Method of operation

Because the infrastructure is often supplied by parties other than the test team and because it plays a very important role within the rest of the testing, it is important to designate a formal acceptance point. At this point, it will be determined whether the products will serve the intended purposes and whether they meet the previously set requirements. (It is a kind of acceptance test of the infrastructure.) This takes place by means of an intake: an activity in which, on the basis of a checklist, it is determined whether the workplace, the test environment and the test tool are functioning and whether they meet the previously set requirements.

The checklist is drawn up on the basis of the specifications of the various parts. It should be available before the end of the previous activity (realising the infrastructure), but preferably earlier, so that it can be used during the realisation for interim checks.

This activity bears a close relation to the activity of “Specification of the test object intake” in the Specification phase. There are situations in which certain aspects of the infrastructure can only be checked with the aid of the test object or an early or interim version thereof. For example, a release procedure for the test environment can only be checked with the test object. But the correct installation of a test tool for the automation of the execution, too, can only be checked with the test object.

• Checklist “Workplace intake”
• Checklist “Test environment intake”
• Checklist “Test tools intake”
• Intake procedure.

Tools

Testware management tool.