OCTOPUS AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK – TARGETED BENEFITS Octopus framework is developed on top of a complex internal architecture of the automation tool and enforces the required standards for implementation. It ensures structured design and organization of automation code into components. This framework targets the following factors: o Design that enhances the outcome of code scripted o Faster test scripts generation o Longer automation code life o Ease of maintenance o Reusability of test code o Data driven test o Software migration support

1. Octopus Framework
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract ..........................................................................................................1
Overview ........................................................................................................2
Why Automation.............................................................................................3
Defining Automation Objectives.....................................................................4
Octopus Automation Framework – Targeted Benefits...................................5
Test Automation using Octopus Framework..................................................6
Components of Automation Framework........................................................7
Automation Framework Flow ........................................................................8
Conclusion ......................................................................................................9

2. Octopus Framework
ValsaTech Corp
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©Valsatech Corp 2014
Abstract
Mission critical software undergoes rigorous functional tests, especially
supported by automated testing frameworks. Automating these
frameworks and maintaining quality software releases are critical to
business performance. Enterprises often face the dilemma of
balancing costs and managing resources to ensure that automation
frameworks cover all the business scenarios and the applications
delivered are error-free.
By implementing the appropriate automated testing framework,
enterprises can significantly increase the speed and accuracy of the
testing process, provide a higher return on investment (ROI) from
software projects and systematically minimize risk.
This White paper presents the benefits of Octopus Test
Automation Framework, its design components, governance
models, and maintenance considerations.
Overview
Octopus framework usage spans a wide range of application
stacks, software processes, application domains and
development organizations. This framework is compatible with
various open source tools and languages like Java and selenium
and also adheres to various software process models including
agile, incremental and V-model.

3. Octopus Framework
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WHY AUTOMATION?
Re-use of Tests:
When a certain set of test scripts require frequent execution it
makes more sense to automate them and reap the benefits of
unattended automated execution of test scripts.
Another example will be in cases where a single script needs to
be executed with multiple data sets. In such cases the effort to
automate a single script and running it with multiple data sets is
far less than the manual execution effort for all those data sets
Time Save:
Running unattended automated test scripts saves human time as
well as machine time than executing scripts manually
Better use of people:
While automated scripts are running unattended on Machines,
testers can do more useful tasks
Cost Saving:
On test engagements requiring a lot of regression testing, usage
of automated testing reduces the people count and time
requirement to complete the engagement and helps reduce the
costs

4. Octopus Framework
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Machines are more reliable than humans:
Great confidence will be gained when a system is released, when
we use automated testing or changes done to the application. It
should be possible to execute tests from different machines at the
same time in order to gain time efficiencies
DEFINING AUTOMATION OBJECTIVES
It is very important to define the objectives of test automation before
designing the Test Automation Framework. This will help the team
choose the right toolset, the right foundation framework for the current
and future business needs. Some of the questions that must be
answered are:
o What is the shelf life of the framework?
o What percent of application will be automated using the
framework?
o How stable is the application?
o Should the Automation Framework be tightly or loosely
coupled with the application-under-test (AUT)?
o Who is the target audience for using Test Automation
Framework?
o What are testing skills of the target audience?
o How much is the enterprise willing to
invest in automation?
o What is the expected ROI from the

5. Octopus Framework
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automation efforts?
Discussions of these automation objectives will govern the functional
testing automation effort and ROI. Common automation considerations
for a Test Automation Framework include:
o Maximizing test coverage
o Scale for future requirements
o Reliability and Consistency of results
o Duration of execution
o Identification of all regression testing defects
o Integration with nightly continuous builds
o End to end testing capability to cover business
scenarios
OCTOPUS AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK – TARGETED
BENEFITS
Octopus framework is developed on top of a complex internal
architecture of the automation tool and enforces the required standards
for implementation. It ensures structured design and organization of
automation code into components. This framework targets the
following factors:
o Design that enhances the outcome of code scripted
o Faster test scripts generation
o Longer automation code life
o Ease of maintenance
o Reusability of test code

6. Octopus Framework
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o Data driven test
o Software migration support
TEST AUTOMATION USING OCTOPUS FRAMEWORK:
Zero Touch Automation:
The automation runs without any manual intervention
Inter-environment portability
The scripts run on any given test environment without any code
change (technical intervention)
Usability
With minimal amount of training, anyone on the team can execute
the automated suite
Maintainability
It is easy to maintain and update the scripts with newer releases
or changes done to the application.
Selective testing
 The tests can be divided in groups to group together certain
set of features of an application under test.
 One can select test scenarios at a more granular level in
order set up more targeted regression

7. Octopus Framework
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Recovery
 If test script execution is stopped at any moment for any
reason, the test suite is able to resume testing from that
point at any time later.
 We should not need to re-test functionality that had passed
earlier.
Scalability
 It is possible to execute tests from different machines at the
same time in order to gain time efficiencies.
 The tests can be run on multiple environments from single
master node.
 The test environment can be virtualized too.
Reporting
 Test results are reported in a way that lets a user know the
status of each test script easily
 Failed scripts are accompanied by appropriate error
messages and screenshot(s) that helps the user understand
the exact problem
 The information generated by logs of failed scripts is logged
in database for the user to log defect in future.
Data abstraction
 The test data needed to execute scripts is completely

8. Octopus Framework
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isolated from the actual script code.
 All data needed by scripts is stored in data sheets/xml’s,
Modular code
Code written is modular, so that:
 Reuse is possible – if functionality has already been coded,
the functions written should be generic enough to be
reusable in a different context
 Centralized changes – if a functionality changes, the script
author must be able to make change to one central function
that should suffice for the whole suite
Portability
The suite is portable to:
 A different operating system (e.g. Windows 2003) without
significant changes
COMPONENTS OF AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK
Octopus Test Automation Framework design is modular, easy to
maintain, reusable and can be leveraged across multiple projects
to maximize the value of the test automation suite. The
automation framework has following core components:

9. Octopus Framework
ValsaTech Corp
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©Valsatech Corp 2014
AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK WORKFLOW

10. Octopus Framework
ValsaTech Corp
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©Valsatech Corp 2014
Jenkins/Hudson
Test Setup
Test Driver
machine
Test Script
Applicatio
n under
Test
Test Setup
Spreadshee
t
Collection of
OR, Action
and Test
Data
TestNG
HTML
Report
Test
Executio
n Report
Excel
Email
Report

11. 11
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CONCLUSION
A test automation framework can be built around model-based testing that
begins with automating the test design exercise and the development of
manual test procedures. It further uses automation frameworks to attain
modularity in automated test script design, and integrates with test
execution tools for automated test execution.
Octopus framework will help test organizations to:
o Greatly scale when test designers and test automation developers
are in short supply by training regular testers
o Deliver test automation quickly so that regression cycles can be
automated right from the first cycle, and save effort and cost that
would otherwise have been expended on manual testing
o Zero Touch automation for nightly build Continuous Integration.