Database testing

Prepared by
Sujaritha M
Database testing mainly focus
on:
 Data integrity test
 Stored procedures test
 Type test
 Data size test
 Event Driven item test
 Input item verification
Data integrity test

 Once a value undergoes any of the

below actions
 (Update, Delete, Insert)
 The Db should be verified for the
changes performed on related entities
(ie) foreign key, primary key and all
dependent entities.
Stored procedures test
 Every stored procedure is to be tested
separately for its functionality
 (Based on separate functions it performs)
 Stored procedure need to be broken up into
action items based on functions & then
each action item needs to be tested
separately as the result of complete stored
procedure.
conti ….
 Execution may differ from the results
obtained by partial execution.
 This also helps in validating the
modularity of code (White box)
What is needed for Stored
procedure test ?

 The number of arguments being passed.

 The data type of each of the arguments
being passed
 The order of arguments being passed
 The return value
 The data type of the return value
What you will do from this ?
 Based on these we can categories to
write both positive and negative test
cases
 Example:
 Consider a stored procedure taking 2
data as input and returning that with
the sum of two data’s
Type Test
 This test is performed to verify that the
data types used by the DBA are same as
expected by agreed upon by the
developer
 Often the data types chosen by
developers are not the same as
suggested by the DBA, especially for the
fields like
 Ph (text / Number)
 Description ( large text)
Data size test
 Performance of Data size testing is often
done only at the front end during the
unit testing, but it is essential to perform
it at back end separately.
 This ensures smooth transition while
appending functionality and integrating
modules as during these phases
 The data is passed to this system with
direct user interaction and bypassing
front end validation
Event driven item test
 Event driven actions like Triggers or
scheduled actions need to be tested on 2
parameters
1. Events that trigger these actions –
Here QA needs to check the events on
which any of the trigger can get fired /
executed. This testing can be done with
the help of DBA also.
conti……
2. Actions performed by the previously
mentioned events. Here the contents of such
stored procedures or scheduled actions are
verified for the functionality
Input Item Verification
 This is the process of verification of the
input items.
 Even though this is not totally a part of
database testing but this has to be
performed essentially during database
testing of the web based applications
 Often, it is seen that the input items like
Text box, Rich text box (ideal for content
management systems), Combination box
and Active X controls are tested for
validation only at front end (screen
testing)
Conti………
 But these are again to be tested
with Junk character values to
confirm that they do not push in
such characters which the
databases often misrepresent or
replace with other characters (this
testing can partially be performed
during unit testing also by the
developer
Essential elements needed for
database testing
 Backend table structure is very important
thing.
 Need to know about database structure
and the specification of each table like the
size of column and if any primary key
 So we can have a database design
document which help us to know the
structure the specification might be given
in FRS ( Functional requirement spec)
cont ……
 Database design documents
 If the tester has the idea about the table
structure and design then they can
check the performance issues also
 Admin user id & password
 Build
 Any Application Interface – ex -TOAD

cont….
DSN Name
 Data source name (DSN)
 A data source name (DSN) is a data structure that
contains the information about a specific
database that an Open Database Connectivity
( ODBC ) driver needs in order to connect to it.
 Included in the DSN, which resides either in the
registry or as a separate text file, is information
such as the name, directory and driver of the
database, and, depending on the type of DSN, the
ID and password of the user.
 The developer creates a separate DSN for each
database. To connect to a particular database,
the developer specifies its DSN within a program.
What is way of writing test
cases for database testing?
1. Understand the functional requirement
2. Find out the back end tables, joins,
cursors, triggers, stored procedures (SP),
input and output parameters used
3. Write the test case with different input
values for checking all the paths of SP.
4. Writing test cases for database testing is
not Black box testing. It is white box
testing.
How to test database
procedures & Triggers ?
 Requirements should get from developer
 Understand the input and output of the
Procedures / Triggers.
 Execute the Procedures & Triggers and
update the results.
What steps does a tester take
in testing stored procedures?
 Understand the requirement of SP
 Check whether all required indexes, joins,
updates, deletions are correct by
comparing with the tables mentioned in
the stored procedures
 Ensure that whether the stored procedure
follows the standard format like comments,
updated by etc.
cont….
 Check the procedure calling name,
calling parameters and expected
responses for different set of input
parameters
 Run the procedure thru database
client programs like TOAD or query
analyzer
 Rerun the procedure with different
parameters and check results
against expected values.
Thank you