Chapter 8 Configuration Testing.docx
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Chapter 8 Configuration Testing.docx
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Chapter8ConfigurationTesting
Chapter8.ConfigurationTesting
INTHISCHAPTER
∙AnOverviewofConfigurationTesting
∙ApproachingtheTask
∙ObtainingtheHardware
∙IdentifyingHardwareStandards
∙ConfigurationTestingOtherHardware
Lifecouldbesosimple.Allcomputerhardwarecouldbeidentical.Allsoftwarecouldbewrittenbythesamecompany.Therewouldn'tbeconfusingoptionbuttonstoclickorcheckboxestocheck.Everythingwouldinterfaceperfectlythefirsttime,everytime.Howboring.
Intherealworld,50,000-square-footcomputersuperstoresareofferingPCs,printers,monitors,networkcards,modems,scanners,digitalcameras,peripherals,net-cams,andhundredsofothercomputerdoodadsfromthousandsofcompaniesallabletoconnecttoyourPC!
Ifyou'rejustgettingstartedatsoftwaretesting,oneofyourfirsttasksmaybeconfigurationtesting.You'llbemakingsurethatyoursoftwareworkswithasmanydifferenthardwarecombinationsaspossible.Ifyou'renottestingsoftwareforapopularhardwareplatformsuchasaPCoraMacthatis,ifyou'retestingsomespecializedproprietarysystemyouwillstillneedtoconsiderconfigurationissues.Youcaneasilytailorwhatyoulearninthischaptertoyoursituation.
ThefirstpartofthischapterdealswiththegeneralitiesofPCconfigurationtestingandthenmovesintothespecificsoftestingprinters,displayadapters(videocards),andsoundcardsforaPC.Althoughtheexamplesarebasedondesktopcomputers,youcanextrapolatethemethodstojustaboutanytypeofconfigurationtestproblem.Newanddifferentdevicesarereleasedeveryday,anditwillbeyourjobtofigureouthowtotestthem.
Highlightsofthischapterinclude
∙Whyconfigurationtestingisnecessary
∙Whyconfigurationtestingcanbeahugejob
∙Abasicapproachtoconfigurationtesting
∙Howtofindthehardwareyouneedtotestwith
∙Whattodoifyou'renottestingsoftwareforadesktopcomputer
AnOverviewofConfigurationTesting
Thenexttimeyou'reinoneofthosecomputersuperstores,lookatafewsoftwareboxesandreadoverthesystemrequirements.You'llseethingssuchasPCwithaPentium4processor,1024x76832-bitcolormonitor,32-bitaudiocard,gameport,andsoon.Configurationtestingistheprocessofcheckingtheoperationofthesoftwareyou'retestingwithallthesevarioustypesofhardware.ConsiderthedifferentconfigurationpossibilitiesforastandardWindows-basedPCusedinhomesandbusinesses:
∙ThePC.Thereareseveralwell-knowncomputermanufacturers,suchasDell,Gateway,HewlettPackard,andothers.EachonebuildsPCsusingcomponentsdesignedthemselvesorobtainedfromothermanufacturers.ManyhobbyistsevenbuildtheirownPCsusingoff-the-shelfcomponentsavailableatcomputersuperstores.
∙Components.MostPCsaremodularandbuiltupfromvarioussystemboards,componentcards,andotherinternaldevicessuchasdiskdrives,CD-ROMdrives,DVDburners,video,sound,faxmodem,andnetworkcards(seeFigure8.1).ThereareTVtunercardsandspecializedcardsforvideocaptureandhomeautomation.Thereareeveninput/outputcardsthatcangiveaPCtheabilitytocontrolasmallfactory!
Theseinternaldevicesarebuiltbyhundredsofdifferentmanufacturers.
Figure8.1.NumerousinternalcomponentsmakeupaPC'sconfiguration.
∙Peripherals.Peripherals,showninFigure8.2,aretheprinters,scanners,mice,keyboards,monitors,cameras,joysticks,andotherdevicesthatplugintoyoursystemandoperateexternallytothePC.
Figure8.2.APCcanconnecttoawideassortmentofperipherals.
[Viewfullsizeimage]
∙Interfaces.ThecomponentsandperipheralsplugintoyourPCthroughvarioustypesofinterfaceconnectors(seeFigure8.3).TheseinterfacescanbeinternalorexternaltothePC.TypicalnamesforthemareISA,PCI,USB,PS/2,RS/232,RJ-11,RJ-45,andFirewire.Therearesomanydifferentpossibilitiesthathardwaremanufacturerswilloftencreatethesameperipheralwithdifferentinterfaces.It'spossibletobuytheexactsamemouseinthreedifferentconfigurations!
Figure8.3.ThebackofaPCshowsnumerousinterfaceconnectorsforattachingperipherals.
∙Optionsandmemory.Manycomponentsandperipheralscanbepurchasedwithdifferenthardwareoptionsandmemorysizes.Printerscanbeupgradedtosupportextrafontsoracceptmorememorytospeedupprinting.Graphicscardswithmorememorycansupportadditionalcolorsandhigherresolutions.ThesystemboardcanhavedifferentversionsofBIOS(itsBasicInputOutputSystem)and,ofcourse,variousamountsofmemory.
∙DeviceDrivers.Allcomponentsandperipheralscommunicatewiththeoperatingsystemandthesoftwareapplicationsthroughlow-levelsoftwarecalleddevicedrivers.Thesedriversareoftenprovidedbythehardwaredevicemanufacturerandareinstalledwhenyousetupthehardware.Althoughtechnicallytheyaresoftware,fortestingpurposestheyareconsideredpartofthehardwareconfiguration.
Ifyou'reatestergearinguptostartconfigurationtestingonapieceofsoftware,youneedtoconsiderwhichoftheseconfigurationareaswouldbemostcloselytiedtotheprogram.Ahighlygraphicalcomputergamewillrequirelotsofattentiontothevideoandsoundareas.Agreetingcardprogramwillbeespeciallyvulnerabletoprinterissues.Afaxorcommunicationsprogramwillneedtobetestedwithnumerousmodemsandnetworkconfigurations.
Youmaybewonderingwhythisisallnecessary.Afterall,therearestandardstomeetforbuildinghardware,whetherit'sforanoff-the-shelfPCoraspecializedcomputerinahospital.Youwouldexpectthatifeveryonedesignedtheirhardwaretoasetofstandards,softwarewouldjustworkwithitwithoutanyproblems.Inanidealworld,thatwouldhappen,butunfortunately,standardsaren'talwaysfollowed.Sometimes,thestandardsarefairlyloosecallthemguidelines.Cardandperipheralmanufacturersarealwaysintightcompetitionwithoneanotherandfrequentlybendtherulestosqueezeinanextrafeatureortogetinalastlittlebitofperformancegain.Oftenthedevicedriversarerushedandpackedintotheboxasthehardwaregoesoutthedoor.Theresultissoftwarethatdoesn'tworkcorrectlywithcertainhardwareconfigurations.
IsolatingConfigurationBugs
Thoseconfigurationbugscanbitehard.RemembertheDisneyLionKingbugdescribedinChapter1,"SoftwareTestingBackground"?
Thatwasaconfigurationproblem.Thesoftware'ssounddidn'tworkonlyonafew,butverypopular,hardwareconfigurations.Ifyou'veeverbeenplayingagameorusingagraphicsprogramandthecolorssuddenlygocrazyorpiecesofwindowsgetleftbehindasyoudragthem,you'veprobablydiscoveredadisplayadapterconfigurationbug.Ifyou'veeverspenthours(ordays!
)tryingtogetanoldprogramtoworkwithyournewprinter,it'sprobablyaconfigurationbug.
NOTE
Thesurewaytotellifabugisaconfigurationproblemandnotjustabugthatwouldoccurinanyconfigurationistoperformtheexactsameoperationthatcausedtheproblem,stepbystep,onanothercomputerwithacompletelydifferenthardwaresetup.Ifthebugdoesn'toccur,it'sverylikelyaspecificconfigurationproblemthat'srevealedbytheuniquehardwareusedinthetest.
Assumethatyoutestyoursoftwareonauniqueconfigurationanddiscoveraproblem.Whoshouldfixthebugyourteamorthehardwaremanufacturer?
Thatcouldturnouttobeamillion-dollarquestion.
Firstyouneedtofigureoutwheretheproblemlies.Thisisusuallyadynamicwhite-boxtestingandprogrammer-debuggingeffort.Aconfigurationproblemcanoccurforseveralreasons,allrequiringsomeonetocarefullyexaminethecodewhilerunningthesoftwareunderdifferentconfigurationstofindthebug:
∙Yoursoftwaremayhaveabugthatappearsunderabroadclassofconfigurations.Anexampleisifyourgreetingcardprogramworksfinewithlaserprintersbutnotwithinkjetprinters.
∙Yoursoftwaremayhaveabugspecificonlytooneparticularconfigurationitdoesn'tworkontheOkeeDoKeeModelBR549InkJetDeluxeprinter.
∙Thehardwaredeviceoritsdevicedriversmayhaveabugthatonlyyoursoftwarereveals.Maybeyoursoftwareistheonlyonethatusesauniquedisplaycardsetting.Whenyoursoftwareisrunwithaspecificvideocard,thePCcrashes.
∙Thehardwaredeviceoritsdevicedriversmayhaveabugthatcanbeseenwithlotsofothersoftwarealthoughitmaybeparticularlyobviouswithyours.Anexamplewouldbeifaspecificprinterdriveralwaysdefaultedtodraftmodeandyourphotoprintingsoftwarehadtosetittohigh-qualityeverytimeitprinted.
Inthefirsttwocases,itseemsfairlystraightforwardthatyourprojectteamisresponsibleforfixingthebug.It'syourproblem.Youshouldfixit.
Inthelasttwocases,thingsgetblurry.Saythebugisinaprinterandthatprinteristhemostpopularintheworld,withtensofmillionsinuse.Yoursoftwareobviouslyneedstoworkwiththatprinter.Itmaytaketheprintervendormonthstofixtheproblem(ifitdoesatall)soyourteamwillneedtomakechangestoyoursoftware,eventhoughthesoftwareisdoingeverythingright,toworkaroundthebug.
Intheend,it'syourteam'sresponsibilitytoaddresstheproblem,nomatterwhereitlies.Yourcustomersdon'tcarewhyorhowthebugishappening,theyjustwantthenewsoftwaretheypurchasedtoworkontheirsystem'sconfiguration.
OFPURPLEFUZZANDSOUNDCARDS
In1997MicrosoftreleaseditsActiMatesBarneycharacterandsupportingCD-ROMlearningsoftwareforkids.Theseanimatronicdollsinteractedwiththesoftwarethroughatwo-wayradiointhedollandanotherradioconnectedtoaPC.
ThePC'sra
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