Testing Business Space Version

Once you are happy with your changes to the business space version you can make the version available for testing. You may need to test the version in order to make sure that your business rules and processes work as expected, presentations and reports look good etc. It is recommended that you always test your version prior to publishing it for the end users. Once the version has been made available for testing its state changes to UNDER TEST, and you can now try creating instances of different business objects from this version, run processes, reports etc in the Operation Mode (see Testing Mode). Instances of objects created during testing are stored in a separate database so the operational data of the end users is not affected by any testing activity – see also Lifecycle of a Business Space Version.

To make a version available for testing:

1. Click on the version you want to test in the Elements Tree to select it (make sure that the version is loaded – see Loading Business Space Version).
2. Select “Version/Put under Test” in the menu or right click to bring up the pop-up menu and select “Put under Test”.
3. If you already have a version in this business space in the UNDER TEST state, you will be offered a choice of whether to copy the operation data from the existing test version or create the test version with no operational data at all. If you already had some test instances of business objects from the previous rounds of testing it may be helpful to use the same instances during the new round. Once you select the required option the version will be moved to the UNDER TEST state (this may take some time) and displayed in pink.

If your business space version has already been in the UNDER TEST state before Aware IM will display a dialog asking you whether to perform integrity checking of the version and whether to use the existing data for testing or clear the testing data. If you are going through many testing cycles during development and put version in and out of testing many times then constantly answering the questions of this dialog can be tedious. To avoid the dialog and to get Aware IM to use the default values (no integrity checking and using the existing data for testing) you can use the “Put under Test (quickly)” command available in the main menu or in the popup menu instead of the “Put under Test” command. You can also use the Ctrl+Q shortcut to make it even quicker.

“Embedded testing” allows you to test your business space version not in the standalone browser but in the browser embedded in the Configuration Tool. A separate tab in the Working Area of the screen is opened and the default browser is started inside this window. An advantage of using embedded testing is that you can not only test the version in the UNDER TEST state but you can also test the version you are currently editing (which is in the NEW state) provided that this version is based on some version in the UNDER TEST state.

The rationale for embedded testing is to free the developer from constantly putting the version under test and then editing it again in order to make further changes. With embedded testing you can perform changes to the version and test it in the embedded browser straight away. You can have the embedded browser open and once you make your changes you can continue working with the browser, which should automatically pick up the changes you made

Not all changes, however, are allowed if you want to continue working with the embedded browser. If you make changes that affect the database structure (such as, add, delete or rename an attribute of a business object) or if you make changes to a document template you won’t be able to continue with the embedded browser – it will automatically close and you will have to put your version under test and start a new testing session.

To start embedded testing select the version you want to test (it can be in the UNDER TEST state or in the NEW state) and then select “Version/Start Embedded Browser” in the menu or right click and select “Start Embedded Browser” from a popup menu. This will open the embedded browser for the selected version in a separate window. If you already have this browser open you can just switch to this window and the browser will automatically pick up your changes.