DEVOPSdigest

Compuware announced significant enhancements to Topaz for Total Test, which now provides unit, functional, integration and regression testing capabilities in a single product.

With this announcement, Compuware is delivering on its vision of fundamentally changing how developers and testers create, execute and automate tests. The unified test automation solution leverages the unique strengths of Topaz for Total Test and XaTester (acquired in July 2018) under the Topaz brand.

Topaz for Total Test enhancements include:

- One user experience, enabling developers to run unit, functional and integration tests from the same test scenario—using one editor and one execution dialog—and see combined test results in one report. By creating and combining unit, functional and integration tests of a program or a group of programs, developers will ensure they have a regression test suite that covers all foreseeable failure scenarios.

- Automated functional testing in a web browser greatly simplifies functional testing for mainframe pros at any experience level. Traditional functional testing requires the manual and time-consuming effort of writing a program. Using a simple browser, test cases can now be automatically set up in minutes.

- Advanced, flexible test scenario support enables developers and testers to orchestrate a sequence of steps. For example, results from one test are used as input into the next.

- Support for Test Driven Development (TDD), enabling developers and testers to design test cases up front based on program specifications before developing a program.

- Support for multi-program integration testing by allowing users to design specific tests for how programs interact with each other and with data.

- An integration with XebiaLabs that enables users to integrate a Topaz for Total Test unit test scenario and/or test suite into a DevOps pipeline orchestrated by XebiaLabs.

- Automatic generation of JCL to execute unit, functional and integration tests, eliminating the requirement for developers to manually create their own JCL.

Through these new enhancements — along with deep code and load module visibility, automatic data virtualization and third-party DevOps toolchain integrations — Topaz for Total Test enables developers to significantly accelerate the testing process while improving quality.

To continuously improve the mainframe developer experience, the new Topaz 3270 Emulator provides the ideal level of functionality required to complete one-off "green screen" tasks without leaving Topaz. Initiating a CICS transaction or accessing REXX utilities through the Emulator within Topaz enables developers to quickly resume Eclipse-based tasks for a seamless transition that increases productivity by eliminating the need to leave Topaz and toggle between applications

"Automated testing was the missing link to true mainframe Agility and DevOps. Without it, large enterprises found it difficult to rigorously safeguard the quality of their mission-critical mainframe applications as digital demands increase," Compuware CEO Chris O'Malley said. "Topaz for Total Test fills that gap, enabling our customers to automate the design, iteration and execution of tests, boosting development velocity, quality and efficiency."