Page 139 - SOFTWARE TESTING & QUALITY ASSURANCE

Software Testing and Quality Assurance

Viewers and Monitors
A viewer or monitor test tool allows the tester to view details of the software's operation, which
otherwise would not have been possible.

An example of the viewing tool is the coverage analyzer tool.

Most code coverage analyzers are intrusive tools since they need to be compiled and linked into the
program to access the information they provide.
A communications analyzer is another type of viewer. This tool enables the tester to see the raw
protocol data moving across a network or other communications cable. It taps into the line, pulls off the
data as it passes by, and displays it on another computer.
Figure 9.1 illustrates the working of a communication analyzer.

Figure 9.1: A Communications Analyzer

Here, a user can enter a test case on C1, confirm that the resulting communications data is correct on C3,
and then check whether the appropriate results occurred on C2. A user can also use this system to
investigate why a bug occurs. By looking at the data pulled off the wire, the user can determine whether
the problem occurred in creating the data (C1) or interpreting the data (C2).
The code debuggers are also known as viewers since they allow programmers or white-box testers to
view internal variable values and program states.
A viewer test tool is classified as a tool which enables a user to look at data that is not visible to an
average user.

Drivers
Drivers are tools used to control and operate the software being tested.

A batch file or a simple list of programs or commands executed sequentially, is
an example of a driver tool.

In the earlier days, MS-DOS was a popular means for testers to execute their test programs. The testers
would create a batch file containing the name of the test program and would start running the batch of
programs. But with the upcoming new operating systems and programming languages, there are many
sophisticated methods of executing test programs.

Java or a Perl script can replace an old MS-DOS batch file, and the Windows
Task Scheduler can be used to execute various test programs during any time of
the day.

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