"Other" Test Tools
I am always on the hunt for test tools that typically serve one purpose but can be used for multiple purposes when used by creative people.
Here is an example of what I mean.
BB TestAssistant - I use this to video document my test cases and test results. I fire it up in the background and go to my exploratory testing. When I am done, I can review what I did and document it for regression testing. I also use these recordings to help junior testers come up to speed on the products they will be testing.
What tools can you think of that you have used in the past for "other" testing purposes?
[630 byte] By [
Erik-CO] at [2008-2-3]
Hmm...
I've used load test tools (both Mercury's load runner and OpenSTA) to bulk-load (heh...irony) qa environments with sample data. Capture a session of adding a user, populating user data, etc via the web interface, and then parameterize it.
Fire it off with 10-1000 users all entering data at once and:
1.) you have the option to observe adhoc stress testing
2.) the functionality to add the data via the "full plumbing interface" gets exercised
3.) the system is populated with a large, known, CLEAN set of test data
4.) it's soooo much faster than doing it manually. Or even automated serially. (I've also used QuickTest Pro...and it was easy but much slower for large data sets)
5.) it's repeatable
6.) did I mention it's fast?
This was especially helpful when
- the QA environment was not snapshotable with existing data
- we didn't have visibility on how to load the data via the back end
- the storage format/schema changed
-aaron
http://www.itgroundhog.com/  Erik-CO wrote: |
| What tools can you think of that you have used in the past for "other" testing purposes? | |
Heh, I've used a clothes-pin wedged into the keyboard to camp on the ENTER key. This progressed into a more adjustable 'pointing' device so I could choose which key to on which to camp. This them became a multi-pointing device so I could include Shift, Ctrl, and Alt. keys. But this was MANY years ago 
Other tools...
Video camera: to record slow billboard sequences during install (as mentioned in other thread) for later FF review.
Image compare utility: to search for a known small signal within a larger audio capture (converting both into graphical frequency spectrums)....didn't work so well 
For Media Center testing, we used the IR transmitter to blast the IR receiver on the same machine, allowing us to roll through remote control codes as well as test the various set top box code sets.
I used a UI automation tool to send a WM_CLOSE message to that annoying billboard ad at the bottom of Windows Live Messenger (before they burried that window elsewhere )
Reminds me of a funny story:
Quite a few years ago, when I was testing Windows MIDI & DirectMusic, I would come in the next day and notice that someone had set my MIDI keyboard to patch #69. I thought someone was just being funny, so I figured, "Ha! I'll catch this joker". I took an old web camera we had lying around, stripped it of it's case and hid it among a bunch of of ISA cards for camoflauge. I then modified one of the DirectShow sample apps to start recording video when the MIDI patch change message was keyed in on the midi keyboard. Worked perfectly in my testing; I'd key in the patch change to the MIDI keyboard, and video capture would start.
Two nights go by and each time I'd come in the next day the patch was changed but no video capture. I spent a couple more nights trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. Then I realized, we had a stress test running overnight and it was sending the patch change to the keyboard. And I thought I was being so clever 
