HP-QC QUICK GUIDE

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QUALITY CENTER - INTRODUCTION

What is Quality Center?
HP Quality Center, a test management tool is now popularly known as Application Life Cycle
Management ToolALM as it is no longer just a test management tool but it supports various
phases of the software development life cycle.

HP-ALM helps us to manage project milestones, deliverables, resources and keeping track of
project health, standards that allows Product owners to guage the current status of the product. It
is important to understand history, architecture and Quality Center Workflow.

History of QC
Quality Center was formerly known as Test Director, a product of mercury interactive. The below
table provides us a better insights about the version history of QC.

S.No# Commercial Name Version Numbers Owned By

1. Test Director v1.52 to v8.0 Mercury Interactive

2. Quality Center v8.0 to v9.0 Mercury Interactive

3. Quality Center v9.2 to v10.0 Hp

4. ALM v11.0 to v11.5x Hp

Architecture of QC
HP-ALM, an enterprise-wide application that is based on Java 2 Enterprise Edition J2EE
technology and uses MS SQL Server or Oracle as its back end. There is also a load balancer to
ensure to effectively cater user's requests.

Site Administration Database is hosted on a standalone Database server while other projects data
are stored on a seperate Database server. A typical installation of Quality Center is shown below:
HP ALM Editions:
HP ALM is a commercial licensed tool and HP deploys it in 4 different editions that are listed below:

HP ALM

HP ALM Essentials

HP Quality Center Enterprise Edition

HP ALM Performance Center Edition

ALM Edition Feature Comparison

Each one of the above said edition has its own limitation in terms of ALM functionalities. Based on
below table one can decide which license is required for their project purposes.

Feature HP HP ALM HP QC HP ALM Performance

ALM Essentials Enterprise Center Edition
Edition

Release Yes Yes Yes Yes

Management

Project Planning and Yes No No No

Tracking

Risk Based Quality Yes No Yes No

Management

Test Authoring and Yes Yes Yes Yes

Execution

Test Resources Yes Yes Yes Yes

Test Configurations Yes No Yes Yes

Hp Sprinter Yes No Yes No

Lab Management Yes No No Yes

Versioning Yes No Yes Yes

Baselining Yes No Yes Yes

Cross Project Yes Yes No Yes

Customization

Sharing Defects Yes No No No

Quality Center Workflow

Quality Center workflow is represented using a simple diagram as shown below:

Hp-Quality Center Set up

HP Quality Center Environment Set up is a complicated process and it is NOT a typical installation
that we perform on a windows operating system.

Enterprise installation would be distributed, however for learning/evaluating purposes one can
install the trial version of Hp-ALM 11.5x and also need to take care of the prerequisites carefully
for successful installation.

Prerequisites for Installing QC

For Evaluating purposes both client and Server can reside on the same system and in this chapter
we will do the installation of same kind.

Supported Windows Operating Systems:

Only the following list of Windows OS are supported hence one has to ensure that HP-ALM is
installed on one of the below mentioned Windows OS only

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Enterprise SP2 32 Bit/64 Bit

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise SP1 64 Bit

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Standard 64 Bit

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 64 Bit

Supported Databases:
Ensure that you have one of the databases installed before proceeding to install HP-ALM.
 Oracle 10.2.0.5

Oracle 11.2.0.3

Oracle 11.2.0.4

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 SP2

Supported AppServers:
Apache 2.2

Microsoft IIS 7.0

Microsoft IIS 7.5

Microsoft IIS 8.0

Microsoft IIS 8.5

Supported Browsers:
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8

Microsoft Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft Internet Explorer 10

Microsoft Internet Explorer 11

Downloading Hp-ALM
Following are the steps for downloading the 30 day trial version of Hp-ALM from HP website.

Step 1: Launch IE with URL - http://www8.hp.com/us/en/software-solutions/software.html?

compURI=1174315

Step 2: Click on "Trials and Demos" and Select "HP Application LifeCycle Management 11.50
English SW E-Media Evaluation" as shown below

Step 3: Fill in all the necessary details and click on "NEXT" as shown below
Step 4: Accept the Software terms and click on "NEXT" as shown below

Step 5: Download link appears and select the appropriate edition you want to install
windows/Unix
Installing HP-ALM
Step 1 : After downloading the ISO file, unzip the contents and after unzipping, the folder
structure would be as shown below:

Step 2 : After welcome screen opens up click on "NEXT" button as shown. Continue to Click Next
button until you reach Finish Screen.
Step 3 : Upon Finishing, the HP ALM Platform Configuration Wizard Opens as shown below.

Step 4 : License Key Tab opens and user need to select "Application Life Cycle Management" so
that we can access all the features of the package.
Step 5 : Cluster Configuration Tab opens and choose Standalone as we will install all services in a
standalone host and NOT as a distributed system.

Step 6 : Security Tab opens and key in the passphrase such that there is a minimum of 12
characters.
Step 7 : Application Server Tab Opens and choose "Jboss Application Server" and allow all others
as default values.

Step 8 : HP ALM Platform Service tab opens. Leave it empty so that your Windows login is used as
the userid for starting the ALM Services.
Step 9 : Web Server selection window opens. We will use JBOSS as the Webserver. Hence we
need NOT select anything but just click on "NEXT" button.

Step 10 : If you would like to install the sample application "Mercury Tours", Please select and
click "NEXT".
Step 11 : For Mail Server Configuration, add your SMTP or MS IIS SMTP server name or Select
None and Click "NEXT". This server setting will enable you to interact with other QC users via Email
or it triggers an email based on the settings.

Step 12 : Choose the correct database Server Configuration. Please note that the database
corresponds to the one that is already installed on the server. The user credentials should have
previleges to create Database on the server. Only if all the field values are correct it moves on to
the next screen.
Step 13 : The Site Administration Database Schema configuration window Opens. Ensure that you
give a unique DB Schema name where all the Admin data of QC will be stored.

Step 14 : Enter the Site Administrator user credentials. DONOT forget to remember these
credentials so that you can log into QC using these credentials after successful installation.
Step 15 : File Repository Path is given where all the QC related assets which we create would be
saved in the location that we update during installation.

Step 16 : The Installation Summary Window Opens up which shows the complete summary of the
selected configuration. If the user wishes to make any change this is the stage one can make the
changes by going back to the previous window.
Step 17 : Apply Configuration shows that the selected components will be installed with the
selected configuration. Upon Completion the message is thrown to the user if the installation is
successful.
Launching Hp-ALM
Step 1 : Upon installing HP-ALM successfully, the ALM can be launched from the Start menu as
shown below.

Step 2 : After Installing we can also launch ALM by giving the following URL in Internet Explorer
and ALM would be opened as shown below. URL : http://localhost:8181/qcbin/
Server Side Configurations
Once the Hp-ALM is installed, we can continue to work with ALM only after creating domain, project
and users. Below are the Steps to create Project, Domain and Users.

Creating Domain:
Step 1 : For Creating Domain, first step is to get into Site Administrator Page. Launch QC using the
URL - http://localhost:8181/qcbin/SiteAdmin.jsp and enter the Admin credentials that was set up
while installing QC.

Step 2 : After Logging into Site Admin page, we will land in Site Projects Tab as shown below and
Next step is to create a Domain.
Step 3 : Click on 'Create Domain' Button on Top Left Corner and Enter Domain Name and Click
OK.

Step 4 : Domain would be Created as shown below.

Creating Projects:
Once Domain is Created, the next step is to create 'Projects'. Creating Project takes us through a
wizard and one Should follow the below steps to create 'Projects'

Step 1 : Select the Domain under which the project needs to be created and then click "Create
Projects" button as shown below.

Step 2 : The Create Project Wizard opens. Select "Create an Empty Project" and click "Next".

Step 3 : Enter the "Project Name" and Select Domain and click "Next".
Step 4 : Enter the Database Credentials and click "NEXT".

Step 5 : Select the Project Administrator user ID and click "NEXT".

Step 6 : Select the extensions to activate the project and click "NEXT".

Step 6 : check the Activate check box and Enable Version controlling if you want and click
"NEXT".

Step 7 : Upon Clicking "Next", the project "Calculator" is created Successfully. Click "OK" to see
the created project in the Project Pane.

Creating Users:
Step 1 : Select the Site Users Tab in "Site Admin" Page as shown below and click on "Add New
User" Button.

Step 2 : The New User window opens up. Fill the User details and click "OK".

Step 3 : After Creating the user, give the user the project access that they need.

Step 4 : Verify the user list in "Project Users" Tab after giving the user to access to the project.
Commonly used Functionalities:
HP Application Lifecycle Management ALM displays data in infragistics grid view or in a tree
structure and users can manipulate the data in various ways, such as rearranging columns,
filtering, sorting, and grouping.

One can also attach files to those grid records, search for specific text in records, and view history
of various entities. The following features are to be understood to ensure that users are able to
work with Quality center seamlessly.

Click on each one of those links to know more about the common functionalities.

Common Functionality Description

Filter Dialog Box Dialog box enables user to perform operations such as filter, sort,
and group ALM data based on defined criteria.

Users Dialog Box Enables users to choose a user name from the list of users.

Find Dialog Box enables users to search for a particular record in a tree view or
grid view

Replace Dialog Box Enables user to find and replace a specific field value in a tree or
grid.

History Tab Enables user to view a list of changes made to the currently
selected workitem.

Send Email Dialog Enables quality center users to send an email about an entity to
other users.

Attachments Dialog Enables users to add and manage attachments to a specific

record.

Snapshot Dialog Enables user to capture and attach images of your application
under test to an quality center.

Column chooser Dialog Enables user to specify which columns are displayed in ALM.

Set Defaults Dialog Enables user to set default values for certain fields in ALM.

Alerts and Flags Dialog Enables user to view a list of alerts for a selected record and also
allows user to create, view, and modify follow up flags to remind
yourself to follow up on an issue

Favorites Dialog Allows user to create and organize favorites.

Management Tab:
This area helps us to create and manage releases and cycles and also to helps us make project
planning and tracking. Management tab helps us to work with the following areas in ALM:

Creating Releases

Creating Cycles

Release Scope and Milestone

Master Plan and Status

Libraries
 Baselining

Releases
Creating releases is the first step in Quality Center. All the work item such as libraries, test
execution and defects are tracked based on the release.

Before creating a release, one can create a container/folder for the same by clicking on a new
folder icon as shown below.

Click on New Releases button and the New Release dialog opens. Enter the name of the release
and Click ok. The Release will be created as shown below
Select the created release one can notice that the tabs - Details, release scope, master plan,
scorecard, status and attachments are generated.

Cycles
Each release is further divided into cycles and let us see how to create cycles in Quality Center.

Select the Release under which one would like to create cycles and click on New cycles button and
the New cycles dialog opens as shown below. User has to enter the start date and end date of the
cycle. User can create as many cycles as they can under a release.
Under Cycle, one can see the progress and Quality. The Progress is shown in a pictorial
representation.

Release Scope and Milestone:

Each Release has a scope and scope can be added under "Release Scope" Tab under Releases as
shown below.
Each Release has also a milestone assiciated with it and a release can be added using the
Milestone icon under Releases as shown below.

Master Plan and Status

Master plan can be accessed under "Releases" Tab which displays the cycles and milestone
timelines as shown below.
Status shown the pictorial representation of the progress and Quality.

Libraries
A library represents a set of entities in a project and the relationships between them which consists
of requirements, tests, test resources, and business components

A New Library can be created by clicking on "New Library" Icon in Library Navigation bar. A New
window would be as shown below and one can name the library and add resources such as
requirements, test plan, components.
Baseline
Once Libraries are created, the libraries can be baselined which is a snapshot of the library at a
specific point in time. Users can compare baselines at any stage of the development phase. A
baseline includes all the entities defined in the library, including requirements, tests, and test
resources.

A New Baseline can be created by clicking on New Baseline button under "Libraries" Navigation
bar. Users can also compare baselines and export to CSV format.

Requirements
Defining and Capturing Requirements is one of the key criteria for any software development
process. Describing Requirements refers to what needs to be done to meet the objectives during
development. Defining requirements Clearly and correctly upfront so that there is minimal/no
rework after UAT.

The Requirements module enables userto define, manage and track requirements at all stages of
the software lifecycle. The following are the key functionalities in requirements module and click
on each link to know about that particular module.

Functionality Description

Creating Requirements Create requirements, assign to releases/cycles.

Uploading Requirement Uploading requirements using ALM-MS Excel Addins

Requirement Traceability Enables how to define traceability links between requirements and
dependencies that exist between the requirements.

Traceability Matrix Enables user to view the traceability matrix that lists source
requirements and their associated requirements and tests.

Test Plan
The crucial step in testing any application is developing a clear and a precise test plan. A good test
plan enables the team to assess the quality of the application under test at any point in the
software development life cycle.

Following functionalities are very important in order to understand in the test plan module better.
Click on each one of the functionalities to know more about it.

Functionality Description

Creating Tests This module describes how to create folders of test subjects in the
test plan tree and also to add tests.
 Uploading Tests Uploading Tests using ALM-MS Excel Addins

Requirement and Test Enables how to define the relationship between the requirements
Coverage and tests.

Test Configuration Specifies the subset of data or a run-time environment that the
test should use.

Test Lab
This module helps the testers to execute the created tests. One can schedule, run and analyze,
post defects using this module.

The Following functionalities in Test Lab module helps us to understand it indetail. Click on each
one of those functionalities to understand in detail.

Functionality Description

Creating Test Set This functionality describes how to create and define test sets in
the Test Lab module.

Test Run Schedules Helps the testers to control the execution of test instances in a test
set.

Test Execution Enables testers to execute the test/test set.

Test Results This Functionality enables testers to analyze the test results.

QTP-QC Integration:
In this section, we are going to learn how to integrate QTP and QC. By Integrating, the QTP
automation scripts can be executed right from Quality Center. For establishing a connection, first
step is to install the required Addins. We will understand how to integrate by taking a sample QTP
script and execute it from QC.

Step 1: Navigate to ALM home page and click on "Tools" from the list of links.
Step 2: Click on "More HP ALM Addins" Link from the addins page as shown below.

Step 3: In the Addins page, select "Addins for HP applications" and choose "Quick Test
Professional". In case of "Unified Functional testing" UFT , choose the options appropriately and
install the addins. The Installation is similar to HP-MS Office Addins.
Step 4: Establish a connection between QTP and QC by Navigating to "File" >> "ALM/QC
Connection".

Step 5: HP ALM Connection dialog opens. Enter the Server URL as shown in the below example.

Step 6: Once the URL is correct, the credientials dialog opens. Tester has to connect to the
relevant project area.
Step 7: Once ALM Connection is successful, we need save the Driver Script in Quality Center.
Select ALM/QC Plan as shown below.

Step 8: Once the test is saved, we can see the in ALM where the test type is shown as "Quick Test".

Step 9: Upon Navigating to "Test Script" Tab which appears only if the test type is of "Quick Test".
The same script shown in QTP screen would be displayed in Quality Center as well.
Step 10: The other necessary component that is required for script execution is Library files
which can be placed under "Test Resources" Folder.

Step 11: The Function Library file can be added by creating a new resource of type ".qfl" or ".vbs"
.
Step 12: The Added library file can be accessed in quality Center using resource Viewer.

Step 13: If there are more library files, the same is added by creating a new resource of type
".qfl" or ".vbs".

Step 14: Once again, Added library file can be accessed in quality Center using resource Viewer.
Step 15: The Next dependant component for any script execution is "Object Repository" which is
again placed under "Resources" section.

Step 16: The added Object Repository and its properties can be viewed using "Resource Viewer".
Step 17: The Datatable, parameterized table also be placed in Quality Center under "Test
Resouces" section.

Step 18: The added data Table can be viewed using in "Resource Viewer".
Step 19: The Datatable should now also be mapped to the test settings so that they can be picked
while execution. The same can be done using "Settings" of "File" Menu.

Step 20: The Test Settings dialog opens. Navigate to Resources Tab and select the Datatable that
we added in Step 16.
Step 21: Now, we should allow QTP to interact with other Hp Products. This will allow QTP to
interact with Quality Center. Goto "Tools" >> "Options"

Step 22: Now, enable "Allow other HP products to run tests and components" as shown below.
Step 23: The Next Step is to add the test in "Test Lab" and execute the test. The Procedure to Add
tests into Test Lab remains the same as that of manual tests.

Step 24: Upon Clicking on "Run", the automatic runner opens and enable "Run all tests locally"
and hit "Run".

Step 25: Once execution is complete, the test result is displayed on the the same "Automatic
Runner" dialog.
Step 26: In Test Lab QTP report is loaded automatically. User can click on "Launch report" to get
to know about more details of the execution.

Defects
During test execution, when expected result doesnot match with actual result, a defect should be
logged. Now Let us focus various functionalities associated with defects.

Navigate to defects Tab in Quality Center and Click on "New Defects".

Fill in the mandatory parameters such as defect summary, detected by, Severity and Description.

Once a defect is posted, the same be accessed in Defects Tab as shown below.

If the defects are logged during the test execution the step and description would be
autopopulated from test case where as If a defect is logged by clicking on "New Defect" in defect
module the steps, description and summary needs to be entered manually by the user.
Many a times testers will NOT be in a position to enter all field values in "New Defect" Window.
Instead they can make use of "Set Default Values" Option. It can be accessed from "New Defect"
Window as shown below.

The "Set Default Values" dialog opens. We will be able to set a default value for each one of the
fields in "Defects" Section which would be prepopulated once we click on "New Defect" button. We
can also add/remove Default values using the appropriate button in this dialog box.

Defects can also be uploaded from Excel to Quality Center and the procedure remains the same
as that of uploading "Requirements" and "Test Cases" using HP-MS Excel plugin utility.

All the defects are displayed by default, hence user has to use filter functionalities to display only
those that are filtered by user.

Dashboard Analysis:
Dashboard Tab contains "Analysis View" and "Dashboard View" enabling user to analyze and
display ALM data in various formats. Let us understand the importance of each one of them in
briefly.

Analysis View : It Contains the analysis tree using which project managers/QA can organize
all of their analysis items which can be any one of the following viz - graphs, project reports,
and Excel reports.

Dashboard View : It Contains the dashboard tree in which managers/testers organize

dashboard pages that can arrange multiple graphs that was created in the analysis tree,and
display them in a single view.

Analysis View
Step 1 : Goto "Analysis View" and click on "+" button and select "Graph wizard". The "Graph
Wizard" dialog opens.

Step 2 : Select "Entity Graph" and click "Next" as shown below.

Step 3 : Select the kind of EntityDefects, T estCase, runs, T estConfiguration against which
the graph needs to be generated.
Step 4 : One can choose all projects that they have got access to or they can choose just the
current project.

Step 5 : One can filter based on release/cycle and ensure that only the relevant data is displayed.

Step 6 : We can also "group by" based on a particular field and choose what needs to be mapped
against X-Axis.
Step 6 : Once Finish button is clicked, the graph is generated based on the users choice/settings.

Step 7 : The generated graph can be named and saved either as public or private.
Step 8 : The added graph is can now be accessed from "Dashboard" >> "Analysis View".

Dashboard View:
Step 1 : Goto "Dashboard View" and create a "New Folder" if you wish to or create a "New
Dashboard" page straight away.
Step 2 : Upon creating a "New Dashboard" Page, various tabs are generated. "Configuration" tab
is one of them in which users can add those graphs which can be added to the dashboard.

Step 3 : Users should use "View" Tab to view the added dashboard and hit refresh to get the latest
data.

Project Customization
Sometimes we are in a situation to customize the project. Below are the modules which will help us
in customizing the project. Click on each one of these links to understand the functionalities in
detail. Project Customization module can be accessed by navigating to "tools" >> "Customize" as
shown below:

When a project administrator accesses project Customization then following modules would be
shown to the user for custmization.

Functionality Description

User Properties Helps user to update profile details.

Project Users Add/Remove user and user roles.

Groups and Add/Remove group previleges.

Permissions
Module Access Edit Module Level Access.

Project Entities Add/Edit/Delete Project Fields

Requirement Type Create,Edit,delete requirement Type

Project Lists Add,Edit,Delete all project list box fields.

Automail Send mail based on specific settings.

Alert Rules Alert users based on specific changes.

WorkFlow Defect Fields Customization.