3 terminals: 1) "D\Luke Skywalker>" 2) "D:\Obi-Wan Kenobi>Use the prompt Luke." 3) “D:\Darth Vader>The DOS is strong with you.”. Showing texts “Agile Manifesto during test” and “mindfultester.com/agile-manifesto-during-test”!

Agile Manifesto during test

The appointed ticket was about a business rule. I had done all the preparation stuff and I only had to analyse the data. In most cases a front end or a good looking application is enough to determine the quality of the work. In this case it would miss a lot of points. A front end shows a summary of the data in the database. And a summary was not enough for this case. I mean database.

What I write down, is a sanitised version of the story: all confidential stuff has been changed.

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

I opened the database client. With this program I can easily browse through the tables. I got a connection error. That was not a good start. I retried to establish a connection and got the same connection error. I tried another server: same connection problem.
At this point I could just stop. Hey, I am a …. professional tester.

I had to start to analyse my test environment. I am not someone who runs to the helpdesk on the first encounter with an error. So I tried to make a connection with a terminal. This connection was possible which I did not expect. But thanks anyways.

Now I had a connection with the right server, I could do more things. Yes, the test environment was right back in my mind.
I remembered that it was possible to use a primitive database tool. I could use a database prompt, which let me query the database. I entered a command in the terminal: unknown command.
I switched to a browser and just entered the wrong command in the search engine, which suggested the right spelling. Using this command I saw a database prompt. The internet has lots of knowledge. Now I could use my queries from the day before.

I called a fellow devops and explained the situation. I reported about my failed attempts with the database client and he agreed that the database prompt was feasible for testing.

He told me how to connect to the right database. Thanks.
And off I tested.

Working software over comprehensive documentation

While I was still figuring out my test environment I realised, that I had forgotten to log. I opened a template of a test charter. It contained useful information like date, name, and application. Mine was based on some templates. Thanks Jean-Paul.

During my exploration I wrote some quick notes in my charter. They were mental notes to me. At the end of the day I would put a comprehensible summary in the ticket.

I copied the query from a file to the database prompt and pressed the Enter key. The database tool gave feedback, that the queries could not be used. Did I mention 1 query by the way?

My query contained multiple lines which were interpreted as multiple queries. There was some logic in it. E.g.
“Show the dates
of all Saturdays in 2017.”
The tool processed “Show the dates.” as follows:
“I have dates in my databases, but I am not sure which table: the birthdays, the working days or the school Holiday days.”
The second line “of all Saturdays in 2017.” would be interpreted like
“What would you like to know about the Saturdays in 2017? The times of the sunset or the number of Saturdays?”

My fellow devops had mentioned the option to execute the database prompt with the parameter /i. This stands for input file. This is a time saver.
So I left the database prompt and saw the system prompt again.

I executed the database tool with /i query file.
I got a response that /i was an invalid parameter.

Time to get help from the database tool:
I execute the tool with /help.
I got a list of all valid parameters and their usage. Then I settled for /f, which is short for input file.

During the next attempt I executed the database tool with /f query file. And I got a decent feedback from the database.

Both my hands went in the air.!!

Responding to change over following a plan

My plan was to use a nice looking database client and I ended up with a rough and tough database tool. Okay, but I could deliver value.

I looked to the output of the file and it was hard to read. All data was shown in ASCII or text. No table for easy scrolling and reading. No fancy stuff. The table was shown in multiple line: the header was scattered over several lines and the same was true for every record. So it was hard for me to determine which attribute was linked to which value.

I put the data in a text editor. It was still hard to read. I had to remove line breaks. No way.
But I did not need all the attributes. Oops, I was hoarding data again.
So I reduced the number of attributes to a minimal set. I accidentally maximised the window of the terminal and all data was shown in more readable table.

Now a new pattern emerged:

  • Adjust the file with query in an editor.
  • Go to the system prompt.
  • Execute the database tool with the latest version of the file.
  • Look at the output.
  • Correct the query.
  • And start again.

All that opening and closing of the input file was quite cumbersome.  I felt like a file jockey. So I opened a second terminal. Now I had one screen with the query in an editor and another screen for the execution of the database tool and analysis of the output.

Time for a tweet.

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

After reading the Agile Manifesto I realised that I had not really listened to the customer or her/ his proxy.

The next working day I went to the business to talk about the business rule. Did I really interpret this well? Instead of conditions and codes I heard a story, what the story was about. About people who needed the right service.

PS Task 4