Test Deliverables

Test Deliverables are the artifacts which are given to the stakeholders of software project during the software development lifecycle. There are different test deliverables at every phase of the software development lifecycle. Some test deliverables are provided before testing phase, some are provided during the testing phase and some after the testing cycles is over. The different types of test deliverables are.

1. Test cases Documents
2. Test Plan
3. Testing Strategy
4. Test Scripts
5. Test Data
6. Test Trace-ability Matrix
7. Test Results/reports
8. Test summary report
9. Install/config guides
10. Defect Report
11. Release note

Test Execution Report or Test Summary Report - 

Test summary report is a document which contains summary of test activities and final test results. After the testing cycle it is very important that you communicate the test results and findings to the project stakeholders so that decisions can be made for the software release. i.e. If further testing is required and we need to delay the release.

Test summary report will be different for different kind of testing. Suppose you are doing risk based testing your report should contain the test coverage and unresolved defects against the product risks, and if you are doing requirements based testing then your test summary report should measure coverage against the requirements.

In addition to test coverage and unresolved defects test summary reports should also contain test strategy, test objectives and overall result of test effort. IEEE 829 standard Test Summary Report Template, Test summary report , identifier, summary, variance, comprehensive assessment, Summary of results, Evaluation, Summary of activities approvals .

Test Results 

Reporting test execution results is very important part of testing, whenever test execution cycle is complete, tester should make a complete test results report which includes the Test Pass/Fail status of the test cycle. If manual testing is done then the test pass/fail result should be captured in an excel sheet and if automation testing is done using automation tool then the HTML or XML reports should be provided to stakeholders as test deliverable.

Test Data

Test data is the data that is used in tests of a software system. In order to test a software application you need to enter some data for testing most of the features. Any such specifically identified data which is used in tests is known as test data. You can have test data in excel sheet which can be entered manually while executing test cases or it can be read automatically from files (XML, Flat Files, Database etc.) by automation tools.

Some test data is used to confirm the expected result, i.e. When test data is entered the expected result should come and some test data is used to verify the software behavior to invalid input data. Test data is generated by testers or by automation tools which support testing. Most of the times in regression testing the test data is re-used, it is always a good practice to verify the test data before re-using it in any kind of test.

Test Strategy

The test levels to be performed in testing and the description of testing activities within those test levels is known as test strategy. There are many types of test strategy and selection of appropriate test strategy is the major factor behind testing success.

Test strategy also comes in test deliverables, the test strategy which is followed for testing should be informed to the project stakeholders. Following are the major types of test strategies that are followed in software testing:

1. Analytical
2. Risk based test strategy
3. Requirements based test strategy
4. Model based
5. Methodical
6. Process compliant
7. Dynamic
8. Consultative or Directed
9. Regression averse

Test Case Document

Test case document is also a part of test deliverables, by reading test case document stakeholders get an idea about the quality of test cases written and the effectiveness of those test cases. Stakeholders can also provide inputs about the current set of test cases as well as suggest some more missing test cases. A test case is a documentation which specifies input values, expected output and the preconditions for executing the test.

IEEE Standard 610 (1990) defines test case as follows:

A set of test inputs, execution conditions, and expected results developed for a particular objective, such as to exercise a particular program path or to verify compliance with a specific requirement.

Test Plan Document

A test plan is a document describing the scope, approach, objectives, resources, and schedule of a software testing effort. It identifies the items to be tested, items not be tested, who will do the testing, the test approach followed, what will be the pass/fail criteria, training needs for team, the testing schedule etc.

Test Plan document is also the part of test deliverables because by test plan document the stakeholders get to know about the scope, approach, objectives and schedule of software testing.