System, method, and computer program for generating a fully traceable test design

1. A method, comprising:

defining a repository of parameters and associated values that are predefined as valid for the parameters, where the parameters may be mapped to one or more activities during test design;

graphically defining activity flows including the one or more activities, each of the activity flows including a directed acyclic graph (DAG) including the one or more activities as nodes;

mapping the parameters to the one or more activities included in the graphically defined activity flows, the mapping functioning to connect the one or more activities to the values that are predefined as valid for the parameters, thereby defining all permutations of each of the one or more activities and each of the activity flows in the test design;

defining business rules that define incompatible pairings of the values associated with two or more of the parameters mapped to one or more of the activities;

determining a plurality of test scenarios associated with the activity flows;

automatically selecting a subset of the plurality of test scenarios, each of the selected test scenarios being a path where valid values were selected, based on:

the business rules,

risk probability including values and combinations of values that historically produced defects,

customization level including an amount of effort invested in changing value functionality in the test design,

past customer feedback including combinations a customer preferred to include or selected to exclude from tests in the past, and

best combinations determined utilizing a pairwise algorithm;

performing a coverage check of the selected test scenarios, the coverage check being operable to identify a test coverage of the selected test scenarios associated with the test design; and

outputting test design materials associated with the test design, the test design materials including one or more of a diagram graph, one or more high level use case descriptions of each of the scenarios, and tests associated with the test design.

2. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising:

computer code for defining a repository of parameters and associated values that are predefined as valid for the parameters, where the parameters may be mapped to one or more activities during test design;

computer code for graphically defining activity flows including the one or more activities, each of the activity flows including a directed acyclic graph (DAG) including the one or more activities as nodes;

computer code for mapping the parameters to the one or more activities included in the graphically defined activity flows, the mapping functioning to connect the one or more activities to the values that are predefined as valid for the parameters, thereby defining all permutations of each of the one or more activities and each of the activity flows in the test design;

computer code for defining business rules that define incompatible pairings of the values associated with two or more of the parameters mapped to one or more of the activities;

computer code for determining a plurality of test scenarios associated with the activity flows;

computer code for automatically selecting a subset of the plurality of test scenarios, each of the selected test scenarios being a path where valid values were selected, based on:

the business rules,

risk probability including values and combinations of values that historically produced defects,

customization level including an amount of effort invested in changing value functionality in the test design,

past customer feedback including combinations a customer preferred to include or selected to exclude from tests in the past, and

best combinations determined utilizing a pairwise algorithm;

computer code for performing a coverage check of the selected test scenarios, the coverage check being operable to identify a test coverage of the selected test scenarios associated with the test design; and

computer code for outputting test design materials associated with the test design, the test design materials including one or more of a diagram graph, one or more high level use case descriptions of each of the scenarios, and tests associated with the test design.

3. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program product is operable such that each of the parameters are associated with two or more values that are predefined as valid for the parameters.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program product is operable such that graphically defining the activity flows including the one or more activities includes constructing a flow by dragging the one or more activities from an activity library and connecting the one or more activities.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program product is operable such that graphically defining the activity flows includes generating a nested diagram representing a complex diagram that shows all activities.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program product is operable such that each of the activity flows are stored in the repository for reuse, such that the activity flows or sub-flows thereof are accessible for use in constructing additional activity flows.

7. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program product is operable such that the incompatible pairings of the values associated with two or more of the parameters are defined in a graphical manner.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 , wherein the computer program product is operable such that the selection of the subset of the plurality of test scenarios is further based on a business priority.

9. A system comprising:

a memory of a computer system; and

a processor of the computer system coupled to the memory configured to:

define a repository of parameters and associated values that are predefined as valid for the parameters, where the parameters may be mapped to one or more activities during test design;

graphically define activity flows including the one or more activities, each of the activity flows including a directed acyclic graph (DAG) including the one or more activities as nodes;

map the parameters to the one or more activities included in the graphically defined activity flows, the mapping functioning to connect the one or more activities to the values that are predefined as valid for the parameters, thereby defining all permutations of each of the one or more activities and each of the activity flows in the test design;

define business rules that define incompatible pairings of the values associated with two or more of the parameters mapped to one or more of the activities;

determine a plurality of test scenarios associated with the activity flows;

automatically select a subset of the plurality of test scenarios, each of the selected test scenarios being a path where valid values were selected, based on:

the business rules,

risk probability including values and combinations of values that historically produced defects,

customization level including an amount of effort invested in changing value functionality in the test design,

past customer feedback including combinations a customer preferred to include or selected to exclude from tests in the past, and

best combinations determined utilizing a pairwise algorithm;

perform a coverage check of the selected test scenarios, the coverage check being operable to identify a test coverage of the selected test scenarios associated with the test design; and

output test design materials associated with the test design, the test design materials including one or more of a diagram graph, one or more high level use case descriptions of each of the scenarios, and tests associated with the test design.