In addition to creating new test cases in the platform as we described in the How to Create a New Test Case course, test cases can also be created offline in Excel and imported into the Applause platform as a CSV file. Alternatively, test cases can be imported from the TestRail system; for more on that see the Importing Test Cases from TestRail course.

 

How to Create an Import File

In order to be able to import test cases in a CSV file, the CSV files need to be read and the columns mapped to the test case fields.

• If the default field names in the platform match the CSV file's column headers when uploading a CSV file for the first time, the fields will be automatically mapped saving you some clicks.

One of these CSV templates can be used for writing test cases and importing them into the platform:

• Test cases with steps in new rows
• Test cases with one row per test case

Note: Sometimes, due to your computer's regional settings, when opening a CSV file, all data might appear in one single column. Follow these instructions to fix it.

 

Test Case Template with Each Step in a New Row

Let’s take a look at the first sample. The titles of columns can be anything, as long as they are mapped correctly to the fields when importing into the platform.

Exernal Key

It’s a good practice to have an External Key (ID) for each test case to not get confused in case there are many identical test case names. Since this is an attribute of a test case, it needs to be used in the Header rows of each test case.

Test Case Name

This can be called Title as well, and will be used as a Test Case Name when mapping in the platform. Should also be used in Header rows for each test case.

Test Case Description

Enter a description for the test case here. Should be used only in Header rows for each test case.

Test Suite

Test Suite is an optional column, and you can specify one or more values for it. If you specify multiple test suites, a comma “,” has to be used as a separator. In case you specify multiple test suites for a test case, the Applause platform will assign the test case to each of the test suites in the same product upon import.

Folder

If the test cases need to be put into a folder, add a “Folder” column to the CSV file specifying a folder path for each test case. This option will be available only if a Test Suite has been either added as a column to the CSV file or if it’s specified in the platform when importing the test cases. The folder is created only when the test case is created first.

Note: The Applause platform has a maximum of 3 levels of folders. If the imported folder path contains more than 3 levels, the test case will be put in the third level.

Step Instructions

Input the step instruction or description the tester should perform. It should be as clear as possible.

Expected Result

Input what the tester should see or experience when the instruction is performed.

Minimum Attachments Per Step

Input the number of required attachments the tester has to upload to the step.

Each step should appear on its own row. The test case can have as many steps as it needs to completely describe the desired process.

References

References is an optional field. There can be one or more Reference Value fields. It has 3 parts:

• Label (text, required)
• Value (text, required)
• Integration (list: “-” / “Jira”, required)

When performing the import, the import process parses the Reference values. The Reference cells can have single or multiple references.

The following format is expected for a single reference: [label]<reference>{integration}. For example, the string [this is my label]<www.google.com>{Jira} is parsed as:

• Label = this is my label
• Reference = www.google.com
• Integration = Jira

For multiple references, use “;” as a separator: [label]<reference>{integration};[label]<reference>{integration};[label]<reference>{integration}. For example, the string [this is my first label]<www.google.com>{Jira};[this is my second label]<www.bing.com>{Jira} is parsed as:

• Reference 1:
  • Label = this is my first label
  • Reference = Google
  • Integration = Jira
•  Reference 2:
  • Label = this is my second label
  • Reference = www.bing.com
  • Integration = Jira

The “{integration}” component will be expecting the following values:

• ““ or “-”
• “Jira” (NOT case sensitive)

The “{integration}” component is optional.

• If missing, then the reference will be successfully imported with Integration = NULL (“-”)
• If an unidentified value appears (i.e., other than ““, “-”, “Jira”), then the reference will be successfully imported with Integration = NULL (“-”)

Priority

This is an optional field as well, and is set to None by default. It can take one of the following values: Critical, High, Medium, Low.

Saving the CSV File

After completing the test case writing, save the file as .csv.

 

Test Case Template with All Steps in a Single Row

The second sample contains all the steps of a test case in one row. It means that we will get a test case with a single step which contains all the content in the platform.

The External Key, Test Case Name, Test Case Description, Folder and References columns are the attributes of the test case as in the first sample. And the Step Instructions, Expected Result, Minimum Attachments per Step columns will be the attributes of a single step in the platform, meaning that the content of all these columns in each row will go into a single step in the platform.

After completing the test case writing, save the file as .csv.

 

How to Import Test Cases into the Platform

Contact the Applause management team if assistance is needed with writing or importing test cases.

Once the CSV file with test cases is ready, import it by following the steps below:

1. Select a product from the product picker.
2. Navigate to the Test Case Management page on the left navigation bar.
3. From the All Test Cases tab click on the import icon in the top right corner.
4. Select Import from CSV.
5. The Test Case Import page will open up with 3 steps: Upload File, Field Mapping and Error Review.

 

Upload File

1. Choose the CSV file through the “Choose files” button.
   
   • It’s possible to import multiple files if they have the same format.
   • If there are any errors with the file, errors will appear on the page. You can correct them and upload the file again.

2. If the first row is column headers, check the Yes option for the “Does the first row contain column headers?” field.
3. Below that select a necessary delimiter, which is by default a comma.
4. At the bottom, Select the default format type for the test case fields. Choose “Markdown” if the fields have Markdown format, otherwise choose “Plain Text”. Also, there will be an option to override this selection in the individual test case field later.
5. Then click the Next button on the bottom right corner.

 

Field Mapping

When importing a CSV file for the first time, if the default field names in the platform match the CSV file's column headers, the fields will be automatically mapped saving you some clicks.

• Otherwise the field mapping needs to be filled out. The next time it will already be mapped with previously saved values, but it can be changed.

Mandatory Columns

The Test Case Name column must exist in a CSV file to be able to import it.

And the following columns and values for them should exist in the CSV file (if not, default values can be set in the platform):

• Test Case Description - Enter an optional description for the test case here. Note: For each text field you can select whether you want to use Plain Text or Markdown format, and it will override the selection made in step 1.
• Step Number - Select a column if there is a step number column for numbering each test case step. Otherwise select the “Auto-sequence steps by using the order of the rows in the import files” option.
• Step Instructions - Select the main instructions field for the test case steps, like Step Description, Actions, etc. Otherwise, if there is none, enter default custom instructions.
• Expected Results - Input what the tester should see or experience when the instruction is performed.
• Note that the same CSV column can be specified for all the test case fields in the form simultaneously, so you should be careful if you don’t want to specify the same column for multiple fields.

Optional Columns

Additional optional fields that can be mapped to platform test case fields are:

External Key - Used for mapping with external test cases if there is any, and for identifying the existing test case in the platform.

Which field should be used to identify and update your existing test cases? - When you specify a field here, and then upload a new test case with the same field value, the old test case will be updated depending on the last update date.

• Once you specify a field for identifying the test case, the Last Update Done field will have to be filled in. If the CSV file has a last update column, specify it here, and Offset from UTC time in hours is 0 by default and can be changed if necessary. Otherwise set a default date and time.

• But if the “Do not update my test cases” value is kept for this field and the next time a test case with the same name or external key is imported, an error will show up saying that the test case with the same name already exists. You will have to import the test case with a different name or external key.

Preconditions - You can specify any preconditions that need to be prepared in order to start executing the test case.

Component - If there is a component column in the CSV file that shows what component a test case belongs to, specify that column. Otherwise select a default component for all the test cases being imported, or keep it as none.

Test Suite - If there is a test suite column in the CSV file that shows what test suite a test case belongs to, specify that column. Otherwise select test suites existing in the platform for all the test cases being imported.

• And if you’re importing a CSV file from one of the test suites already available, the default setting in the field mapping will be that Test Suite, otherwise, it will take it from the last successful mapping.

Folder - If the test cases need to be put into a folder, and a “Folder” column was added to the CSV file specifying a folder path for each test case, and then map the Folder column to this field. This option will be available only if the Test Suite has been specified. The folder is created only when the test case is created first. 

• Note: The Applause platform has a maximum of 3 levels of folders. If the imported folder path contains more than 3 levels, the test case will be put in the third level.

Step Name - If each test case step has a name in the CSV file, specify the column name here, or you can set a default value.

Minimum Attachments per Step - If each step has a minimum attachment requirement, specify the column name here. If there is no such column, you can specify a default minimum value for each test case step. Otherwise set None - the attachments will be optional.

References - an optional field. There can be one or more Reference Value fields. It has 3 parts - Reference Label, Reference Value and Reference Integration.

• Please Note: In Step 1 (Upload CSV file step), If the last field (“Select the file delimiter for the fields”) is selected as ; (semicolon), then this will conflict with the multiple References which are also delimited in the CSV file with a semicolon. In that case, the multiple References in the CSV file should be included in a quote. For example: “[label]<reference>{integration};[label]<reference>{integration};[label]<reference>{integration}”

Error Review

In the Error Review stage the platform checks the CSV file and provides appropriate feedback as follows:

• The number of test cases that will be created and updated successfully
• The number of test cases with errors that won’t be imported
  
  • A link to download the error report will be provided next to an error in case you want to send it to someone who is actually managing the test cases so that they can correct it.
  • Errors will also be listed at the bottom of the page.
• If you don't care about the test cases with errors, click the Import (with errors) button in  the bottom and only the test cases without errors will be imported.

In order to fix the import errors:

1. Open the correct CSV file shown in the error.
2. Identify the row / line to make changes.
3. Fix the errors in the file and save it.
4. Fix all the errors shown in the CSV files.
5. Make sure to save all the updated files.
6. Navigate back to the “Upload file” step and upload the updated files.

 

Import Logs

To view the import logs:

• Click on the respective See Import Logs icon in the top right corner of the test cases list.
• Or click on the link that appears in the dialog in the top right corner after importing a test case.

A list with import logs for all the imported test cases will show up.

Click Download against the desired log to view it in detail.

• CSV file name - The name of the imported CSV file.
• Test case name - The name of the test case specified in the respective column of the CSV file.
• Status - Whether the import was successful. If it’s “Review Error”, the test case was imported and there were some errors that need to be fixed. Otherwise if “Created”, the import was successful.
• Spreadsheet Row # - The row number where the error occurred. Note that the counting of row numbers starts from 0.
• Text Editor Line # - The line number at which the error occurred when the CSV file is opened in a text editor.
• Test case field name - The field name from the platform where the error occurred.
• Expected value type - The expected value type for the cell/field.
• Mapped column - The column name in the CSV file where the error occurred.
• Value - The value entered for the field.
• Error - The actual error.