Overview of how XRAY integrates into JIRA

XRAY for Jira is a leading Test Management tool that provides the structure to organise, plan, and report with accuracy on the progress of your testing and the readiness to deploy.

This article briefly outlines an overview of the cloud-based version of this test management tool and how it integrates into your own Jira projects.

NB: The above commercial plug-in is available from the Atlassian Marketplace (which can be trialled for free for 30-days).

 

Testing Issue Types in Jira

When you enable XRAY for JIRA in JIRA – it will add its own standard set of issue types – as shown:
In the admin settings, you can also decide which of the existing Jira issue types within your current projects will be a “coverable entity” for performing tests against (Epics, Stories, Requirements, etc.). 

All these issue types will then be classed as “Requirements” with regards to the report. You also decide what issue to use when raising a defect from inside the testing tool (default is the standard “Bug”).

In our case, we’ve got different issue types for specifying “functional” and “non-functional” requirements, which are our primary “testable” elements – as shown:

 

Requirements in Jira

Requirements can then be created directly in Jira or imported from a spreadsheet.

In our example case – we have Twelve requirements (“Functional Requirement” tickets) created and included within an “Epic”, which is the primary container for our requirements.

 

Tests for each of the Requirements

Each of the Requirement issues should have at least one Test linked to it (the test does not need to be unique; there is a many-to-many relationship here).

These Test issue(s) will be shown within the Test Repository for the Jira project – as shown in the larger image below: Tests issue(s) will show as “Linked Issues” in Jira (as shown in the smaller image below).

 

Workflow for Test issue types

Each of the six default Test issue types (as added by XRAY) can have its own workflows to suit your needs.

These workflows can be as simple or complex as needed to suit your own QA processes and support your teams.

Within the XRAY settings for your project – you can decide whether to limit the running on Tests to only certain statuses within the workflow.

In our case, we can only run tests that have been “Approved” (as shown in the top diagram):

 

Relationships between Test Entities Issue Types

The primary testing-related entities are the following items (as highlighted) …

• “Tests” are always linked back to “Requirements”.
• “Test Plans” are linked to a group or list of Tests.
• “Test Executions” are linked to each of the “Test Runs”, “Test Plan”, or “Tests” – or optionally, Tests can be grouped into a “Test Set”.

Optionally, “Tests” can be linked together with their own or common “Preconditions”.

If needed, “Test Executions” can also be run against specific against “Project Versions.”



The “Test” issues include additional sections added into the body of the Jira ticket showing details for each of the other corresponding test issue type items (which are related to this test item).

The latest details of the corresponding test entities (“test details”, “precondition”, “test test”, “test plan”, “test run”, etc) are automatically shown within the Test ticket.

Each of the other related Test entities (e.g. “test set”, “test plan”, “test run”, etc) can also be opened as their own Jira tickets.




Navigation links are automatically included at the top of the Test issue ticket allowing you to jump to the corresponding Test Entity section within the issue.

NB: The latter items are additionally available via clicking on the “ellipses” (3 dots) icon.



A simple example of the primary sections within the Test issues are as shown below:


NB: The “Preconditions” and “Test Sets” sections are optional and being ignored here for simplicity.

 

Test Plan issues for each set of Requirements

“Test Plan” issues can be created which contain links to any number of tests (which themselves are linked to any number of requirements).

Test Plan issues can be opened as their own issue.  Test Plan tickets can be edited and have own workflow. “Overall Execution Status” section is included which shows details of the current position of the Test tickets – as shown:

 

Test Execution issues for each Test Plan

“Test Execution” issues can be created, containing links to any number of tests (which themselves are linked to any number of requirements).

Test Execution issues can be opened as their issue.  Test Execution tickets can be edited and have their workflow.

“Overall Execution Status” section is included, which shows details of the current position of the Test tickets (as contained within the Test Plans) – as shown:

 

Test Coverage is shown for each Requirement

Whenever looking at the Requirement level – the requirement issue automatically gets a “Test Coverage” section added onto the ticket (whenever it gets a Test ticket associated with it).

The results for the tests for the specific requirement are displayed – as shown:

 

Conclusions

XRAY for JIRA is our recommended choice for providing test management software directly inside of JIRA.

Tests are easily created and linked to each of your Requirements. Test Plans and Test Executions are easily used to report the latest results from each round of testing – where the statuses of test results are provided and integrated into the associated Test items.

You can also use XRAY gadgets to create Testing dashboards to meet the needs of your QA teams and management reports.

As Atlassian Partners – TribusIT can help to introduce or adapt your existing Jira setups to become the best solution for Test Management.