Practical examples of the non-functional techniques are a great way to help others to understand how to apply the techniques to real-world projects. Each example needs to illustrate a single category of non-functional techniques e.g. security, portability, compatibility, etc. This helps to keep testers to recognise the relevant techniques for that category of testing. Each example needs to focus on a single domain e.g. database, e-business, real-time, etc. however, they may include additional domains where the inclusion helps to illustrate the example. The target reader is a tester who may not be familiar with that domain but who does have testing knowledge.
Often the real-world projects are more complex than you can describe in a short example. Also there is a risk of the project details obscuring the examples of the techniques. Wherever possible, simplify the details of the project so that it doesn’t overwhelm the reader. Focus on describing a few non-functional test techniques, and limit the number of test cases to one or two for each technique. Where possible, please use the existing definitions of domains, categories, techniques, terminology, etc. from this web site. As the contents are still being developed by the working party, i.e. by people like you, you may not be able to find a suitable definition, or you may have a technique which hasn’t been documented here yet. If so, please contact us so we can add the relevant material to the site, then others will be able to benefit, and use, your work.
Documents should be submitted as either Microsoft Word documents or as rich-text format (RTF). Diagrams, tables and pictures help to illustrate examples please add them where you think they are appropriate. However, we have limited resources for processing the examples and may need to ask you to resubmit diagrams and pictures in order to enable them to be displayed on the testing standards’ web site.
Each example has to fit the common template, available here. Please have a look at some of the existing examples on the site, as they should help you to match the style and form of your work, which will help us to maintain the quality and consistency of all the material. An example will be between 2 - 4 pages of A4 but can be longer.
Each example is reviewed by other members of the working party at several stages during the process. Generally the first stage will be a review by an experienced member of the working party, who has testing experience for the category of testing being illustrated in your example. They should provide constructive criticism and help you to determine whether the example is ready for a more formal review. The aim of the review process is to help the author to create a good-quality document fit for publication on the site. Sometimes the material will need significant rework as part of the review process. Occasionally, and with the author’s permission, an example may be passed to another member of the working party as part of the rework process.
The examples are intended to be freely available to anyone and everyone. They may need to be revised or updated, therefore we ask you to transfer ownership and copyright to the Testing Standards Working Party. Please don’t include confidential, sensitive material, or anything that is not yours to assign e.g. don’t use material from an existing document created for your company.
Author: Julian Harty
22nd May 2003
Version 0.1
