FanfareSVT to iTest Migration

[BethanyW]

While many of the fundamental concepts behind iTest are the same as FanfareSVT, there has been an evolution in the user interface to facilitate cross-platform support, improved scalability, and ease of use. The messages in this thread provide a brief overview of the key differences between iTest and FanfareSVT.

[BethanyW]

The workflow for creating a test case is different in iTest than it was in FanfareSVT.

[BethanyW]

In iTest, It is no longer necessary to create a testbed before starting to test. Now session profiles enable quickly connecting to a device, so a tester can start testing immediately. While testbeds are still supported to allow abstracting device-specific details from a test case, it is no longer required that every iTest user go through this process to start testing.

[BethanyW]

To create a test case in iTest simply click the "Start Capture" button and then manually execute the test case steps. When you are done with the test case steps click the "Stop Capture" button and iTest will prompt you to name and create the test case. 

[BethanyW]

iTest is now organized using Perspectives, which are user-configurable, task-oriented views.  Unlike FanfareSVT, this allows you to edit multiple documents (test cases, maps, etc.) and work on different activities at the same time. This allows the UI to better support activities required to create, edit, execute, and automate a test case.

[BethanyW]

To increase readability, iTest’s test case editor now only has three columns (Action, Session, and Description) compared with 16 columns in FanfareSVT.  Most features are now accessed using right-click context menus or using the property pages (tabs at the bottom of the view). The property pages are broken up in logical sections making finding a specific property much easier. A new pencil icon has also been added to clearly indicate when an advanced property has been changed for a step.

[BethanyW]

iTest contains a full suite of applications (including terminal emulation, SNMP browser, web browser, SSH, mail client, etc.) that enable iTest to perform capture, reporting, replay, and automation across heterogeneous applications and a variety of different operating systems. FanfareSVT could only support capture under Windows. FanfareSVT users who do web testing will find that the experience in iTest is dramatically improved. Note: In iTest 3.1, the web application is currently only supported under Windows.

[BethanyW]

iTest lets you add analysis rules for command response directly from the Response view via the right-click menu, without requiring a response map.  This makes adding basic analysis to a test case much quicker. A response map will still be needed for more complex responses (like a table) and abstraction, but the response map wizard simplifies the response map creation process.

[BethanyW]

iTest has its own internal data model – meaning its own variables and the ability to handle procedural structures like “if”, “for”, and “foreach”.  It also has its own built-in interpretive language for field substitutions that does not depend on Tcl, but to ensure extensibility and ease-of-use, iTest has adopted Tcl’s syntax for substitutions. It is important to remember that while iTest adopts Tcl’s syntax, it is not Tcl so certain Tcl commands may not work. A list of supported Tcl commands is available in iTest Help. You can still, however, access Tcl directly in iTest through substitution commands [tcl {<statement>}] and [tclexpr {<expression>}].

[BethanyW]

“Go to” constructs make execution sequence indeterminate and therefore inhibits compiler validation and optimization. Due to this and changes in the test case grid, iTest no longer supports this command. Instead of using “go to”, you will find that it is always possible to use “if”, “else”, or “while”, sometimes in conjunction with “break” or “continue” to create the same effect as “go to”.