LISA Overview
The main interface and tool of LISA is the Test Manager (figure
1 shows a screen capture of the Test Manager). It is from the
Test Manager that users can create new test cases, which for the
uninitiated are step-by-step testing scenarios. Nodes are the
steps in each test case, and these can be created by visually
navigating through Java classes and packages or a set of nodes
can be recorded by having LISA record a user's actions for Web
site testing (e.g. clicking on links, submitting form pages,
etc.).
Properties can be used to pass values to Java classes, Web
services or Web pages. These can be sent as static values,
dynamic values or even a set of pre-created values that can be
stored in a file. This flexibility allows for qualitative load
testing and flexibility in other types of testing.
Filters can be used to perform steps prior to or after a given
node is executed. These can be used to insert dynamic values,
such as form fields in a JSP page; to parse results, such as
ResultSet objects or HTML responses; or other more granular
filters using the LISA API.
All of LISA's information is stored in XML files, including test
cases and results. This, specifically with the results, allows
for custom parsing, processing and reporting, as well as
intuitive archiving. When tests are run, a number of different
informations will be returned, including:
- HTTP response code (e.g. 400, 401, etc.) and header
- JDBC ResultSet contents and information
- Property values
- Other, more granular results using the LISA API
Using LISA
The process of testing with LISA requires a few steps:
- Developers must use the LISA integration API in their code.
- Developers, managers or Q/A analysts create test cases
(and edit nodes, filters and properties) in the LISA Test Manager.
- Tests are run from the Test Manager.
- Load tests can be run.
- Regression tests can be run.
Overall, I found the process fairly intuitive and it looks to
be even better in the upcoming 2.5 release (see the next section
for more info). Admittedly I didn't get down into the nitty-
gritty and plug in the API or run major load tests or even
develop an entire project using LISA for unit testing and that
is where the ultimate answer lies: does LISA save time and make
better applications. But given that it integrates with JUnit
(and ANT) and given what usage I was able to test I think the
overall process makes sense.
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