Software Testing - Test Data Management
Software testing is largely dependent on the test data management (TDM). It includes the procedure of generation, controlling, and maintenance of the data which are needed to execute the test cases. A genuine test data management guarantees correct, uniform, and appropriate data to be available at the time of testing. Thus the test data management ensures dependable and effective test results which ultimately helps to improve the overall software quality.
Why are Test Data Management Tools Used?
The software test data management tools are used for the reasons listed below −
- Data Masking Tool − It helps to mask the delicate information residing inside the test data to protect its privacy, and security. Thus it ensures that confidential data is not compromised for the sake of testing.
- Data Subsetting Tool − It helps to create a subset of the production data. It chooses, and obtains only the relevant data that is required for testing. Thus it ensures optimal and effective storage of information.
- Data Generation Tool − It helps to generate data which has the similar characteristics of the actual data. It is helpful in situations where there is scarcity of real test data or there are a large number of test cases.
- Data Provisioning Tool − It makes the provisioning of test data in the test environment very quickly. Thus it ensures that the appropriate data is available at the right time during testing.
- Data Profiling Tool − It profiles the test data to identify problems in the data quality, ambiguities or loopholes. Thus it ensures that the test data is correct and dependable.
- Data Versioning Tool − It manages the test data, and monitors modifications in them. It also helps to protect the data integrity.
- Data Masking Policy Tool − It helps to enforce data masking policy and adhere to data security.
What are States of the Test Data Management Tools?
The test data management tools are improving every day. Many organizations value test data management to ensure that the software they are building are effective, and robust. Now-a-days, a lot of demand is seen in this field. They are constantly improving, and evolving each day.
The test data management tools are capable of generation of test data with the help of artificial intelligence and for cloud based applications. They also have efficient data masking and anonymization procedures, and integration with CI/CD. Thus, these test data management tools help to make the test data more usable, scalable, and adaptable with respect to the changing requirements. Besides, they ensure that the sensitive data is not mishandled.
Types of Software Test Data
The different types of the software test data are listed below −
- Valid Data
- Invalid Data
- Boundary Data
- Null Data
- Default Data
- Error Data
- Duplicate Data
- Large Volume Data
- Special Character Data
- Random Data
Features of Test Data Management
The features of the test data management are listed below −
Data Profiling − It involves analysis of the gathered data to evaluate its quality, form, and potential bottlenecks.
Data Transformation − It involves changing the data under different test conditions.
Data Refresh − It involves modification of the data regularly so that those are reflected in the frontend.
Data Masking − It involves protecting the data privacy, and going as per the regulations to ensure that the sensitive data is unidentified.
Data Validation − It involves verifying whether the data is generated as per the standards, and compliances.
Data Usage Reports − It involves generation of reports to manage utilization of resources, and identification of relevant test data during testing.
Data Policies − It involves following all rules and regulations on handling, storing, and usage of test data.
Protection of Delicate Information − It involves protection of delicate information.
How does Test Data Management Work?
The test data management evaluates every data with the help of the latest technologies. It is capable of generating data which has the similar characteristics of the actual data. Thus smaller subsets of data are available for the purpose of testing. It identifies problems in the test data and ensures that the testing team has the correct set of information.
The test data management allows storage of critical data in a central warehouse which is used as a reusable asset. Those can be reused by the testing team as per their needs.
The test data management also enables quick access to automated test data without requiring any need to begin data creation from scratch. Thus it saves a lot of time and detects defects early. It does not cause any interruption of work because of unavailability of test data.
The test data management can clone the production data. It prevents loss of data while the testers are using them. Thus it enables creation of high quality and valued systems at a minimal cost.
Importance of Test Data Management
The importances of the software test data management are listed below −
- The test data management helps to build high quality software that operates efficiently.
- The test data management reduces the probability of finding defects at the production level.
- The test data management ensures that the information is not misplaced.
- The test data management enables availability of test data to the test team at the correct time.
- The test data management reduces the project cost.
- The test data management provides security to sensitive data.
- The test data management stores data in the appropriate location.
- The test data management gives easy access to data.
- The test data management is simple to be applied.
Tools Used for Test Data Management
The various tools used for the software test data management are listed below −
- Informatica
- Delphix
- IBM InfoSphere Optim
- MicroFocus Data Express
- Compuware
Challenges for Test Data Management
The challenges for the software test data management are listed below −
- Unavailability of test data.
- Maintaining the quality of test data.
- Arranging for appropriate storage of test data.
- Lack of tools to be used for data extraction.
- Lack of skilled resources.
- Determining bad data from the very early stages.
- Lack of expertise.
Conclusion
This concludes our comprehensive take on the tutorial on Software Test Data Management. Weve started with describing why the software test data management tools are used, what are the states of the software test data management tools, what are the various tools used for software test data management, and what are the challenges for software test data management. This equips you with in-depth knowledge of Software Test Data Management. It is wise to keep practicing what youve learned and exploring others relevant to Software Testing to deepen your understanding and expand your horizons.