Should I include Test Case work items in the MS Project WBS?

Question

I setup a WBS in MS Project as follows:

- User Story 1
-- task ...
-- Test Case 1A
--- task...

I found that even when all the child tasks of the Test Case are complete, I was unable to set the Test Case to 100% complete. I submitted a bug to Conenction on this and the response was that this is "as designed." 

So, my question is, should Test Cases be included in the MS Project WBS? If so, should they has child tasks associated with them?  How do Test Cases ever get to 100% complete status?

Also, it would be helpful to have specific guidance on which WITs should be used in MS Project and in what structure.

Thanks, Bob

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Bob Hardister

Answer 1

Hi Bob,

In short, no you shouldn't include them.

Test cases have a different life cycle than bug work items.  A bug is filed, fixed, verified, and then closed.  Once closed, no further action is needed by anyone on the bug.  It "dies" effectively.  A test case is created but is expected to be re-run against new builds until it is no longer relevant.  Since the test can be run against many different configurations and builds, we cannot use work item tracking to track the outcome of running the test.  Therefore, test results are stored in a separate area of the database, which is not accessible to Project. 

A test case doesn't "die" until its state is marked Closed.  That typically only happens when the functional area that the test tests is deleted, or fundamentally changed to the point where the old test is no good.

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks,
-JP