(8.3.0) Work with Tasks

A task is a collection of steps that you can reuse in multiple test cases. You can add tasks that are part of testing multiple scenarios. For example, you can create a task that automates to login into the application.

You can add a task in one of the following ways:

From the Test Case Editor Screen
While adding or editing a test case, you can select steps and create a task out of them
From the Task Editor Screen

Also, you can import tasks from another project. For more information, refer to Importing Tasks from Another Project.

Adding a Task

You can create a task manually using the task editor screen similar to creating a test case manually.

Unlike the Test Case Editor screen, the Task Editor Screen has the following options only:

Add a Step
Remove a step that you do not want
Add a conditional block
Move Up Or Move Down a step
Move through the error objects.

To add a task:

From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Tasks tab.
The Task Editor screen opens as shown in the following:
In the left pane, click the Add Task button ().
Enter the following details:
- Task name
- Description of the Task,
- File Name
  
  The task name must not contain the special characters:/, \, :, *, ", <, >, |, %, and #.
  The File Name field is not editable after the task is saved. The task file is saved with .xml extension in the QualitiaProjectPath\<projectname>\Tasks folder.
Click Save.
Click the Add Step button ().
A new row is added to the task grid.
Do the following in the order listed:
1. If it is an object-based action, select the required object by clicking Object field.
2. Select the relevant Actions for the selected objects clicking Actions field.
  Depending upon the Action selected, the Parameter fields get populated with the default parameter name.
  Note: The Parameter fields are blank for the Actions that do not require any parameters.
  Similarly, you can add more steps in the below rows.
  Qualitia recommends clicking the Save button () regularly to save the updates that you have made in the task. After a task is created, you can import it when creating or editing test cases from the Test Case Editor screen.

Editing a Task

Before you edit a task, ensure that it does not impact all the associated test cases.

Whenever you edit a task, other users can now view the following information :

The changes in task steps
The user who edited the task
The date and time when the task was edited

To edit a task:

From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Tasks tab.
In the left pane, right-click the task that you want to edit, and then select Edit Task.
To know how to edit a task, refer to Adding a Task.
Qualitia recommends clicking the Save button () regularly to save the updates that you have made in the task.

Deleting a Task

You cannot delete a task that is used in a test case.

To delete a task:

From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Tasks tab.
In the left pane, right-click the task that you want to delete, and then select Remove Task.

Viewing Test Cases Associated with a Task

Qualitia allows you to view test cases associated with a task. You can view the associated test case names, their manual test case IDs, and descriptions.

To view the test case associated with a task:

From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Tasks tab.
In the left pane, right-click the task that you want to delete, and then select View Test Cases.

Importing Tasks from Another Project

The Import Tasks feature lets you import tasks from another project to cover similar testing scenarios in your project. Importing a task includes importing its associated objects, custom actions, and environment variables.

The import task process involves two types of projects:

Import Project: The project from which you want to import the tasks in the current project.
Current Project: The project to which you want to import the tasks.

Pre-Requisites

Before you import tasks from another project, ensure that your associated role is assigned the Import Feature privilege in the Qualitia Automation Studio (QAS) client. For more information, refer to Assigning Privileges to a Role.

Also, ensure the following for the task you want to import:

Is not locked by another user in the import project or the current project.
Its XML file is present in the import project and the current project.
Is not deleted by another user in the import project.

Points To Know

You cannot import tasks from a web/mobile project to a desktop project and vice-versa.
After a task is imported:
- If the task name matches with an existing task in the current project, the imported task name is appended with _N, where N is a number that is incremented by 1 if there are multiple tasks with the same name.
  For example, if a task called “login” is present in both, the imported and the current project, then after importing the task, it is named as “login_1” in the current project. If a task with a name “login_1” already exists in the current project, then it is named as “login_2”, and so on.
- If an object name matches with an existing object in the current project, the imported object name in the current project is appended with _N, where N is a number that is incremented by 1 if there are multiple tasks with the same name.. For example, if a button called "Submit"alr eady exists in the current project, and you import a task that contains a Submit button, then this object is named as Submit_1 in the current project.
  If an object with a name “Submit_1” already exists in the current project, then it is named as “Submit_2”, and so on.
- Similarly, if an environment variable name in the import project matches with an existing environment variable name in the current project, but their value differs. Then, after the task is imported, the environment variable name is appended with _1.
- The imported custom actions along with their parameters are displayed in the Test Case Editor screen. However, you need to manually copy all the external files and codes of the imported custom actions to execute them.
- If the imported task contains rest header variable, the rest header should be copied manually from the source project to the target project.
In case of desktop projects, if the TSR file is different for import and current projects, then after importing the tasks the current project updates its TSR file with the additional objects and replaces the existing values for the same objects associated with the imported tasks from the TSR file of import project. Also, when you synchronize the TSR file for any other project that shares the same TSR file with the current project, the TSR file for other project is updated too.
You can use the Search feature to find a task by its name, its associated test case names, and associated test scenario names.
QAS stores the import details in a text file called Import.Log at the following location:
%localAppData%\Qualitia\WD\Logs

Importing a New Task

Perform the following steps to import a new task.

To import a new task:

Open the current project.
From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Import tab.
From the left pane, select an import project.
A list of tasks under New and Conflicted are displayed.
Under New, click the task that you want to import.
The task opens in the main pane.
Click Import to import the task.
All the associated objects, environment variables, and custom actions are added or updated in the current project.
You can now use the imported task to create test cases in the current project.

Updating a Conflicted Task

Conflicted tasks are those tasks that were already imported in the current project, but either their steps in the import project or the current project have changed.
After a task is imported, the task ids of the task in the import project and the current project are same. Hence, whenever a task is edited in the import or the current project, the task is displayed under the Conflicted tasks even if you change its name in the import or the current project .

To update a conflicted task:

Open the current project.
From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Import tab.
From the left pane, select an import project.
A list of tasks under New and Conflicted are displayed.
Under Conflicted, click the task that you want to import.
Both the imported task and the current task opens in the main pane.
You can know the differences between these two tasks in the following ways :
1. Steps marked in red color and red icon indicate that they will be removed from the current task after the task is imported.
2. Steps marked in green color and green icon indicate that they will be added to the current task after the task is imported.
3. Objects, custom actions, and parameters marked in red color indicate that their values are different, which will be replaced after the task is imported.
4. Steps marked in minus sign indicate that parameter values are different, which will be replaced after the task is imported.
In the left pane, under the selected task, the impacted test cases of the current project are displayed.
Click any test case to view its tasks and steps on the main pane.
In the main pane, you can switch between Keep Current and Keep Imported for the task you have selected.
- Keep Imported shows the steps of tasks present in the import project.
- Keep Current shows the steps of tasks present in the current project.
  This switching feature allows you to understand how the imported task can impact the test case execution.
  Note: The main pane does not allow you to dry run or make any changes to the test case.
Do one of the following to resolve the conflicted task:
1. To import the task, click Keep Imported, and then click Update All.
  If the task name in the import project and the current project is different, you are prompted to save the task as per its name in the import project or in the current project.
  All the associated objects, environment variables, and custom actions are added or updated in the current project.
  You can now use the updated task to create new test cases in the current project.
2. To retain the current task, click Keep Current, and then click Update All.
  Note: When you click Keep Current or Keep Imported, the task is locked automatically in the imported project and the current project. If you go ahead to click Update All, the task is unlocked automatically.

Importing Tasks in Bulk

You can import either multiple new tasks or multiple conflicted tasks in a single go.

To import tasks in bulk:

Open the current project.
From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click the Import tab.
From the left pane, select an import project.
A list of tasks under New and Conflicted are displayed.
Click the Three Dots button (), and select Bulk Import.
All the tasks under New and Conflicted are selected automatically.

Do one of the following:

To import all the new tasks	Click the New Task button (). Note: To retain specific new tasks, under New Tasks deselect their associated checkboxes.
To resolve all the conflicted tasks	Do one of the following: To import all the conflicted tasks, click the Keep Import button (). To retain the current tasks in the current project, click the Keep Current button (). Note: To retain specific conflicted tasks, under Conflicted Tasks, deselect their associated checkboxes.

You can now use the imported tasks to create test cases in the current project.

Viewing Import History of a Task

You can view all the details for each version of a task, such as when a task version was imported and by whom. You can also restore to an archived task version if you want to use it instead of the current task version.

To view import history of a task:

Open the current project.
From the Expand Menu, click Develop.
Click Import > Import History.
In the left pane, you can view all the archived versions of tasks.
Click a task for which you want to view its import history.
Every archived task version has a timestamp that denotes when it was imported in DD MMM YYYY, HH:.MM AA format. For example, 15 March 2021, 10:40 AM.
You can also view which user had imported the selected archived task version, what was modified in it, and when it was imported.
To restore an archived task version, select the task version, and then click Restore.
The archived task version replaces the current task version in the current project.
All the associated objects, environment variables, and custom actions are also now restored.
All the associated test cases in the current project are updated automatically.
You can delete the task versions in the following ways:
1. To delete an archived version of a task, in the left pane, mouse over the archived version you want to remove, and then click the Clear button ().
2. To delete all the archived versions of a task, in the left pane, mouse over the task, and then click the Clear button ().
3. To delete multiple archived versions, in the left pane, click the Three Dots button (), select Clear History, select the checkboxes of the archived versions of each task that you want to delete, and then click Clear.

Best Practices for Importing Tasks

To cover all the similar testing scenarios, Qualitia recommends the following best practices in the import project before you start importing its tasks:

Merge all the required independent test case steps of the test cases into tasks. You need to insert the independent test case step into the existing tasks or create new tasks using them at the appropriate places. This simplifies creating similar test cases in the current project.
Ensure that the tasks you have selected to import contain all the objects, environment variables, and custom actions that are required for the current project.

In case of desktop projects, Qualitia recommends to take back up for the TSR files of the current project before staring the import task process.