Manual Testing Interview 

Questions And Answers Set - 2

 
What's a 'test plan'?
A software project test plan is a document that describes the objectives, scope, approach, and focus
of a software testing effort. The process of preparing a test plan is a useful way to think through the
efforts needed to validate the acceptability of a software product. The completed document will help
people outside the test group understand the 'why' and 'how' of product validation. It should be
thorough enough to be useful but not so thorough that no one outside the test group will read it. The
following are some of the items that might be included in a test plan, depending on the particular
project:
? Title
? Identification of software including version/release numbers
? Revision history of document including authors, dates, approvals
? Table of Contents
? Purpose of document, intended audience
? Objective of testing effort
? Software product overview
? Relevant related document list, such as requirements, design documents, other test plans, etc.
? Relevant standards or legal requirements
? Traceability requirements
? Relevant naming conventions and identifier conventions
? Overall software project organization and personnel/contact-info/responsibilties
? Test organization and personnel/contact-info/responsibilities
? Assumptions and dependencies
? Project risk analysis
? Testing priorities and focus
? Scope and limitations of testing
? Test outline - a decomposition of the test approach by test type, feature, functionality, process,
system, module, etc. as applicable
? Outline of data input equivalence classes, boundary value analysis, error classes
? Test environment - hardware, operating systems, other required software, data configurations,
interfaces to other systems
? Test environment validity analysis - differences between the test and production systems and their
impact on test validity.
? Test environment setup and configuration issues
? Software migration processes
? Software CM processes
? Test data setup requirements
? Database setup requirements
? Outline of system-logging/error-logging/other capabilities, and tools such as screen capture
software, that will be used to help describe and report bugs
? Discussion of any specialized software or hardware tools that will be used by testers to help track
the cause or source of bugs
? Test automation - justification and overview
? Test tools to be used, including versions, patches, etc.
? Test script/test code maintenance processes and version control
? Problem tracking and resolution - tools and processes
? Project test metrics to be used
? Reporting requirements and testing deliverables
? Software entrance and exit criteria
? Initial sanity testing period and criteria
? Test suspension and restart criteria
? Personnel allocation
? Personnel pre-training needs
? Test site/location
? Outside test organizations to be utilized and their purpose, responsibilties, deliverables, contact
persons, and coordination issues
? Relevant proprietary, classified, security, and licensing issues.
? Open issues
? Appendix - glossary, acronyms, etc.
What makes a good test engineer?
A good test engineer has a 'test to break' attitude, an ability to take the point of view of the customer,
a strong desire for quality, and an attention to detail. Tact and diplomacy are useful in maintaining a
cooperative relationship with developers, and an ability to communicate with both technical
(developers) and non-technical (customers, management) people is useful. Previous software
development experience can be helpful as it provides a deeper understanding of the software
development process, gives the tester an appreciation for the developers' point of view, and reduce
the learning curve in automated test tool programming. Judgment skills are needed to assess high-
risk areas of an application on which to focus testing efforts when time is limited.
What makes a good Software QA engineer?
The same qualities a good tester has are useful for a QA engineer. Additionally, they must be able to
understand the entire software development process and how it can fit into the business approach
and goals of the organization. Communication skills and the ability to understand various sides of
issues are important. In organizations in the early stages of implementing QA processes, patience
and diplomacy are especially needed. An ability to find problems as well as to see 'what's missing' is
important for inspections and reviews.
What makes a good QA or Test manager?
A good QA, test, or QA/Test(combined) manager should:
? be familiar with the software development process
? be able to maintain enthusiasm of their team and promote a positive atmosphere, despite
? what is a somewhat 'negative' process (e.g., looking for or preventing problems)
? be able to promote teamwork to increase productivity
? be able to promote cooperation between software, test, and QA engineers
? have the diplomatic skills needed to promote improvements in QA processes
? have the ability to withstand pressures and say 'no' to other managers when quality is insufficient or
QA processes are not being adhered to
? have people judgement skills for hiring and keeping skilled personnel
? be able to communicate with technical and non-technical people, engineers, managers, and
customers.
? be able to run meetings and keep them focused
What's the role of documentation in QA?
Critical. (Note that documentation can be electronic, not necessarily paper.) QA practices should be
documented such that they are repeatable. Specifications, designs, business rules, inspection reports,
configurations, code changes, test plans, test cases, bug reports, user manuals, etc. should all be
documented. There should ideally be a system for easily finding and obtaining documents and
determining what documentation will have a particular piece of information. Change management for
documentation should be used if possible.
What's the big deal about 'requirements'?
ne of the most reliable methods of insuring problems, or failure, in a complex software project is to
have poorly documented requirements specifications. Requirements are the details describing an
application's externally-perceived functionality and properties. Requirements should be clear,
complete, reasonably detailed, cohesive, attainable, and testable. A non-testable requirement would
be, for example, 'user-friendly' (too subjective). A testable requirement would be something like 'the
user must enter their previously-assigned password to access the application'. Determining and
organizing requirements details in a useful and efficient way can be a difficult effort; different methods
are available depending on the particular project. Many books are available that describe various
approaches to this task. (See the Bookstore section's 'Software Requirements Engineering' category
for books on Software Requirements.)
Care should be taken to involve ALL of a project's significant 'customers' in the requirements process.
'Customers' could be in-house personnel or out, and could include end-users, customer acceptance
testers, customer contract officers, customer management, future software maintenance engineers,
salespeople, etc. Anyone who could later derail the project if their expectations aren't met should be
included if possible.
Organizations vary considerably in their handling of requirements specifications. Ideally, the
requirements are spelled out in a document with statements such as 'The product shall.....'. 'Design'
specifications should not be confused with 'requirements'; design specifications should be traceable
back to the requirements.
In some organizations requirements may end up in high level project plans, functional specification
documents, in design documents, or in other documents at various levels of detail. No matter what
they are called, some type of documentation with detailed requirements will be needed by testers in
order to properly plan and execute tests. Without such documentation, there will be no clear-cut way
to determine if a software application is performing correctly.
'Agile' methods such as XP use methods requiring close interaction and cooperation between
programmers and customers/end-users to iteratively develop requirements. The programmer uses
'Test first' development to first create automated unit testing code, which essentially embodies the
requirements.

SET TOP BOX QUESTIONS

Do I really need a set-top box?

YES!!!! Even if your HDTV has a built-in HD tuner, you are required to have an RTC set-top box.

How do I turn off the Set Top Box?

A common problem with getting used to the STB is how to know whether or not it is turned off when

you are not watching it. The STB will continue to run if you do not turn it off even though the TV

itself is turned off. To turn it off, press the STB button on your remote control and then press

the red power button.

ADB STB: A red LED will illuminate when the STB is off.

Amino STB: The red LED will continue to illuminate when the STB is off. However, if you press

your remote control, the LED will not flash. This confirms it is off.

How do I reboot or restart the Set Top Box ?

From time to time because of the digital format, the Set Top Box will need to be rebooted. To do
this,

simply pull the power cable from the back of the unit and plug it back in. It generally takes around

2 minutes to reboot itself.

What may cause a reboot of the STB?

The STB device is very sensitive to lightning and if power is lost during a storm, you may need to
reboot.

General use over time may also constitute a reboot. When rebooting the entire system, always

begin with the modem, and then move to the STB’s. General use over time may also constitute

a reboot. The devices carry a tremendous load every second of every day, and just like a computer
that

runs all the time, it can affect the performance of the devices.

What should I do if the Info Bar is on the bottom of the screen but there is no picture?

You will need to power cycle the STB and wait at least 10 seconds.

How do I reboot my STB?

Unplug the STB from the wall outlet and wait 10 seconds before you plug the STB back into the

wall outlet.

What should I do if my STB appears to not work correctly?

Verify that your television is on, verify that your STB power in on, verify correct input channel is on.

What should I do if the picture on my TV screen is distorted?

Reconnect any loose cables-but only using your hand and not any other tools. Verify that your

TV is tuned to Channel 3 or 4.

What should I do if my Electronic Program Guide is frozen?

Reset your set-top box, unplug the box, wait a few seconds and then plug it back in. Please note,

it may take a few minutes for the software to update and the EPG to become operational again.

My STB will not turn on. What could be the problem?

Your set-top box may be updating. Wait a few minutes and try it again. If that doesn’t work, make 4

sure that the power cord is plugged in and that the outlet is working. Finally, turn on the set-top box

manually by pushing the power button on the front instead of using your remote (batteries in
remote

control may be dead).

What should I do if there is no video picture on the TV screen?

Make sure that both your TV and set-top box are powered “on.” Next, check that your remote is set
to the

appropriate input source and that you are tuned to an authorized cable channel (if you’re not sure,
try

turning to a channel you know that you get). Finally, if your TV or set-top box is connected to a
home

theater system, make sure that the home theater system is powered on, too, and that the cables are

correctly connected. If any cable connections are loose, hand-tighten them.

Will I need a separate digital set-top box for each of my TV’s?

No, not to receive standard cable TV. However, you will need a separate digital set-top box for each
TV

you’d like to receive digital services on (such as premium movie channels, music channels,

Electronic Program Guide, etc).

If I get an HD set-top box, will all of my programming be in HD?

No. Only programming that is produced in HD and is delivered via an HD-specific channel is shown in
HD.

Refer to our channel lineup for a complete list of HD channels.

Set-top Boxes

Set-top Box - (STB) - May be known as set top, Set-tops, set-top box,
set top box, STB, Receivers, Converters, Decoders, Intelligent Set-top
Boxes, Set-top Decoders, Smart Encoder, Digital TV Converter, DTV
Converter, Voice-enabled Set-top Boxes, Digital Decoder, DTV Tuner,
Descrambler, Digital Set-top Box, Addressable Converter, Demodulator,
Smart TV Set-top Box, ITV enabled Set-top Box, Internet-enabled Set-top
Box, ITV enabled Set-top Cable Box, Satellite-enabled Set-top Box,
Cable-enabled Set-top Box, Low-end Boxes, Thin Boxes, Thick Boxes,
Smart TV Set-top Box, Super Box, All-in-one Set Top Box, Integrated Set
Top Box, Hybrid Cable Box, Media Center. Associated with Digital Media
Adapters, Digital Media Receivers, Windows Media Extender Set-top
Boxes, Gaming Consoles, Multifunction Adapter.)

Its ancestor is often considered the Nintendo game box as those ancient
8-bit game boxes had data ports. (A data port is a physical interface on a
device through which information travels.) A set-top box (STB) is a device
that connects to an external signal source and decodes that signal into
content that can be presented on a display unit such as a TV. 

Modern day set-top boxes generally are digital devices that communicate
using computer language. In the past when the set-top box functions
were built in to another device, such as a TV, it might have been referred
to as a device with a“built-in”. Now-a-days the phrase “built-in” has been
superceeded by the phrase "integrated". Now a TV with set-top box
functionality built into it is more often called an "Integrated TV". If it's a
digital TV, it would be known as an "Integrated Digital TV" (iDTV). Do
note that just because a TV has set-top box functions built in to it, that
doesn't mean it's a digital TV.  In that case it's just an analog TV with set-
top box functions built into it. 

A set-top box is a computerized device that processes digital information.

Set-top boxes (STB) come in many forms and can have a variety of
functions. Digital Media Adapters, Digital Media Receivers, Windows Media
Extender and most video game consoles are also examples of set-top
boxes. Currently the type of TV set-top box most widely used is one which
receives encoded/compressed digital signals from the signal source
(perhaps your cable or telco TV provider's headend) and
decodes/decompresses those signals, converting them into analog signals
that youranalog (SDTV) television can understand. The STB accepts
commands from the user (often via the use of remote devices such as a
remote control) and transmits these commands back to the network
operator through some sort of return path. Most set-top boxes deployed
today have return path capability for two-way communication.

STBs can make it possible to receive and display TV signals, connect to

networks, play games via a game console, surf the  Internet, interact
with Interactive Program Guides (IPGs), virtual channels, electronic
storefronts, walled gardens, send e-mail, and videoconference. Many
STBs are able to communicate in real time with devices such as
camcorders, DVD and CD players, portable media devices and music
keyboards. Some have huge hard-drives and smart card slots to put your
smart card into for purchases and identification.

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Generally put, to provide interactive services, the set-top box might need
some or all of the below:

(1)  A network that offers the potential for interactivity.

(2) The network interface - This connects the STB to a network which
makes it possible to communicate with the servers.  
(3)  A tuner is electronics that 'catch' the incoming signal.
(4) The decoder - In order to save storage space, disk bandwidth, and
network bandwidth, programming is usually encoded (compressed) before
being sent over the network to the STB. Thus, the end-user (subscriber)
needs a decoder to decode (uncompress among other things) the
incoming stream's data before it can be viewable on the TV. This is part of
what a modem does. The decoding process may be known as (or
include) Demodulation (Heavy Lifting.) It could includeDemultiplexing.
Also see Codec. H.264 (MPEG-4) compression technology utilizes up to 40
percent less network bandwidth than the MPEG-2 compression used in
most systems to date.  
(5) The buffer - Due to delay jitters in the network, the exact arrival time
of a video stream often cannot be determined. In order to guarantee
continuous and consistent playback for the viewer, the video and/or data
stream(s) may be received one or even a few seconds before it's actually
seen by the end-user.  This way if there are fluctuations in the transport
time of the streams to that receiver (aka set-top box, decoder), the
viewer won't know the difference as their buffer has a bit of time to
spare. 
(6) Synchronization software/hardware - Video and audio streams must
be synchronized with each other before viewing. Other streams may be
added including those related to enhancements (such as metadata.) 
(7) Middleware
(8) Platform
(9) Applications
(10) Any additional software and/or hardware.
(11) A return path (back channel).

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Set-top boxes may be associated with these major categories. (The below
was originally written in 2002 and has some updates):  

(1) Broadcast TV Set-top Boxes - (a.k.a. Thin Boxes) - A more primitive

set-top box with no back channel (return path.)  These might come with
interface ports,some memory and some processing power.  

(2) Enhanced TV Set-top Boxes - (May be known as: Smart TV Set-top

Box, Thick Boxes) - These have a back channel (return path), often
through a phone line. These may be capable of Video on Demand, e-
commerce, Internet browsing, e-mail communications, chat and more.

(3) Advanced Set-top Boxes - (a.k.a. Advanced digital Set-top boxes,

Smart TV Set-top Box, Thick Boxes, All-in-one Set Top Box, Media
Center) - A fully integrated set-top box.  These have good processors,
memory, middleware, software applications and optional hard-drives. 
They're often used with high-speed (broadband) connections. Features
could include high-speed Internet access,Interactive TV, digital video
recording & gaming. Instead of this, a "sidecar" (below) might be used in
tandem with the set top box and/or TV. Advanced set-top boxes are more
likely to be integrated with DVRs and high-definition TV. See Media
Centers.

(4) Sidecar -  (Please note this 2007 update; as advanced set-top boxes

now typically are integrated units, the sidecar is not often used.) - This
type of set-top box provides an additional transport stream of data from
the network operator to compliment the main stream.  With Charter
Communications’, the BMC-8000 (Broadband Media Center) is/was a
sidecar box that works in tandem with the Motorola DCT-2000. A fully
integrated unit would not require a Sidecar. 

(5) Hybrid Digital Cable Box – A Hybrid Digital Cable Box is a specialized

cable TV set-top box with high end functions. Motorola Broadband’s
DCP501 home theater system is/was an example (depending on when
you read this.) It has/had a DVD player and high-end stereo output. This
term may be antiquated. See Home Media Centers.

(6) Over-the-top Boxes - Electronic device manufacturers are providing

DVD players, video game consoles and TVs with built-in wireless
connectivity. These devices piggy back on an existing wireless network
and pull content from the Internet and deliver it to the TV set. Typically
these devices need no additional wires, hardware or advanced knowledge
in how to operate. Content suited for TV can be delivered via the Internet.
These OTT applications include Facebook and YouTube. Also see Internet-
connected TV.
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In the States, CableCARD can offer an alternative for cable TV users. The

physical CableCARD is a PCMCIA type II PC card approximately the size of
a thick credit card. These allows cable consumers in the States to view
and record digital cable television channels on DVRs, PCs and TVs without
the use of decoding equipment such as a set top box. CableCARDs unlock
the channels and services that the cable customer has subscribed to.
Some CableCARD technologies can even be used with devices that have
no physical CableCARD slots.

In the States, Motorola and Cisco's Scientific Atlanta supply most of the boxes cable
operators provide to subscribers. 

Codec

Encoder - An encoder is a program and/or device used to change a

signal, or stream of data, into a code that a compatible computerized
device can work with. This code may be further manipulated for optimal
results. This encoded data typically needs a "decoder" at the receiving
end to change it into a signal or data stream that a TV or other applicable
device can understand.  (Analog TVs don't understand digital signals
unless the signal is "decoded" by the set-top box for them.)

Decoder

Demultiplexer

Firmware - Firmware is often used in set-top boxes.

Media Center

Multiplex

Firmware - (1) Firmware is computer hardware which contain instructions and data

permanently programmed (embedded) into the circuits that are responsible for
controlling the operation of an electronic device. 
(2) Software contained in a read-only memory (ROM) device.

Middleware (TV) - (a.k.a. System software or Platform software, Middleware

Layer. Associated with Interactive Entertainment Middleware, Interactive
Television Middleware, Interactive TV Middleware, Television Related
Middleware, Set-top Box Software.) - Middleware is a general term for software
programming that serves to "glue together" or mediate (communicate) between
two or more separate programs and/or manufacturers.  Just as people who speak
different languages often need a translator to communicate, applications running
different types of software, or operating on different computerized platforms, often need
help communicating with eachother.  Middleware is software that connects two or more
software applications so they can exchange data. If it's middleware on the client side
(versus the server side), it's the software that allows clients and network
operators to talk to each other. These clients are often set top boxes or an equivalent
device. Middleware can support open or proprietary standards, or a combination of
both. Middleware often includes an application manager, the virtual machine
(such as Java Virtual Machine™), the interactive engine, the libraries and
databases. Middleware becomes particularly handy if there are a number of
different programs, platforms and software in use.  If the set-top box has
a Resident Application, it’s often thought of as middleware. In this case
a Resident Application is a program or programs that are built into the memory
of the set-top box (or equivalent device.) These are updated, often
automatically, by the network operator via the data stream (signal) that the set-
top receives from the network operator.

IPTV software for set-top boxes contains more functionality than middleware.