Silk Central 15.5 HotFix 4 has now been released.

The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

• RPI 1096692: [Silk Test Workbench] Crash of SilkTest.exe after each script that was scheduled by Silk Central
• RPI 1096950: Grid paging wrong on Oracle
• RPI 1096974: Fixed synchronization with JIRA Agile - Issues of type "Epic", where property "Epic name" was not set, were displayed with empty names in Silk Central
• RPI 1097148: Excel as data source imports formulas instead of values
• RPI 1097173: Inherited multi-list attribute values might get lost during copy and paste of a test
• RPI 1097273: Failed to record video on failed test case
• RPI 1097310: Project import doesn't correctly update step IDs in TM_ManualTestStepResults
• RPI 1097378: Project baseline takes several hours to be created
• RPI 1097575: Can't configure Issue Manager in Silk Central if the name of the server starts with "silk"
• RPI 1097623: StarTeam 14 SDK performance problems
• RPI 1097623: StarTeam-plugin assigns wrong user if there is a deleted user with the same FullName in the database
• RPI 1097700: Manual Testing: Minimize window size when taking screenshots
• RPI 1097800: DOORS process already running but not controlled by Silk Central
• RPI 1098006/1098014: Fixed ConcurrentUpdateException when cutting/pasting requirements in a project without custom requirement properties
• Increased display limit for running manual executions in Current Activities from 1000 to 5000
• Separated start and finish executions permissions
• Separated start and finish executions permissions - clean up naming

This hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

  Hotfix 3
 Hotfix 2
  Hotfix 1 

Silk Central 15.5 HotFix 5 has now been released.


The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

•     RPI 609916:  Separate permission to activate / deactivate an execution server
•     RPI 609931:  Do not deactivate inaccessible execution servers when connecting a database
•     RPI 1094213: Reduce occupation of worker threads for inaccessible execution servers
•     RPI 1097114: Test case print issue in Silk Central
•     RPI 1097623: StarTeam - fixed sorting of dropdown options when not using workflows
•     RPI 1098207: Filter not properly reset when changing projects in Tests - Grid View
•     RPI 1098366: Order number not displayed for manual tests in configuration suite
•     RPI 1098428: Problems assigning tests to test cycle in only one project
•     RPI 1098434: After applying SCTM 15.5 HF4, the online help refers to Silk Central 16.0
•     RPI 1098455: Issue Manager - System-wide triggers option in issues allows max. 12 emails: Allow unlimited number of emails
•     RPI 1098528: User names in Add address drop down are not sorted
•     RPI 1098584: Issue Manager - Synopsis field size: Allow 128 instead of 80 characters
•     RPI 1098736: JIRA project named the same as JQL function
•     RPI 1098778: Print view of Manual Test Document dialog might be empty
•     RPI 1098795: Wrong columns in Requirements Document View PDF export
•     RPI 1098976: Manual test results document (Microsoft Word) giving Java error
•     RPI 1099007: ExcelExportImportRowLimit in SccFrontendBootConf.xml
•     Prevent login with invalidated user who only sees Issue Manager on double-click of login button or double-enter in text field

  Note:      
    There is an optional new setting <InitialConnectTimeout> in SccAppServerBootConf.xml file, section <ExecServerCommunication>.
    This can be added to reconfigure the time in seconds, how long the system tries to establish a new connection to an execution server (default 5 seconds).

This hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

  Hotfix 4
  Hotfix 3
 Hotfix 2
  Hotfix 1

Silk Central 15.5 HotFix 6 has now been released

 The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

• RPI 1096287: Error in CheckDB execution Silk Central 15.5 (Only update TM_CustomStepValues entry to correct property if not correct entry already exists. Otherwise just delete the corrupted entry.)
• RPI 1098904: NUnit: Error when converting to test package if there are tests with the same name but in different namespaces
• RPI 1098928: Order of tests in Manual Execution UI is not updated
• RPI 1099016: Invalid filters when renaming a custom property or attribute
• RPI 1099041: Add correct timestamp on requirement flagging
• RPI 1099089: Add issue notification email subject placeholder for component
• RPI 1099161: Search field does not allow some special character
• RPI 1099191: Not able to upload results from Silk Performer to Silk Central
• RPI 1099322: Error message when creating new test step can not be closed
• RPI 1099889: NPE when creating a child requirement
• RPI 1099883: Issue Creation window - Login details left empty

This hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 5
Hotfix 4
Hotfix 3
Hotfix 2
Hotfix 1

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Silk Central 16.0 HotFix 1 has now been released (build 16.0.1.19)

The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

• RPI 609931: Do not deactivate inaccessible execution servers when connecting database
• RPI 609993: Worker threads issues
• RPI 610367: Fix defect causing incorrect test status after reassigning test in running testing cycle
• RPI 1094213: Reduce occupation of worker threads for inaccessible execution servers
• RPI 1097623: StarTeam: Fixed sorting of dropdown options when not using workflows    
• RPI 1098118, 1098570: Fix incorrect Test Statuses/Last Execution Time after reassigning test in running testing cycle.
• RPI 1098455: Issue Manager - Systemwide triggers option in issues taking only 12 emails max: Allow unlimited number of emails
• RPI 1098584: Issue Manager - Synopsis field size: Allow 128 instead of 80 characters
• RPI 1098904: NUnit: Error when converting to test package if there are tests with the same name but in different namespaces
• RPI 1099007: ExcelExportImportRowLimit in SccFrontendBootConf.xml
• RPI 1099016: Invalid filters when renaming a custom property or attribute
• RPI 1099191: Not able to upload results from Silk Performer to Silk Central
• RPI 1099455: Creating sub-task using JIRA Issue Integration
• RPI 1099709: Assigning an existing JIRA issue to a test takes too long
• RPI 1099749: Fix data-driven keyword tests
• RPI 1099905: Results download zip files are corrupted
• RPI 1099977: Web services error when getting manual test step XML
• RPI 1100091: Silk Central freezes after several screen captures
• RPI 1100137: Chrome 43 Disappearing menu options
• Fix copy/paste of keyword sequences within the same library

There is an optional new setting <InitialConnectTimeout> in the SccAppServerBootConf.xml file, section <ExecServerCommunication>.
This can be added to reconfigure the time in seconds, how long the system tries to establish a new connection to an execution server (default is 5 seconds).

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Are you doing test automation with Selenium and facing a rapidly growing amount of tests? Are you looking for some kind of test management tool to keep track of all your assets and execute them most efficiently to get the best return on your investment? 

Silk Central is the right tool for this purpose, as it enables you to not only manage and execute your tests followed by powerful result analysis, but it also introduces you to managing the software development life cycle (SDLC) where requirements, tests, results, and issues are interrelated to each other for fast feedback cycles, resulting in high quality software. 

This blog article describes how you can schedule the execution of your existing Selenium test assets (written in Java or .NET) with Silk Central.

Related blogs: Keyword-driven testing with Selenium

Prerequisites

To be able to execute your Selenium tests with Silk Central, the following artefacts need to be accessible from the Silk Central execution server: 

• for Java the compiled .jar files
• for .NET the .dll files
• and all additional files needed for execution (e.g. test data) 

Silk Central, the open test management solution, supports numerous ways to access such files - for example  via direct HTTP access from a build server, FTP, SMB, a UNC share, and more.

Configure Silk Central to execute all your Selenium tests

 The following abstract explains the initial configuration steps that are required to execute your Selenium assets with Silk Central. Most of these steps are one time actions - even the test configuration itself, once configured, will automatically execute and add any newly created tests without the need of additional user interaction. Your maintenance efforts are minimal. 

Silk Central will execute your test suite based on a schedule or triggered by a build server - even in parallel against different configurations (different browsers, operating systems, languages, databases, etc.). 

Source Control

The first step is to create a Source Control profile to specify the location from which the execution servers retrieve the needed test artefacts. Select Source Control Integrations from the Tests menu and create a new source control profile. The following screenshot shows an example for artefacts that are shared via UNC:

Once you have created a Source Control profile, click Tests in the menu and create a new test container. Specify a name for the test container and select the newly created Source Control profile on the create dialog. 

The next step is to add a JUnit test for your Java-based Selenium tests, or an NUnit/MSTest test for your .NET based tests. 

JUnit

To configure your JUnit tests in Silk Central you have to: 

1. Select the newly created test container.
2. Click "New Child Test", specify a name, select the type "JUnit test" and click next.
3. Leave the Test class empty to execute all JUnit tests that are found in the classpath.
4. Specify the classpath relative to the path you have configured in the source control profile. For example, if your tests are in a jar called tests.jar that resides in the root folder and all further jars that are needed for executing the test are in the lib folder, you would configure: ./tests.jar;./lib/* 

NUnit/MSTest

To configure your .NET tests in Silk Central you have to: 

1. Select the newly created test container.
2. Click "New Child Test", specify a name, select the type "NUnit test" or "MSTest test" and click next.
3. Click Browse and select the assembly containing your Selenium tests.
4. For Nunit, specify the folder containing the file nunit-console.exe, if this is not configured in the PATH environment variable. 

The structure in the Tests area could look like the following:

Your Selenium test suite is now configured in Silk Central and is ready to be executed - how to do this is explained in the next abstract. 

Running tests

Click on "Execution Planning" in the menu and create a new execution plan, specifying your newly created test container. Assign your test on the Assigned Tests tab. 

On the Deployment tab you can specify where the tests are to be executed. Silk Central supports Windows and Linux execution servers. Below the assigned keywords you can see the list of all matching execution servers that can be used for execution.

Check Silk Central's online help if you need assistance in setting up your execution environment. 

You can now either schedule an execution or directly start it using the Run button in the toolbar. A web service API is also available, if you wish to trigger executions from another tool. 

Simultaneous cross-browser testing

If you want to execute your test suite simultaneously on different browsers, right-click your newly created execution plan and select "Convert to Configuration Suite". Then create a configuration for each browser you want to test: 

• Select the Configurations tab.
• Click "Add/Remove Parameters".
• Assign a new parameter called "browser". This value will be passed to the test as a system property or environment variable and can be used to start the proper web driver. The Java code for this might look like this: 

    if ("IE".equals(System.getProperty("browser"))) {

      driver = new InternetExplorerDriver();

    } else if ("Chrome".equals(System.getProperty("browser"))) {

      driver = new ChromeDriver();

    } else { //default

      driver = new FirefoxDriver();

    }

.NET code might look like this:
 

    if ("IE".Equals(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("browser"))) {

      driver = new  InternetExplorerDriver();

    } else if ("Chrome".Equals(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("browser"))){

      driver = new ChromeDriver();

    } else {

      driver = new FirefoxDriver();

    } 

A configuration suite for testing Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome would look like the following:

In this example, the configurations will be executed on an execution server that has the keyword "SeleniumES" assigned. 

In order to execute your test suite on the configurations simultaneously, simply connect additional execution servers to Silk Central which each have this keyword. The configuration suite, respectively the configurations, will be distributed to all available execution servers.

Result analysis

 A picture says more than a thousand log entries. In Silk Central you can therefore record a video of your Selenium test execution or create a screenshot of the complete desktop when a test fails. This is a tremendous help when analyzing failed tests. 

To enable video recording or screen capturing,  go to the Deployment tab of your configurations. There you can select from different video recording and screen capturing options:

The Test Run Results dialog has everything you need to analyze your results. Screenshots are shown in line to get a quick overview in which state the application was when the test failed. For a more detailed analysis, you can download a video that shows step-by-step what the test did until it failed.

With Silk Central you can also compare test executions on different browsers. This gives you a good overview to find out if the failure is related to the used browser or if it is an application under test (AUT) issue, which fails on all browsers. 

To compare the test executions on the different browsers, go to the Runs tab of your configuration suite, multi-select the runs of interest, right-click and select "Compare Automated Test Results". In this view you can click on the status icons to get further information on the test run, for example screenshots, videos and log files.

Further benefits using Silk Central for your Selenium tests

Besides the features mentioned above, Silk Central gives you much more that helps you to deliver high quality software. To just name a few:

• Requirements coverage: Link your tests with your requirements and get an overview on which requirements are covered by which tests and see which areas are affected when a test fails.
• Bug tracking: Link your tests with your bugs. This trace helps the developer to reproduce a bug and verify the fix.
• Reporting: Create customized reports for your specific information needs, from trend reports to overview or comparison reports, and more. All the required data is available in Silk Central.
• Code coverage: See what code is covered by your Selenium tests. Silk Central delivers the following code coverage tools out-of-the-box:
• Silk Central Java Code Analysis: To perform code analysis on Java applications
• DevPartner .NET: To perform code analysis on .NET applications 

For more information on these topics, please see the Silk Central online help. 

Trial

A free 45 day product trial can be downloaded at:

http://www.borland.com/Products/Software-Testing/Test-Management/Silk-Central/Product-Trial

Watch the video

You can also watch the following video, to learn how to manage and execute Selenium tests with Silk Central:

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Simplify your Selenium test creation with keyword-driven testing. Save time and maintenance by building up your test designs so that keywords can be reused across multiple testing scenarios. Allow business stakeholders to create tests independently from implementation and start testing as early as possible in your Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). 

Silk Central provides a web interface to create keyword-driven tests without the need to install any additional tool. 

Advantages of Keyword-Driven Testing

The advantages of using the keyword-driven testing methodology are the following:

• Keyword-driven testing separates test automation from test case design, which allows for better division of labor and collaboration between test engineers implementing keywords and subject matter experts designing test cases.
• Tests can be developed early, without requiring access to the application under test, and the keywords can be implemented later.
• Tests can be developed without programming knowledge.
• Keyword-driven tests require less maintenance in the long run. You need to maintain the keywords, and all keyword-driven tests using these keywords are automatically updated.
• Test cases are concise.
• Test cases are easier to read and to understand for a non-technical audience.
• Test cases are easy to modify.
• New test cases can reuse existing keywords, which amongst else makes it easier to achieve a greater test coverage.
• The internal complexity of the keyword implementation is not visible to a user that needs to create or execute a keyword-driven test. 

Create a library

Before you can start with keyword-driven testing, you need a library which will hold your keywords that can be shared across tests. Select Libraries from the Tests menu and create a new library. 

Start writing a keyword-driven test

To create the first keyword-driven test:

1. Click Tests in the menu and create a new test container
2. Select the new container and click "New Child Test" in the toolbar
3. Specify a name and select "Keyword-Driven Test" from the Type list
4. Select the previously created library and click "Finish" 

After saving the test, select the Keywords tab and start writing your test. This may look like:

The orange exclamation marks indicate that there is no automation code associated with the keyword. 

Implement keywords with Selenium using Java

To implement the draft keywords: 

1. Select Help> Tools and download the Java Keyword-Driven Library Builder.
2. Add the downloaded com.borland.silk.keyworddriven.jar to the classpath of your Selenium project.
3. Create a Java class that will contain your keywords.
4. Create Java methods called as the keywords in your test. The methods need the same number of parameters as the keyword.
5. Annotate your methods with the annotation com.borland.silk.keyworddriven.annotations.Keyword from the downloaded jar. 

The Selenium implementation for the keywords of the tests shown in the previous section may look as follows: 

public class Keywords {

  private WebDriver driver;  

  @Keyword
  public void openBrowser(String url) {
    driver = new FirefoxDriver();
    driver.get(url);
  }

  @Keyword
  public void login(String email, String password) {
    driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@id='login-form:email']")).sendKeys(email);
    driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@id='login-form:password']")).sendKeys(password);
    driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@id='login-form:login']")).click();
  }

  @Keyword
  public void checkLoggedInAs(String fullName) {
    Assert.assertEquals(fullName, driver.findElement(By.xpath(".//*[@class='login']")).getText());
  }

  @Keyword
  public void closeBrowser() {
    driver.quit();
  }

} 

Generate a library and upload to Silk Central

To generate a keyword-driven library:

• Compile your sources and create a Java archive (jar).
• Call the DocBuilder class that is contained in the downloaded jar file with the following arguments:
  • Library name to be generated
  • Java (fixed value)
  • Binaries path where your keyword library jar file resides and if applicable, any other required libraries
  • Name of the output library package (zip archive) to be generated

The following example outlines the command line to execute the DocBuilder: 

java -cp ./com.borland.silk.keyworddriven.jar com.borland.silk.keyworddriven.library.docbuilder.DocBuilder MyLibrary Java ./output ./MyLibrary.zip

 Note: Check the Silk Central online help for the command if you are using a newer version than 16.0. 

To upload your library to Silk Central:

• Select Libraries in the Tests menu.
• Select the library you have created previously.
• Upload the generated zip file on the Properties tab . 

When jumping to your previously created keyword-driven test, you will see that the orange markers are gone and your test is ready for execution. 

Execute keyword-driven tests and Cross-Browser testing

Please check the previous blog to see how:

• To schedule your keyword-driven tests for execution
• To execute simultaneous cross-browser tests
• To get a powerful result analysis including
  • Videos of each test run
  • Screenshots of the application when a test fails
  • Log files

Structuring your keyword library

Once your keyword library starts to grow you need to bring some structure into your library. Split up your keywords into different classes and apply the annotation @KeywordGroup("Groupname") to each of these.

The annotation for the class containing keywords related to your main page might look like: 

  @KeywordGroup("MainPage")
  public class MainPageKeywords

The keyword-driven test editor will show these groups, which can also be used for filtering: 

Keyword sequences

A keyword sequence is a keyword that is a combination of other keywords, which are often executed together. Keyword sequences are also stored in the library, which allows you to better structure your keywords, reducing maintenance effort and keeping your tests well-arranged. 

Enhanced naming

To use characters for your keyword name that are not allowed in Java methods, you can add a String argument to your annotations. This works for keyword names as well as for parameter names. Here is a sample using these arguments:

  @Keyword("My Keyword")
  public void myKeyword(@Argument("User name") String name) {
    System.out.println(name);
  }

Parameters

Input parameters

In Silk Central parameters are freely configurable values that can be used as input for your keywords. Let's assume you want to execute the test of the previous section against different test systems, using different URLs.  Therefore we have to specify a parameter name for the openBrowser keyword instead of an explicit URL. Parameters are specified using the following notation: ${parametername} 

For our sample this would look like:

Now you can execute the same test against different systems by simply passing the URL as parameter. 

Output parameters

Sometimes it is necessary to get a value from one keyword and use it in a following keyword. By default a parameter of a keyword method is an input parameter. To define an output parameter, use the class OutParameter for the method parameter.

 The code of a keyword returning the number of rows in a grid might look like this: 

  @Keyword
  public void getNumberOfRowsInGrid(OutParameter nrOfRows) {
    ...
    nrOfRows.setValue(123);
  } 

The keyword-driven test editor in Silk Central shows output parameters with a different background colour: 

In the sample above the first row assigns the returned value to a parameter called numberOfRows. The following keywords can then use this parameter as normal input parameter. 

Trial

A free 45 day product trial can be downloaded at:

http://www.borland.com/Products/Software-Testing/Test-Management/Silk-Central/Product-Trial

Silk Central 15.5 HotFix 7 has now been released

 The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

• RPI 1099962: Performance optimizations in test package result processing
• RPI 1099977: Web services error when getting manual test step XML
• RPI 1100137: Chrome 43 - Submenus disappear on mouseover
• RPI 1100209: Web services call "getActiveVersions" added
• RPI 1100281: License Count incorrect
• RPI 1100397: Remove "Remember login" checkbox if MaxCookieAge is set to 0
• RPI 1100432: User stories can't be imported from JIRA Agile
• RPI 1100433: Current Runs tab hangs if execution plan name contains special characters
• RPI 1100442: JIRA user stories are not displaying correct sprint
• RPI 1100502: Linked test containers did not support SilkTestWBTestDefinitionEntity and TestPartnerTestDefinitionEntity
• Web services: Provide API for "Automate with ..."
• TFS issue tracking: Correct rendering of line breaks in HTML descriptions

This hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 6
Hotfix 5
Hotfix 4
Hotfix 3
Hotfix 2
Hotfix 1

You can download the HotFix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Silk Central 16.0 HotFix 2 has now been released  (16.0.2.19)

The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

• RPI 1099962: Performance optimizations in test package result processing
• RPI 1100034: Order of assigned tests in Current Runs tab of execution plan is not updated
• RPI 1100209/1100850: Added Web service call "getActiveVersions"
• RPI 1100281: License count is incorrect
• RPI 1100325: Jira connection does not work anymore
• RPI 1100404: Unable to assign an existing JIRA issue
• RPI 1100432: User stories can't be imported from JIRA Agile
• RPI 1100433: Current Runs tab hangs if execution plan name contains special characters
• RPI 1100442: JIRA user stories are not displaying the correct sprint
• RPI 1100448: Stability issue on reading requirement synchronization log
• RPI 1100734: DOORS session is timing out
• RPI 1100771: Unable to see the test name attached to an unassigned test
• RPI 1100957: NullPointer in Issue Manager configuration unit when only inactive products are configured
• Web services: Provided API for "Automate with..."

This hotfix also contains the following hotfix:

Hotfix 1

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Silk Central 16.0 Hotfix 3 has now been released (16.0.2.19)

The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

- RPI 1100782: JIRA custom fields required error
- RPI 1101150: Attachments in Manual Test Results view are in random order
- RPI 1101220 (615508): Assigning a test several times to an execution plan (click 3 times or more) leads to an invalid url '&y=0'
- RPI 1101246: Silk Central application server crashes when synchronizing ClearQuest
- RPI 1101272: Treeview disappears in IE11 with zoom 125%
- RPI 1101378: Deleting runs takes hours
- RPI 1101436: Screenshot capture function stopped working after upgrade to Java 8 Update 60
- ClearQuest: Issue statistics work only for "Defect"

This hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 1

Hotfix 2

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Borland proudly announces the general availability of Silk Central 16.5! If you already use Silk Central and you have a maintenance contract, you can upgrade to Silk Central 16.5 for free.

Silk Central 16.5, Borland’s premier test management tool, is an innovative open solution that aids collaboration and control.

Highlights of Silk Central 16.5

Support for Microsoft Windows 10 and the new Internet Browser Edge

With Silk Central 16.5, you can execute your manual and automated tests on Microsoft Windows 10 and you can use Microsoft Edge to work with Silk Central.
Leverage your test set by simply executing all your existing functional, regression, and localization tests on Microsoft Windows 10, or by creating new tests to test specific functionality that has been introduced with Microsoft Windows 10.

Limitation: Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome do not support NPAPI, so video recording, image capturing and code coverage recording in the manual testing window is not possible. For information on this limitation and possible workarounds, please contact SupportLine.

Keyword-Driven Testing Enhancements

Opening Keywords, Keyword Sequences, and Keyword-Driven Tests Directly in your Silk Test Client

The Keywords tab in your selected library now offers the option to directly access a keyword within your Silk Test client. Simply click to implement a draft keyword, or to edit an implemented keyword. Additionally, the new button Open in Silk Test allows you to directly access the whole selected test or keyword sequence within your Silk Test client.

Uploading a Keyword Library from the Command Line

You can now upload an external keyword library from a Java-based command line. This enables you to integrate Silk Central and your keyword-driven tests into your continuous integration build system, for example Jenkins.

Recommended Keywords

When you add keywords to a keyword-driven test or a keyword sequence in the Keyword-Driven Test Editor, Silk Central recommends existing keywords which you might want to use as the next keyword in your test. The recommended keywords are listed on top of the keywords list, and are indicated by a bar graph, with the filled-out portion of the graph corresponding to how much Silk Central recommends the keyword.

Viewing all References to a Keyword at a Glance

To view all tests and keyword sequences that reference a specific keyword or keyword sequence, select the appropriate entry in the keyword list and the Referenced By list will display all referencing keyword-driven tests and keyword sequences. Simply click the name to jump to the respective reference.

Replacing References to a Keyword

To replace references to the selected keyword or keyword sequence with another one, select the appropriate entry in the keyword list and use the Referenced By list to select the objects in which you want to replace the reference.

Converting a Keyword Sequence to a Draft Keyword

If you accidentally created a keyword sequence, you may want to convert it back to a draft keyword. Click (Convert to draft keyword) in the Actions column of the keyword sequence that you want to convert.
Note: Converting a keyword sequence to a draft will delete the sequence and all contained keywords. This action cannot be undone.

Finding Draft Keywords in the Library

If you want to switch to the library that contains the draft keywords of your selected test or keyword sequence, click Draft keywords in the top right of the editor page.

Usability Enhancements

The keywords that are contained in a keyword sequence can now be easily viewed by clicking on a keyword sequence ( ) in the All Keywords pane, or by hovering your mouse over the Open Keyword icon.

Finding Draft Keywords in the Library

If you want to switch to the library that contains the draft keywords of your selected test or keyword sequence, click Draft keywords in the top right of the editor page.

Usability Enhancements

The keywords that are contained in a keyword sequence can now be easily viewed by clicking on a keyword sequence ( ) in the All Keywords pane, or by hovering your mouse over the Open Keyword icon.

Manual Testing Enhancements

Lists the usability enhancements that have been made in the manual testing area.

Filtering Manual Tests by Container/Folder for Test Assignment

The Filter Criteria area on the Manual Execution Planning page now also displays the container/folder test hierarchy.
Select a container or folder to display only the child tests of the selected node in the Matching Tests area.

User-Specific Settings in the Manual Execution Planning Unit

The Manual Execution Planning page now remembers all your personal settings after you leave the page. When you return to the Manual Execution Planning page later, settings like your previously selected filters, container or folder, testing cycle, etc. will display exactly as you left off the last time.

More Information in Manual Test Dashboard Panels

The dashboard panels Manual Tests Assigned to Me and Status of Currently Running Manual Tests now contain a column that displays the path (folder) structure in which tests are contained, as well as a column for each defined attribute. This allows you to use the sorting and filtering capabilities to display only the tests that you are interested in.

Improved Configuration Assignment

The Specify Configurations dialog box has been completely renewed to make configuration assignment as easy and efficient as ever.

Improved Manual Test Results View

The Manual Test Results view is now more clearly structured and contains more information, like for example the testing cycle description, start and end dates, durations, and more. This is especially useful if you send out manual test results as PDF, allowing readers to know all the important information at a
glance, without the need to look up the details within Silk Central.

Including Attributes and Attachments When Downloading Tests for Offline Execution

When downloading manual tests for offline execution, you can now include test attributes and attachments. All attributes are included in the downloaded Excel sheet, enabling you to filter your tests by each attribute.

Specifying the Product's Version and Build for Testing Cycles

When starting a testing cycle, you can now specify the product's version and build that you want to test. After a testing cycle has been started, manual testers can update the version and build information if required.

Specifying a High-Level Run Comment

You can now enter a high-level comment for a test run in the Manual Testing window and in downloaded manual tests for offline execution. This helps to speed up the test execution review process, as the comment is displayed in the test run grids.

Retention of Line Breaks When Importing Tests from Excel Files

When importing tests from Excel files that include cells with multiple lines, these line breaks are now retained in Silk Central.

User Interface Improvements

Efficiently Structured Information of Test, Container and Test Folder Properties

The Properties page of a selected test, container, or folder now displays only the most important information. You have the option of expanding and collapsing the information in each section on this page. This enables you to customize the information you see to your specific needs. Additionally, the information about attributes, parameters, attachments, and data sets has been incorporated into this page, eliminating the need to navigate through several tabs to access the information you need.

Efficiently Structured Information of Execution Folder, Execution Plan, Testing Cycle, and Configuration Suite Properties

The Properties page of a selected execution folder, execution plan, testing cycle, or configuration suite now displays only the most important information. You have the option of expanding and collapsing the information in each section on this page. This enables you to customize the information you see to your specific needs. Additionally, the information about parameters and setup/cleanup tests has been incorporated into this page, eliminating the need to navigate through several tabs to access the information you need.

Silk Performer Performance Trends Dashboard Panel

The Silk Performer Performance Trends panel displays the current status of the selected Silk Performer load test and its available results, including trend information over the last runs.

LDAP Improvements Including Automatic User Account Creation

The LDAP integration in Silk Central has been improved, including the option to automatically create Silk Central user accounts.

Automatic User Account Creation

You can let Silk Central automatically create a Silk Central user account when a user logs in to Silk Central for the first time. If the user account with the entered login name does not exist in Silk Central, the entered credentials are authenticated against the LDAP server. If this succeeds, a new account with the supplied login name and password is created in Silk Central.
Newly created accounts initially copy the general settings from the selected Silk Central user, which acts as a template. First name, last name and email address are queried from the LDAP values.

LDAP Server Priority

You can now specify an Order number on the LDAP Servers page to prioritize the order in which the LDAP servers are queried for authentication.

Automatically Deleting Results and Result Files

The amount of collected results and result files increases over time as you run your execution plans. After a while, some results may not be relevant anymore, and managing your results is easier if only the important information is retained. In Silk Central you can define rules for the automatic cleanup of results and result files that you no longer require.

To be able to also manage the cleanup of results of unassigned tests, unassigned tests are now listed in the execution planning unit and in the manual test results. They are now also linked on the Tests > Runs page and in the manual testing dashboard panels. To define cleanup rules specifically for unassigned tests, select the Unassigned Tests node in the Execution Plans tree. Unassigned tests include items such as uploaded Silk Performer tests and try runs.

Exporting and Updating Shared Steps Objects

You can now export all shared steps objects in a library, edit them in Excel, and then update them back into Silk Central.
This is especially useful if you need to perform bulk edits.

Integration Enhancements

This section lists the enhancements that have been made to the integrations in Silk Central.

AccuRev Source Control Profile Integration

Silk Central now supports AccuRev with a new source control profile plugin.

Bugzilla 4.4.9 and 5.0 Support

Silk Central 16.5 now supports Bugzilla 4.4.9 and 5.0.

Git 2.5.0 Support

Silk Central 16.5 now supports Git 2.5.0.

JIRA Integration Enhancements

The JIRA field type Select list (multiple choices) is now rendered as a multiple-choice list in Silk Central. Additionally, when adding a JIRA issue in Silk Central, only the required fields of the selected JIRA issue type are displayed.

Team Foundation Server 2015 Support

Silk Central 16.5 now supports Team Foundation Server 2015.

Usability Enhancements

This section lists the usability enhancements that have been made throughout Silk Central.

Versioning Automated Tests

Additionally to versioning shared objects (steps and keywords), manual tests, and keyword-driven tests, you can now also create versions for the manual part of automated tests.

Printing and Downloading Test Details as PDF

The previously available feature to print or download manual test details as PDF has been extended to support all test types. Additionally you can now also right-click a folder in the Tests tree and select Print Test Details to print or download the test details of all contained tests.

Downloading Files from Requirements and Tests

You can now download all attached files from a requirement or a test container, folder, test, or test step with a single click.

Data-Driven Testing Enhancements

Lists the usability enhancements that have been made in the data-driven testing area.

Passing Parent Test Information as Pre-Defined Parameter
For data-driven tests, the name and the identifier of a parent test can now be passed as a pre-defined parameter.

Managing Data Sources Efficiently
If you work with a large amount of data source files, managing your data sources is now much easier than before: The Data Sources page now includes a column for the File Name and the Source Control Profile that hosts the data file, allowing you to sort and filter your data sources by this information.

Re-Running Tests with Status Not Executed

You can now select to re-run all tests of an execution plan that have the status Not Executed.

API for Automating Manual Tests

A new method automateTest has been added to the Web Service IPlanningService, which allows you to automate the process of converting manual tests to automated tests.
Refer to the Javadoc for full details regarding available Java classes and methods. If the link does not work, click Help > Documentation > Silk Central API Specification in the Silk Central menu to open the Javadoc.

Returning the Product's Component in the Subject of an Issue Notification

A new parameter has been added to the system-wide triggers, so that you can display the product's component in the subject of an issue notification message.

Technology Updates

Apache Tomcat 8 Support
Silk Central now ships with Apache Tomcat 8.
Microsoft SQL Server 2014 SP1 Support
Silk Central 16.5 now supports Microsoft SQL Server 2014 SP1.

More information

• For more information on all new features of Silk Central 16.5, you can also refer to the Online Help.
• Another valuable source of information: the Silk Central 16.5 Release Notes.
• If you are already convinced and want to trial or buy  Silk Central, don't hesitate to Contact Us!

Silk Central 16.5 Hotfix 1 (16.5.1.12) Readme

Software requirements:
Silk Central Version 16.5.0.0, Build 6463

The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

- RPI 1100782: If the field "Reporter" is not added to the Default screen in JIRA, Silk Central reports an error when creating a JIRA issue
- RPI 1101681: Screenshots don't appear in print view of manual test results
- RPI 1101683: Editing a component name breaks filters that use the component
- "Manual Tests Assigned To Me" and "Status of Currently Running Manual Tests" panel sorting error: fix ORA-00932: inconsistent datatype
- Excel Test Import: Improved performance
- System health metrics: Fixed counting of order

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Silk Central 16.5 Hotfix 2 has now been released (16.5.2.12)

The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

- RPI 1102073: Order number does not show up when using configuration suites after upgrading to SC 16.5
- RPI 1102093: Number of assigned tests is not consistent if data-driven is used
- RPI 1102143: Report Data tab: Download Data (.xlsx) is not working anymore
- RPI 1102145: "View Manual Test Results" action in testing cycle actions menu is not working anymore
- RPI 1102282: Data source sync disabled (same user role) after upgrading from SC 15.5 to SC 16.5
- RPI 1102418: "Child Test Recursive" option is not working as expected
- RPI 1102452: Prevent scrolling when dragging tests outside of screen area in manual execution planning
- RPI 1102476: Manual Tests Assigned to Me Dashboard Panel does not work when using non-default client
- RPI 1102480: JIRA integration - Custom attributes rendering issues
- Test data source view: Tool-tip for delete action fixed
- System health metrics: Fixed cleanup of archives
- Apache Commons Collections updated to version 3.2.2 (fixes possible serialization security vulnerability)

This hotfix also contains the following hotfix:

Hotfix 1

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Silk Central is all about giving users the freedom to use whatever methods and tools are part of their current development process. Some of the most popular tools developers are using out there now are JIRA and GitHub.

If you are not familiar with them, JIRA is an agile development tool and GitHub is one of the biggest source control tools for collaboration and code management.

These tools are being used to drive the future of what teams develop and something that you can utilize whilst testing with Silk Central.

JIRA

 Silk Central can automatically sync in with your JIRA project out of the box. This allows you to bring over all your user stories into Silk Central to track how many have a test which has passed.

We can turn this:

Into this:

We can now get a clear indication of how well our project is progressing and how many of our User Stories or Bugs we still have issues with.

Silk Central supports utilizing multiple test types and assets to make sure you can completely cover all your user stories before you are ready to release. 

GitHub

 As a team, more and more of us are relying on tools like GitHub for collaboration. This means that we have to make sure that the code we are checking in is being tested and verified.

Integrating your GitHub repository directly in to Silk Central is supported out of the box.

We can configure a Source Control integration to point to our GitHub directory, so as soon as a developer/tester has built a new version of the application with the latest test assets, we can test this against the application straight away.

We can then use this to monitor how the tests are progressing, as new code is checked in:

If one of our tests fails, we have the option to directly raise a defect in Silk Central, so that the developers can see this in JIRA and action a fix as quickly as possible.

For additional details on the JIRA and GitHub integration's you can find these in our Online Help.

Silk Central 16.5 Hotfix 3 (16.5.3.12) Readme

Software requirements:
Silk Central Version 16.5.0.0, Build 6463

Description:
The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:
- RPI 618559: It is not possible to continue a manual test of a test cycle from an execution plan
- RPI 1102507: Icon 'Continue Manual Test' is not available for a user on a particular machine
- RPI 1102740: Error on Silk Central's 'New Issue' dialog when setting a field of JIRA field type 'Radio Button'
- RPI 1102875: Allow changing report templates of global reports
- RPI 1102934: Invalid timespan when deleting test runs with option 'keep last run'
- RPI 1103034: Dashboard panels take a long time to load (+ timeout error)
- RPI 1103114: Updating test cases from Excel fails
- RPI 1103130: Enable status filtering on 'Last Activities' and 'Execution Plan Runs' grids
- RPI 1103168: Error on Silk Central's 'New Issue' dialog when setting a field of JIRA field type 'User Picker (Single User)'
- RPI 1103222: Error in Manual Tests panel when attribute name contains '

This Hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 1

Hotfix 2

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Steps:

Test management the easy way

Wouldn’t it be great to manage testing activities all from a single central place? Silk Central can help, but how? Find out in our blog, and watch the video to see how easy test management can be.

Read our blog, Taste success with the Silk Portfolio suite part 4/7: Test management with Silk Central

Silk Central 16.5 Hotfix 4 (16.5.4.12) Readme

Software requirements:
Silk Central Version 16.5.0.0, Build 6463

Description:
The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

- RPI 619048: SCTM exception caused deletion of all Execution Plans in folder
- RPI 1103327/1103980: Issue with datamart objects "DM_TestStatus" and "RV_TestingCycleStatus" on test re-assign
- RPI 1103330: JIRA Field Type Support (added support for JIRA field type "User Picker (Multi User)")
- RPI 1103386: Issues with the 'New Child Testing Cycle' command in Execution toolbar
- RPI 1103411: Name field in "New Filter" dialog is enabled although user only has Manage Filter permissions in another project
- RPI 1103428: Improve performance when selecting Test Container or Folder filter in Manual Execution Planning
- RPI 1103988: No Versions dropdown when creating new issue from Current Runs tab

This Hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 1

Hotfix 2

Hotfix 3

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Silk Central 16.5 Hotfix 5 (16.5.0.13) Readme

Software requirements:
Silk Central Version 16.5.0.12, Build 6463

Description:
The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:
- RPI 1104418: JIRA multi-select field values are not acknowledge when creating issues
- RPI 1104327: Performance issues in Silk Central - reduce database lock times when using SCC_TempTable0
- RPI 1104355: Timeouts occurring - filters using OR combinations caused OutOfMemory exceptions and high load on the database
- DataMart updater: Reduce the danger of overloading the database by limiting the number of retries during a timespan
- Improve performance of Manual Execution Planning operations
- Improve performance of database view LQM_V_Tests, which is used in many areas (Tests grid, filtering, reports, ...)
- Reduce performance impacts on other sessions when deleting tests and recalculating requirements coverage data
- Reduce initial load on database when starting the application server

This Hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 1

Hotfix 2

Hotfix 3

Hotfix 4

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine

Micro Focus proudly announces the general availability of Silk Central 17.0! If you already use Silk Central and you have a maintenance contract, you can upgrade to Silk Central 17.0 for free.

Silk Central 17.0, Micro Focus' premier test management solution, represents an innovative open solution that aids collaboration and controll for all testing related activites. As an open test management tool Silk Central allows users to unify all assets of the testing lifecycle in a central location for planning, execution (manual & automated), and reporting, by integrating with various requirements management, test automation, defect tracking, and source control tools, giving users full traceability of their software quality at all stages.

Highlights of Silk Central 17.0

Increased Data Security, Enhanced Stability and Scalability Through Instances

Silk Central 17.0 introduces a completely new, centralized page for managing your Silk Central infrastructure, and also introduces instances.

Such instances are independent sets of Silk Central services (application server (AS), front-end server (FE) and chart server (CS)), with their own database and execution server (ES) connections - which means physical separation of data and processes and therefore increased data security and enhanced stability and scalability compared to Silk Central Clients, which separate data logically within one database only.

Instances and their Silk Central services are managed through a common user interface called Instance Administration.

Additionally, all Silk Central services can now run in 64-bit mode.

Keyboard and Multi-Selection Support in Trees

The Requirements, Tests and Execution Planning trees now feature keyboard and multi-selection support which boosts efficiency dramatically. Basic navigation with the keyboard is also supported in the Reports and Code Coverage trees.

Following keyboard actions are supported:

Following keyboard actions for multi-selection are supported:

Mutli-Selection in the tree also brings additional functionality - for example you can now select several Execution Plans and run them.

Multi-Selection and Drag and Drop Support for Test and Requirement Assignments

Now the assignment grids in the Requirements, Tests and Execution Planning units support multi-selection and drag & drop. This means you can assign several requirements/tests within a single drag & drop action and you can remove several assigned requirements/tests in a single action.

Drag and Drop Tests to Execution Plan

Multi-Select Tests in Execution Planning Assignment

Rebranding

With version 17.0, all Silk products now fit together under the umbrella of the consolidated Micro Focus brand. With this move, the brands Attachmate, Borland, NetIQ, and Novell will disappear, while all the products of their respective brands become Micro Focus branded products.

Usability Enhancements

This section lists the usability enhancements that have been made throughout Silk Central 17.0.

Synchronizing Current Runs with all Updates

You can now synchronize all the information of current runs with a single click. If you have changed the test assignment of an execution plan, or if you have updated tests in the Tests area, and you want to reflect these changes in the current runs, click Synchronize Current Runs. This will update all assigned tests of the current runs. The Synchronize Current Runs button has moved from the Assigned Tests page to the Current Runs page.

XLSX Report Templates

Report templates in Silk Central are no longer limited to the outdated Excel XLS file type, but now also support the newer XLSX file type.

Locating a Testing Cycle in the Execution Planning Tree and Vice Versa

You can now locate a testing cycle in the Execution Planning tree and vice versa with a single click on the icon next to the testing cycle's name.

Assigning Manual Tests to All Testers of a Testing Cycle

In the Manual Execution Planning unit, you can now assign your selected tests to all manual testers of a testing cycle by simply dropping your selection onto the new icon in the test cycle header.

Dashboard Settings are Considered for Automatic User Account Creation

When letting Silk Central automatically create Silk Central user accounts after validating new users against an LDAP server, the dashboard settings of the selected template user are now copied for the new user.

Configurable List Size on Dependencies Page

A splitter has been added between the Master Execution Plans and Dependent Execution Plans lists on the Dependencies page, allowing you to change the size of the lists to your liking.

Linked Custom Requirement Properties

If the only value of a property is a URL, Silk Central automatically displays it as a link, which enables direct access to other web applications from within Silk Central.

Web Service Updates

This section lists the changes that have been made to the Silk Central Web services.

New API for Managing Execution Server Keywords

Two new web service methods have been added for managing execution server keywords. The web services getExecServerKeywords and updateExecServerKeywords can be found in the sccentities (MainEntities) instance.

Syntax:

String[] getExecServerKeywords(long sessionId, int execServerId) throws InvalidIdException, InternalException;

void updateExecServerKeywords(long sessionId, int execServerId, String[] keywords) throws InvalidIdException, InternalException;

Integration Enhancements

This section lists the enhancements that have been made to the integrations in Silk Central.

IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation Integration

Silk Central 17.0 offers out-of-the-box support for IBM Rational DOORS Next Generation, without the need to customize anything in your DOORS installation.

Office Import Enhancements

The functionality for importing requirements and tests from Microsoft Office has been enhanced.

Permission to Modify Office Import Mapping Files

A new permission has been added for modifying Office import mapping files. Users with the role Project Manager and Test Manager own this permission per default. Users with other roles will no longer be able to edit or create mapping files.

Ability to Assign Requirements to Imported Tests

A new property has been added to the test mapping file: Assigned Requirement IDs. If requirements should be assigned to the test, specify the ID's of those requirements as comma-separated list. Make sure that this column is formatted as "Text" in Excel, otherwise the assignment may not work.

Atlassian JIRA

The functionality around the integration with Atlassian Jira has been enhanced.

Atlassian 7 and JIRA Agile 7 Support

Silk Central now supports Atlassian JIRA 7 and JIRA Agile 7.

Pre-filtering Atlassian JIRA Agile Requirements

To limit the amount of requirements that are being synchronized, you can use the Custom JQL field to prefilter requirements before they are being synchronized. Create a query using JIRA Query Language (JQL) within your JIRA Agile system, then copy and paste the string into the Custom JQL field. For more information on JQL, visit Atlassian's Advanced Searching Documentation.

New Atlassian JIRA Issue Type and Custom Property Field Type Support

The Atlassian JIRA issue tracking integration now supports sub-task issue types and several new custom property field types. The Atlassian JIRA issue tracking integration now supports sub-task issue types by enabling you to set the issue's Parent Issue ID. Additionally, several new custom property field types are now supported:

• Date Picker / Date Time Picker

Note: These types are provided as text fields and need to be formatted like in JIRA: Date Picker: dd/MMM/yy (for example 24/Mar/16), Date Time Picker: dd/MMM/yy h:mm a (for example 24/Mar/16 4:11 AM)

• Group Picker (single group) / Group Picker (multiple groups)

• Project Picker (single project)

• User Picker (single user) / User Picker (multiple users)

Note: For JIRA version 5 and lower, users which are only part of the default jira-users group are not displayed.

• Version Picker (single version) / Version Picker (multiple versions)

Synchronization of Priority and Synopsis

When synchronizing the information about issues between Silk Central and your issue tracking system, the priority and synopsis of issues are now also updated automatically.

More Information

• For more information on all new features of Silk Central 17.0, you can also refer to the Online Help.

• Another valuable source of information: The Silk Central 17.0 Release Notes.

• If you are already convinced and want to try out or buy  Silk Central, don't hesitate to Contact Us!

Silk Central 16.5 Hotfix 6 (16.5.0.14) Readme

Software requirements:
Silk Central Version 16.5.0.12, Build 6463

Description:
The following issues have been resolved with this hotfix:

• RPI 1103959: Could not start child process for Silk Test Classic automated execution
• RPI 1104327: Performance issues in Silk Central:
  • Improve performance to load Matching Tests grid in Manual Execution Planning
  • Improve performance to load Planned Time statistics in Execution area
• RPI 1104457: Project list timeout error - fixed performance problem
• RPI 1104538: Copying Testcases results in steps being in wrong order
• RPI 1104850: Performance issues when users set new status for manual tests: Improved performance of background job to delete old statuses
• RPI 1105042: Error when editing filter with test parameters where project has 2 parameters and the names only differ in upper/lower case
• RPI 1105166: Test Container cannot be edited after Configuration Suite is created
  •  The filter dialog showed wrong value editor for test parameters in certain cases

This Hotfix also contains the following hotfixes:

Hotfix 1

Hotfix 2

Hotfix 3

Hotfix 4

Hotfix 5

You can download the hotfix from Micro Focus SupportLine