Edit Case Steps

AIO Tests allows you to edit the steps of all the test cases they have created with the click of a button. Whether you want to perform bulk editing of case details or want to bulk update the steps of existing test cases, the test management lets you do it with ease. 

This is an advanced feature and some key application areas are:

• If you want to add/edit steps across multiple cases

• If you want to edit the title of multiple existing cases

• If you want to use Excel features like insert, delete, etc., to quickly update your existing cases

In this documentation, you’ll understand:

Overview of the Process

Edit case steps workflow consists of three steps as shown in the below image: 

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Steps to Export Existing Cases to Excel

Step 1: To export existing cases to Excel, simply click on the Cases option in the top bar menu.

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Step 2: Click on the vertical ellipsis icon (⋮) and select the Export Steps option from the dropdown menu. 

Once you click on the Export Steps option, the Excel file will be downloaded to your system (sample shown below). The details included are Case Key, Title, Description, Step type (BDD/Classic), Keyword (for BDD cases), Steps, Linked Case Key (same project or other project’s case key), Data, Expected Result and Step ID and an Instructions sheet. 

Make Updates in Exported Excel

To ensure that the AIO Tests app continues to understand that these are existing cases, the updates have to be made in a specific way. Below are the instructions for each field. These details are present in brief in the Instructions sheet in the exported Excel. 

1. Key: This is the key of the existing case in AIO and thus shouldn’t be updated or deleted.

2. Description: It is the current description of the test cases in AIO. It can be updated in Excel or deleted.

3. Title: This is the title of the existing case in AIO. The title can be updated in Excel and it shouldn’t exceed 255 characters else it will error out on importing back. Title is a mandatory field thus it cannot be left blank either.

4. Step Type: Tells if the case is a BDD case or a classic case. The step type can be updated if the case is not linked to other entities. For additional rules regarding conversion click here. The steps can be updated using the keywords of Gherkin.

5. Keyword: This column is filled only for BDD cases and can be updated using the supported keywords (Given, When, Then, And and But).

6. Datasets/Examples: Datasets or examples defined in the case are exported as pipe-separated values. Datasets can be added, edited, deleted or reordered.

   1. The first row is considered as a parameter name.

   2. Parameters can be added, removed or modified.

   3. To remove a dataset, remove the entire row.

   4. To add a dataset, add pipe-separated values for parameters.

   5. If there is an empty value, simply add a pipe to keep it empty.

7. Steps: These are the steps of the case. Each step is on a different row and has a step ID associated with it (last column). Steps can be added, edited, deleted and reordered.

   1. Add a new step: Insert a new row and add details of the step. Leave Step ID blank and AIO Tests will interpret it as a new step.

   2. Edit a step: Update the contents of existing steps. Don’t change the Step ID.

   3. Delete a step: Delete the entire row (Step ID also gets removed). If the Step ID is not found while importing, AIO Tests will interpret that the step needs to be deleted.

   4. Reorder steps: Cut the entire row and paste it into the new location. The Step ID in this case stays the same as the entire row is being moved.

8. Linked Case: This is the key of the case that is linked as a step in the case. Users can link cases of the same as well as other projects that they have access to.

   1. A new case can be linked by adding a row and providing a valid AIO Tests case key.

   2. The existing link can be updated by changing the key to another valid AIO Tests case key.

   3. Linked cases can be removed by deleting the entire row.

9. Data: This is data corresponding to each step of a case. This field acts the same as the Steps field- can be added, edited, deleted and reordered (along with the step and expected result). Actions need to be taken on the entire row. If new data is being added, the corresponding step description and expected result also need to be added as they are mandatory fields for a step.

10. Expected Result: This is the expected result corresponding to each step of a case. This field acts similarly to the Steps field- can be added, edited, deleted and reordered (along with data and expected results). Actions need to be taken on the entire row. If a new expected result is being added, a corresponding step description also needs to be added as it is a mandatory field for a step.

11. Step ID: This represents the step ID of each step from AIO Tests. Keep the below rules in mind for this field:

    1. When adding new steps, leave this field blank.

    2. When editing existing steps, do not change this field.

    3. When deleting existing steps, delete the entire row in turn deleting this field.

    4. When reordering steps, ensure step ID gets reordered with the rest of the row.

Steps to Import Edited Steps Excel File

Step 1: To import the edited steps Excel file, all you need to do is click on the Cases option in the top bar menu.

Step 2: Click on the vertical ellipsis icon (⋮) and select the Import Edited Steps option from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: On the Import Edited Steps page, click on the Browse to upload file button to attach the updated Excel file. 

Step 4: Click on the Upload and Import button. This will schedule the file to be imported. The import scheduler runs every 3 minutes and imports any uploaded files. The status of the import can be checked in the Jobs section as shown below. The file is initially in ‘Queued’ status. Once it's picked up and processed, the status changes to ‘Completed’ if no errors are found while importing. ‘Finished with Errors’ status shows up if the import failed.

Users can check details around each case by clicking on the 'Details' link next to the Created Date. 

Common Errors

A few of the errors that may occur during the entire process of editing case steps are explained below:

1. Step and Expected result are mandatory in steps: A new step is added but the expected result is missing or the expected result is removed from an existing step.

2. Case not found or insufficient permissions: An invalid case key is provided as a linked case or a case key is changed and it is not valid. Another reason for this error is that the case key provided is in draft status and it belongs to other users thus the user trying to import that case doesn’t have access to it. It can also happen if the user doesn’t have access to the linked case of other projects.

3. Step ID does not belong to the test or a new version has been created: The steps of the case in question have been changed in the AIO Tests app after the export was taken but before import could be done. In such scenarios, a new version of the case gets created in AIO Tests with new step IDs. This makes the exported data stale and it cannot be mapped to the updated version in AIO Tests.

For further queries and suggestions, feel free to reach out to our customer support service via help@aiotests.com.