Bugzilla Test Runner (BTR in short) is an add-on for the Bugzilla bug-tracking system.
Bugzilla, as you probably know, if you are reading this, allows you to collect and manage information about bugs found in your software. It does not however provide any features to run your tests according to a plan.
Test plan in BTR consists of the following base elements;
Each test plan is associated with one of the products defined in Bugzilla database.
A test document is a place where you input information such as: test aim, scope, hardware and software requirements for test etc. You DO NOT enter test cases here.
Test cases can be created and modified through WWW interface. This is nice for few test cases, but for a real-life test plan, it can be awkward. BTR supports export and import of test cases to and from HTML files. This way of entering test cases will probably be more convenient for larger sets of test cases.
When creating a test plan, you select from the list of Bugzilla users who will perform the test.
When your test plan is ready, you can run it. Once you choose to run the test plan, BTR creates a new set of entities in its database called "test run". The test plan can have several test runs. A test run contains a copy of the plan document and its test cases, and list of assigned testers and test case logs.
Testers are provided with a web interface to process test cases. When a test case is completed, the tester can mark it as "passed" or "failed". When the test case fails, the tester can (and should) enter the bug id of the bug which caused the case to fail. The Bug is then, of course, inserted into the Bugzilla system.
The person managing the test run has instant view of test progress; percentage of done test cases, number of failed cases and so on. Testers can change their test case log as long as test run status is "running". When all testers have processed all test cases or another condition has taken place (probably a deadline), test run is marked as "stopped". When you stop test run, the test case log cannot be updated. You can however, start and stop the test-run many times.
The list below, shows some things that BTR is definitely NOT: