, reference point or reference source(s) or history of earlier services, played a role in assessing the problem that can come up from service given.
At some point the assessment was done just to fix the difference that was seen in vehicle or cycle. But there was no further work or brain bite to know what other problems may persists or may come up, except the checks and tests made for the repair done or service given for then. This was obvious from work and to be noted here.
But to identify the existing unusual difference or problem in vehicle or cycle, investigation carried out was interesting to me. This investigation had several tests and not just checks from comparison or reference source.
Environment in garage was maintained every day to attend the customers who came up with the (different) problem and different vehicles.
Detail of what the problem was and service or fix given to vehicle, was said to customer.
In short, mechanic worked technically to provide information and a fix for problem(s) that was known or unknown for concerned person(s).
Sometimes decision of mechanic worked. But the final word on quality of work was from customer. Decision at last is in hands of concerned person or customer. Noticed that words of skilled mechanic influenced decision of a customer.
Looks like problem or risk was for a person who used a vehicle. But that problem could bring threat to others too on roads. Hence problem cannot be denied with vehicle here as how we cannot deny a problem in software application.
In a skilled mechanic, I saw a tester who tried variations by questioning customer to know the problem(s). Though mechanic tested the service given for vehicle, it did not stop problems coming up.
In garage, customer defined “Job well done” on using the vehicle which was serviced by mechanic(s).

Relating mechanic at garage with a tester testing software application:

Skilled tester will have an objective or goal of testing, while testing.
A tester evaluates her or his progress while testing and evaluates that with the objective of testing.
A tester makes use of strategies to bring out effective tests that justifies the objective of testing.
Being a tester when I worked by pairing with other tester or people, I learned and observed much more. This improved in identifying the problem and issues.
The lab, desk and thoughts of tester will have several tools along with tester.
I observed testers using tools to help their testing and analyzed the work after using the tool too. This was very same with mechanics in garage.
Each tester evaluated response or behavior of software application, based on comparison using a reference source or point. Later application was evaluated to assess probable problems in using it. It was interesting to see how the problems of other fields brought ideas to test software application upon relating them.
Lab and test environment was maintained to identify the problems that are not so obvious or easy to identify. Also lab or test machine was maintained to simulate the problems that customer brings out in an overnight.
Investigated to find the probable cause of the particular known problem and its symptoms.
Tested to assess the problems after fixing the existing problem and its symptoms.
Test report gave the coverage and observations made during the testing for people who are concerned about the software application.
Tester conducted investigation to assess possible problems underlying or unknown or known for making better decision by concerned people.
Decision was made by concerned people and not by tester. Information from tester influenced decision of concerned people.
Whatever the test and coverage was achieved with modeling, problems still come up in software.
Customer defined how the product is and said “Job well done” by TEAM, on using the software.

Likewise, I can make several relative things in a skilled mechanic working at a garage and a tester testing software. Hence I keep word ‘Garage’ with word ‘Testing’ which reads as ‘Testing Garage’.

Why am I unlearning?

2010-10-19T14:14:00.006+05:30

To be right I should say "Why should I unlearn?" It's time to analyze and evaluate my skills, learning and mistakes for which I have been accounting so far. Thinking how I can prove myself that my learning is incorrect or not relevant, started to ask questions for myself. These questions showed what all I have learned are just without an appropriate base. I was not convinced with my answers for questions I asked myself. Realized I never worked enough for having elementary things.

OK. What did I learn then? I did not learn much or anything. Just did mistakes every time. I tried not to redo the same mistakes. Unconsciously I was learning here and did not evaluate well enough what I was learning from those mistakes. These mistakes helped me as sign boards for going ahead. Interestingly, these sign boards took me in direction which was awing. Fortunately found few on this way and hardly shared or debated their thoughts. Instead I kept arguing myself on what they thought and did. To be in short, did not learn much in right way. Discovered again, I am a slow person.

Why I did not learn? Still that question haunts me. I have learned lessons now, what happens if I do not learn. What will I be doing now? I'm working on which I do not have by reconstructing my learning model. Why did I write this? I will like to see this as a source that identify problems in me and use it to help myself in solving the problems.

What can happen now? I want to be an informative tester and believe can be. Will take my time and does not want myself to be influenced by any other factors, no matter how late I'm. Anything I want to ask for myself? Yes. How do I know I'm learning? Proving each time I was not very useful to me last time. Anything left? Will update myself very soon and look at my responses.

While tomato came out, green chili did not.

2010-09-04T21:21:00.004+05:30

This post has investigation report on probable cause of problem I witnessed in restaurants with sauce container. The report can be found here. Oracles and Heuristics used to learn probable cause of problem are:

Tomato sauce container.
Tomato sauce.
Size of sauce container's knob.
Air circulated around sauce container.
Warm water.
Allowing blocking contents to dry and time.
Dried and wet sauce content.

Reassemble The Bridge: Weekend Testing 38

2010-06-21T13:56:00.006+05:30

Mission: To solve the puzzle with help of a partner.

Puzzle: http://www.crea-soft.com/online-jigsaw-puzzle/jigsaw-puzzles-bridge_l_1.html

Mental Modeling and Approach:

With the image observed for fraction of a second and URL of puzzle read in chat transcription of WT 38, gave an instinct -- what I saw may be bridge with blue sky and greens.

The scattered images pieces appeared to have different colors and boundary shapes. Few image pieces appeared to have same color but varied in its contrast to my eyes. These pieces had pictures that looked like hanging bridge, moving car, green grass and water. This helped to get a picture in my mind with help of the picture I saw, when I browsed the URL of puzzle.

Approach I used to play puzzle was varying one factor at a time and identifying its patterns.

Playing this puzzle helped me to practice and learn:

Observing.
Identifying patterns.
Factoring.
Reasoning.
Testing.

Weekend Testing report is here. My report is here.

Note: I did not play as per the mission statement. I played puzzle individually.

How safe am I, if I use your application?

2010-03-31T21:12:00.010+05:30

Mission:

Find security information which makes the application to loose competition for competitor's similar application.

Application under Test: File Uploading Application.

Session ID: FUA-1

Start Time: 27th March 2010 12:08 PM IST.

End Time: 27th March 2010 3:25 PM IST.

OS: Windows XP SP3.

Browser: Firefox 3.6.2

Anti Virus: Symantec Endpoint Protection.

Context:

Tester has been given just an application release and asked to test it, which is available in market for users. Application owner is expecting information from testing in few hours. The application has demand in market and being purchased by users to upload files to desired FTP sites. In view of the sustenance in competitive market, application owner decides to test for security threats. A tester is assigned with a job to find security loopholes information and to identify how their competitor's similar application withstands the identified security loopholes.

Tester starts learning:

What the application is?
What platforms does the application support?
Why should user this application? What are the benefits of using this application?
Who are the users of this application and for such applications?
Who the competitors are, with similar applications?
How the application is used (or can be used) when available?
Why they use this owner's application in particular, when other such similar application are available in market?
What type of files can be uploaded? What is the minimum and maximum file size that can be uploaded?
When, how and why the application "does not do what it appears to do"?
How the application "does what it does" and "should do what it is expected to do"?
How the application is built?
Any limitation known currently in the way how application appears to work?
Any defects reports not fixed or deferred or not released with present build? If yes, why?
Do the users of the application are satisfied using it today and earlier? If no, about what they are concerned in using application?
Are users looking for new things in application today? if yes, how quick they need it and how they value application if it is available and if it is not available?
Does application was cracked for license key earlier? If yes, how frequently the license key or file was cracked or generated? If no, did the team at development site tried to do it so and what was the result? What the decision maker(s) decision when license file was cracked or when it was not possible to crack?
Does application server at owner place was hacked earlier? If yes, how frequently it was hacked? What was the cost of these hacks? If no, did the team at development site tried to do it so and what was the result? What was the decision maker(s) decision when server was hacked or when it was not possible to hack?
How the sales and revenue for the application has been along with the similar application of competitor's?
Does all claims of application are met? If not, which claims are not met and for whom? How bad the cost is to them for not meeting the claims? What claims have been met?
Any records or feedbacks from the users of application are maintained? What those records or feedbacks say?
What does the customer support feedback say for service being given for application users?

My mistakes in this session:

I was not able to test with all security test ideas I had in test coverage model in given time. Invested time in investigating behavior of application. Need to concentrate and achieve mission in given time by exercising application using test coverage model. Test report can be found here.

I learned whenever we are using anti virus, firewalls, routers, port scanners or any other threat identifying tool, we are using others program code built as an application. These application can have defects within them. The questions that remains now in me is, can an application be easily accessed when unexpected happens to security providing application? If did so, what will it cost the user? If security is understood as freedom from fear, then why many software applications get hacked or cracked? Do software application have no freedom?

European Weekend Testing 09 -- Test and Experience Report

2010-03-17T18:01:00.011+05:30

Mission:

You are moving from lovely Europe with measurements based on the metrics system to the US with imperial units. Test Converber v2.2.1(http://www.xyntec.com/converber.htm) for usability in all the situations you may face. Report back test scenarios for usability testing until 4.30pm GMT on bug repository.

Application Under Test: Converber 2.2.1

Actual Event Date: 13th March 2010, 09:00 PM IST

Start Time: 14th March 2010, 09:03 AM IST

End Time: 14th March 2010, 10:15 AM IST

Test Machine: Windows XP SP2

Tester: Ravisuriya

Modeling of context:

I am a common man with elementary school education and a very rare computer user. Working for a mining firm in Europe now transferred to US for few years on contract job. Came to know by a colleague that measurement unit changes in Europe and US. With the help of a person in Internet Center browsed for the measurement information. Found few details of Imperial and US customary measurement systems. Later used tool Converber V2.2.1 to note measurement unit I needed.

Understanding of term ‘Usability’:

Usability: How comfort is it for a user to use AUT? How quick can the user learn to use the application for desired purpose? What efforts by the physically challenged people need to put for using the application? Does application supports the Operating Systems accessibility features? What efforts does the user need to put while using it?

Session Report:

I did not participate in the EWT 09; but I practiced it offline on the next day. Report from EWT team is here. Chat transcript of discussion session is here. PDF document of my report is here. The usability scenarios that I identified during the practice session:

User launched the AUT. Was user able to use AUT with the GUI objects available in it when AUT launched? Did the GUI objects help or retarded the speed of using AUT? Was the naming convention of GUI objects was self explanatory to user?
User entered values for a selected unit. How to identify the value seen is of type ‘Imperial’ or ‘US customary unit’?
Users want AUT to have a default option of either ‘Imperial’ or ‘US’ units.
User selected units are same; what message is displayed now?
User not aware whether the calculation of unit value for desired, is correct or not. How to test this by user?
User entered variant value which is not acceptable by the selected unit. How such instances are handled?
User need to convert of area, distance, volume, speed, power, pressure, luminance, temperature and other common used units in industries and daily life. Is there any option to see most common units converted or used across the globe?
Whether all Imperial units are available in AUT for conversion to US customary values?
User feels it was difficult to learn using AUT. Searches for help manual. Is a Help manual available feature, limitations, bugs and contact details?
User wants to enter new units that do not exist in AUT. If added, how the conversion procedure for added units can be added in AUT?
How simple the words and contents are available in AUT, so that user with no much school education can use application with ease learning of units and conversion?
User does not understand English well and can use AUT in Farsi. Does AUT support of Farsi or other languages? Does all the displayed and available contents in AUT are shown in Farsi?
User changed language in AUT to ‘English’. Did the AUT have any Farsi words displayed now?
User did not know much information about the Imperial and US Customary Values. Did the help manual have that information for user to understand them?
User wanted to have print outs of the converted unit values. Does AUT support the print? What are the ways the user can save the converted unit values for using it later? Does AUT support all of these or few among them? Which is most commonly used option to store the converted unit values by user?
User entered the value for a selected unit. The converted unit showed scientific notation. How user can convert that scientific or mathematical notation to values which is understood by user?
User entered a value which was not valid for a chosen unit. Can the user identify the displayed pop up dialog is for invalid value entered and it is from AUT? Closing the dialog will it allow user to continue using the AUT? Does the dialog appear in foreground or in background of AUT? If appeared in background which user cannot identify it, will user be able to continue using AUT? What options are available in displayed dialog to assist user?
User is visually challenged. How the AUT does help user now to know the converted unit or to convert the values into US units from Imperial?

It was a good exercise for me to identify the usability scenarios. At end of this session, had a feel that I did not do well enough in identifying the usability scenarios. When I am finding few more such usability ideas after the session, I could have done better in identifying scenarios; need more such practice.

Weekend Testing 28 -- Test and Experience Report

2010-03-17T14:57:00.012+05:30

Mission: There are three tasks to be completed today. Time Duration: 1 hour.

Task 1:

Complete the game: http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/game/dragger/

Objective: Send the screenshot where the picture is built right.

Task 2:

Score 90 points in the game:

http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/game/memocoly/

Send the screenshot. Checkpoints: URL of the game, IQ Score, "Your solution is right, congratulations! (+10 points)"

Task 3:

Score 50 points in the game. http://www.gamesforthebrain.com/game/numberhunt/

Objective: Send the screenshotscreenshot. Checkpoints: URL of the game, IQ Score, "Your answer xx is right, congratulations! (+10 points)"

Date: 13th March 2010, 3:20 PM IST

Machine: Windows SP3

Browser: Firefox 3.5.8

Tester: Ravisuriya

Context: Tester was given mission of playing the game in 60 minutes. Power cut for about 15 minutes before starting the mission tasks. Power came back and had 40 minutes remaining to complete session. Saw testers asking questions to facilitator about the mission and tasks. Started by taking up first task.

To Deliver:

Screenshot of picture built right from Dragger.
Screenshot of score 90, URL and sentence that tells you have scored 10 points from Memocoly game.
Screenshot of score 50, URL and sentence that tells you have scored 10 points from NumberHunt game.

The mission was of confusion to me as it said "complete the game", "Score 50 points" and "Score 90 points". It did not tell why I should score just 50 and 90 points or more. Procedure if any to adhere while playing the games was not mentioned. During the power cut, tried to understand the mission.

Assumptions:

Looking at the game description in mission statement, I thought it would be time limited.
Tools can be of help here for to accomplish the mission.

Tools that helped me more to accomplish mission:

White paper and Pencil.

Tasks:

Task-1) Dragger:

Browsing through the URL given in the mission found jumbled piece of an image. I tried clicking button ‘Refresh’ to find any simple image that I can think of to arrange quickly. Found one jumbled picture that is easy one for me and completed the mission-1.

There was no restriction that these particular image pieces needs to be put in right frame. I thought it was an opportunity for me to choose picture of my interest.

Task-2) Memocoly:

For first couple of tries kept looking at the screen with attention diverted no where. But, this made my eyes strain with no spectacles. I keep the brightness and contrast of being viewed monitor to less than 50. I felt this could affect if I fail to recognize as what color they were. Thinking of how to over come, I devised to use numbering system of regions.

Mental Modeling of 4 parts of a geometric shape that appeared as square:

Labeled each section as 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Later wrote the numbers on the sheet as per the region of square blinked.
Then clicked on those regions based on the numbers I wrote.
This helped me to complete the mission in good time.

Task-3) NumberHunt:

Used Microsoft calculator to calculate the displayed numbers.
This helped me to complete the game-3 bit quicker.

Finally was able to accomplish the mission i.e., to complete three tasks. Among few strategies I wrote for completing the tasks, I used the strategy of using the tool to accomplish mission. The discussion session had interesting discussion and chat transcript can be found here. Facilitator came up with interesting thought for discussion on Weekend Testing forum. The discussion topic title was -- "we are testers (who plan to meet the mission) or testers (who aim to improve our skills)" My report of three tasks as PDF document is here.

Weekend Testing 27 -- Test and Experience Report

2010-03-14T10:42:00.029+05:30

Mission: To generate test ideas to test Google Buzz with quality criteria Performance.

Date: 06th March 2010, 3:05 PM IST.

To Deliver: Report of performance testing ideas for Google Buzz.

Tester: Ravisuriya

Context: Tester has been asked to look for test ideas to test performance quality criteria of Google Buzz. It was an opportunity and first time, a tester was working with performance quality criteria. Google Buzz was live and used by users for buzzing.

Started of with mission statement. I was not very sure what 'performance' meant in mission. With a question to WT session facilitator, assumed 'performance' here as "how quick and responsive it is". Further continued to collect details regarding the context in which 'performance' was considered here. But it remained as open question and was left to tester choice in session. With mental modeling myself as a tester who is looking out performance test ideas for Google Buzz, began to brainstorm.

Assumptions made while brainstorming:

Was not sure what the ‘performance’ means in the test mission.
A thought, does the performance mean – “how well was Google Buzz was performing among with similar other available social networking services”?
Or how well the desired purpose of application satisfies the desired claims with given constraints by processing user actions and its throughput interval.
Did assume for this session, the ‘performance’ is how quick and responsive it is.
Various users are using Google Buzz at present, with no similar internet connectivity speed.

Few questions that I got while brainstorming about users and Google Buzz performance:

Performance test ideas in what context?
Who are the users and what kind of users are using Google Buzz?
How often they have used and using Google Buzz? What are their observations and perceptions of performance?
What devices did they use to browse the Google Buzz? Did this device too have any influence on their perception of Google Buzz performance?
How long did they use Google Buzz in a stretch i.e., without any break?
What environment did they have or do they have while using Google Buzz? Did it have any influence?
Any tools are used to know or understand the performance parameters of application under test?
How the performance is being measured? What are the units of measurement of performance in this context?

Brainstorming for Test Ideas:

Identify the kind of users, their ages, business, purpose, environment, consistency of using Google Buzz. Few to mention here. This keeps growing as and when brainstorming and testing sessions is on.
Identify the possible and potential contexts with each of this environment above said.
Usage of analytics and log files of Google Buzz. The log files and analytical information regarding performance of application under test to have time of request processing and of throughput.
Test on various possible hardware and *software configurations and network topologies. Note: *software and hardware may be that are installed on device from where Google Buzz is browsed and on Google Buzz server.
Does Google Buzz can be accessed by mobile phones? If yes how the configuration and applications can have influence on time factor with Google Buzz responsiveness?
Type of database Google Buzz makes use of.
Handling the incorrect or invalid entries. How quick the application is responsive to user here?
How quick does it handle if I keep buzzing with a very **small interval of gap between two buzz? Note: **small – will be decided on application’s minimum and maximum tolerance value.
Does any other application using internet or network will have influence on Google Buzz’s performance?
Study of features available or provided by Google Buzz. This might give more ideas how performances tests can be devised.
Tests for knowing how the performance of application goes, when number of parallel users increased and decreased, number of transactions in a given time period varied to threshold and least, time consumed to recover from these two edges of variations etc.
Performance of application when it's potential reaches to the extreme. What time it takes to handle the requests from clients?
Type of server being used. Type of connections. Any data stored by application on client is not stored or stored partially – how the performance of application goes here.
How Google applications being used by user simultaneously along with Google Buzz choke up the time. Need to identify such application(s) of Google and need to be tested along with Google Buzz.
Other vast applications used over internet and Google Buzz.
Maximum requests that can be handled at a given time. (This includes various actions using various features of Google Buzz).
Usage of Google Buzz over ***network that is not comfort for using of application. Note: ***network – properties of network.
If any tools or program used to look into the performance rating of application, what time is taken by tool to work on this? Does the time taken here by tool or program instructions have any influence?
How the request of client is sent to server?

The test ideas I got during this session were of generic to performance. I will use these test ideas to develop specific performance tests. Interaction with Dr. Meeta Prakash showed how these ideas can be turned to be more specific to performance test ideas. Discussion session transcript is here. PDF document of my session report is here.

AutonomyV -- Open Source Web Test Automation Tool

2010-01-26T00:31:00.014+05:30

Searching for open source test automation tool found AutonomyV among other available. I helped my testing with this tool for automating most repetitive actions in few sessions. Using it was simple for record, modifying script to need level and use the recorded actions in VBScript. Tool can be downloaded from here.

Few limitations of AutonomyV as per my learning for now:

Can be used with Internet Explorer only. I made use of this tool with IE7.
It supports limited browser objects -- edits, text areas, buttons, check-box, radio button, web links, web images and web lists.
While executing the script, the IE window opened will not be maximized. To over come this modified the AutonomyLib.vbs file.
Need to execute individual script for each instance of automated actions.

PDF documents "AutonomyV Users Guide.pdf" and "AutonomyV Samples Guide.pdf" available with tool and useful.

A sample VBScript for automating user actions on Mercury Tours demo website is here. And MS Excel file from which data is read can be found here.

Note: Credits to AutonomyV team and Mercury Tours demo website.

Testing The Magician's Fingers

2009-10-25T10:15:00.027+05:30

A student from primary school where I studied came up and asked "Will you see the magic?" I like the tricks and uncovering those tricks of magic, hence requested her to illustrate the magic. She had brought box of color pencils with her.

I was asked to pick few color pencils while she turned such that I could see her back. She asked me to place those picked color pencils slowly in her left hand.

Later I was said to note down the color pencils which I have picked. And, I made note of those color pencils which appeared to me as red, green, black, blue, yellow and orange colors. After few seconds, I was asked to remove one color pencil from her left hand and place it in her right hand. It appeared as she was making sure that a color pencil was in her right hand. Later she moved it back to her left hand, where other color pencils were.

She instructed me to remember the color pencil which I have picked and placed in her right hand. And she asked me to move all the pencils in her left hand to box and close it. I had picked a color pencil which appeared to me as yellow-in-color and placed it in her right hand. Turning around she took the closed box in her hand and shuffled it with smile and confident. These actions of her made me more curious to observe her movements much more consciously.

She began to pick the color pencil by opening the box. She picked the pencil which appeared as pink-in-color and said not this. Later she picked the pencil that looked like brown-in-color and said not this. I kept looking at her eyes and body movements. Later she picked the pencil which looked as yellow-in-color and said this is your pencil.

I was surprised and sensed the trick here. And I believed my observations can be different if I closely investigate it. I asked her to repeat what she done. She was in full of joy and readily did illustrate her magic again.

I started my testing by stating test mission, "To uncover the illusion of little girl's magic trick."

Below are the questions that I gave for myself:

Do I know what should be tested, by modeling the magic trick that I witnessed just now?
What are the oracles and heuristics that can help me to know this magic trick?
What approaches and techniques should I be using in current and unexpected contexts to test, for revealing this magic trick?
How to configure, operate and observe the tests that I will be making?
How can I infer and perceive the test results?
How can I summarize my testing activities on revealing the illusion of magic trick?

While the little girl was illustrating the magic trick I was observing the possible suspicious (which acted as heuristics) moves which I thought of. Moving further in my tests, kept talking to the girl and varied my tests.

The information that I made note were as below while I varied my tests:

Was she able to see which color pencil I picked? She was not able to see it while I picked one color pencil from box.
What was the length and width of color pencil she was using to illustrate the magic? It was the pencil of length and width which was fitting in her palm.
What kind of traces does the color pencils leave behind when colored using it or touching the tip of its lead? The trace of color was bright enough to identify by me in this context.
How quick the traces of color can be erasable either on palms or on paper in this context?
Is this color trace visible to other person, if the little girl is away from the observer?
Am I biased here with anything here? Is it helping me? I was biased with information that color pencil will not leave any traces on palms on holding it.
Does the lead and body of the color pencil appear to be of same color?
What were the sequences of the pencil positions in the left hand of the girl?
What if I place pencil in alternate pattern such that head of one color pencil will see the lead of the other color pencil in left hand?
What if I change the position of color pencil head in the right hand of girl? Will she be still able to identify the color pencil I picked?
For what number of times the little girl can consistently identify the color pencil that I pick? And the girl should not clean her palms or hands on each time this trick is illustrated.
What if I place the same brand or manufacturers color pencil with broken lead, so that it cannot color unless it is sharpened to see the lead?
What if I place other brand or manufacturers color pencils in her hand? Will she be able to identify the one I pick?
What if I place pen with closed cap or colored objects in her hand that fits her palms? Will she be able to identify the one I pick?
Was there any embosses or any kinds of surface marks on color pencil, which could tell the color of pencil on touching it?
Did each color pencil have particular odor? If yes, how strong was that odor to identify uniquely? And this odor help her to identify the color pencil I picked?
What if I place the black lead pencil of same size to the color pencil in her hand? Will she be able to do the same gimmick as with color pencil she had bought?
What if I had smeared or rubbed the color pencil lead with other color pencil such that it gives two colors or a new color combination of the two? Will she have any difficulty now in identifying the color pencil I picked?
Does the color pencil's body will leave any color strains on the palm or fingers while it is held in hand? If yes, for what time period should a color pencil to be held in hand? For how long the color stains or traces from this will remain there?
Can I break the lead of a color pencil and can place the lead of other color pencil to it? How she can illustrate the same magic now?
What if I place color pencil, which appeared as its lead color and body color are not the same? Will she be able to pick the right color pencil now?
Were the color pencils are used earlier to color or yet to be used for coloring? Or it is used only for such trick purpose?
Did the box of color pencils had anything in it to make this trick happen?
What if I smear the oil or wax or water over her palms and fingers, before placing the color pencils in her hands? Will she be able to show her trick?
Will she be able to do the same trick using single hand and one finger, instead of both hands and its fingers?
How long and good the nails of her hands are? Did she make use of her nails too in this trick? Was nail polished with nail polish? If yes what was the color of it?
Had she smeared anything on her nails, palms and hands?
What all she is using to do this trick?
How quick the pencil will leave its strain if it is kept in hands?
What was the size of the lead of color pencil in the box?
What if I place the pencils all of same color in the box instead of those appears to be of different colors?
What if I closed her eyes by cloth so that she cannot see her hands or palms or fingers? And now I request her to pick the pencil. Will she able to do the trick now?
Was there any person who I did not see, helping her to say which color pencil I picked?
Was there any object around her that helped to see her which color pencil I picked? Did the direction she turned and stood have any influence or not?
Is she able to do this trick in any place and any time, apart from the place where she stood now?
What if I do not place the color pencil in her hand, instead keep an object that appears and feels like a color pencil but not a pencil? Will she be able to identify it or will she proceed further to say to put all the pencils back to box and be shocked to see no pencils in box?
How long did she keep the color pencil in her right hand? What time did she take each time to repeat when I asked her to illustrate, when I chose different color pencils?

These were few questions that I got during that context. Asked her to perform the trick for few times and showed that it can be different if tested. And her little thumb finger nail of right hand had color of pencil I picked, through which she identified. She left saying "cheating, you saw the magic on my nail."

Magic is also an art as testing is. Magic and testing can make the illusions and remove the illusions too. Both require skills, practices, explorations and failures to find alternative approaches that fit into the contexts.

Testing will show how our biases, anticipated, inferences, perceptions, investigations and the information we have will not be the same for any time.

Bug, Flaw and Defect are all possible problems.

2009-09-25T18:22:00.055+05:30

One of my team members asked me "What is the difference between Bug, Flaw, Error and Defect in software?" With my very little learning, I understand all these words talks about potential problems or concerns with software application I am using.

Words are contextual and so its meanings are:

What does a 'Bug' mean for an Entomologist?
What does a 'Bug' mean for a scaring man or woman looking at it?
What does a 'Bug' mean for an organism that feeds on bug(s)?
What does a 'Bug' mean for a person who treats for poisonous bite of insects?
What does a 'Defect' mean for a Physician?
What does a 'Defect' mean for a Lawyer?
What does a 'Defect' mean for a Metallurgist?
What does a 'Defect' mean for an Acoustician?
What does a 'Defect' mean for an Architect or Civil Engineer who made the plan of a bridge or a dam or a skyscraper and constructing it?
What does a 'Defect' mean for an Aeronautical Engineer designing and building the aircraft?
What does a 'Defect' mean for an Astronaut?
What does a 'Defect' mean for a pilot flying an aeroplane?
What does a 'Flaw' mean to a Goldsmith?
What does an 'Error' mean to a Tailor?
What does an 'Error' mean to a referee in a game?
What does an 'Error' mean when I park my vehicle in no parking area?
What do a 'Bug', 'Defect', 'Flaw' and 'Error' mean when it is helping me to learn and know something new?

The 'Bug' for an entomologist can be source of knowledge. Bug can be a threat for scaring man or woman. Bug can be one of the survival source for an organism feeding on it. And for person who treats for bite of poisonous bugs, bugs can be source of bread and butter for her or him.

To a doctor who treats human, defect can be abnormality in human body as a defect in tooth for a dentist. To a goldsmith defect can be what she or he does not want the ornament to be or to have. An error to a tailor can be the incorrect measurement or cutting of garment.

And as a software user what can the bug, defect, error and flaw are? What should a user say for problem(s) witnessed before using the software application? Should it be called a bug, a defect, a flaw or an error?

The problem known by different words like bug, defect, flaw and error etc., exist because me exist as a user. The actions and interactions of me as a user identifies the problems. The problems or concerns are to me for using the software application. I perceive them as problems when a particular *sequence of usage of application did not bring desired or expected results.

*If sequence of operations are varied, the same problem or concern may appear or not or something interesting may turn up.

If I have no problem using the application may be then it has no problem just to me. Or may be the application is being used only by me. Or might the application is not used to an extent so that it can exhibit different behaviors for same operations. Or I am unable to differentiate between the problems and what I am understanding by using the application.

A problem is a probe that identifies the variances from my (the user) expectations. What happens to me when it varies from my expectations? How I react to these unexpected contexts? Hope this tells the importance of the problems faced by me as a user. Interesting is, the problems are also a heuristic.

I ship the Information!

2009-09-11T11:22:00.024+05:30

I was following a discussion thread in Software Testing Club. When I read the title of the discussion "No issues in application" with description "What do you do when you are not finding any issues in the application you are testing?" I did not know what author had in his thought while he wrote the description. Was he witnessing, what he had written in title and description or it was a thought asking what should be done when (it is or it will be or it was) witnessed? This question remained along with many other views of me for the very same title and description.

Following the discussion, I understood that the author was witnessing what he had written in the title and description of the discussion thread. The reason for witnessing this might be the illusion, biased and the other things too if it exists and one discovers it. Focus and defocus might help here to discover, generate, invent and explore the new ideas -- the heuristics.

The few words, phrases and sentences from the discussion helped me to unlearn and learn -- how can I infer and perceive the information:

/* These are the few words taken as it is from the discussion thread. */

wrong tests.
if the main functional user test cases pass, then the quality of the sw may be good enough (depending on how critical the sw be in the real world).
Why are there no defects in this application?
Pesticide Paradox.
there are always defects, they must be somewhere.
Perhap I could see where other defects have been reported in the past and test around those areas.
Why are the test cases all passing?
Have I tried end-to-end or process driven testing?
Ship the application.
I typically step back and look at the tests I've run and try to identify patterns in what I've been doing. With my next set of tests, I attempt to violate those patterns.
Julian Harty's techniques around six thinking hats for software testers.
trying different tours of the application to generate new test ideas.
better develop my mental model of the application.
pairing with others on the project team.
are you asleep and dreaming this.
It really meant that the test cases you are running - either they are not updated ones or just clicking on "PASS" on any behavior.
This scenario will not come.......if it comes well.....time for all the testers to pack their bags. :)
Take a step back and think just what you are supposed to be doing and what you are actually doing.
If you're not finding any defects then there's something fundamentally wrong with your approach.
if you're not finding problems then you're doing something wrong.
In all my 20 years of testing it have never happened!
If am not finding any issues in application as per System Requirements / use cases. i start doing negative testing.
try to brake Application by any means. if it still survive then the application is ready to be Delivered.. :)
Application has gone through all the negative testing and has survived, however I still have couple to days time to test.
Hence I was trying to find if there are any issues.

/* End of selected words from the discussion thread. */

Looks like the application that was said, might have been shipped which made to close the discussion thread.

When I began to learn and unlearn my understandings with the above words, phrases and sentences which were written in the discussion thread, the skeptical notions I am inferring and perceiving are as below:

Test(s) give the information when they are executed. I don't know and I am investigating yet how to classify, call and negotiate them as wrong tests and correct tests. Words are always ambiguous. In this context, both wrong test(s) and right test(s) provide the information.
Testing provides the information. If my test cases fail, still I am getting the information which might be of value to the people who matter. If quality is value to the people, then isn't the failed information is useful intellectual cognition? Why test cases marked as passed the test(s) alone get the importance?

I understand 'Quality' is not in the software which is used, but it is the emotion of the user when the model is used. I remember the words of Gerald M. Weinberg "Quality is value to some person". If I wear a silk (which is said to be of high quality by fabric person who weaved or manufactured that silk garment) shirt of bigger size (than I need) that hides my trouser when that shirt is not tuck in or which makes me not to wear trouser or I am unable to tuck in the shirt due to its size -- am I getting quality on wearing it? Am I satisfied, enjoying and loving to wear that silk shirt?

It depends from a user to user along with other factors which can have the influences for wearing a silk shirt or not. And if I don't like to have that shirt, where is the quality for me in that shirt which might have passed the test, to say the silk used in fabric is of high quality? But, if I wish not to spend money on buying a trouser and this bigger size silk shirt covers my shoulder to ankle and I am comfort with it and happy using it, might be the value for the money what I have given is with me.

When idea(s) or heuristic(s) does not bring the information that tells it fails to meet the claims, it is not a failure idea. It is the information that shows how the model does what is supposed to do, in yet another way too. If the idea(s) or heuristic(s) does discover the information, how the model fails yet in another way of using it -- it is not a success. It reveals another way how the model does not do what it is supposed to. One can get such plenty of information which makes him or her to infer the model (appear as) to work or not work. So failure and success cannot be defined with the information given by the Tester's Testing. And, may be the model cannot be shipped by decision makers, with tester(s) information alone.
I am not against test case writing. The first law of documentation is to document it (from Rapid Software Testing). If I am just executing the steps in test cases, it is more of like verification and validation of test cases and not the testing of model under test and testing of the being executed test cases. Writing the test cases is also an art as testing is, where both require skills, practices, failures and the explorations.
If System Requirements are written in a document, then is that document itself is the requirement(s)? Requirement document(s) has (ambiguous) words which describe the requirement(s); and the document(s) are not the requirement(s). Man makes mistakes while writing, so computer can also do the same.

Computer or document model does not tell the requirement(s) or whether what I am writing is correct or incorrect or this is what was expected by the user or user does not want this. In simple, document or document software model does not ask questions or answers for what is in my thoughts about requirement(s). It just processes whatever I give, if it is able to take what I give and I perceive this as computer as understood my question and given the solution; where all these are nothing but an illusion. It appears to me as document software model has done what it was desired to do.

If sensing a impulsive feel like model under test is matching to requirement, then it is not too late to understand, testing is not matching or not just matching alone (as matching may involve few tests). 'Matching' reminds me the writings of Michael Bolton on Checking, Testing and Problem. One may feel the information from matching are sufficient but does not feel information from testing are enough, since it always reveals or shows new things apart from those seemed as matched and did not match.

Negative Testing and Positive Testing might be the textbook words. Whatever it might be, the information from so said 'Negative Testing' or 'Positive Testing' adds its own values. If inferred as value given from so said 'Negative Testing' is high than so said 'Positive Testing', then one day it might happen such that positive(s) can be negative(s) and negative(s) can be positive(s). I remember the words of James Bach, "Testing is infinite process of comparing the invisible to the ambiguous so as to avoid the unthinkable happening to the anonymous."
The information obtained from testing is more than the ambiguous strings 'PASS' or 'FAIL' or 'NOT EXECUTED'.
Tester cannot take the decision or tell to ship the model under test, but might make the influence on the shipping decision by decision makers with the information given from her or his testing. I don't know yet, how the moment would be if the decision maker is the only tester.
Challenging the assumptions might challenge statements, "No issues in the application" and "What do you do when you are not finding any issues in the application you are testing?"
Saying "I don't see any problem here" is a problem which might produce 'n' number of problems. Still seeing anything as 'no problem here', then questioning 'when it can be a problem?' or 'how it can turn to be a problem?' might help.

I owe all the credits to the people who participated in the said discussion thread.

A Tester does not ship the model he or she is (or will be) testing. A Tester ships the information from her or his testing.

What More Can I See Here in this dialog?

2009-08-11T22:29:00.021+05:30

Being inspired by the blog "Is There A Problem Here?" I am collecting the information that questions me. My credits to person and people who came with the idea and also to the contributing members and team members of blog 'Is There A Problem Here?'

I ask myself "What More Can I See Here?" always while learning any model and system. It helps me in learning by identifying the information and my mistakes. The below MS Power Point Show has the dialogs that can have possibly confusing information when displayed.

The dialog and its message(s) might be helpful to an user, if the displayed error or warning or an informative or pop up dialog has:

message which can be understandable by the user,
relevant application and machine details in that context,
an option that can help to collect the needful data or logs from the model to know the cause of the witnessed behavior, and
an option to intimate the support crew along with contact information of the person who can help the user.

Ben Simo's FAILURE heuristic can be found here and here too.

What More Can I See Here in this dialog? -- 1

Where is the "Requirement"? Vs What More "Can I See Here?"

2009-07-21T09:49:00.058+05:30

The word "Requirement" is used by the laymen in his native language or with synonym words -- necessity, essential etc., which gives same meaning of requirement. Not just humans but also other vertebrates and non-vertebrates exhibit their requirement needs. The activities of vertebrates and non-vertebrates may show its needs as change in their requirements or as fresh requirements.

For example, when a child was born, parents or people would have covered the child with cloths. Do same cloths fit a child after couple of years? If yes, for how long those same cloths fit a child? Now a child exhibits requirement in terms of change -- in size of cloths, in this context. Similarly a banyan plant when planted, what space did it need? After 100 years does same space is sufficient for a planted banyan tree? Also the objects which looks like or so called as non-living being, (appears to) change its requirement as it evolves with the ecosystem in which it is understood to be present.

Do software applications too change its requirements as it evolves? While writing a software application, does desired deliverable (which is or which was) said by a user or written by a user or understood by an author who interacted with the user(s), is what the user(s) needs or needed? If yes, then those are the only deliverable or requirements?

Does whatever a user says or said or going to say is what she or he needs? Or, are there any other users who can give much more information that helps in the understanding of said words or written words or not yet said words and support the mission of delivering deliverable? Or, what I have understood about the deliverable, mission and AUT is correct? How and when can I know what I have is what a user actually needs? I am learning this day by day in each mistake I do.

I was asked, "Where is the requirement for all these? There is no requirement for all these, it is not a bug." for the observations reported from testing. These statements may be agreeable, if users are comfort using AUT with its behavior witnessed and not yet witnessed. But is this agreeable forever?

Concerns in AUT can be user specific and also context specific. A bug for me may not be a bug for other. I am not the author of implemented code or written requirement document and neither a user always in the operational environment. I will be prone to commit mistakes while learning and understanding AUT. I (tester) would not know always whether it is a problem or not using AUT. On illustrating AUT's behaviors with scenarios and risks that might turn around, observations reported were considered and prioritized accordingly.

If something works as implemented, is it to be understood that it is as per requirement or this is what a user needs? Might be the requirement asked by user or written by the author is not viable for near future or I misunderstood it for something else. Things I observe and understand can take or have more than one view. If AUT is as per requirements, design & implementation and as desired to use, then it is not hard to say "this is not what was expected", when any or all of these i.e., requirements, design, implementation and as desired are not agreeable or understood incorrectly.

I cannot stop myself getting biased while testing. But it can be identified and interpreted. The question that I ask for myself is, "How can I know what is needed by the clients as they are asking it for their needs and it is not for my purpose." This heuristic helps me and also failed in few contexts.

Picture: Systems and User interaction.

Note: The above diagram is with reference to my understanding of user needs, problems and software model.

Might be I identify only part of the little union area of three systems -- 'Users', 'Sub-systems and Models' and 'Problems, Requirement and Solutions' which is within another systems. Each subsystem and system will keep growing in its area. The union of these three systems within a system may give new systems. Probably it would be a challenge to me, to know the union areas every aspect in all possible views. If one system grows and covers rest of the other, those might be challenges to me in a system to identify and understand them.

I learned "Requirements are always incomplete and it evolves over the period of time gradually. Might be due to this incompleteness and changing needs of a person or the users, it is called as requirements."

I proceed asking myself "What More Can I See Here?" I am learning and testing to gather information for minimizing the confusions as a service to my clients. If one feels observations as a concerns or not a concerns it is yet another way of looking at it. And it adds insight for what I have to concentrate and look ahead and what my clients want to know from my testing.

Here is a scenario as a video, I witnessed. Is this scenario was in requirement of milk container manufacturing? Those who took milk from container by opening the knob always saw milk flowing to cup below the opened knob. It was a routine observation with this milk container and other such container. Milk flowed down and appeared as a free flow with no disturbances into a coffee or tea cup -- may be one of the requirement and design of container, what a user expected. Did you see anything here?

One day opening knob of milk container, every one placed a tea cup below the opened knob. And none noticed milk spilling out of cup. Where is the requirement for this scenario? The cost was, who came to have a cup of milk did waste the milk by spilling it down. Why this problem was not seen or thought of earlier? Was there any requirement in design and molding of milk container, which was not tested with this scenario? Or, every one expected that milk flows as usual into cup below the opened knob with no turbulence provided milk was available in container?

Video: Milk spilling out of cup.

Few questions bogged me looking at this scenario:

What made all to think that milk flows into tea cup in their hand, on opening the knob of milk container?
Once the knob of milk container was turned open, what made all not to see the flow of milk into tea cup in their hand?
Is this scenario was never witnessed by any users earlier, who witnessed it today? If witnessed, when, where, how why and how frequently they witnessed it?
Why did they not think of this unexpected, when they turned open the knob of milk container?
Were they annoyed to clean the spilled out milk? Were they bugged by the incident they witnessed? If yes who were annoyed who were not annoyed? What did they do when they were annoyed?
What quantity of milk was lost for these unthinkable and unexpected happening?
Did user witnessed new problems from spilled out milk? If yes what were they? Who faced those problem(s)? What did it cost? And to whom did it cost?

Here is a video, which I believe that demonstrates 'What More Can I See Here?' and gathers the information by identifying problems.

Video: Identifying the concerns with the model.
Note: The credit for this video goes to the team or person who made it.

Few questions questioned me looking at this video:

What was their mission? How often they reviewed their accomplishment with the mission to be accomplished?
Was any requirement asked before changing previous design? Might be they would have seen requirement. But did they say, "There is no requirement to change."?
Did they see any problems from the information gathered?
How often they reconstructed their learning, thoughts and design for the concerns they witnessed?
Did they change requirement(s)?
Did they identify concern(s) with requirement they had?
How did they learn to identify concern(s)?
Did they follow any document to see whether they met requirement? If they saw requirement document(s), did they stick on to it alone when concerns were witnessed?
How did they test requirement and model developed?
Who were involved in discussion of requirement gathering and understanding?
Who were involved while learning (testing) the model they developed?
How did they record gathered information? How they made use of it? And who all analyzed it?

Again such questions keep coming out each time I explore. Is there any requirement written or present or assumed by default to ask, "It is not a bug. Where is the requirement?", if found like no requirement available for information identified by explorations?

Today's needs may change as tomorrow's concerns; and today's concerns may change as tomorrow's needs.

I am h(f)ired because I use my brain!

2009-07-15T19:44:00.013+05:30

I was moving to house previous day. It was late night and did not find any public transport for 25 minutes. I was talking to one my colleague who works with me by discussing and debating. Finally, we found a bus and moved inside the bus.

My friend found his seat in the front seat of my seat, where I found a seat for me. Beside me a person was seated and was looking seriously looking at me. We began our conversation for 30 minutes without knowing each other name. I would like to call him as a Fellow Traveler --- he gave me good lessons to learn and I learned.

Me: Hi!
Fellow Traveler: Hi! Seems like you are looking for a job.

Me: Yes. I always look for that as it always helps me to know where I am. Seems like your employer is ABC.
Fellow Traveler: Not now. Today I work for JKL.

Me: Any opening for learners in your workplace.
Fellow Traveler: Learners?

Me: Yes.
Fellow Traveler: What work you do in your office?

Me: I am a Tester.
Fellow Traveler: What tools do you use for testing?
Me: I use my brain?
Fellow Traveler: What? Brain? I asked tools.
Me: Yes, that is what I use and that tool works for me.

Fellow Traveler: Are you not fired yet?
Me: I was hired as they discovered that I used my brain. Don't know when they will fire me, if I don't use my brain or for using brain.
Fellow Traveler: Looks funny! What they say to you when you use your brain?
Me: "When you are going on vacation?"

Fellow Traveler: Without test tools, how will you do that? To come in to my work place, you have to know testing tools.
Me: What does the 'testing tools' means, which you are talking about? What does 'you have to know testing tools' means?
Fellow Traveler: Tools that is used to automate the testing which you do.
Me: I test almost what I don't see and see, I don't hear and hear, I did not know, that I don't understand and I understand by learning from testing it. Where shall I place your "automate the testing which you do"?

Fellow Traveler: Oh! You are cracking my knuckles man. I meant what test automation tools you use for the testing you do in your work place.
Me: I know to use them and learning to use them by knowing them i.e., the test automation tools you just said.

Fellow Traveler: Do you know WinRunner?
Me: I can run the Winrunner.

Fellow Traveler: Do you know QTP?
Me: I do Questioning Tests Passionately.
Fellow Traveler: I never heard that. Do you know any other abbreviation for that?
Me: I can keep telling for that. The other one now that I have for you is...
Fellow Traveler: I am wondering, why you are not fired yet? Have you used LoadRunner?
Me: I make loads of tests to find information.
Fellow Traveler: What that loads of tests you do?
Me: I discover, invent, explore and reinvent the questions. This helps me to find the information and some time it does not; but provides the other information, which helps me again to create the loads of tests I said.

Fellow Traveler: Do you know Rational Robot?
Me: I am a human, who is learning to think rationally.

Fellow Traveler: Common man, don't poke with your answers. How they are bearing you?
(my friend in front seat was looking at us and was smiling, listening to our conversations)
Fellow Traveler: To work in my company you have to know these tools?

Me: Which tools?
Fellow Traveler: WinRunner, QTP, LoadRunner, Rational Robot.

Me: Did you skip any more software test automation tools?
Fellow Traveler: Why?
Me: There are also open source test automation tools, which might be handy depending upon your project contexts. I wanted to know, why the tools you said, are used in your company?
Fellow Traveler: We make applications that are huge and used in real time by several people at a given point of time. A tester cannot do the testing for this kind of applications.

Me: OK. Who made the applications you told?
Fellow Traveler: Are you deaf? I said right, we make applications that are huge.
Me: How huge it is? I want to know what the huge means to you.
Fellow Traveler: You are funny man.
Me: Yes it appears so. When your people who are also human, can make applications, which you said, that were huge, why can't the human test it?

Fellow Traveler: What do you want to say?
Me: You said your applications were huge and used as a real time system. I don't know how huge it is and what the huge means for you. I can see every application as real time system and also as non-real time system. Putting the huge application into the hands of automation will be like, for an example, you are sitting in Volvo bus which is air conditioned, quite luxury seats and the other features it has. I have never traveled in Volvo bus.

But, the Volvo bus in which you are seated now, say it is traveling in road traffic of Bengaluru where the person driving the bus is covered his head completely such that he can only breath and survive but not able to see anything neither hear anything but can move his hands and body while driving the bus.

Are you safe in that bus though it is Volvo? Might be you are safe till some extent or to the full extent of your journey in that bus. But what is the guarantee that you are safe? Also, when the person driving the bus in which you are seated is able to see and hear by moving his hands and body, still no guarantee of your safety of your journey. All what we have is some words or claims that say using service(s) of so and so will make us so and so which are either advertised or communicated orally or done by both the way. And we are all factors of it, when we witness it.

But the risk might be bit lower when compared to the other case and all it depends on the people inside the bus, the person driving the bus, and the tool being used -- the Volvo bus. Right? This way, if you model the test by testers hope the risk of using the huge application you said might be lower or not at all; then you need to think about the strategies to work on.

Fellow Traveler: You are saying that test automation is of no use?
Me: I did not tell those word anywhere. But, knowing how to use them for helping testing what I do is required. Test Automation Tools does not do the testing what I do; it might help my testing activities, which is human tasks and to know what extent it helps is useful data. But, it cannot replace the human tasks without the intervention or interpretation of human and human thinking. Test Automation Tools cannot be paralleled with human for the tasks each do on their own cognitive and intuitive.

Fellow Traveler: I am hearing strange things.
Me: Me too sensed the same sometime back, until I failed and now too I fail. Automation tool (i.e., a model) with bug (any software is not free of bugs) automated another model, which also has bugs. Something interesting, when I witnessed that.

Fellow Traveler: OK man, see you again.
Me: I wait for that moment. Bye! What work you do for your current employer?
Fellow Traveler: I work on systems.
Me: Systems? What systems? What does it mean?
Fellow Traveler: I have to leave; this is my stop where I get down.
Me: Bye.

Later my friend in the front seat began our conversation about the talk, which I had with fellow traveler. I learned from those conversations of fellow traveler and my friend. I hope the fellow traveler who was in conversation with me, might see this writing one day and we meet again.

The software (and combination of hardware & software) we make is a kind of an automation of human work, is what I have understood. I was questioning myself, "Is that tools are fallible?" "Only tool does experiences the failure?" And I kept writing many such questions and wrote statements (towards and against) as much as possible for the each questions. I knew human is fallible, then the heuristics identified by human are fallible, then the model built by human which are set of heuristics (programming instructions -- in this context) are fallible. A question remains is "Which is not fallible and not (to) prone for failure(s)?" If any such exist with us -- when (not), how (not), why (not) it is fallible and not (to) prone for failure(s)?

Hot and live. Possible bugs?

2009-07-01T09:54:00.015+05:30

The below written behavior and observations were observed and inferred from hotmail.

In the context, a user has forgot her or his Windows Live ID's password and has entered incorrect alternate email-id while registering for the email-id. What shall the user do?

In this scenario, there is a context that can show a possible bug. And the same can be an advantage to the user in the different context. Sure there will be more than these two scenarios, since a tester can make a model to fail for what it is intended to do in more than one ways and similarly can make the model to pass for what it is intended to do in more than one ways.

Context-1 and problem: The user has forgot the password of her or his Windows Live ID. And has entered incorrect alternate email-id while registering for the email-id.

The user has not yet set any question and secret answer that might get help in resetting password nor did not know that she or he entered the incorrect alternate email-id. How the user can reset the password now using the page being viewed?

Clicked on hypertext 'Forgot your password?' Navigated to the page where a password can be reset. Entering the email-id (whose password has been forgot) and characters, which appears similar to CAPTCHA, took to the page that displayed a text "Reset your password"-- which appeared to be by black-in-color. It had two options with radio button for sending instructions to, reset the password. And, the options were the email-id for which the password is forgotten and the other was the alternate email-id.

Now, in this context scenario, user has entered the incorrect alternate email-id and also has forgotten the password of the Windows Live ID such that she or he cannot sign in to the email account to view the instructions of resetting the password. What shall the user do now? Should she or he need to create a new email-id again? Or if there is any other way to reset the password, won't it be time consuming for the user to spend her or his time in search of ways to reset the password? Is this a bug?

If entered this URL -- http://login.live.com, will show a page with title 'Sign In'. Clicking on hypertext 'Forgot your password?' will navigate to page with title 'Credential Management', Entering the email-id for which the password needs to be reset and the characters that appears in the image, will show a message text message as in below snap. What should the user do now?

Picture: message telling unable to reset the password.

Context-2: The user knows the password and wants to reset the password. But don't know how to reset the password once signed in to the email-id account. She or he uses this feature to reset the password, though the entered alternate email-id is correct or incorrect (until the alternate email-id option is not chosen).

On selecting radio button -- email-id (Windows Live ID) for which the password to be reset, and clicking on button continue appears like the instructions for resetting password is sent to the email-id (Windows Live ID) for which the password is to be reset. If chosen an alternate email-id, then the instructions will be sent to it.

Here the same page and options act as problem and also as a solution to a kind of problem to the user. The above advocated context's can be observed here.

Longest twitter with no space, appears like it has no contents in it!

2009-06-27T09:25:00.020+05:30

Below are the images of twitter messages by Pradeep Soundararajan. And I have subscribed the RSS feeds of @testertested and I read them in Google Reader.

picture-1

picture-2

picture-1 and picture-2: twitter message that looked like it had nothing in it.

picture-3

picture-3: twitter message with no spaces between the words

picture-4
picture-4: twitter message with no spaces between the words and has 140 characters.

While looking at the twitters of @testertested in my Google Reader account, I was surprised to see the empty twitter message. But I knew there is something here and said my self, "Pradeep Soundararajan would have explored something here too.".

I could not wait with my curiosity. Clicking on the so appeared empty twitter message area, showed the twittered message which had 140 characters with no spaces between the words.

The button 'Update' used to update our twitter message in twitter, will not be enabled to submit our twittering once our twitter message exceeds 140 characters, irrespective whether it has spaces or not.

Question that I have is, "Why I am not able to see the twittered message in the Google Reader, though it had message in it?"

What more can I see here? Is there a problem here? Is it a bug? Is it a feature? What should a subscribed reader for the feeds should think and infer in a scenario's context -- when she or he gets an illusion of no message though it has a message which is not displayed as in picture-1 and picture-2 , when looking at it for the first time?

What ever it might be, I am finding information from this behavior. Investigation report of this behavior is here.

Unthinkable happening to the anonymous.

2009-06-03T09:44:00.011+05:30

Can you think of an unthinkable for few seconds? If you can think of an unthinkable -- how it looks at present or how it would (not) be in future or how it had (not) been in past or earlier, then is it called the unthinkable? The next question to be investigated is "What is an 'unthinkable'? What can be unthinkable? When it looks like an unthinkable? Does it just appear as the unthinkable? When it is not an unthinkable? For whom it is an unthinkable -- when, why and how? For whom it is not an unthinkable -- when, why and how?"

Tried to look what is inferred in general for word "unthinkable". Asked few of my friends, "what do you understand for word 'unthinkable' and when you say it is an unthinkable?" Most of the *replies I got was and relates literally to, "when I cannot think beyond a level, I think it is unthinkable.". I was curious to know and asked "how did (or do) you know that you cannot think beyond a level, when you know that was so seemed as an optimum level (boundary)."

Later I tried to collect information about what they say about "thinkable". The *replies that I got was and relates literally to, "when I can say it precisely or when I can understand it or when I can relate it or when it is agreeable or when it is possible."

*This replies does not mean that what I heard are unanimously universal truth. I may have different opinions in the various contexts -- how I perceive the information by relating it from my thinking.

This triggered a heuristic within me to ask a question and requested to infer what I heard for unthinkable and thinkable. Unthinkable -- cannot think beyond a level, which is known by thinking, means it is thinkable to that extent and did looked like uncertain beyond that and seemed like thinkable as an unthinkable after that? When I identified a boundary, why did not I try to put question mark for what is beyond and after that boundary? This helped me to identify a heuristic -- exploratory is in the dynamics of thinking. The question what I got from my friends was, "what difference you find between words 'the unthinkable' and 'the thinkable'?" I was able to find the difference here and it was in the spellings of the two words.

With all this I looked out for printed meanings of words "unthinkable" and "thinkable" and below is what I saw and read on the web:

>> Unthinkable

adjective:
inconceivable; unimaginable; not to be considered; out of question;
noun:
something that cannot be conceived or imagined, as something too unusual, vague, or disagreeable.

Here I read a sentence -- "Today's unthinkables are tomorrow's realities.". Then I asked myself, "then how can it be termed as unthinkable?". I said myself, "I did not have a verb meaning here for unthinkable". The verb (action of thinking and reinvention of questions) makes unthinkable to thinkable by a question with intent to know what the question(s) shows and gives back.

>> Thinkable

adjective:
capable of being thought; conceivable; that may be considered as possible or likely.

*Note: Here it says three results for thinkable, but it seems like only two results are being shown to readers.

With all these questions and information I had a thought and inferred -- there is nothing unthinkable; if at all said, it is unthinkable then it is the ambiguities in thinkable, thinking, what I have, what I have inferred, what I have understood, what I am seeing, which I am not seeing and what I have missed to write here. Questioning and investigations helps in identifying and knowing what is ambiguous.

This made me to remember the words of James Bach, which I had read -- "Testing is infinite process of comparing the invisible to the ambiguous so as to avoid the unthinkable happening to the anonymous."

My own context where I witnessed "unthinkable happening to the anonymous":

I have the habit of testing what ever I see by asking myself "What more can I see here? When, why and how it does not do for what it is believed, it will do?" I tested my mobile phone from the day I have it. But this context I witnessed was unthinkable and annoyed me. The service provider of the SIM card I use will advertise for the ring tones, caller tunes and many more (might be you too would know this). And these advertisements sometimes come as an incoming call and play the automated recorded voice. Automated voice why? I believe humans cannot do that always by dialing to a number then sing a song and tell to press the key if you want this or not. But, program instructions written by human can do them. Something to think consciously -- programming instructions are changing day-by-day in wink of an eye, but am I changing with my thoughts?

I received one such call which was for caller tunes and it started playing the recorded voice which was more or less a automated on receiving the call; pressing the numerical key on the keypad will be the input for the being played advertisement. Meanwhile I started looking at the contact number of my friend in my Nokia 1100 handset.

Below are the ways I explored to search contacts while a call is received and in conversation, when I brought my mobile phone - Nokia 1100:

Contact search exploration-1:

When a call is being received or dialed, connected and in conversation -- pressing the numerical key which also denotes the alphabets will show 'Options' which was showing 'End' in the display area. Then pressing the key used for selection will display 'Call options' which has options for Hold, New Call, End Call, Send DTMF, Send, Contacts, Menu, Mute, Flashlight on. Selecting 'Search' will help in looking for the contact numbers that are stored in the mobile phone (SIM + phone) memory.

Contact search exploration-2:

The other way for looking for the contact while being on conversation in a call is, pressing key 'C' which symbolize for cancel. On pressing key 'C' in keypad will show 'Options' and the 'End' will be taken off from display area. Selecting the 'Options' will show the list above said options under 'Call options'. Should navigate and select 'Search' for looking into the contact number I have stored in my mobile phone (SIM + phone) memory.

The above are two procedures I know to search for contact during a call conversation. In the above said instant i.e., when the call of advertisement for caller tune was received, I used contact search exploration-1 to find the contact number of my friend and pressed a key '5' on keypad which also had alphabets 'jkl'.

Doing this, a song was selected as my caller tune and the recorded voice said (the words written here are not exact of what I heard)-- "the caller tune service has been activated for your number, subscription charge will be deducted and monthly rental will be deducted from next month." This shocked me I did not want the caller tune, but now it has been activated for my contact number. I did not even think about -- if I do the contact search while such call is received, money will be deducted from my prepaid account and which I don't want to happen. Later I deactivated the caller tune for my contact number, but money was deducted for choosing it. This annoyed and bugged me. Because I don't like to loose money as I cannot spend it this way.

One more instance is pressing key '9' on keypad while such caller tune advertisement is being played, will play the recorded voice again from the beginning. One day I pressed key '9' to listen what the recorded and automated voice tells. Unfortunately this time, pressing key '9' it activated a caller tune instead of starting the recorded voice from beginning. Again the money was deducted for this. Here the same key '9' played two different roles i.e., for repeating what I heard in one scenario and to select a song in another scenario.

Later I got a question to mind. There are people who use mobile phone in my country who are literate and illiterate. If a key is pressed for some other purpose while such call of caller tune advertisement is received, they will loose their money. If they wished not to have the caller tune and if they feel not to spend the money for this, will they be annoyed and bugged when unthinkable happens to them and their money gets deducted? If they are bugged and annoyed, should I call this as a bug in this context scenario?

The words "Testing is infinite process of comparing the invisible to the ambiguous so as to avoid the unthinkable happening to the anonymous." demonstrates what testing means here in this context -- for the caller tune getting activated which the user did not expect or thought while using key in keypads to search contact, it might be unthinkable for her or him or anonymous who witnessed it.

To whom should a annoyed and bugged user (anonymous) tell, "this kind of option of selecting the caller tune can make unthinkable to happen and takes the money which I don't want to spend this way while searching for a contact in mobile phone using numerical keys in keypad." Should it be said to the mobile phone manufacturers or communication service providers?

Is it a Countdown or Stopwatch?

2009-05-31T18:50:00.008+05:30

The clock that appears to be as digital on the web page of Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore - Indiatimes, shows the clock ticking out on reaching the zero too.

It appeared as a countdown watch when looked at it before the marathon event started, which had a statement next to the clock as "to go to The World's Premier 10K Run on 31st May 2009".

Now the date and time is 31st May 2009, 10 minutes past 6 PM. And, the wonderful marathon event was today morning.

Looking at the clock that is being displayed and ticking ahead, it puts a question, is it a:

Countdown clock -- that has set to zero by counting down number of days, hours, minutes and seconds for the marathon to go. And started counting again ahead of zero, on setting itself to zero?
Stopwatch clock -- after setting the time to zero and has started to tick ahead. Is this a countdown or stopwatch? Or earlier it was a countdown watch and now is it a stopwatch? But for what it is ticking ahead?

When observed and inferred the message "to go to The World's Premier 10K Run on 31st May 2009" next to this time which appears to be as stopwatch counter i.e., at 12 minutes past 6 PM on 31st May 2009 after the event got completed successfully, it confuses and makes a questions sparked in the viewer and reader of that clock and message asking "Marathon is yet to start again?" But after a minute seeing the time that got ahead by one minute in the being displayed and so appeared as digital clock, sparks one more question "I saw just now one minute less than what I am seeing now. When is the World 10K marathon then?".

But, the Sunfeast World 10K Bangalore marathon on 31st May 2009 was a wonderful and memorable event.

Tester finds information on the bill receipt.

2009-05-12T09:27:00.011+05:30

I found the information on the bill receipts which I got to my hands for looking it. Below are the snaps of those bill receipts.

Picture: Bill Receipt-1

Bill Receipt-1:

Printed characters on the 'Bill Receipt-1' were bit hard to make it out, as 'M' and 'N' appears to be same on the printed receipt. Apart from this, it has other information, which can be inferred from the snap 'Bill Receipt-1'.

If 111/1 is a shop number, what does '&2' and 'Address4' mean?
What and which single scoop? 'Reg' means registry or register or regular or something else?
'Amount Tendered' and 'Return Change' by whom and is that both by the same person?
'Flavour of Month' and 'Offer of Month' why not printed bill? Is it communicated by any other means, before getting the bill by paying the money to have the being bought? If not communicated then does this bring the value to the customer?
How to dial 'Footer4' for home delivery?

Picture: Bill Receipt-2

Bill Receipt-2:

The printed word on the 'Bill Receipt-2' tells "Estimate".

Why should a customer pay the estimate amount, which can be less than what she or he purchased or why should a customer need to pay the estimated amount, which can be more than what she or he purchased?
Why MRP is not printed? What does '*' mean? Is that person name is 'star' to say in the common man language or how does the common man language interpret that? Or '*' mean anyone who gets that bill or everyone who gets that bill?

Pair questioning - no murks; all are igniting sparks.

2009-04-29T17:55:00.019+05:30

I have been practicing exploration of the systems that exists and don't exists, from the day my mother taught me to learn, while I was learning by writing on the walls of my house 22 years back. Started the exploratory testing of *systems -- software applications when I got my first job. I practiced pair questioning with my mother while I was writing on the walls and floor of my house, on black slate with piece of chalk, in the books -- when I observed my mother writing down in a little book for all the things that need to be done, that were done, how it was done, how to do etc.
*systems -- independent entity interrelated (or not interrelated) to make unified whole. In this context, referring a software application as model of a system.

From my school days, I write my explorations, findings, results and many more in a book that I carry with me. The below snap is the book where I write all my test ideas, exploratory ideas, questions, data, diagramming and all other that I get for my craft works (testing), which I do for the employer of me.

Picture: Photo snap of the book I use for writing down all my craft works stuff.

I had and have been in pair questioning (testing) with tester's, which gave us floods of thoughts, ideas and questions. For the first time I did pair questioning along with a person who wrote the system's model.

Before questioning by sitting with developer colleague, I did modeling of the system that will be questioned by us, collected information's about what to question (test mission), collected the supporting information's in written form that were available if any, thought of strategies for how to design and execute the questions simultaneously and make use of the information which will be yielding from this, and how to make use of the information's which we get from all these investigation's with the heuristic that were thought and those were used, by writing down all these in the book which is in above snap.

Later, I explained with an illustration to my developer friend, how we will be working and what strategies we will be using for the test plan that was plotted and agreed by both of us with TEST MISSION that was set.

I use SBTM (Session Based Test Management) approach by modifying it for my project contexts from past one year. My credits to Bach brother's -- James Bach and Jonathan Bach for giving such an exploring approach that can be tailored for the, set test mission. This approach is working fine for me, not sure for others.

I am unable to put or present here the replica of what we did, as I am not supposed to disclose the project details as I too have signed NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). But the few things I can share here is the SBTM approach I used and use:

Test Mission: To identify the possible ambiguities and critical information's from the sub model "abcd" of the model "PQRS".
Approach: Session Based Paired Exploratory Testing.
Testers: Mahesh and Ravisuriya.
Environment on which model is tested: Name of the OS, Version of OS, Kernel name of OS, with hardware-software configuration of machine and environmental conditions where the model was questioned at the time of test execution.
Model and areas of model being questioned: abcd.
Installation type of model: Type of installation by which the model was installed for use -- Fresh or Upgrade or Repair. Uninstall -- if being tested for uninstall of the model.
Set session duration: 60 minutes.
Start date and time of questioning the model: 29th April 2009 9:01 AM.
End date and time of questioning the model: 29th April 2009 10:23 AM.
Observations and information's: All the inferred and observed behavior of the model, which was driven by context-driven approach.
Investigations: All the investigation results conducted for the above observations and written information's.
Opportunity: Any other questioning (testing) we did which yielded us with very helpful and critical information(s) in this set session with spent time duration for it, apart from the framed test mission.
Issues encountered and remedial workaround: If any seen issue(s) and existence of workaround for the observed, inferred and investigated issue(s).
Interruption: Will have reason and time duration of pause or stopped time when questioning of the model under test was ended.
Remarks or Notes: Comprises the conclusion of the session that was completed or not completed with the reason and area of improvement in questioning.
For more information's: Contact extension number and email-id of testers participated actively in set session.

We spent more than 60 minutes which was set, since we diverted and branched our exploratory testing as we found some crucial and critical information's -- this was an opportunity which we recognized and made use of it; but came back to the framed track for the test mission that was set and accomplished it.

Plenty of information's were found during this pair questioning (pair testing) session. And, it was learning and also a fun session with developer being a tester and questioning the model under test. There was no murk in the session, instead all the murk were igniting spark.

Decision makers were able to infer the information's briefed in the document that described the above said questioning session and took the decision.

I want to vote. But, I don't like to vote any candidate!

2009-04-23T09:36:00.017+05:30

When I heard about the election is going to be held very soon, I began to think of an advertisement that was published in the television channels of India, making the people to get aware of the importance of their vote.

Thinking of that advertisement, I got a thought in my mind, "I want to vote. But if I don't wish to cast my vote for any candidates who are nominated in residing constituency, how can I do it?".

To my best of memory, I remember that, I did not see this option in the Electronic Voting Machines earlier and now, when I voted. Might be there is an option saying orally I am interested in voting but not for any candidates nominated in this constituency; hope they agree and accept that vote. But this will be revealed publicly and if I don't want that, then how shall I do that? Is there any option in the Electronic Voting Machine for doing this?

If we have that option in Electronic Voting Machine i.e., "I want to vote, but don't like to vote for the candidates stood in the residing constituency", might be useful to the people who wants to cast their valuable vote.

When I closed my eyes for a second when stood in front of the Electronic Voting Machine and opened my eyes, a question struck my mind, "How does a visually challenged person can cast her or his vote using the Electronic Voting Machine?". Surely, our Election Commission of India will have the alternatives for such contexts, so that every eligible citizen can cast vote to her or his candidate.

Looking at that Electronic Voting Machine, I got many question in my mind and few of them are:

What is the maximum number of votes can be voted per minute using an Electronic Voting Machine?
Are there any restrictions on maximum number of votes that can be voted per minute using an Electronic Voting Machine?
What is the maximum number of votes can be voted per hour using an Electronic Voting Machine?
Are there any restrictions on maximum number of votes that can be voted per hour using an Electronic Voting Machine?
What is the maximum number of votes can an Electronic Voting Machine store in its memory?
How many candidates name can be put in an Electronic Voting machine for voting? If eligible 2000 candidates are nominated for the ongoing election, does all 2000 candidates name will be put in the Electronic Voting Machine's, which is in poll?
What happens while I am pressing the button of Electronic Voting Machine for casting my vote, say the Electronic Voting Machine goes down due to battery problem or any other problem? Will that vote which I voted, will be added to the register memory? Will I be allowed to vote again? Will my vote count appear to the person who is operating the other device, which resets the Electronic Voting Machine as ready for other person to vote after me?

Might be while making the device Electronic Voting Machine, people would have thought of this to cut off any such context incidents, as much as possible.

Salute to all those people and governing bodies who worked and working sincerely for making the voting go smoothly, peacefully and with no corruptions to possible extent.

Brain of winked eyes, caught the blink!

2009-02-05T21:38:00.016+05:30

Every one of us wink and blink when we have kept our eyes opened. But, our brain blinks and winks more and more when we begin to think, question and investigate with a thought which is in our mind.

Muscle of thinking -- brain, also see through the critical thinking with the information what we observe through our eyes and what we infer by seeing, reading & practicing -- all of these are (needs of) keen inquisitive observations. And, the brain keeps generating ideas for recognizing the patterns when the eyes are open and also when they are closed.

I was moving along with car, which was driven by one of my manager in a sunny noon. Beside me my friend MSH was seated and we were busy looking outside the window of a car and talking about a incident report, which MSH related to the Bengaluru traffic. In a signal, my eyes moved over the advertisement board, which was different from other board's I saw. And, the contents written in the board was also different in the way it imparted the meaning to the people who looked and perceived it by their thinking.

That advertisement said, "Let's be a responsible public.". In a wink my eyes caught colors of those letters in the board. And, it had other meaning. Quickly I asked MSH to look at the board and he too caught the other meaning of the words, that were written on the advertisement board.

The words written on the board brought me the James Bach's Blink Testing oracle to my mind. I said to MSH, what we identified after a blink of our eyes was the illustration of Blink Testing.

Picture: Photo snap of the advertisement board and the written content on it.

At the first sight I read it as "Let's be a responsible public.". But in fraction of an eye wink, the brain caught the blink and it showed "Let's be a responsible public." in the eve of Republic Day that was celebrated on 26th January. The board also said "Let's be a republic." along with "Let's be a responsible public.". Here I made use of heuristic (Blink Testing -- also can be an oracle) to infer that the other meaning i.e., 'republic' what I got, was from Blink Testing.

After an hour, moving in front of the same advertisement board in the same car, eyes and brain started to wink in finding those words that I read an hour back. But, the whole board was painted with color that appeared as red-in-color and did feel like those words are winking at us by hiding behind the paint which appeared to be red-in-color.

"There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis."
-- Malcom Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking, 2005

"We learn by example and by direct experience because there are real limits to the adequacy of verbal instruction."
-- Malcom Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking, 2005

Source of the above quotes: quotation page

Make a difference. Feel the Difference.

2008-11-23T11:30:00.039+05:30

As usual at the day end, began to keep my steps towards home. Got into the BMTC bus and I was happy that, I got a place to travel by standing. As terminals arrived, passengers came in and went out of the bus. In this coming in and going out, I got a place to stand beside a window of the bus. Looking outside the window of traveling bus, an advertisement board caught my attention and that was an evident, to which I was talking to one of my tester friend on that evening over the phone.

Yet again, I saw the same advertising in the other place on the other day. I got down from the bus that rainy night and headed to the place where the advertisement board was displayed. It was so close to my testing practices, that we (3 testers in our team) did at my work place that bought a huge differences.

A salute to those traffic police staff who serves the society by standing in the hot days, during rainy hours and in breezing chill & cold winds for maintaining the calm traffic. Testing Garage thanks the Bengaluru City Traffic Police department for putting up such thought provoking advertisement.

The advertisement board displayed a mission with the help of ants. As we all know ants follow a disciplined line, thought not very linear, but still they move ahead in disciplined steps after accomplishing their task(s), for reaching their sweet little nests or to the destination they are marching at.

I am not a expert tester or experienced tester since still I am learning to do *mistakes. But I am a young budding confident learning tester who is practicing testing by learning from the mistakes I do every moment and from other testers' testing experiences. I was into a testing project, for testing the giant secure product, which was a huge one with several modules. That product thought me how to test anything given, at anytime, at any place. I assure that product is safe to use, but it is **not free from bugs.

* Mistakes that I do, are teaching lessons for me; but sure I will not be satisfied enough forever, with the mistakes I do.

** It is not that I am saying the product is not good enough to use since it has bugs in it; instead I am saying it is a very safe and efficient product with the known bugs & unknown bugs (if explored much more, it shows much more interesting bugs which are residing in it). Testing shows bugs/defects/need of quality (respect to the user of the product) always!

And, that was my first test project. The very first bug report, I submitted in my testing career was a Duplicate. I started to test and report after 10 days when I got my first job. Testing procedures were new to me, since I did not know what for those manually scripted test procedures were. I had bunches (700+ sheets) of manually scripted test procedures (1500+) which was supposed to be executed, and document the results. As I kept executing those manually scripted test procedures, the product did not show the behavior that were against, for those manually scripted test procedures expected result. The product had become immune enough to those tests of manual scripted procedures.

I went back to my lead (She was my first test lead, who always gave a smile when any one goes to her cubicle with the extended testing help) for whom I was reporting to.

Lead: (with smile on her face) Good Morning! How is your testing going on?
Me: Good Morning! I am not finding any of those scripted procedure to be working.
Lead: (with surprise) Are those manually scripted test procedures are not meeting the expected results? (she wanted to know what I was telling her i.e., whether the against behavior are observed or as per the expected result.).
Me: No, .....those are meeting the expected results and I am unable to mark them as Fail.
Lead: Don't just stick on to those manually scripted test procedures only. Think and test apart from what those manually scripted procedure papers tell.

That was the word, which took me to new world of testing i.e., Exploratory Testing. I came to know a year back that I was practicing an exploratory testing with context driven testing approach. Though exploratory testing is as old as me today (which was coined by Cem Kaner around 1982 as per my knowledge), I came to know it when I was 25 years old.

This exploratory testing introduced many more test cases into the testware of my test project which made the expected results column to fill with 'FAIL'; but, many context/scenario were not documented at all since the time factor was crucial and I agree it was my fault too for not documenting them. They all reside in the database of bug tracker as a convincing bug reports for which the user of a product needs fixes and quite huge number of bugs have rested in peace with the fixes.

This approach made me to concentrate on doing exploratory testing all most, most of the time and giving a bit ample of time to execute the manually written test procedures. As time kept walking, I got an opportunity to work with one more test lead. She taught me what the Priority means, in a testing project. She sat beside me several days discussing (teaching) the testing ideas, the process what the test team needs to follow for amending the convincing Test Report formally at end of the product release. With her guidance I started to learn how to prioritize stuffs and this bought me an idea of a MISSION in a test project. Still learning day by day in prioritizing the activities.

She said, "Prioritize your tasks first before doing the stuffs". I started to prioritize for keeping up the Testing Mission of the test project, wherever I do my testing practice; then I planned my testing activities with priorities. Meanwhile during the end of each day and on reaching the plotted milestones, I keep evaluating always progress of testing activity being done in due course with a Testing Mission in mind.

There after, I kept practicing my testing with exploratory testing by context driven approach along with executing the manual test procedures and automating a bit. And, the test team of us too followed this approach. We had a huge difference which was very positive, that unrevealed the most of the hidden bugs, disguised bugs, potential features needed by customers in all the areas of the product. It was like a "Made a difference and felt the differences".

I thank the two ladies who gave me an opportunity to know the differences I should do for pulling up myself to accomplish the mission of testing with prioritization.

Lessons:

Before starting up the stuffs, know the MISSION of the work.
Keep evaluating the stuffs or tasks or testing you do, with the mission that as to be accomplished, so that you will not miss anything to repent later for it.
Take corrective actions, if unable to reach the mission that as been framed.
Testing is showing the differences in behavior of the being tested application by finding the bugs. To feel the difference, we have to do task differently with mission in mind.
Reviewing our mission always tells very clearly, what we have to do.
Write a mission on paper and paste that in front of your seat, so that you are always reminded about your mission.
It is not we testers or developers execute the project; it is our customer(s), who execute our project. We testers or developers make ourselves to execute towards mission successfully by doing differences. And, the customer will execute our mission's perfect, by feeling the differences.
No guarantee that, what works for one person to accomplishment her/his mission, will also work for other person to accomplish her/his mission. Think over that.....

To conclude, the above traffic advertisement tells, "Stick to your lane while driving" and Testing Garage tells, "Stick to your testing mission while testing". And thereby, make a difference; feel the Difference.

If you have identified your mission, or evaluated your mission, or taken corrective actions for reaching your mission or you remembered the mission that you have forgot, by reading the above written, then mission of this writing from Testing Garage is fulfilled.

I Don't Know!

2008-11-06T10:50:00.013+05:30

Lessons comes from the consistent practice we do, from the mistakes we commit, by looking at the mistakes of our peers & other people, by interacting, by inferences we make, by reference we look for, by conferences we go for and etc. Being myself a tester by my soul and not just for a profession, getting plenty of lessons every day from the sources (more correctly they are resources that makes me to think and question myself) that I look at.

I always have a determination and focused mindset to take up testing tasks that makes my mind to generate questions continuously by thinking. When I met testers, most said, domain knowledge is very important to test. But, I had my tester who is within me, saying, "Concentrate and practice on the skills and practice with focused mindset to test anything given at any time by questioning; never hesitate to question".

As like all other interview procedure, one day I got a call from HR, asking when you are free in this week for taking up an interview for testing position. I asked her, when interview panel is available at your place for the interview. She said today at 3 PM and me too agreed.

I never tested any electronic product except my mobile phone, my monitor, my friend's CPU, my friend's laptop, my digital watch, the elevator at my workplace and my friend's digital camera. When I asked the HR regarding the company address, she gave the address and description of the company.

I was happy that, the interview was for the Telecommunication domain. But still, I said HR as I am not a graduate of Electronics or Telecommunication and does it meet the position requirement. But, I can test those products and system of electronics and telecommunications. After couple of minutes she confirmed and said, we will be happy to see you today at 3 PM for the interview.

The interview panel consisted two members. They introduced themselves, where one was the Director of Quality Assurance for the company and the other person was Test Manager. They started conversations saying, "we are not young in age as you, but we are young as you in the spirit". I was very glad, to see them and the conversations showed the tester within them. The room had four chairs; myself and two interviewers were seated and one chair remained with no person to sit.

Interviewer A: Can you sit on that chair?
Me: Can I know, why should I sit on that chair? Why not here?
Interviewer B: So that we all here can have comfort talk.
Interviewer A: Is it possible for you sit on that chair?
Me: I don't know!
Interviewer B: What you don't know? It so good chair then you are seated now. Why can't you sit on that chair?
Me: I does not know whether I can fit on that chair or can make use of that chair to my purpose.
Interviewer A: You are thin enough to be seated on that chair. Then, what is stopping you?
Me: Without sitting and confirming that I can make use of that chair, I cannot tell you, that chair is usable by me.
Interviewer B: What is making you to think that, the chair might be not usable by you without sitting or more rightly without TESTING it.
Me: Might be the chair may not withstand my 57 KG weight, or it might be not to my comfort on which I am seated on now, or it might be too heavy for lifting it to here since I am comfort in this place to be seated, or it might be time consuming to move chair over here if it has no wheels and weighs bit more than the chair on which I am seated, or it might be wet, or it might have lot of dust upon it, or it might have pests that feeds on my blood, or it might be for my other good friends i.e., people who are challenged physically, or it might be chair that is used to make BAKRA. This are the few reasons to say, "I don't know," for I can sit on that chair or not.

Interviewer B: I liked that BAKRA!
Interviewer A: Then, how did you sit on the chair you are seated now, without testing it.
Me: Well, I tested the chair while we all were standing thirty minutes back.

Like this our conversation went on. One more question that we get in most of the interviews is , "explain me your project". Where I did not tell what my project details at all in the interviews I had been so far. But, these two people did not even ask this question i.e., 'explain your project'. Instead they asked, "what is the role of yours in the testing you do with your team?". They strongly adhered not to disturb the NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) policy, which each company will have. Neither my little resume will not have and did not had such details of project.

I kept writing all my observations from, what they gave me to test. I explained them why was that observations and justified them. I was enjoying the interview and it was different from the other interviews I had been for.

Interviewers never bought up Telecommunications or Electronics during interview. I was curious to know, what I will be doing in that company. And, was happy to know that I will be testing one of their product that is used at real time by people.

After testing, and brainstorming tasks, they came to the package negotiation. By now, my testing mind started to get confused. I am not good at that negotiation task still. Totally, I was in the other thoughts of negotiation and they too were talking regarding it.

Interviewer A: Does this pen write?
Me: Yes.
Interviewer B: What?
Interviewer A: Are you fine? How did you infer that pen write, when it is in my hand?
Interviewer B: Thought it is your pen, what he has in his hand now; it might not have written when you have used it again.
Me: I felt like, Tester within me slapped my face and said where are you lost? Wake up from negotiation thoughts.
Interviewer A: I expected "I Don't Know!".
Interviewer B: Never forget your word what you said today i.e. "I Don't Know!". I love that word.
Interviewer A: The tester within you was engaged in working out negotiation, and that made to take off the questioning mind of yours. Being a tester, we too practice that still i.e., to have our mind always in testing perspective at all time. We too do not forget your words "I Don't Know!".
Interviewer B: What is your joining date?
Me: I Don't Know!
Interviewer A: He has caught it, isn't it Interviewer B.
Interviewer B: Yes! What is your probable date to join our test team? We would love to see you with us.
Me: I will intimate tomorrow.

I did not accept the offer due to some of my emotions, but the lessons what they gave me during the interview was different from the other interview I had been for. Those lessons were truly worth one and I have to remember them forever. That's what made their product so well established in the competitive market.

I believe they are reading this now or might have read this little writing by now. I remember this two testing minds, before I start my thinking and questioning with a word "I Don't Know!" and What it is, why it is so and if not, why so?.

Lessons:

More than any domain knowledge in testing, the testing skills are more important to a tester. Focus on them. We will learn any domain testing and can test any domain, when we have proper testing skills to test anything at anytime by questioning the product or system under test.
Do not say blindly, it works or looks fine for a person without making use of it i.e., more rightly without testing it. It might fit & work for other user in her/his context but not in our context.
Do not just accept anything without questioning; if accepted without questioning, we are carrying the fire in our hands without any fire exits; that fire can catch and spread with severe things to pay off.
Interviews are great source of learning. Keep attending them as it helps ourselves to know where we are and where we have to pull our socks. Learning is not just in TESTING we do, but it comes in different aspects apart from testing, which go beyond the values that one can give.
If interviews are of telling your ongoing and previous project details, never do that. You have signed NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) for your employer and we will be violating the company policies if we tell our ongoing project details. Do not mention on the resume too. Being ourselves the testers, if we do not test our resume and presentation of ourselves in the interviews, will be of no worth.
Before starting up testing our product or System Under Test, say I Don't Know what it does and should mean it to ourselves.

To conclude, whether the above written is useful to you? I Don't Know!

Love Testing!

Tester get stuffs from Garden City road's too

2008-10-09T13:25:00.005+05:30

Learning comes from every where and at any time (more rightly all time) for a tester. As usual, I sat in the BMTC bus to reach my work place. It was Cunningham Road and bus was traveling towards Vasanth Nagar terminal. At the end of the Cunningham Road signal, a board drew all my attention. I could read the words "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD", which was in bigger font size that could be seen from quite far distance.

Got down at Vasanth Nagar terminal, and started walking towards that board, where I saw it was hanged. On reaching the place, I read all the words on the board and understood what it was, only after reading the words in smaller font size.

The words "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD" started to blog my mind with question, "where does the plastic waste are dumped here on this road?" since Cunningham Road was calm, green and clean. This made me to get down from the bus and to walk towards that board for looking at it.

The words, which were displayed below the "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD" explained, what the board was for; but those words were not visible so legibly as it was displayed in lower font size. If we were in the quite near distance say about 10 or 14 steps far away from the place where board was hung, those smaller font sized words could be seen and read to an extent. The words in the small font size was "PERMANENT SOLUTION TO PLASTIC WASTE".

After a few days, saw the same board hung in the Cubbon Road too. It was around 8:30 PM and my friend was driving his vehicle. The below written were the conversation, seeing that hung board.

me: What do you infer from that words "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD" written on the board hung there? (smaller font sized words were not legible to read, from the distance where our vehicle was.)
my friend: It is very ambiguous to me, where the plastic wastes are dumped here on this road ?
me: What is the next thought you are getting?
my friend: Hmm.... (waited for few seconds), no idea. (By this time traffic signal had green light to move.)

Similarly, I asked my another friend, what did you understand or what thought came to your mind by looking at that board. He said, "nothing came to mind seeing that and all was a confusion with those words.".

Like this, I asked many people, "what do you understand or infer by looking at this board in the first sight." Everyone took few seconds to respond for that question by staring at that board or by listening to words "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD". Also I took few people to show that board, and made a note of what they inferred by looking at those words of bigger font size in first sight.

The Cubbon Road is one, which has the greens on both sides of it and a good example to tell Bengaluru as the "Garden City of India". But that bigger font size words "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD", will make to think why these words are written on the board and hung here. Instead it should have given a thought for a common (or any) man in first sight reading as, it is the road constructed using waste and scrap plastics.

Salute to all those people, who work in early morning hours to keep city clean, otherwise it would not have been possible to walk and enjoy those greens on the roads, by people who loves to walk in spite of the busy traffic.

The waste plastic are used here to construct a road by using it as a strong binding agent for tar and making the waste and scrap plastic as asphalt, which makes the life of the road much more longer. The smaller font words explained this to very little extent with the words "PERMANENT SOLUTION TO PLASTIC WASTE". But it was not visible clearly, when we are traveling in a vehicle at a speed of 40 kmph if we are at quite far distance from that board or if we are at a distance of 15 steps or more from that hanged board, which had these smaller font size words.

But those bigger font sized words could have made easy by using better words other than "PLASTIC WASTE ROAD", so that any person who read and understand English can infer why the board was hung on that road.

Anyways it is a good move from the Bengaluru's city corporation (BBMP), to give roads of good and best quality by keeping city clean from scrap and waste plastics, by using them as asphalt for the road construction.

The words of bigger font should be much clear and should not give any ambiguous thought in the reader of that board for the first time. The words that were suggested by the people (who mistook those words for first time on reading them) with whom I discussed this topic, are written below:

WASTE PLASTIC ROAD
ROAD CONSTRUCTED BY PLASTIC WASTE
RECYCLED WASTE PLASTIC ROAD

Did you get, why did I write this little post here in my Testing Garage? (this writing might be a waste plastic scrap for who does not like learning; hope and sure no software testers sees this writing as waste plastic scrap and definitely testers makes use of it).

It is a stuff to do with Usability Testing, which makes our product to reach any person who sees and makes use of our product. It is in the hands of the testers to deliver the system or product which have no ambiguous terms, statements, words or displays.

Most of we testers would have seen this type of Usability errors during installation testing in the installation wizard and in the words displayed in the dialogs, etc.

Usability testing and Usability engineering are different terms. The measurement of easiness in using a product or piece of software can be called as Usability Testing. Whereas, the research and design process that makes and ensures the products with good usability can be called as Usability engineering.

Traveling in BMTC bus, yet again taught me a good lesson in Software Testing !

Lesson's learnt by Passionately Exploring Software Testing:

It is also a tester duty to ensure that terms or words or pictures or symbols or logo in a system/product ready to ship, does give right meaning to user/client/customer, on reading or seeing them at first sight.
It is Testers responsibility to check iteratively right from the beginning stage of design till and after product or system release stage for the best Usability.
While you are testing your product/system, think of our friends (customer/clients/users) who have the disabilities. The usability of our product or system should provide stretched hand support to disabled users also. This is challenging stuffs of Usability Testing and Usability Engineering.
Make a questions and objectives rather than finishing up every task in hypotheses for any kind of testing (this includes Usability Testing too).
Always have a group of end users at your testing place, for whom the product or system is intended for. Let that group work with the product with you. And, this group chosen may be picked up randomly.
Simulate or provide the environment for the group which is similar to their operational environment. This brings you with lot of input for better Usability.
Ask questions and feedback's to those group. Observe the activities of the group while using your product/system by keeping yourself quite and patience with keen in observing them, unless the group seeks your help by calling you to their seat.
Always have and consider the list of those improvements needed for the product or system, which is provided by the end users/customers/clients.
Also, test your product in the customer environment because testing is always a solution in our environment. (so, testers should be sent to client/customer places. This brings lot of improvement in product/system and benefits to employer as well as the customer/client/user).
Show interest in market and generation (people of all ages) attitude, as they can be source of useful information for Usability.
Giving the efficiency, reliability and handful of support in the shipping/shipped system or product is of no use, when the Usability is not up to the quality that stops using system/product from operation.
Usability is not only in the display, but it is also in the how quick the customer/client is able to start working confidently in the shipping/shipped system or product i.e., learning curve with our product/system delivered.
Good usability, reduces the training duration by considerable amount of time to the product/system vendor.
All the used characters that imparts the meaning and purpose, should be legible and understood at the first sight.
The more count of satisfied customer or client using our shipped product/system means, the Usability been provided by us is satisfying. But, there should always be continuous and consistent improvement using the feedback's of customer/client/users.
Documentation or Help, is also part of the Usability. Make sure the documentation or help content are updated periodically whenever there is a change in any of the components of product or system. And, let it be in simple language so both novice and experienced users can make use of them completely.
Organizing the contents in the Documentation or in Help, is also a part of Usability. Make sure the order of the contents are in right order.
Navigation through the product/system should be easy and successful, which tells and depicts the Usability of the product/system.
Try to gather information from market analysis "Which of the Usability design is most effective to user?"
Be sure for what tasks or operation, our customer/client/user needs help or documentation support.
The technical support or support desk of our delivered product/system, will have good answers for the Usability of product/system from our product/system users.

If something has got from this little writing of Testing Garage, the usability of this post has done its work.

To conclude, "Testers are on road too....."

Love Testing!

Testing Garage salute to its teachers and Guru's.....

2008-09-29T12:58:00.013+05:30

My Dear Friend and Reader,

I am Ravisuriya, a young passionate exploratory software tester from Bengaluru, India. I have been into testing by exploring & enjoying testing product software's along with freeware software as a hobby and testing myself too.

I started writing posts on my blog, when my friend Kantharaja said "why don't you write your thoughts and passions you have for testing?". Truly, I did not know what a blog is, till then. Later he explained me what it is and what we do with it. I am thankful to him.

Today, I was telling and questioning myself, "what I have done so far writing my thoughts on Testing Garage as a tester?". I felt and realized that a mission or moto of my blog is not at all present here. Hence writing these words, which will state the purpose of my blog. Also its my duty to give the respect for the people, who made me what I am so far.

My blog tells and shares with you, all my sand dust experiences, my thoughts, my understandings in software testing. Any published items or contents will not be of my employer(s) or other people. Will be writing my friends or mentors experiences only upon their permission. Being a tester ethically and professionally, I strictly follow the "Non Disclosure Agreement", which my lead taught me what it is.

This will not be the place which will have the definitions of terms related to my profession. Instead it will be a unique place for bringing up the testers and testing, by inspiring myself and inspiring other testers.

I dedicate all of my writings to my parents who taught me the questioning and thinking, which came from the poverty in my house. I ask and use to ask my mother (my guru and first teacher) with curiosity what it is and why don't we have with us. She gave and being giving such an answers that made & making me to think and think; where later she asks, "did I say anything wrong child?". My father too being teaching me how to be sincere, honest, truthful, dedicated, passionate and involved in what ever he does. Salute to my parents who are being giving me beautiful lessons of life.

Then, my test leads and peer testers whom I saw in my professional life so far too deserve the special place in my heart and soul. A person Somanath Kamble, taught me for the first time how to write a Bug Report. I am thankful to him.

I started testing, without any training in testing or not knowing what is testing, to speak honestly. Did not know the various aspect of testing. Later my test leads Mrs. M Mathew, Mrs. M Shukla and Mrs. S JaiGanesh are being teaching me in testing by their testings and guiding professionally and personally. Salute to them and all these people (my teachers) have their own places in my heart with soulful of respect forever.

My peer tester Kantharaja, who bought up lot of questions in my mind, by his testing experiences when I was a fresher sitting beside him in labs, deserves every respect in me for him. Mrs. Jean James, a senior tester (senior citizen too) and QA consultant, who is a very good friend and being guiding me personally and professionally has a respect from me forever. She is being teaching me lot in testing as my leads did & doing. Mr. Bill Heptig, a senior tester (senior citizen too) who taught me "I will be happy, if I can help you" writing in a mail to me, taught me what a tester should be. He helped me lot in learning test automation and has respect from me to him always .

Now, comes the person who inspired me for writing up the posts on my blog. He is a Rapid Software Tester, honest and sincere tester by ethically & professionally. Hope you are curious to know who is that person. He is Mr. Pradeep Soundararajan, my guru. He has never seen me and I too have never seen him.

But, I have heard regarding him from my friend very recently, when my friend saw my Testing Garage writings on testing. It is a Dronacharya and Ekalavya relationship, I owe to Pradeep Soundararajan.

Pradeep Soundararajan, is being teaching me from his experiences and I am learning from them. He has influenced me in great deal as a tester and he has made me today proud to tell, "I am a passionate Tester".

I should mention Mahesh, who reads my writings and does give the comments on it. Which is being helping me lot. The other friend of me is Selvaraj, does always say "I don't read your writings"; which makes me to write always. But, he reads them and tell "I don't read your writings". This two artistic developers are teaching me good lessons in testing. This two guys deserves respect from me.

One of my childhood friend who studied with me from kindergarten to engineering and a cool artistic developer, Prabhakar, too gives me lot of comments which are useful to me and that teaches me lot and lot. I am thankful to him.

Feel always free to share your comments and experience when you come to my garage, "Testing Garage". Those will be source of learning and lessons to me forever.

" Never limit your challenges; challenge your limits....! "
" Every change is not a progress, but every Progress is a change..... Do it Now ! "
" Expect more from yourself than from others. Because expectation from others hurts a lot, while expectation from you inspires a lot.... ! "

Love Testing!

Localization in mobile phone

2008-09-08T14:51:00.010+05:30

Localization in mobile phone

I always keep working with mobile phone in my hand, when I am idle, seeing how this works and looking for what it has within it. One fine day, I tried to enter the digits "100" from my mobile keypad which was locked. Later, tried with digits "112" and "911". The digits appeared and option "Call" was displayed. My testing mind started to proceed further, with a question mark in my mind "Why not for 100?".

My dear reader, you might ask 'it is common in all the mobile phone that, either pressing the digits "112" or "911" from a locked keypad, still the number appears on display and a call can be made to any of this number i.e., "911" or "112".'.

Topic Localization in mobile phone begins

Now, sit calmly and take a deep breath, I will wait for a minute.... OK, are you done. Can I know how old are you ? Also, can you tell appropriately how old your good friend is ?

OK, no problem I will wait; calculate your age............ . Did you complete doing that calculation; now can you tell me how old are you with a confidence........... . I heard how old are you, but still it was like that you are not very sure of the age you thought and said; anyways thanks for that calculation, you did just few moments ago.

Let me take you now to other conversations, that I had with few people of all age groups; the conversation with different people were like this:

** Abdul is aged more than 70 years. He has completed is BA degree from Bangalore Central College and owns a fruit stall. Me and my school friends go to his shop from my childhood days. Our conversations were in Hindi mixed with Urdu a bit. Writing those conversation in English below.

Me: Hi uncle Abdul ! How are you?
Abdul: Hi child. God's grace, I am fine. Come in. How are you? Where did you go this many days?

* after few conversations, I asked him:

Me: Uncle, how old are you?
Abdul: Might be 70 or 80 child..
Me: Did your parents provide right date of birth, while joining to school?
Abdul: Yes, my parents had given right date of birth of me. My mother always said me this.
Me: What is the phone number of local police station area ?
Abdul: I don't know that.. Why are you asking police station phone number child?
Me: I wanted to store it in my mobile.
Abdul: Dial karo 100 ko, awaz sunthi.... (Dial the number 100, you will hear a voice).

** Rammakka might be aged more than 75 years (as said by her Rammakka's daughter). Rammakka, did not get opportunity to get her education in those days. She stays near my friends house.

Me: How are you grandma?
Rammakka: Come man, how are you. See I am like a strong girl. Look, how thin are you. Don't your mother give you a food.
Me: Tell grandmother tell, whatever you tell I listen.
Rammakka: thale haraate, neenge budhine barolla hogu.. (mischief boy; go, you never get right wisdom)
Me: Grandmother, how old are you?
Rammakka: Why do you want my age?
Me: simply, just like that...
Rammakka: I don't know... Might be 80 years old..
Me: You have a mobile phone with you right?
Rammakka: Yes, my daughter gave me it as a gift last year....
Me: What's your contact number, please give me...
Rammakka: I don't know all those numbers... My daughter saved the number in this phone with my name. Take that.
Me: Do you have police station phone number with you ?
Rammakka: Ayyo Rama, beda kannappa... naange control room number gothu (Oh my god... I don't want that number... I know control room number)

** A person came to my home from my village. His name was Thimmana Bhat. He is a former and grows crops, vegetables, flowers and many more in his land. My conversation with him was like this:

Me: Uncle, how are you? Had your dinner?
T Bhat: I am fine... How are you? I had your dinner...
Me: How family members are doing? How is the crop harvesting going on? How is the heavy rainfall?
T Bhat: All are fine... Near to our place, a river was over flowing.. Police and other people came to help for moving people from banks of the river.
Me: Do you have the police station number of your village?
T Bhat: I don't know the police station phone number... If any such incidents happens, we will dial to control room..

** I had a conversation with our neighbor's child's who were studying in class 1, class 3 and class 5.

Me: Which class are you studying?
Dominic: LKG, UKG, 1st standard..
Me: What are you playing in my home?
Dominic: Hide and Seek with Kavana, Peter, Arjuna and Khadir.
Me: What is 911?
Dominic: It is 1.. 2... 3...
Me: What is control room number?
Dominic: Police number 100 to 103.
Me: 100 to 103 means what?
Dominic: 100, 101, 102, 103.
Dominic: I want to hide, leave me...

Like such conversations, I had talked to my friends and with people of various age group asking what is 911 and control room number. At majority, I got answer for 911 only from my friends and people who knew it from a SMS's which was like '112 or 911 is a number to be dialed in emergency and it will work if no *network coverage too'. While others said I don't know the 911 or 112 or police station number. Dial 100, its enough.
* without network coverage a call to 911 or 112 is not possible from mobile phone.

Reading the above things, you are asking me, "what are you gone mad, writing unnecessary and things unwanted". No, my reader, I am not doing so. This post topic's has begin already in few conversations above. I will get it much narrowed down now - Localization in mobile phone.

Take your mobile phone if you have and press number 100 with key pad locked (if you are in India and using cell & SIM of Indian service providers, dial 100; else 100 might be of no sense to other friends in/from other part of world). Did that number 100 appear in display to make a call? No, then press number 112 with keypad of mobile phone locked. Did 112 appear in display for making a call. Check for how long it appears for making a call, since the display takes off that number from *view. Similarly press number 911 with keypad locked and observe for how long it appears on display for making a call.
* some mobile phone displays digits 112 or 911 for 5 seconds and some for 10 seconds.

If you ask this 911 or 112 to many of us here in India, will not know what they are for. Probably, we might get answer as "I never heard of it". Might be our family members too and few of our friends too will say "I never heard of it" or "I don't know". If you ask what is the Police Control Room phone number, at least we will have majority of the people in India who can answer that, who said I don't know or never heard of 911 or 112.

Even, most of kids going to school nowadays tells all the emergency phone numbers like 100, 101, 102, 103 and other helplines which will be said by their teachers, parents and looking at TV advertisements. But, the information regarding 911 or 112 will not be imparted to them most of the time or to be specific not at all.

Now let us see, how the topic is related to Testing. This is were the Localization Testing comes to picture with the System Under Test or Application Under Test. To define what does Localization means, it is a process in software to adapt to a new region or culture. The other definition read from wikipedia is like, "In computing, Internationalization and Localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages and regional differences. Internationalization is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text.".

When the application or electronic gadgets, is shipped or developed it should have both Internalization and localization customized within it. Today, testing this features i.e., Internationalization and Localization is turning out as a separate branch of testing, where the people who have expertise in this fields are being involved along with the local regional people.

No doubt, mobile phones comes today with the localization facility like selecting different regional languages etc. But, the basic one in localization should not be missed out like dialing of 100 is not possible in India like dialing 112 or 911 (dialing of 112 or 911 is possible in India as of today).

People across the country (India) speak different languages, which all of them cannot be incorporated into the design of mobile phone. But, the digit '100' which is unique through out the India and it is not localized in the mobile phones, that are sold in India. All the major mobile phone designers, manufacturers and service providers need to think of this during localization.

To have a more information regarding emergency call numbers information of various countries, click here.

Me tried to *dial this numbers i.e., 112 and 911 from my mobile phone for several times, but the call was not successful. One day, I asked my friend to try this from his mobile. For the first time dialing number '112', the call was successful from his mobile. Below were the conversation:
* dialing either 112 or 911, 'Attempting emergency call' will be shown on the display of mobile phone as expected.

Me: MSH, can you please try this numbers from your mobile phone.
MSH: Yes, I will try.
MSH: Dialed 112.
From other side we heard, "Namaskara swamy, Police Control Room" (Hello Sir, Police Control Room). I took the call, but due to the low battery, the call was aborted. Salute, to all those police team's who work sincerely & honestly 24x7 to keep law, peace and harmony with justice in society. After charging up the battery, dialed the number 100 from the mobile phone, a shock was heard "You seemed to have dialed a wrong number, please check the number you have dialed."

When, we can connect a call by dialing 112 or 911 which is not known by all of us, why not by dialing 100 in India which is known to all of us in India?

One more news recently published in English daily "Times Of India", is number 108 will going to be a national wide emergency helpline. Click here to view the news.

The mobile phone in India, should work strictly with numbers 100, 101, 102, 103 and for 108 too (if it is implemented as national emergency helpline in India) same as 911 and 112. It is in the hands, mouth and brains of the testers, to bring up such questions. Let all the testers, testing the mobile phones raise this questions to have a service hand for people of India and for other nation people, who don't have their own emergency call numbers like 100 in India, since all the people (in India) are not literate and today mobile phone can be afforded by any person. But all most all people who are not literate in India, they can surely know what for number 100 is, if not what for 101, 102, 103, 108 (in future days), 112 and 911 are.

Like India, many countries have their own emergency call numbers which might not be 911 or 112. People of such countries should get their localization in the mobile phone for the emergency call numbers.

Testers, join your hands to provide secure globe with safe technology and its application's by your testing.

Lessons learnt:

During developing an application or an electronic gadgets, Internalization and Localization should be considered without any negligence.
Localization in application or electronic gadgets is must, since all the people will not be literate in a country/state or might not know what are the standard internationalization features though educated.
Testing should be very thorough, since good testing can save and yield good fortune and results. Bad testing always leads to destruction's and bad fortune.
Being a tester, should think of such instances where the application or electronic gadgets can be enriched to provide better & safe world, rather than thinking of to get and increase the customers, clients and income revenues for the employer. Giving better world, in turn brings the employer everything on the winning edge.
Testers, should never stop questioning. Other may think your question as silly; but they don't know your thinking testing question's may turn your product to the safe and productive one.
Do not see or consider only one view while testing SUT. Think of all standards and measures.
Talk to customers, peers, observe how people of all class use and work with the existing system. This helps and provides lots of inputs to Testing activity.
Instead of testing the test cases, which are obtained by interaction, reviewing, designs, thoughts and analysis, do test something that are of needy one necessarily to people along with test cases (said this, because test cases may fail, but the needs of the people will never fail or die. My friend *Kantharaja, use to tell me that, a good test case is something that makes the application or system fails rather than making system pass the test).
Before starting a test, read the SRS, SFS, Use cases and all other documents. Say, you have done tests for 'n' times and now started doing the tests for (n+1)th time, do not neglect to read the documents once again because they bring lot of questions, bugs, new features that must go in shipping.
Importantly, give your test cases to your fellow testers, developers, customers, architects, business analysts as they can bring much more constructive into testing. If possible talk and exchange your views with them. And, at last never stop reading test case thoroughly and completely line by line before starting the test, though you have done and tested for 'n' number of times and the test has passed for 'n' times too.

* Kantharaja was the person, who brought me up the idea of writing a blog to share the passion of testing. He is a questioning tester and taught me lot in testing. I am thankful to him.

Love Testing !

Google Chrome crashed

2008-09-04T13:44:00.024+05:30

Google Chrome crashed

Today morning, my friend "SP" gave a ring, to my cubicle and the conversation was as below:

SP: Maaga, coffee'ge barthya...? (Do you come for coffee ?).
Me: Yes, 5 minutes.

* when I went to cafeteria, I did not see him. Walked towards the smoke zone. He was sitting quietly.

Me: Yeno Maaga.. (What man?)
SP: Hi! Sit.

* we had a few chat regarding the Ganesha festival celebration and the tasks that he and me was doing.

SP: Did you work on Google Chrome web browser?
Me: No, not yet. How it is tested ?
SP: Don't you have any other words that comes from your mouth? Same words always, how?
Me: Come, let us have a coffee.

Topic Google Chrome crashed begins

After having coffee, came back to my cubicle and started downloading the Google Chrome and installed it.

The two tabs were displayed below a opened Window's application title bar (below snap), when I launched the Google Chrome. Maximized the Google Chrome, and saw no title bar. Instead the tab's header displayed a opened website information as a title on tab header; when mouse was moved over tab header, a screen tool tip was displayed with the same information that was on tab's header. Similarly, the progress bar appeared at left bottom of console on moving mouse to URL bar while loading the web page of a site or for any other browsed content.

snap showing Google Chrome being displayed below a standard Windows title bar.

Started to look for the features that Google Chrome provides apart from the other available browsers. Found few things, among them were 'Task manager', the useful one along with "Report bug or broken website..." and "New incognito window" (which will have a gray ash color being different from normal Google Chrome window) . Entering a web address at URL bar, browser displays the option of typed words for a search using selected Search Engine.

Searching for a phrase or a word in Google Chrome, it highlights all the words/phrases/letters that matches, by giving total number of matched. Moving the up & down arrows, it traverses the matched search item, by giving that particular word/phrase/letter position count in the total numbers of matched item present. Apart from this, the vertical scroll bar of the browser will have the yellow-brownish color lines, where all the matched words present. Which makes easy to look into the line where the phrase/letters/words are present.

Now, started to download few applications from the web. Without asking the user, that do you want to download, it began the download operation (should have been asked like, whether to continue or begin the download operation).

Google has listed the other search engine along with itself. The other search engines listed are Yahoo!, Live Search, AOL and Ask (which gives a feel & kind of message, 'Live and let us Live'). Any one of the five search engine option can be chosen. Yet another feature was, drag and drop of tab to a new browser and a browser window to a tab.Noticed that Google Chrome had good speed when compared to other browsers, but during few operations the speed was dropped down. More than one Image Name i.e., "chrome.exe" was displayed and this depended on the number of tabs that were opened in the Google Chrome browsers (noticed this, when the performance of Google Chrome was slow.) Look and feel was simple, but not to the mark what Google provides and known for. No doubt, all the issues of Look and feel will get fixed in final beta release (I saw only few of them today; testers performing web testing using Google Chrome, can find many more which can be more complicated).

Few basic features and bugs should be sorted out in Google Chrome:

Clicking on 'New tab' which is available on the left hand side of the browser, does not open a new tab.
Closing all the tabs that are opened in the browser, makes the Google Chrome to get terminated.
In a new tab, entering keys 'CTRL + B', makes the bookmarks to get detached from the URL. Say, in the same browser you have a tab which is showing some browsed web information.; entering 'CTRL + B' does not even show the detached bookmarks. This creates void confused thinking in the user. As all the users of Google Chrome are not technical persons and will have same level of thinking and understanding always.
Before starting to download any contents from web, Google Chrome should prompt the user whether to continue downloading or not. This may save user from various threats by today's web world.
Home button is not displayed by default. User should try to find where the 'Home' button is located in the browser; later she/he should enabled the option to display the 'Home' button.
In the below snap shot, observe how the two Google Chrome windows look. The top most tabs displayed are of one Google Chrome window and the second row tabs are of the other Google Chrome window. The top most window's row as taken off word 'Google' from display, as the window being maximized. The second row displays the 'Google' word near the minimizer of the window. Taking off the of product vendor name from display when maximized, is not a good admiralty of the product. In other view, taking off word 'Google' from view in the window on maximizing the browser, can be interpreted as, Google cares for service rather than making up its advertisement (don't know how far this holds good i.e., 'advertisement'. No doubt in its services, which is a good one and that makes Google a unique.).

snap showing tabs of two Google Chrome windows.

In the above snap, notice the tab header and its contents. It will be difficult to know, what the tab contains, unless the mouse is moved over the tab or by clicking on the tab.
Many more issues were noticed; while collecting those snaps and writing up those data into my observation book, got a shocking warning message dialog after 4 hours of work with Google Chrome, "Whoa! Google Chrome has crashed. Restart now?".

Google Chrome crash message

I said this news to my friend "MSH" who sits quiet near to me. He showed me the another way of doing it which he read from a web just then, and I was surprised to see it; and all the feel what I had when I saw the CRASHED word on my machine, evaporated like a dew on a lotus leaves. Still, I am happy, that my testing for nearly 4 hours, gave me "Whao! Google Chrome has crashed. Restart now?".

Thanks, SP and MSH for sparing 10 minutes for me. Guys, if you can spare me 10 minutes of your time daily like as we did today, I can crash few more applications and products.

Love Testing !

TestComplete's Data Driven Test

2008-08-31T17:26:00.001+05:30

TestComplete is a test automation tool from AutomatedQA. It provides several features as other automation tool does provide and supports for various technologies on Windows platform. Let us see a code snippet which is in VBScript, used for a Data Driven Test using Microsoft Excel sheet.

TestComplete's Data Driven Test

Below written is a VBScript for Data Driven Test using automation tool, TestComplete 6. The script automates for booking a flight ticket using Mercury/HP's QTP sample flight application. The excel file will have the data, which is used during Data Driven Test.

' The script starts from here.

Option Explicit

Sub openForm(w1)
Call w1.MainMenu.Click("File|New Order")
End Sub

Sub insertOrder(p1,w1,w2,Driver)
Call w2.Window("MSMaskWndClass").Keys(Driver.Value(0))
Set w3 = w2.Window("ComboBox", "", 1)
Call w3.ClickItem(Driver.Value(1))
Set w3 = w2.Window("ComboBox", "", 2)
Call w3.ClickItem(Driver.Value(2))
w2.Window("Button", "FLIGHT").ClickButton
Set w3 = p1.Window("#32770", "Flights Table")
Call w3.Window("ListBox").ClickItem(Driver.Value(5))
w3.Window("Button", "OK").ClickButton
Set w3 = w2.Window("Edit", "", 1)
Call w3.Click(55, 11)
Call w3.Keys(Driver.Value(3))
w2.Window("Button", Driver.Value(4)).ClickButton
Call clickInsert(w2)
End Sub

Sub closeApplication(w1)
Call w1.MainMenu.Click("File|Exit")
End Sub

Sub clickInsert(w2)
w2.Window("Button", "&Insert Order").ClickButton
End Sub

Sub Main ' point of starting the script execution.
Dim p1
Dim w1
Dim w2
Dim w3
' creating a Excel driver object.
Set Driver =
DDT.ExcelDriver("G:\RAVI\TESTING\testComplete\sampleProject\flightDDT.xls","flightDDT",false)
Call TestedApps.flight4a.Run ' Application Under Test (AUT/SUT).
Set p1 = Sys.Process("flight4a")
Set w1 = p1.Window("#32770", "Login")
Call w1.Click(55, 6)
Set w2 = w1.Window("Edit", "", 1)
Call w2.Click(24, 8)
Call w2.Keys("mercury")
Set w2 = w1.Window("Edit", "", 2)
Call w2.Click(16, 11)
Call w2.Keys("mercury")
w1.Window("Button", "OK").ClickButton
Set w1 = p1.Window("Afx:400000:b*", "Flight Reservation")
Call w1.Click(50, 7)

While Not Driver.EOF
Call openForm(w1)
Set w2 = w1.Window("#32770")
If Driver.EOF Then
Call DDT.CloseDriver(Driver) ' closing the Excel Driver object created.
Call closeApplication(w1) ' closing the AUT/SUT.
End If
Call insertOrder(p1,w1,w2,Driver) ' call to a procedure to insert the data from excel sheet.
Call Driver.Next ' moving to the next row in the excel sheet.
Wend
Call closeApplication(w1)
End Sub ' End of a "Main" procedure.

' The script ends here.

*************************************************************************************

Learning's:

To begin, Data Driven Test from the above script, makes use of Excel Driver, which creates a object for an Excel sheet.
Syntax or declaration of driver:

DDT.ExcelDriver(Filename, Sheet, UseAceDriver)

Filename: is the name of excel file being used.
Sheet: is the excel sheet which has the data, that will be used for test.
UseAceDriver: a Boolean value. If True, TestComplete makes use of ACE driver to connect an excel sheet. If it is False, TestComplete connects to the excel sheet via the Microsoft Excel ODBC driver. ACE driver lets us to connect Excel 2007 sheets together with earlier version of Microsoft Excel.
Driver.Value(n), carries the data from excel sheet. The first column of the excel sheet is read as zeroth column.

The GUI which takes data from the user, can be fed with the relevant or irrelevant data which we want to test with, for 'n' number of times or for the desired iterations of tests run. The content format of the excel file is as below:

DATE	FLY FROM	FLY TO	NAME	CLASS	FLIGHT
091108	Denver	London	Testing Garage	First	20263 DEN 11:12 AM LON 06:23 PM AA $112.20
010109	Frankfurt	Los Angeles	Ravisuriya	Business	20324 FRA 09:12 AM LAX 04:23 PM AA $112.20

End of topic "TestComplete's Data Driven Test"

Off-Topic note learning:

Finally to conclude, the automation is not a solution for busy and challenging test execution process. It provides the supporting hand to repeat the tests for test conditions which needs to be executed repeatedly. But, the 'Manual Testing' or a Tester testing sitting in front of the SUT/AUT is much result oriented and provides information regarding the quality measure of AUT/SUT; because tool only does the task scripted but the tester (human) has the intelligence & capability to identify the risks from doing things repeatedly with her/his thinking capability, which are uncovered by test tools.

Love Testing !

Bug - Exception “Illegal Argument/java/lang” displayed on Nokia 6080

2008-08-06T19:25:00.000+05:30

Mobile phones are used by people of different category, right from person who does not know to read & write to the person who can read & write. Where as, people will come into different category who cannot understand technical description and to the people who can know the cause of the technical description.

Here where the usability comes into picture. The most needed one, for today’s competitive technology to reach the customers market is Usability. Usability is not only the screen of a computer or a laptop, but it is also in handling the electronic gadgets.

Lot of research and innovation needs to be carried out and being conducted in this part of the testing i.e., “Usability Testing”. Salute to all those thinkers & testers who worked and being working on Usability.

Picture: Usability of Mobile Phone

No doubt, Nokia has good usability where a laymen can operate very easily with any models of it within a short span of hours.

The date was not 19th of the month. Few months ago tried it for 3 days i.e., on date 5th, 6th and 7th , to find why the "19" was displayed; but all what I got was more and more curiosity. The date set on the mobile phone was very correct for the day's calendar date.

Navigation through Menu > Application > Collection > World clock, displays the Java exception “Illegal Argument java/lang/IllegalArgumentException illegal month 19”. Just think of a laymen who does not any Java stuff and wants the time of cities she/he desires when the above written exception displayed. Also, think of the person who does not know to read and write in the above situation.

Picture: Snap of the error and exception thrown

Video of the navigation and exception thrown

Auto-update of date & time was turned on with option “Confirm first”. The other two options were “On” and “Off”.

Work Around, for the above issue:

On choosing the different date format, the exception was not thrown. The World Clock showed the time of the selected cities.

* Note:

Irrespective of the date format, the message displayed should tell the cause in laymen language.

----------

Few more bugs were seen with this model. One among them was, unable to open the Message’s Inbox (the work around is to switch off and switch on the mobile). Messages were not overflown in the size/content.

It is very happy and pleasant time for me, when I have Nokia 6080 in my hand as it is showing many new things to improve my little sand dust testing skills.

Data Driven Testing with ATF test automation tool.

2008-07-02T10:30:00.000+05:30

#
#_Test Case: Validating login to an application.
#
#_Version: 2.0
#
#_Author: Testing Garage
#
#_Description: Login to application with user names and password present in Data Table. The application name present in the below script is for an example. The respective AUT will have its unique name, while writing the script. AUT, is the abbreviation for Application Under Test.

CONNECT 'Quality' # establishing a connecting to the machine (agent).

DECLARE STRING @A, @B

DECLARE INTEGER @i, @len
@len = TableGetLen("E:\smokeTestScripts\userdetalis.DTB")

FOR @i = 1 TO @len

@a= TableGetValue("userdetalis.DTB", "userid", @i)
ECHO "ID is",@a
@B= TableGetValue("userdetalis.DTB", "password", @i)
ECHO "PW is",@B

WinSetActive ('TL_AUT')
WinMouseClick ('TL_AUT', 279, 460)
WinSetFocus ('TL_AUT')
PLAY KEYS @A

WinMouseClick ('TL_AUT', 282, 488)
PLAY KEYS @b
WinMouseClick ('TL_AUT', 248, 588)
WAIT 20

WinSetActive ('TL_AUT_administrator')

WinSetFocus ('TL_AUT_administrator')
PLAY KEYS ' x'

WinMouseClick ('TL_AUT_administrator', 18, 33)
WinMouseClick ('SunAwtCanvas', 28, 28)
PLAY KEYS ""

NEXT @i

Script for Data Driven test with Rational Robot's Datapool.

2008-06-21T09:39:00.000+05:30

'The script can be used or modified as needed after creating appropriate Datapool in Rational Robot.

'$include "sqautil.sbh"

Sub Main

Dim Result As Integer
DIM dp_result as long
'DIM dp_result as long
Dim dp_agentName as string
Dim dp_password as string
Dim dp_fetchResult as long
Dim dp_result1 as long
Dim dp_flight as long

'Script Name: dataPoolLogin

dp_flight=SQADatapoolOpen("E:\myTesting\rationalRobotTest\TestAssets\DataPools\logininfo",FALSE,SQA_DP_SEQUENTIAL,FALSE)

FOR I=1 TO 2

dp_Fetchresult = SQADatapoolFetch(dp_flight)
Window SetContext, "Class=Shell_TrayWnd", ""
Toolbar Click, "Text=Quick Launch;\;ItemText=Flight", "Coords=16,8"

Window SetContext, "Caption=Login", ""
EditBox Click, "ObjectIndex=1", "Coords=7,8"
dp_result = SQADatapoolValue(dp_flight,1,dp_agentName)
' InputKeys "mercury"
InputKeys dp_agentName

EditBox Click, "ObjectIndex=2", "Coords=10,2"
dp_result1 = SQADatapoolValue(dp_flight,2,dp_password)
'InputEncKeys "CAAAAM4AAAAICaEYwet4JA=="
InputKeys dp_password
PushButton Click, "Text=OK"

' closing flight reservation
Window SetContext, "Caption=Flight Reservation", ""
Window Click, "", "Coords=39,-34"
MenuSelect "File->Exit"

NEXT

End Sub

Bugs with new Yahoo! Mail version? or Bugs with Mozilla Firefox browser?

2008-06-18T18:16:00.000+05:30

Bug-1:

It was nice to find some bugs, but not sure whether those are from Mozilla Firefox browser or of new Yahoo! Mail version.

With the Firefox browser installed of version 2.0.0.14, logging into Yahoo! Mail Classic, upgraded it to the new Yahoo! Mail (beta version).

Clicked on drop down arrow button, near the city name for which the temperature was being displayed. An edit box for entering the city name or postal zip code was displayed along with the ‘Go’ button.

with no edit box

Upon, entering a valid zip code of a city, few city names were displayed for which the zip code tallied. Selected Bangalore. The check box was checked which had a caption “Make this the default location for Yahoo!”

Again repeated the same process i.e., from clicking on drop down arrow, till entering the zip code of a city. This time entered the name of the city. Again repeated the process and entered a zip code of a city. The locations that were browsed recently were displayed under the Recent Locations frame, where “Delete All” was also displayed.

Clicked on the “Delete All” phrase. Noticed the strange thing. The frame was retained as it is, but it was transparent after clicking on “Delete All”. Scrolling the vertical scroll bar of the Mozilla Firefox browser, took off the displayed transparent layout. This is reproducible very easily on Mozilla Firefox with new Yahoo! Mail version.

Bug-2:

With Mozilla Firefox and new Yahoo! Mail version (after login).

with cursor

Clicking in the mouse at the edit box, the cursor was displayed. Selected the displayed city name in the edit box and deleted it. Still the cursor was displayed.

Repeated the process again i.e., from clicking on drop down arrow button till the display of the edit box with the city name shown. Clicked in the mouse at the edit box; this time the cursor was not displayed. Deleted the text displayed inside the edit box. The cursor was not displayed. Entering a text through keyboard, entered character would appear in the edit box. Entering only white spaces in the edit box, the white spaces can be seen by selecting all the contents of the edit box, with no cursor displayed even after not selecting the contents of the edit box (which had only white spaces or combination of characters and white spaces). with no cursor

with no cursor

Bug-3:

Any opened window gets minimized after few seconds, upon dragging down a text displayed in the dialog.

Trying to switch back for Classic Yahoo! Mail version, clicked on the “Mail Classic” text. A dialog of title “Switch to Yahoo! Mail Classic?” was displayed which had a message:

“Udating your account….

Before you do, we’d love your feedback”.

This dialog had two buttons namely “Switch to Yahoo! Mail Classic” and “Cancel”. Clicked on the “Switch to Yahoo! Mail Classic”. Later for few seconds (around 3 to 4), the dialog remained as it is with no buttons. Clicked on the hyperlinked word ‘feedback’ and dragged it down to the taskbar, keeping the left mouse button without released. The new Yahoo! Mail version displayed changed to the Classic Yahoo! Mail version without any issue.

As expected, the Yahoo! Mail was changed Classic Yahoo! Mail version.

Now, started the hide and seek play. Opening any window that was opened or any new window would get minimized after 5 to 6 seconds upon opening it. This happened to all the window/GUI that remained maximized on the desktop. Using ALT+Tab, to get the minimized window to desktop, it did not work i.e., no window got restored back.

Later clicking on the Classic Yahoo! Mail tab on the taskbar, an error dialog with message:

“You cannot drag an item onto a button on the taskbar.

However, if you do this without releasing the mouse button, the window will open and you can then drag the item into the window”, was displayed.

If you notice the same, please write. Also, if you did not notice the above said, please write the steps you followed to reproduce. Waiting for the comments.....

Have a happy memorable Testing !

*Note:

All were noticed only on Mozilla Firefox browser of version 2.0.0.9 as well as 2.0.0.14 only.All the above said were not noticed with Internet Explorer browser of version 6 as well as 7.

VBScript to close the opened Command prompt (can be used with testing tool QTP).

2008-06-13T10:44:00.000+05:30

' Little modification has to be made to close any unwanted opened windows. By identifying the Process/Task name through the Task Manager, the process name can be obtained.

' The below written VBScript closes the all opened Command prompt(s).

Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set oWmg = GetObject("winmgmts:")

strWndprs = "select * from Win32_Process where name='cmd.exe'"
Set objQResult = oWmg.Execquery(strWndprs)

For Each objProcess In objQResult

intReturn = objProcess.Terminate(1)

Testing Garage

2008-01-04T17:54:00.002+05:30

I am Ravisuriya, a tester, a passionate tester.

I had desire to join testing job while I was at University course. My friends at University course said testing is no job. You won’t earn and get promoted as one who writes programming languages code. Met few people of other Universities and heard new revision of same lyrics with new compiled music to it.

Still I did not lose interest in testing. While studying University course, completed my internship in one of Indian defense organization unit. I chose testing out of my interest here by writing needy programming code for my work.

Completed university course and began to look for job. No job for exactly one year from seeing my University results. Mean while I had given interview for Java programmer position. I was shortlisted in programming test. Attended couple of interview rounds where I was asked to test and debug the Java code I wrote. Engineering Manager and Project Manager was happy with the way I tested my own code in 4th round of an interview.

The employer also had opening for experienced testers. I was said about this; but I was with no industry experience. This was an opportunity to work as a tester and I did not want to lose it. And I got my first job in role of Tester for my passion. I was said to read ‘Effective Methods for Software Testing’ for two days. I did not complete reading that book. Third day into testing a product and still I respect the people who provided me an opportunity to be a Tester.

I met Santhi K, Kantharaja MP and Jean James while I am testing now for my first employer. These three people have influenced my testing highly. I respect them. Kantharaja MP showed me the blog, which I did not know and asked me to blog about my testing mistakes. And so Testing Garage and this post now.

Me and Kantharaja use to have this on our dash board:

? + ? = ?

? - ? = ?

? / ? = ?

? * ? = ?

? = ?

? = ∞

Nothing with no question.

If you come across Testing Garage, you will not find any facts or expertise for any time here. Instead you see mistakes and only mistakes from which I’m learning.