FEATURING CHARACTERS BY:
 omegaforever
 nishi
 yosh-e-o

A CONTINUATION OF:
Dirty Carets by: nishi

Ever since November of last year, I have been tasked to do a variety of test based activities for a most ruthless application that goes by the name of CARET. This application is a real gem, too, as it is extremely complex with screens that inter-connect in various ways depending on how a user clicks buttons and selects checkboxes. Moreover, the application is like an Indiana Jones trap laden treasure trove where one false move can doom the user to having to restart an entire sequence of events or, worse, scrap an entire project just so the user can ensure everything goes together the way it is supposed to.

The above description illustrates how tricky this application is to operate as a user. However, imagine writing a script in MS Excel that screen-by-screen and action-by-action tells someone who has never used the application before how to verify that every trigger does what it is supposed to? Moreover, in writing said script, note potential ways in which said individual who has never used the application before can test to ensure that text boxes, buttons, drop-down menus, etc. don't do things they aren't supposed to?

The above is how I have been spending the majority of each of my days at work for the past month. This is a very important task. However, as you can imagine, it is VERY tedious and frustrating. Especially when you add on all the defects I find along the way that, due to policy and procedure, cannot be fixed until an official assignment is given to our department to enhance the application for the internal customer. So, as I go about this task, I have to dance around errors that need to be repaired while leaving notes in my scripts so I can finish certain screens later once our developers are approved to do something about them.

Again, though, this is an important task and one that, for as much as I feel my sanity slipping as I do it, am glad I can be a part of. The errors and upgrade concepts I document will, one day, be put into a full implementation of an upgrade to the application that will make the system more user friendly. Moreover, thanks to what I am doing, people can accurately test the application to be sure we deliver a high quality end product as free of bugs as possible.

THough, for now, allow me to throw my arms into the air and scream as, with the week coming to an end, I can hardly wait to get away from my desk so I can focus on creative good times and not the tedious glow of CARET and line-after-line of MS Excel spreadsheet.