The term Interoperability testing in the software industry refers to the testing of the software component ability to interact, exchange data, interoperate and use data information to and from between software components or systems. This Type of Testing is conducted to make sure that the end to end communication between two or more communicating software components are working as expected without any data transfer flaw or communication difficulties between them.
For example, this testing is done between tablets and smartphones to test if these devices are able to communicate successfully through data transfer by using the Bluetooth interface. Another example of interoperability testing is in the software industry to test the web service which has recently modified with added new functionalities, is able to communicate with partner software systems without any data transfer loss or compatibility (i.e. request and response).
The following are the risks associated with Interoperability testing.
- Unreliable performance: The devices are required to be performing reliably not only with the devices of the same family but also with other devices in terms of data exchange, communication, and data processing.
- Incorrect operation: The data exchanges between compatible devices should be readable in the same way on all devices. Also, data processing should be compatible between the source and destination devices or software systems.
- Loss of data: During data exchange between software systems and devices there should not be any data loss. If source system has sent 1 MB of data then the destination system should receive that 1 MB of data without any single byte loss.
- Low maintainability: The maintenance of the software systems or devices should be as low as possible against data transfer failure.
- Unreliable operation: The operation of software systems as well as devices should be reliable in terms of communication and data exchange. There should not be the case that the data has transferred successfully from the source system but the destination system is facing difficulties in reading that piece of data.
Different Types of Software Interoperability Testing
The following are the different types of software interoperability testing.
Data type Interoperability Testing: This type of testing aims at testing the data at its data type level. In other words, if numeric data is transferred from the source system then the destination should read and process it as numeric data only.
Semantic Interoperability Testing: This type of testing aims at verifying the data semantics or algorithm involved during data exchange.
Physical Interoperability Testing: This type of testing aims at verifying the physical device or software system connection such as USB port compatibility, HDMI port compatibility, data cable compatibility, etc. between communicating devices.
Specification level Interoperability Testing: This type of testing aims at verifying the device specifications such as data transfer protocol used between devices, the data format used between computer software components, etc.
Purpose of Interoperability Testing
The following are the main purposes of conducting Interoperability testing.
#1. To make sure that end-to-end service provision across two or more software systems or devices from different vendors.
#2. There should be smooth communication and data exchange between two or more software components without any compatibility issue.
#3. Data format, semantics, and data type are uniform between communicating devices or software systems.
Interoperability Testing Process
Follow below process step by step for Interoperability testing:
#1. Firstly, you have to launch the project and formally define work statements and need to set up project management infrastructure.
#2. Secondly, you need to set up your test lab. You should possess all required knowledge regarding the testing as well as automation tools which will conduct the actual testing. Write effective test cases by avoiding duplication and increasing test coverage. Maintain a configuration file, database script file, project test result record metrics, etc.
#3. Thirdly, you need to develop the test plans where you have to define test procedures, test cases, who will be performing testing, testing timelines, setting up of required monitoring tools for the test log maintenance, etc.
#4. Fourthly, execute the test plans which are completed in step 3. This involves the execution of test cases, and teamwork to analyze the root cause of failures.
#5. Fifthly, you need to document the test results where you need to maintain a record of test logs, test results as success or failure, etc.
#6. Lastly, you need to free up the system resources and prepare the final project performance report for this testing of software systems or devices under test.
Interoperability Testing Strategy
Let’s discuss Interoperability testing strategy:
#1. You need to connect two or more software systems or devices from different vendors.
#2. Make sure that the devices or software systems successfully connected.
#3. Verify that devices or software systems can send and receive data packets or frames from each other successfully.
#4. Make sure that data transfer has handled correctly in the network layer.
#5. Check that the semantic or required data transfer algorithm has implemented correctly.
#6. If the result looks good then verify next result. Otherwise, use the appropriate monitoring of the tool and detect the error source.
#7. Maintain the test report with the testing results.
Interoperability Testing Challenges
The following are the interoperability testing challenges.
#1. Determination of defects or bug root causes.
#2. The accuracy of measurement for defect or bug.
#3. The complexity of the network.
#4. Ease of use of test automation and monitoring tools.
#5. Testing scalability.
#6. Test report documentation with presentable test results.
#7. Clarity on software specification requirements (SRS).
Conformance vs Interoperability Testing
The Conformance testing refers to the testing of product compliance against required specifications and standards. However, this testing refers to end to end communication testing between interacting devices or software systems for data exchange, data processing, data quality, etc.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed interoperability testing types, the purpose of this testing, test plans, test strategy, interoperability testing challenges and how this testing differs from conformance testing in the real world.
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