This section of the User Guide covers the aspects of TestBench that are applicable during the time you are testing programs, and leads on to the sections which deal with looking at the results of the tests and comparing two versions of a file.

Later sections of this document describe TestDrive and ‘Native’ Record and Playback which are the components of TestBench used for driving keystrokes in an interactive application and for verifying the screen images produced as a result. They can be used with or without Test Cases but there are many advantages in using the integrated functions of TestDrive or ‘Native’ R&P and TestBench in harmony.

Traditionally, without TestBench, it is often found necessary to do a test, and to look at the results of that test, before doing another. However with TestBench, particularly when testing batch programs, you might wish to call the programs several times with multiple parameter sets, whilst advancing job dates and review the results later. This means you can create a Test Case to repeatedly exercise a program through a series of standard tests, leave it to run overnight and then analyse the results of all the runs at your convenience, after TestBench has already checked the Rules and expected values you have defined.

The Developer Workbench (Adhoc_IT) provides a practical tool to help developers in the early stages of unit testing and program execution, memorising recent program calls and parameter values, capturing job log information and returned parameters.