Welcome, my children. My name is Raina Dey, and I have returned for my third installment so far (if these get published in the right order – I hope someone can QA that). Did you miss me? My improbably appropriate name once again is atop an article! This importantly gives me another chance to talk to you about figuring out where things might break. Remember, it is just an app; it has no feelings, and your job is to break it if possible through negative testing. Negative testing is not a sad thing; it is a happy occasion knowing that things work!
So, today we are going to look at gas pumps. Actually, we are going to look at testing gas pumps. Looking at gas pumps is just something I do when trying to end on an even dollar amount — a little OCD on my part. I guess it is part of the “attention to details” that made me want to get into testing. Anyways, this will be more like our first problem (negative testing for an ATM) than my blackjack one. Keep in mind, we are only going to focus on negative testing, although we will include a little extra to play with alterations to the maximum charge. So let’s just move onwards to the oopsies.
a. Attendant has not authorized pump to pump (… so the pump won’t pump)
b. Invalid card is not recognized if used inside (includes invalid strip, facing wrong way, unacceptable card type)
c. User is authorized to pump a prepaid amount but is trying to pump beyond (so it stops pumping at that amount), and re-inserting the spent card is blocked
d. Try pumping > $75 (standard preset maximum) after prepaying > $75 (test with both fixed amount and unlimited amount pay methods)
e. Repeat previous step after changing maximum to $80 to ensure cutoff at $80
f. Repeat previous step after changing maximum to $50 to ensure cutoff at $50
a. Valid card is blocked when a non-matching ZIP code is entered
b. Invalid card is not recognized if used inside (includes invalid strip, facing wrong way, unacceptable card type)
c. User is authorized to pump a prepaid amount but is trying to pump beyond (so it stops pumping at that amount), and re-inserting the spent card is blocked
d. Try pumping > $75 (standard preset maximum) after prepaying > $75 (test with both fixed amount and unlimited amount pay methods)
e. Repeat previous step after changing maximum to $80 to ensure cutoff at $80
f. Repeat previous step after changing maximum to $50 to ensure cutoff at $50
a. Valid card is blocked when a non-matching ZIP code is entered
b. Invalid card is not recognized if used inside (includes invalid strip, facing wrong way, unacceptable card type)
c. User is authorized to pump a prepaid amount but is trying to pump beyond (so it stops pumping at that amount), and re-inserting the spent card is blocked
d. Try pumping > $75 (standard preset maximum) after prepaying > $75 (test with both fixed amount and unlimited amount pay methods)
e. Repeat previous step after changing maximum to $80 to ensure cutoff at $80
f. Repeat previous step after changing maximum to $50 to ensure cutoff at $50
a. If no response to receipt request, the preset default is used at timeout time
b. Time out and return to seeking new customer if too long a wait on all screens
a. All of the above should be tested on all 3 grades of gas plus diesel
b. Confirm that the pump should know to shut off once the tank is full
c. When the receipt paper roll runs low, a message needs to be sent to the office identifying which pump needs new paper
d. If self-service and assisted have different prices, make sure that everything above works using the self-service price at handicap pumps
e. We won’t address pumps that accept cash – you can go back to the ATM problem if you want to experience that kind of fun
Can you think of anything else? That one wasn’t so bad. I want to do another one. Please write in comments below this blog post and help this list become more complete if you can find anything I may have missed, or suggest what we should test next time. This is Raina Dey, of Raina Dey Scenarios, saying good night.
