Testing and Deploying Changes from The Validation Screen

The Validation Screen is where you can check your work accuracy and completeness, including running regression testing. You can run regression testing before deploying changes or deploy changes immediately, without testing.

Overview

The overall process that Configuration Studio goes through four steps, as outlined by the Progress Bar across the top of the screen, and Validation is the last step. It is here that you can check the work you did on the previous screens validating the configuration-profile template (or “map”) in terms of both accuracy and completeness. You can also click Submit to deploy the template to put the changes you made into effect immediately, without it testing it first.

Warning: The best practice is always to test your changes first, before deploying any changes, by using the Run Regression feature, (see below). However, when you test, note that once testing has begun, any interruption to the process can cause significant problems for your system. For that reason, do not do anything to stop the testing process, including closing relevant tabs or windows.

Changing, Saving, Testing, and Submitting a Template (or “Map”)

Preliminary Steps

Any time you make a change, use this standard procedure for saving, testing, and validating your changes.

1. Finish making the changes you want in the configuration-profile template on the Configuration screen and the Business Logic screen.

2. In the Progress Bar, click Validation and then click the Result tab.

3. Before proceeding with any of the options below, rigorously evaluate each field for needed changes. If necessary, return to the Configuration or the Business Logic steps for further work. Alternately, you can also request changes from Conexiom, referring to the instructions directly below in “Requesting a Change from Conexiom.“

Requesting a Change from Conexiom

To request a change to your configuration-profile, follow these steps:

1. Click Request Change. The Request Change dialog displays.

2. Click the field to display the drop-down menu and from it, select the general type of change.

3. Click Launch under Text Request Change or Request by Email.

   1. If you click Launch under Text Request Change, a questionnaire dialog displays, asking you to describe in detail the changes you want to make.

   2. If you click Launch under Request by Email, your email application will display with a new, blank message. Fill in the request.
      For more information on change requests and their best practices, see Submitting Change Requests.

Saving Changes

Whenever you make changes to a template, you need to save it before deploying it. There is added advantage to this in case you want to return to the template later. For example, you might make changes to a template and then deploy it, only to discover that there are problems with it. In that case, you can restore the previous version and start the change process over. For more information, see Restoring Previous Versions.

Validating Changes by Running Regression Testing

Before submitting changes to a template, the best practice is validate them by running a regression test. While this may take some time, it can save time and effort when compared to fixing errors after deployment.

Warning: Once testing has begun, any interruption to the process can cause significant problems for your system. For that reason, do not do anything to stop the testing process, including closing relevant tabs or windows.

To run a regression test on your changes, follow these steps:

1. Click Run Regression. The Run Regression Test dialog displays.

2. Check the box that corresponds to the documents you want to test.

3. Click Run Regression. The testing begins with the display of a warning that the process may take some time. Another dialog displays when testing is complete. This final dialog box lists which documents have been tested. It also displays a link that you can click to the individual document summary for what testing found.

4. When you are satisfied with the information, click Confirm.

Submitting Changes

Whether you have run regression testing or not, click Submit to deploy the changes you made. The changes go into effect immediately.

To Submit changes, follow these steps:

1. Click Submit. The Submit Configuration dialog displays.

2. In the Notes field, enter any notes that you think will be valuable for describing this version of your template.

3. Choose one of the following paths to submit your changes: Request Validation first or Submit without testing:

   1. If you did not previously test the changes, you can submit the changes for regression testing before deployment here. Click Submit and Request Validation. Testing begins and runs according to the instructions above in Validating Changes by Running Regression Testing.
      Warning: Once testing has begun, any interruption to the process can cause significant problems for your system. For that reason, do not do anything to stop the testing process, including closing relevant tabs or windows.

   2. To submit the changes without regression testing, click Submit in the new dialog. The changes go into effect immediately.

Note: If you find that submitting the changes without testing was a mistake, return to the Validation screen and restore the previous version that is best to restart the change process. For more information, see Restoring Previous Versions.