Testing Kexi

 started by jstaniek, september 2006

See also Testers WANTED page.

Table of Contents    First steps    What to Test?    How to Report Bugs

First steps

• Subscribe to mailing list(s) to be aware of the development process and to be able to effectively contact all other people involved in the project.
• Linux/Unix: either
  • get binary Kexi package(s),
  • get the source code tarball and compile it, or
  • compile Kexi downloaded source code from Subversion.

It's recommended to work on the newest possible version with debug information (i.e. the one compiled from Subversion), so if you area able to compile it, do it.

• Do not forget to compile and/or install MS Access Migration Driver if yo uwant to test MS Access databases importing. This is specified
• (optional, if you plan to test translations) Find and install a translation package for Kexi (there is actually one per language for entire KOffice suite). If you have not a binary package, you can get the source files and install them. TODO: inform how to do this. The same for translated documentation.

• If you want to use Windows version, just download its binary package and install it, but note that you will not get the bleeding edge version.
• An alternative to installing Kexi is to connect to the remote Testing Server dedicated for Kexi, if you have internet access. More information is PLANNED here.
• After you start Kexi for the first time, you will be able to create a new empty database. Use the Handbook to get informtion how to do this.
• If you plan to use and test support for server databases, you will need access to a server. It can be the same computer as your desktop machine, but you'll need to install the databse server software on your own. If you have not enough knowledge to do this, ask some one (e.g. a network administrator) to do so.
• You may also want to use example databases as a reference.
  • These databases are saved in self-contained files for your convenience:
    • Simple Database.kexi (click+SHIFT on this to download); If you compiled Kexi from
    • A database with  Large data (~600KB, download it and uncompress before use)
  • Example databases on a database server (MySQL, PostgreSQL) useful to test server connections. Will be provided, more information is PLANNED here. Please offere a server space if you can. Please provide test databases if you have such (must be legal)..

What to Test?

You can:

• test for crashes or misbehaviour
• locate places where Kexi is ineffective (e.g. for large data sets) or hangs
• test particular functionality and propose entensions, e.g. data importing functions
• compare the application to the competition and identify the most expected features that Kexi currently lacks
• test for usability
• test for accessibility
• test for localizations issues, including support for right-to-left languages, etc. (note: errors in translations to other languages should be reported to a particular translation team)
• locate errors in the Kexi Handbook, report unclear or incomplete paragraphs, outdated or missing screenshots (the above note about translation teams also apply to translated documentation)

How to Report Bugs

• Use the wizard at bugs.kde.org (KDE Bug Tracking System) to submit a bug report or a wish. First check using this query tool if there's already similar bug or wish reported. Carefully read advices on the wizard's pages. Specify your operating system version and Kexi version. Attach an example file (or paste a link to it if the file is large). This helps a lot, and you will get faster and more accurate response.
• Related KDE Bug Tracking System's tools:
  • Report Count by Kexi's Component and Severity
  • Kexi chart for bugs ownership
• Contact Kexi developers by mail or by visiting #kexi and #koffice IRC channels.