Defect Logging is one critical task for every tester. For some the metrics matters and for some logging/closing the bug is more difficult than finding one in the software.
“Why is it so?” I asked a tester and there he comes with his ‘bugging’ list
- My defects are often rejected as Duplicate. I spend so much time in writing the steps and it goes for a toss in a minute. “That really gets into your nerve, does it not ?” he asked me.
- Many a time, teammates and clients don’t understand the bug at all – “What to do? I have a limited space to type in the bug details” (Aww !! I don’t know what to do)
- What is more irritating than to re-type/select the same set of details when you have 20+ bugs of same “Severity” in the same “Module” and same “Version” of the always same “Product” and “Project”.
- Details are very important – “There was a whole bunch of engineers at war with me that no such bug exists. Arghhh…I swear I saw it in Win 2k3 with the newly included Oracle 2009, Why is it they don’t see it???”
I thought maybe these tips would help such frustrated testers
Avoid Duplication
Make sure that a defect is already not logged in for the same bug. Start an email thread with the abstract list of defects with your teammates before logging them. If someone has already found it, they’ll come up. Also, check the DB of bug tracking tool with <keywords pertaining to the defect> to see if it already exists. This takes lesser time than the one wasted in duplication
Pictures speak better than words
Always attach a descriptive screenshot of the actual defect. It is better to put the series of events leading to a bug in a single screenshot(this needs some effort in editing the picture in Windows Paint with copy & paste of different screens, but it is worth the effort). Also, avoid hi-definition image formats like BMP / TIF and go for compressed formats like PNG, GIF or JEPG to save disk space. One can also record videos of the bug using open source record & playback softwares and the entire team should install a tool commonly agreed for this. Attach bug videos in Defect tracking tool and it will be very easy and helpful. We used Webex recorder & player in the past.
Template commonly used combinations
There could be certain modules which are big and has more bugs historically. Most bug tracking tools allow you to create a template. Fill in the most used combination of “Module”, “Severity”, “Product”, “Project”, “Version” etc and name it accordingly, say <Severe bug in <x> module v1.y>. Next time, just use the template and fill in only the other details.
Mention the settings
You find a bug in one environment and developers look for it in another environment and there begins the war of words. It is very crucial to mention in all your defects as to which OS, DB and other critical environment settings that you noticed this bug. This will avoid a lot of time wasted usually in situations mentioned above. After all, these few extra words can avoid a lot of other words coming to you
What do you think from your experience, is annoying in the process of Defect Logging? Do share your thoughts in the comments section below. May your expertise help other budding testers.
– Sowmya