TOOL SUPPORT

Because testing is an iterative effort that is implemented throughout the development lifecycle, tool support is essential to being able to test early and often; manual testing is simply not productive enough to test the software sufficiently throughout the lifecycle; this is especially true for performance or load tests in which workload must be simulated and large amounts of test data gathered.

The Rational Suite of software development tools supports test automation and the test workflow as follows :

TestStudio is a suite of tools that support the implementation, execution, and evaluation of tests. The tools in TestStudio enable testers to create and execute GUI-based test scripts for tests, focused on the quality dimensions of reliability, function, and performance. TestStudio includes the following tools:
- Robot supports the implementation and execution of tests by enabling testers to create and play back GUI test scripts and compare actual results with expected results.
- LogViewer captures test results and presents reports to evaluate test execution.
- TestManager supports test planning, design, and evaluation and provides requirements-based test coverage and test status reports.
- TestFactory supports reliability testing by automatically generating and executing test scripts and reporting on code-based test coverage.
PerformanceStudio implements and executes virtual user (VU) test scripts for performance and limited functional tests.
DevelopmentStudio supports the test workflow with the following tools:
- Rational Purify for locating hard-to-find runtime errors
- Rational PureCoverage to identify untested code and perform code-coverage analysis
- Rational Quantify to pinpoint performance bottlenecks

The Rational Unified Process provides tool mentors for many of these tools.