Test Referencing

Test referencing is a feature that enables you to construct test suites in your hierarchy that reference existing tests and/or test suites in the hierarchy. This allows you to choose any tests or suites within your hierarchy to be included in your test suite without the need to redefine the test with XML - i.e. there is still only one XML file defining the test or suite.

Referencing is useful for running a subset of tests to test partcular functionality or behaviour instead of running an entire set of tests that test more than required. This allows you to test only what is needed at a particular time.

This feature is also useful as a means to construct suites with the purpose of checking random functionality.

Referencing is accomplished by using a <testRef> or <suiteRef> tag for a test or a suite respectively, within a suite XML definition. The reference is the unique namespace for your test or suite. An example of how to include it in the suite XML definition is shown below.

<suite>

  <name>TestSuite5/name>
  
        <testItems>
    <testRef>TestSuite1.TestSuite2.Test2</testRef>

    <suiteRef>TestSuite1.TestSuite2.TestSuite4</suiteRef>
  <testItems>

</suite>

These tags are included as additional options to the <testItems> tag, see Defining test suites for more information on the format.

The example above, TestSuite5.xml, includes references to the existing suites shown in the diagram below:

• XML structure

• Defining test suites

• Defining TestExecute tests

• Defining TestExecute servers

• Defining Command Line tests