Hexawise recent updates

Hexawise recent updates

February 3, 2015
REMOVED
Internet Explorer 8 support

Internet Explorer 8 (released in March of 2009) is no longer supported in Hexawise.

As of this date:

We recommend the latest version of Firefox or Chrome (which are on rapid release cycles) for best performance and compatibility.

We support Internet Explorer 9, 10 and 11. If you are using Internet Explorer, make sure you aren't in compatibility mode.

We support Safari 7+ (Mac).

January 24, 2015
NEW
Interactive pairwise coverage matrix chart

In the test plan analysis page there is now an option to see an interactive matrix chart of pairwise coverage.

The new matrix chart visualizes the pairwise coverage in a set of 2-way tests after any given number of test cases. When the matrix chart appears, it automatically animates from no tests, to all the test, and then back down to the test that achieves at least 80% pairwise coverage. You can the explore the ramifications of any amount of coverage by moving the test case slider back and forth with your mouse.

Red cells in the matrix occur where a pair of values has not yet been tested together in a test case. Green cells in the matrix occur where the pair of values has been included in at least one test case. Black cells in the matrix appear where two parameter values cannot be paired together due to the value pairs constraints in the test plan.

We're excited to hear what you think about the new matrix charting, as always, feedback and suggestions are greatly encouraged!

Once the developers get their 3D holographic monitors, we'll start working on the matrix chart for 3-way tests, and as soon as multidimensional aliens arrive on the scene, we'll start working on 4, 5 and 6-way matrix charting.

January 23, 2015
IMPROVED
We now provide field value hints on the new user account registration form
FIXED
Greater than 8 values warning during bulk parameter add/edit

If a parameter newly exceeded 8 parameter values after a bulk add or edit, the usual warning message wasn't displayed.

January 3, 2015
NEW
1-way test generation for Expert and Guru level

If you have achieved Expert or Guru level (what's the hold up? Get cracking!) you can generate 1-way tests. 1-way tests merely ensure that every parameter value is tested once and don't achieve pairwise coverage. You will have as many 1-way tests as the number of parameter values in the largest parameter in your plan.

1-way tests are useful in rare circumstances for doing quick smoke tests on systems under test. Please use 1-way tests thoughtfully and with caution. These are not pairwise tests.

NEW
1-way support in mixed-strength tests

You can now set one or more parameters as 1-way in multi-strength tests. 1-way causes Hexawise not to pair the parameter values of the 1-way parameter with every other parameter value of every other parameter. You will have at least one test with every value of 1-way parameters, but you are not guaranteed to achieve pair-wise coverage of 1-way parameters.

You can often reduce your total number of tests by using mixed-strength and setting 1-way on a parameter with a large number of values that you are certain is not going to interact with any other parameters to cause a defect. If the parameter you're marking as 1-way does not have the most or second most number of parameter values in your plan, then you're not likely to actually save any tests by selecting 1-way coverage. Be certain to compare the number of tests you generate with and without marking parameters as 1-way to ensure you are getting meaningful savings for the coverage tradeoff.

December 29, 2014
FIXED
Empty error header when copying plans in Firefox

An empty error header would show in the UI when opening the UI to copy a plan in Firefox.

FIXED
Inviting users to a project

There were a few combinatorial issues when inviting users to a project. The wrong error message would display if the user was already a member of the project, or already had an outstanding invitation to the project or to another project.

These issues are resolved and the error message in these cases is clear, and an invitation to a different project no longer conflicts with a new invitation.

December 3, 2014
FIXED
Mind map image exports

These exports were broken by a recent network security configuration change.

Thanks to Jenny for reporting the issue

November 28, 2014
IMPROVED
Provisioned a faster compute server cluster for generating test plans

Zoom, zoom!

November 18, 2014
IMPROVED
Intro tour

You now get credit for completing the intro tour, even if you exit it out of it at the end rather than complete it.

IMPROVED
Provide value pair highlighting for read-only viewers of a test plas
IMPROVED
Styling of the no requirements explanation for read only viewers of a test plan
IMPROVED
Warnings about unsaved auto-script edits are more descriptive
FIXED
Test generation coverage issue with requirements in unusual circumstance

tl;dr Mike is an amazing tester and found a complicated latent defect in Hexawise that had gone undiscovered for years. Unfortunately there's no simple way to describe this defect, so our apologies for the complex prose if you chose to read on...

If you have a large number of requirements and they cause 1-way coverage (all values of the parameter) to be completed on a parameter with a large number of values (let's call it parameter A), and you still have additional requirements after completing the 1-way coverage on parameter A, but those requirements didn't also require a value for the parameter A, you could trigger a defect where Hexawise would use a value of parameter A in a test that was satisfying a requirement to achieve 2-way coverage with a value of another parameter, without also locking in that value of A as that value of A for that particular test. The "any value" that is then reported for A in that test is not accurate, as a specific value is required there, and more problematic, the "any value" replacement value eventually provided for value for A might not be chosen as the same value that was used to achieve the 2-way coverage, leaving your generated tests without complete coverage.

This unusual set of circumstances is the first defect we've ever found in Hexawise that results in incomplete coverage. Major kudos to Mike for both finding the defect, providing a brilliant defect report, and also doing some initial detective work that made isolating the bug simpler. We have some pretty amazing testers as users of Hexawise!

FIXED
Styling issues in test generation strength explanation dialog
November 3, 2014
FIXED
Can't select higher strength test generation after canceling lower strength test generation

This only occurred AFTER canceling a valid lower strength test case generation and in cases where the higher strength test plan was too large (or invalidly reported as too large).

A fairly classic 3-way defect. This one had been in production for a while without being reported.

FIXED
Invalid warnings from test plan generation strength dropdown

The strength selector drop down was providing invalid warnings about large overly large generated test sets in some cases.

Thank you to Tyler for reporting the issue.

October 12, 2014
FIXED
Plan requirements borked after sharing with a project via URL

If you share a project, AND the plans in the project have requirements, AND you share the project via the sharing URL (each sharee gets their own copy), AND you modify or delete the parameters referenced in the requirements back in the original plan in the original project, then the requirements would be blank.

Count up those "AND"s above and you'll see we have a classic 3 to 4-way defect depending on exactly how you identify the variations. It was found in production by a user (defect has been around for a year or two).

Thanks to Steve for finding the issue!

FIXED
HP QC test description field cutoff in export

The test description field template was limited to 255 chars, which was insufficient for some uses. This has been vastly expanded.

September 29, 2014
FIXED
Value pair highlighting immediately after creation

In some cases value pairs would not highlight on hover in the define inputs page immediately after they were created until there was a page refresh.

NEW
Visual distinction between manually and automatically created value pairs

Hexawise attempts to follow the logical implications of the value pair constraints (invalid and married pairs) you create and automatically creates many of the value pairs that are implied.

There is now a visual distinction. Value pairs you created are normal, while the implied value pairs Hexawise created are semi-transparent.

Thanks to Steve for the feature suggestion.

September 18, 2014
IMPROVED
New plan dialog

The spacing and appearance of this dialog has been improved to be more readable.

September 14, 2014
NEW
Entered HP QC export values are copied when a plan is copied

Thanks to Kevin for the feature request.

NEW
Notified about unsaved auto-scripts when exporting

When exporting from the auto-scripts page, you are notified if there are unsaved edits to the requirements that will not be included in your export.