System Test Document Template

CS 325, Software Engineering Concepts, Spring 2000

This template for this system test document (STD) is adopted from the architecture and detailed design documents used by the European Space Agency (IT(Software Engineering Guides), C. Mazza IT(et. al.), Prentice Hall) which, in turn, was adopted from the 1994 edition of the IT(IEEE Software Engineering Standards Collection), IEEE Press.

You need not use this template for your system test plan, but, whatever format you use, you should make sure your plan covers all the categories listed here. Sections followed by an astrisk are optional; they are not required to be part of your STD.

1. Test Plan

   1. Introduction - Summarize the software items and features to be tested.

   2. Test items* - A description of the items under test.

   3. Features to be tested - A precise yet economical identification of all the features and combinations of features to be tested.

   4. Approach - Identify the major activities, methods, and tools that are to be used during testing.

   5. Item pass-fail criteria

   6. Test deliverables* - What items need to be delivered before testing begins.

   7. Test tasks* - Identify test preparations, execution, and dependencies.

   8. Schedule* Test milestones and deliverable due dates.

   9. Risks and contingencies - Identify the test plan's high-risk assumptions.

2. Test Designs - One of these per test item.

   1. Test design identifier - An identifier unique among all test plans.

   2. Features to be tested - The test item and the features to be tested.

   3. Approach refinements - Provide more information about how this test item will be tested.

   4. Test case identification - A brief list of test cases to be used to test this item.

   5. Feature pass-fail criteria

3. Test Case Specification - One per test case.

   1. Test case identifier - Unique among all test cases.

   2. Test items - The test items to which this test case applies.

   3. Input specifications - The inputs required by this test case.

   4. Output specifications - The outputs produced by this test case.

4. Test Procedure - One per test.

   1. Test procedure identifier - Unique among all test procedures.

   2. Purpose - A description of what this procedure tests.

   3. Procedure steps - The steps that need to be taken to perform the test procedure.

5. Test Reports - One per tested item-test procedure pair.

   1. Test report identifier - Unique among all test reports.

   2. Description - What this test reports on.

   3. Results - How the test was run and what happened.

This page last modified on 31 March 2000.