Software module ensures traceability in the test process
Software and system house MicroNova presents a new extension for its test automation solution EXAM. The EXAM ALM Synchronizer enables continuous and automatic synchronization between test automation and the application lifecycle management (ALM) systems at automotive manufacturers – and thus ensures a reliable and consistently traceable test process.
Automotive manufacturers use application lifecycle management systems for the development, enhancement, operation and support of ECU software. They are designed to help make test processes as efficient as possible during software validation. Test automation solutions such as EXAM must therefore communicate with these ALM tools in order to receive test specifications and return results accordingly.
However, manually maintaining this data synchronization between the test automation solution and the ALM tool is error-prone and also too time-consuming when dealing with large numbers of tests. The EXAM ALM Synchronizer enables the fully automated transfer of the test specification of the software under test between the respective ALM application and the EXAM software. This speeds up the process and reduces the error rate.
It works like this: First, the test specification is synchronized to EXAM. Specifications, attributes as well as test descriptions are transferred from the ALM tool to test automation and serve as a basis for test case creation. During this synchronization, differences can be displayed and transferred back to EXAM. Subsequently, the test cases are implemented and executed in EXAM. At the end of the test run, the EXAM ALM Synchronizer transfers the test results back to the ALM system.
The EXAM ALM Synchronizer thus ensures continuous traceability in the test process. This is because automatic synchronization ensures that a unique ID, including attributes, is used for each test case from the ALM system through automation to the result and back to test management. The traceability thus achieved is required for successful performance in the assessments for Automotive SPICE and ISO 26262. In addition, the automated, continuous process reduces the susceptibility to errors during synchronization and thus contributes to quality assurance.
Christoph Menhorn, Head of Test Automation at MicroNova, sums up the advantage of the software: “The time-efficient automatic synchronization not only avoids errors, but also reduces costs compared to manual data reconciliation.” In addition, the high level of automation offers another advantage: since the test specifications are automatically entered, the use of the Synchronizer forms the perfect basis for the use of the Test Case Generator – which is also an extension of EXAM that automatically creates test cases using a keyword-driven approach.
Currently, EXAM ALM Synchronizer supports the following ALM tools: IBM Engineering Test Management (ETM), PTC Windchill and Siemens Polarion. If required, other ALM systems can be connected.
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