Overview

Platform attributes are custom values that can be used to help track and identify testing results and pass-fail trends. An attribute can be added and then re-used by linking to any platform. Platforms can have multiple attributes that define the features and/or configurations of a platform.

Platform Attributes can be used across projects. A Platform Attribute created in one project can be used in other projects as well. Platform Attributes can help users:

1. Search the platform by its attribute value and then link filtered platforms to the Test Suite

2. Record specific configuration information for different platforms that might be common across platforms

3. Record specific configuration information that might vary during testing.

4. Improve reporting by filtering test results by platform and/or attribute.

Example:

An organization may need to test a mobile app against the latest Android OS. They are not concerned about the specific device as much as the operating system itself.  Each platform can have an attribute for OS that specifies the version. During the test, they can test multiple different mobile phones (often based on availability) and use the attribute OS to record which version of the OS was tested.

Add Platform Attributes

Expand the Projects section on the tree and open the Platforms & Attributes sub-section.

There are two tabs on the screen: Platforms and Platform Attributes.

Open the Platform Attributes tab.

Click on the New button icon at the top right corner of the screen.

It opens the Create screen for Platform Attribute.

• Field Type: Users can create different types of fields: String, Large Text, Number, Lookup List, Multi Lookup List, and Date Time Picker. Select the type of field you are adding for the platform attribute. The remaining fields become visible as soon as you select the Field Type.

Let us add a Platform Attribute with a Field Type as "Lookuplist".

• Field Name: This field represents the unique ID for the field. It remains same in any project. Blank space is not allowed in the name.

• Field Label: Enter the label that will be displayed on the screen. It is like a field alias and can be changed on project wise.

• If the Field Type is Lookuplist, then you need to select the list that will appear for the field. If the list does not exist, then click on the Add List link to create new lists.

• Default Value: Mention the Default Value you want to maintain for that list.

Share Platform Attributes Across Projects

Platforms can be shared across projects from the Create and Edit screen of the platform attribute. Project Mapping with the Platform Attribute is required to make the attribute available in the project. The current project should also be mapped with the attribute to make it available in the current project. Users can only map those projects to which they have access.

1. Select the Project with which you want to share the platform attribute.

2. Click on the Add Project button.

A project is added to the grid, which shows the projects in which the platform attribute will be available to use.

• Mandatory: Enable the flag to make the field mandatory to fill.

3. Click Save.

A new platform attribute is added to the list.

To edit and delete the attribute, click on the respective icons for the attribute.

Sharing Platform Attribute Values through Copy and Import

QMetry allows the sharing of Platform Attribute values to multiple projects. Users can easily copy the Platform Attribute Values from a source project to multiple destination projects, which eliminates the need for manual duplication and ensures consistency across projects sharing the same custom fields.

The events of Copy and Import of Platform Attributes are also logged in the Audit Log Report.

Use Case: The project admin wants to reuse the existing list values of one project in other multiple projects so that they do not have to manually add list values for the shared custom fields in each project and maintain them separately.

→ Required Permissions:

The user should have the following permissions for creating/modifying Platform Attributes.

Import Platform Attributes from Other Projects

You can import Platform Attributes from other projects.

Steps:

1. Go to Projects > Platforms & Attributes > Platform Attributes tab.

2. Click on the Edit button for the Platform Attribute the values of which you want to import.

The Edit Platform Attribute screen opens showing the projects that have the Platform Attribute.

3. Click on the Edit List option for the project from where you want to copy the Platform Attribute values.

The screen shows the existing values of the Platform Attribute.

4. Click on the Import button to import values from other projects.

The Import from Other Project screen opens.

5. Select the project from where you want to import the Platform Attribute values.

Once you select the project, the values that exist in the selected project are displayed.

6. Select the values you want to import and click on the Import button.

Notes:

• A maximum of 100 Platforms Attributes can be selected at a time. 

• Duplicate entities for name and alias will be ignored while copying.

You can view the progress in the Scheduled Task section.

The Platform Attribute values get imported into the project.

Copy Platform Attributes to Other Projects

Notes: The platform attribute list values can be copied to only those projects with which the platform attribute has been mapped.

Steps:

1. Go to Projects > Platforms & Attributes > Platform Attributes tab.

2. Click on the Edit button for the Platform Attribute the values of which you want to copy to other projects.

The Edit Platform Attribute screen opens.

3. Click on the Edit List option for the project to which you want to copy the Platform Attribute values.

The Edit Lists screen opens.

4. Select the Platform Attribute values by selecting the checkboxes.

Note: A maximum of 100 Platforms Attributes can be selected at a time. 

5. Click on the Copy button.

The Copy to Other Projects screen opens.

6. Select the target projects to which you want to copy the selected platform attribute values.

Note: Maximum 5 projects can be selected at a time.

7. Click on the Copy button.

Note: Duplicate entities for name and alias will be ignored while copying.

You can view the progress in the Scheduled Task section.

The selected Platform Attribute values get copied to the target projects.

Link Attributes to Platform

Expand the Projects section on the tree and open the Platforms & Attributes sub-section.

There are two tabs on the screen: Platforms and Platform Attributes.

Open the Platforms tab.

The screen shows the list of platforms.

To link platform attributes to a platform, click on the Manage Attributes button for the platform.

It opens the Attributes screen with two tabs on it: Linked Attributes and Available Attributes.

Open the Available Attributes tab. These are the attributes available to associate with the platform. To add more attributes, click on the Create New Platform Attribute link.

Select the attribute you want to link to the platform and click on the Link Selected Platform Attributes button.

The attribute(s) is linked to the platform. The linked attributes are displayed on the Linked Attributes tab.

If you want to unlink an attribute, then you can do so from this pane.

Note: To link/unlink Platform Attributes, the user role should have "View" and "Modify" rights for Platform. The rights are assigned from Customization > Roles.

Archive Platform Attributes

To archive a Platform Attribute, open the Linked Attributes tab on the Manage Attributes screen.

Enable the Archive flag for the attribute.

Edit Platform Attributes

Go to Projects > Platforms & Attributes.

The Platform Attributes tab shows platform attributes. 

Click on the Edit button under the Actions column for the attribute.

It opens the Edit Platform Attribute screen.

You can modify the following values -

• Field Label

• Field Default (for "String" field type)

• Flag for Mandatory

• Remove association with current Project

Tag Attributes at Runtime

You can tag a Platform Attribute at runtime. Every execution of the test suite is run on the basis of default values entered from Projects > Platforms & Attributes. These predefined Platform attribute values can be changed at runtime.

Predefined Platform attributes can be changed at runtime if the parameter Tag At Runtime is set to enable.  This allows organizations to quickly tag a test with a variable information they wish to capture when executing a test case.

For example,

A customer has a platform that changes over time, but is important to track it as part of the test execution history. For example, a hardware company wants to track the firmware versions of their hardware during tests. The attribute can be tagged to the test run and even modified at run time. As testing continues the testers can quickly adapt and change the firmware versions and even test past firmware if needed. Each test run is recorded and tagged with the correct firmware version.

On the Test Suite Execution Screen, you can see the Platform and its Attributes details. Attributes that are marked for “Tag at Runtime” appear as Runtime Attributes.

If any attributes are required at runtime they need to be set before each execution (e.g. it does not matter if the test suite/platform had been run before). Such run-time values, which are edited on the execution screen, do not get saved in the database. These values are displayed for that particular execution only and are stored in the execution history once run.

Once you link attributes to platform, the linked platforms appear on the Linked Attributes tab for the platform.

Here, you can tag a platform attribute to be defined at runtime by enabling the Tag At Runtime flag on the grid.

User can provide attribute values on the Execution Screen either at run time or afterwards.

When you execute the test suite, the pop-up like following appears to edit Runtime Attributes for Platform Attributes that are tagged for runtime.

The attribute value is displayed set as default, you can change the value before execution.

On the Test Suite Execution screen, you can see the Runtime Attributes anytime by clicking on the Click to View button for Run Attributes.

If Platform Attributes are linked to Platforms (from Projects > Platforms & Attributes > Platform Attributes tab > Manage Attributes > Linked Attributes tab), then the Click To View button will be displayed. 

Attribute values entered at run time will be displayed on the Platform attributes column on the following pages. It gives an idea about which test case was run with which Platform Attribute values.

• On the Test Executions tab of the Test Case detail view

• On the Test Executions tab of the Test Suite detail view

Managing Platform

Refer to Managing Platforms for more details.