Standards for testing and feedback - DHIS-2

These are the standards agreed on during the workshop in Delhi in January 2008.

Systematic testing of the system before releases

1. Developers must create and run unit tests for new functionality. When doing changes to core functionality, all unit tests in the system have to be re-run in order to avoid related bugs.

2. We will define a testing period before a new release. Commits of new functionality to the repository is not allowed during the testing period. The duration of the testing period will be dependent on the amount of new and modified functionality and is to be set by the project management.

3. Developers must test their functionality with real data from the field. John will provide test data from India, Thanh will provide test data from Vietnam.

4. Super users in the field should be involved in the testing process. Suneen in Kerala was mentioned as a typical super user.

5. Vietnam will set up a dedicated test team. This team will be responsible for setting up a test plan, including functional, system testing, integration, and performance testing. Thanh's team currently contains 3 developers, Tri, Thuy, and Thanh, and one tester, Sam. One more tester will be recruited by Thanh for this purpose.

Regular feedback from users in the field

1. Bug reporting will be made by field workers as soon as bugs are discovered to the developer's mailing list.

2. Bug reports will be transformed into Trac tickets by the developers, from where status can be followed by all stakeholders.

Quick response from developers

1. Criteria for which developer a bug or requirement will be assigned to will be based on firstly, who is the author of the code, secondly, who have time to do the work. Bug fixes which can be resolved in relatively short time will have to be prioritized.

2. If multiple or severe bugs emerge, we will do a bug-fix release. This release will contain no new functionality compared to the original release.

2. The Vietnam team can be involved when time and resources are scarce in India, as the Vietnam team has some free capacity.