Testing: Editing Tests In-running with Microsoft Test Manager

A couple of weeks ago one of my colleagues here asked if it possible to edit test scripts while you are running them in Microsoft Test Manager. I didn't know, and a quick bit of google-foo resulted in nothing conclusive. So, I reached out to the testing community through the fairly new and excellent SQA Stack Exchange.

Here is my original question:
http://sqa.stackexchange.com/questions/3411/is-there-a-patch-in-microsoft-test-manager-to-allow-for-editing-tests-while-runn

Although the answer given didn't didn't deal with my issue on MTM 2010, it did set me on the right path.

So, can you edit a test case while running it? The answer is, sort of.
You can't add a step into the test you are currently running, but you can edit the original test case so future runs are correct. Below is an explanation on how to do this.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/gautamg/archive/2010/12/11/faq-editing-test-case-while-using-test-runner.aspx

I tried to find out if MTM 2012 was going to have such a useful feature, but I have not been able to find a definitive answer. Most of my searching seems to lead back to Microsoft telling us how good MTM 2012 will be for exploratory testing.
Hmmm..
Unless they have done a complete ground-up redesign of the interface, I do not think Microsoft Test Manager 2012 will be the right tool for that job.

I will cover that in another post. 

Testing: Some Thoughts on Microsoft Test Manager

It was about two years ago when I was first introduced to Microsoft Test Manager *(MTM). It worked quite well for us; we were a completely .net environment so the running tests and pushing bugs through to the developer through TFS workflow was fairly smooth. I remember thinking at the time that once the software was out in the wild for a year or so Microsoft should send out a service pack to fix the obvious bugs, correct the UI issues, and hopefully add reporting tools as standard.

Fast forward to now. I am again in a .net environment. I am again using MTM as the tool for running tests and reporting bugs.During the interim I have been exposed to many different tools, most of which, in their way, out class MTM:
For record and playback of test steps I use Selenium IDE, or iMacros
For progress reporting I can format them natively in the application or export a CSV from just about any test tool (Testlink, Testrail, Jira, Bugzilla) and manipulate in Excel.
And for reporting of bugs, there are multiple pieces of software, Bugzilla, Jira, TFS to name a few.

You can imagine my disappointment to see that MTM had not moved an inch from where I last left it. The software is still buggy, chews up resources, crashes at the slightest misuse, and has a UI that was designed by a, well, by something that has never used software before. It is so frustrating as to almost make you weep. I have tried to fathom Microsoft's strategy with MTM. It isn't cheap, so companies invest a lot to get it set up and integrated. It seems like Microsoft are willing to let the tool mothball whilst still receiving license money from the few companies unfortunate enough to have this as their main testing, bug reporting, and progress reporting tool. Yet it fulfills none of those functions to a satisfactory level!
I can only hope that with the new generation of software versions coming out (Windows 8, Office 2012, etc.) there is a major upgrade to MTM that makes it usable.

* I started inserting links after I wrote the article. Attempting to find MTM 2010 on the Microsoft site is almost impossible. Perhaps they realised what a dog it was and hid it in the cupboard under the stairs.



[End Note] At the beginning of 2012 I was going to start up (yet) another blog about my life as a tester. I haven't done that yet, so I will be posting here for a while until I get off my lazy arse and actually set up the bloody thing!