Hi All,
I work for a company that has some existing automation in place a mixture of pure Selenium and page model automation using Gherkin/Cucumber, the test team is taking ownership of the automation now as it’s been left abandoned for some time and we want to bring it back to life.
The main sticking point at the moment for us before we set off on the journey, is what’s the best way to get the data required into the application. The application is heavily reliant on setup before you get to the real usage points, we’re unsure as to the best way to bridge that gap.
- Do we create the data manually and point the automation too it, giving us a reliable base in that the data has been entered in a legitmate fashion.
- Do we create the data on the fly into the DB as needed, gives us flexibility but probably stretches the ability of the team to make the link from the setup to the usage the link is heavy so requires more expert help.
Trying to avoid setting off down a road that isn’t ideal, the main thing I’ve picked up so far is you should try and keep the data as legitmate as possible which would lean towards entering it manually but some team members are worried about the overhead of managing that and losing the flexibility option 2 would provide…
Would anyone have any thoughts on the best way forward or experience of automating tests where configuration is required in one application that links all the way through to a later portion of the application that could provide advice?