EXERCISE: INCIDENT REPORT

Refer back to the e-mail used as an exercise in Chapter 1. Use the incident template to transform that e-mail into a well-written defect report. Make sure you take into account and resolve some of the problems with the e-mail. Feel free to use your imagination to create additional details you might need for a good defect report.

EXERCISE SOLUTION
This is a possible defect report derived from the e-mail. Notice that we have avoided repetition and emotive language. We have made sure to include sufficient evidence and the steps to reproduce the problem.
Fault report number Project number Test stage Related reports TP1034/1 ANB10 System Test A1204/23b TP1034/2 Brief description The client environments are not clearly identified on screen to the user and the method of logging onto a client environment allows the test and production environments to be confused. This means that if you mis-click on a .bat file when running up the client, you may open the wrong client and not realize. Impact assessment Priority Low to medium Severity Very high (not stopping testing proceeding) (could impact users' business) Detailed description The client environments are not clearly identified on screen to the user and the method of logging onto a client environment allows the test and production environments to be confused. This means that if you mis-click on a .bat file when running up the client, you may open the wrong client and not realize. This is a problem which if resolved would make testing done within the development and system test areas more efficient and it is also important for the user community. This problem will arise for the users in two ways: They carry out UAT on their own machines and so the test data as well as the live clients are available in their lists and they may mis-select the client either when carrying out testing (and accidentally test in the live system) or may mis-select the test system when trading (think they have traded when they have not or raise help desk issues if they believe it to be a system problem). They carry out work in different countries/markets and need to know which they are operating in. S teps taken by the tester: We have two test environments called Systest14 and Systesti 5 and my tests were set up in Systest 15. To run up the clients, we have to run a .bat file for either a 14 or 15 client. I had started two clients, that is two exchange participants, so I could do some trading between them. It appears I started the first client in environment 15 but when I started the second I accidentally moved the mouse a fraction so it ran the 14 .bat file that is next to it in the Explorer file list. The client screens do not show the environment to which you are attached and so I tried to proceed with the tests I had planned and could not get the results I expected. After some investigations I realized that I had made a mistake in the test set-up by selecting the wrong client. What caused my mistake and could it be prevented? Whereas on the server side log-on to a test environment, the environment name must be typed in and it is shown on all the panels, the log-on for the client side is done by selecting a .bat file from a list of many similarly named files. There is neither a display nor the ability to determine the client environment in which one is working. A related problem (TP1034/2) has been raised with regard to the default country/market, which is not shown on screen and may be mis-selected. Providing a log-on screen for the client and showing the selected client on screen would prevent both these user errors. Although this is not a functionality problem and is caused by a user mistake, it is an easy mistake to make and could have a high impact. In real-life terms it means a real user could be connected to the production system and think he or she is connected to a test system and thus make improper or illegal trades. This has happened once on the production equities trading system, when a trader entered a load of test transactions into the production system by mistake and caused considerable problems (see live incident report A1204/23b). We need therefore to prevent it happening on this system.