How ServiceNow ATF Transforms Testing: A Complete Guide with Examples

Testing a module that has multiple user scenarios with manual testing is challenging and time-consuming. To overcome this problem, the software industry started implementing Automation Testing, especially in platforms that support ServiceNow ITSM capabilities. Learn more about the key features of ServiceNow ITSM that drive this transformation.

Similarly, ServiceNow has its testing solution called the ServiceNow Automated Test Framework (ATF), which accelerates ServiceNow application testing efforts.

What is ServiceNow ATF?

ServiceNow Automated Test Framework (ATF) includes tools to build and run automated tests to validate that applications, customizations, or configurations are functionally appropriate. ATF will perform automated testing on non-production instances.

With ATF, users can run automation tests on a specific part of an application or module with the help of test suits. The test suits can be a child or a parent to other test suits. Users can view automated steps on the ‘Test Result’ record in the related tab beneath each test step.

As ServiceNow continues to evolve, staying ahead of the latest trends in ServiceNow, including Generative AI, can help QA teams prepare smarter, future-ready test strategies.

Why Use ATF in ServiceNow?

Many companies are depending on ServiceNow QA testing for achieving stability and reliability of their applications during development, and also at the time of upgrades.

According to the Capgemini World Quality Report 2023, organizations that automate 50% or more of their testing see a 55% faster time-to-market.

Here are the reasons why the ATF framework excels:

• Accelerate Testing Cycles

  With ServiceNow ATF, faster delivery is guaranteed through automated regression testing.

  Now, testers can put an end to manual testing of each module, instead, they can run pre-built test suites instantly, resulting in faster service delivery.

• Reduces Manual Effort

  ServiceNow manual testing typically has recurring steps and requires vast documentation efforts. This could consume more time, and there is an increased risk of errors.

  But with ATF, simulating user interactions and validating workflows is completed automatically. Now the testing teams have ample time to focus on strategic tasks instead of wasting time on recurring test steps.

  Manual testing slows innovation while ServiceNow ATF accelerates delivery with speed, accuracy, and repeatability.

• Supports Frequent Releases

  Modern ServiceNow environments have regular platform upgrades. ServiceNow automated regression testing helps your team to test core processes across any module easily.

  Since this is a proactive approach, it will guarantee that new features don’t affect the existing functionality, ensuring more reliable releases.

• Improve Quality Assurance

  ATF improves ServiceNow application testing with consistently good results. Your testing team can easily detect broken flows as they can analyze detailed logs at every step.

  This ensures greater test coverage and almost zero bugs in production in the ServiceNow deployment. This improves your confidence when you are doing mission-critical business operations.

Features of ServiceNow Automated Test Framework

Let’s check out the key features of the ServiceNow Automated Test Framework now:

• Client Test Runner: It allows testers to perform test steps while visually monitoring the action on the screen, helping with real-time feedback. The major benefit of it is identifying and resolving UI issues easily!
• Reusable Test Steps: As ServiceNow ATF supports reusable test components, testers can create generic test steps that can be reused across multiple test cases. What’s the key benefit here? It saves a lot of your development time!
• Scheduled Tests: ATF testing enables quality assurance teams to run tests automatically at regular intervals. This is one of the amazing features to maintain constant test coverage, even when manual triggers aren't feasible. What is the benefit? Continuous validation of business-critical processes!
• Custom Assertions: ATF provides support for custom assertions, which let you verify specific conditions such as field values, workflow behavior, etc. What is the benefit? These custom assertions will boost the accuracy of tests by validating that the system acts as intended under various kinds of scenarios.
• UI Testing Capabilities: The framework includes advanced UI testing features that allow interaction with UI components within ServiceNow. So, the benefit here is that testing capability ensures the front-end and back-end logic of ServiceNow automation testing applications are working precisely across all use cases.

Components of ServiceNow ATF

The essential components to design and execute test steps are:

• Impersonate:Impersonate actions from another user’s perspective.
• Open Form:Access any new or existing record from a specific table.
• Field Validation:Validate field values, which are based on other fields or validations.
• Submit:Submit the form once the input is completed.
• Open Existing Form:Open the existing form to edit.
• Update:Update the form with required details like assigning users, or updating field values, or including comments.
• Query:Searches records to apply additional changes.
• Field Validation: Verifies fields based on conditional logic or dependencies.

Figure: Example of ServiceNow ATF Test Case

An automated framework is available to run and reuse. It will simplify the execution and error checking process and accelerate validations after building deployments and other changes to a ServiceNow Instance. To achieve efficiency, we need to check whether the tester manually checks every upgrade or modification that happened to the system.

The Client Test Runner or Test Runner will watch the executing test steps related to forms or any other User Interface (UI) elements. When test execution starts, the user needs to click on the Client Test Runner module in the ATF application menu. The application supports both manual tests and scheduled Client Test Runners.

Figure: Client Test Runner Example

To enable or disable the features with ease and flexibility, the ATF facilitates various properties.

ServiceNow ATF Roles

To implement ATF in the organization, each stakeholder plays their own part. Let us know the common ATF roles in ServiceNow:

• ATF Test Creator: Designs test cases, steps, and validations.
• ATF Test Executor: Runs test suites and analyzes results.
• QA Analysts: Validate use cases and suggest new test scenarios.
• Developers: Write and modify test scripts for custom functionality.

Having well-defined ATF roles means having successful collaboration between teams.

Advantages and Disadvantages of ServiceNow ATF

We know that ServiceNow ATF streamlines testing and improves efficiency. However, there are some limitations. Understanding them will help in making decisions when implementing automated testing.

Advantages of ServiceNow ATF

• Test multiple scenarios effortlessly.
• Speeds up the regression testing process.
• Client Test Runner gives transparent test results.
• Put an end to manual overhead with scheduled testing.
• ATF ensures the existing functionality is not disturbed after new updates. So, the functionality works as expected.

Disadvantages of ServiceNow ATF

• May need more time for the initial setup for custom test flows.
• Sometimes, complicated scenarios might need manual testing.
• Learning is required for teams unfamiliar with the framework.

ServiceNow ATF Use Case Examples

Let us look at some real-world ServiceNow ATF use case examples:

• Incident Management Testing: Create and close incident tickets without manual intervention. Check if assignments, notifications, and the resolution steps are working as intended.
• Change Request Workflow: Generate change requests and send them through the approval steps automatically. Confirm each state change and that follow-up tasks are created when the request is closed.
• Catalog Item Requests: Fill out and submit a catalog item, which could be like ordering a laptop automatically. Make sure the exact teams intended will get the tasks, and the email updates will go to the requester.
• UI Policy Testing: Enter different values in a form to make sure fields appear, disappear, or become required. Switch between tabs to ensure data stays saved and business rules always run.

These ServiceNow ATF examples showcase the framework’s flexibility in managing simple as well as complex workflows.

ServiceNow ATF Best Practices

To maximize the potential of the ServiceNow Automated Test Framework, you need to follow the below-mentioned ServiceNow ATF best practices.

• Build test steps that can be reused again.
• Make sure you organize every test suite logically. It could be by feature or by module.
• Stay away from production testing — run tests in development or test environments.
• For better traceability, use meaningful naming conventions.
• Leverage version control for test scripts so that you can track changes.
• Update tests continuously to reflect new customizations.
  
  

Conclusion

ServiceNow ATF is a robust solution to enhance the testing lifecycle. With ATF, your team can deliver quality releases confidently. By choosing ATF, you are enabling faster regression cycles with reduced manual workload. When combined with best practices and well-defined roles, it becomes an essential part of any ServiceNow QA testing strategy.

Be it automating form validations or full-fledged workflows, ATF can elevate your testing game. ServiceNow ATF is a must-have if your organization is pursuing agility, reliability, and scalability in its ServiceNow ecosystem.

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FAQs

1. Why should I use ATF in ServiceNow?

   Manual testing is time-consuming. ServiceNow ATF automates test cases to save time, improve accuracy, and speed up the release cycles.

2. Can I use ATF in production?

   ATF can be used in sub-production environments like development and testing. It’s not recommended to run tests in production as it might affect live data or performance.

3. Can I schedule ATF to run automatically?

   Yes, ATF supports scheduling tests to run at specific times. Therefore, continuous testing is possible without manual intervention.

4. Does ServiceNow ATF support reusing test steps?

   Yes, it is possible to create reusable test steps and share them across multiple test cases. This ensures consistency and simplifies test maintenance, saving valuable time for your testing teams.

5. Is ServiceNow ATF only for developers?

   No, apart from developers, it’s also used by QA testers and system administrators. Its low-code design makes it easily accessible by both technical and semi-technical users.

6. What is the Client Test Runner in ServiceNow ATF?

   It is a tool to execute UI-based test steps visually in the browser. With this tool, testers can observe test execution in real time and troubleshoot user interface related issues easily.