Stopping a test run while in process and continuing it after a while

Question

Hi,

Is there an option in MTM to start a test run, stop it for some reason, and continue running from the last step while still keeping the original test results which already were gathered?

So far I haven't found this option, and the only solution I found was to rerun the entire test after stopping a running test.

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Please mark posts as answers/helpful if it answers your question.
Senior Consultant on WCF, ASP.NET, Siverlight, and Entity Framework. Author of Microsoft's Official WCF 4 Course. Co-author of the Microsoft HPC/Azure burst whitepaper.
Visit my blog: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/idof

Answer 1

Hi Ido,

In MTM, answer to this question depends on test case types:

• For manual test executing in Test Runner, you can pause it at anytime steps are running. Pause button is right on top of Test Runner. See picture at bottom.
• For automated test executing in Test Manager, there's no such option to pause.

Btw, In Visual Studio, we can Pause automated test in Test Results tool window. Refer to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms182471.aspx

Best Regards,

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Forrest Guo | MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 2

I have tried using pause before, but is seems to only work while the test center app is still running - if I close the test center (or say, my machine is restarted) and then reopen the application and try to access the test, it starts all over again.

The same happens when I pause a test, start doing another test, and then try to get back to the first test which was paused - I have to start it all over again.

Any solutions for that?

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Please mark posts as answers/helpful if it answers your question.
Senior Consultant on WCF, ASP.NET, Siverlight, and Entity Framework. Author of Microsoft's Official WCF 4 Course. Co-author of the Microsoft HPC/Azure burst whitepaper.
Visit my blog: http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/idof

Answer 3

Hi,

Test Runnner itself in Test Manager could not run multiple manual test simutaneously, and I haven't heard such requirement before.  Would you please let me know why this is necessary? We can then think if it's common requested feature.

Although Test Manager is capable of automated testing, it has lots of manual testing users. It looks like a rare requirement to pause and resume manual testing after machine restart. Anyway, if you need this feature, you can submit an idea on Visual Studio user voice web site: http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio

Best Regards,

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Forrest Guo | MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us

Answer 4

Take a look at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/3925.aspx to see different options.

Thanks,

Anuj

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http://www.anujchaudhary.com

Answer 5

It is necessary because if you need to stop for some reason you can continue where you left off without having to run the whole test case again and do unnecessary rework. 

Let's say I come across an issue halfway across my testing that requires an answer from management.  Ideally I could pause my execution of the particular test case, send an email requesting clarification and continue testing other test cases while I wait for an answer (which can take a day or two).  Depending on the answer I may choose to open a bug - I could at this point open the test case and enter a bug and capture all the steps up to that point.....or I can decide not to open a bug and finish my execution.

There are many other reasons you may want to continue with a test case at a later time rather than have to start all over again. 

I guess the short answer to "why this is necessary?" would be to "avoid unnecessary rework."

UPDATE:  When I submitted this I saw an "Edit" button.  Why is the "Edit" button necessary?  To be able to continue with a post without having to start all over with my comments - same concept.

Answer 6

Thank you for the feedback. To recap your idea, which is Test Runner should be able to pause, and resume even after Test Manager restarts. In other words, the test state needs to be saved, this way, pause for any period of time.

Current behavior, test could not resume after application restart. You are welcome to send this feedback on Uservoice website, product team will evaluate them carefully, and people can vote for this idea.

http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio

Thanks again.

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Forrest Guo | MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us