Big Red Button - DONE

Here is a description of Big red button (manager's) dream.

The purpose is to run automated test set with one press of a "big red button" and then to get results.

The workflow

1. The box contains arduino board plus 2 buttons (red and blue) and 2 pots. Red button is for starting tests, blue for canceling. The left pot is used to select target server to run test against. The right pot is used to select which smoke set to be started (2 added for now)
2. Arduino box is connected via usb interface to win8 controller machine
3. On the controller machine simple python script gets the state of all buttons and pots
4. When red button is pressed a post request is executed to a jenkins server in order to start the test
5. Jenkins runs the test set on a slave machine and collect results
6...999. The sophisticated framework does the job

ok I know... it looks ugly with those green stickers :-)

... few days later labels updated with printed ones and 1 smoke set added

ps: 2017 update is here

The Big Red Button

The manager's dream :-). I am teasing you.

Why not build it? ...

Everyone can cook(automate)! [2]

...continued
   

• You need to investigate and find some tool appropriate for your application under test(on this topic I can write more in future)
• Set a realistic goal for the start (forget about 100% automation). You need 2-3 tests that run every day and sends you systematically a test report. The tests should be really simple: validLogin, do something, logout. Here you have 3 tests
• You need to get some /virtual/ environment to run your tests without breaking the tests run accidentally.
• Your developers need to have CI(continuous integration) builds. You should be able to get new build of AUT each day

Now you are having something working on regular basis and you are able to add mores tests, BUT ...

• Your AUT changes UI and functionality too often
• You need to spend time for adding new tests and supporting old ones
• Management get excited and rise expectation - you have so much free time now when automation is doing your work :-)
• You start to notice that "testability" of AUT is preventing you to advance in automation
• It seems like time spend for automation is too much and it is better to do those 3-5 test manually...

To be continued...