topic Re: Is eCATT dead ??? in Application Development and Automation Discussions

Is eCATT dead ???

Former Member — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:11:15 GMT

Hello Everybody

My first experiences with eCATT (on SAP release 6.20) date back about four years. At that time I was impressed by the much improved functionality and usability of eCATT as compared to the old CATT.

In 2006 I attended several eCATT sessions at the TechED in Amsterdam where they demonstrated the new features of eCATT delivered together with the latest SAP releases.

However, in the company I previously worked for rumours spread that SAP might not further develop testing tools like eCATT. This company was also offering consulting for the testing tools of Mercury which is the market leader in software testing.

In 2008 I attended a session at the SAP Solution and Technology Days in Regensdorf dealing about:

SAP TAO - Test Acceleration and Optimization

One major statement in this session was that instead of further developing own testing tools SAP will tightly integrate the testing tools of HP/Mercury into SAP (Solution Manager).

Looking at a reference I found in the internet [Getting Started with SAP Test Acceleration and Optimization|http://www.hp.nl/thrive/files/sap_tao_customer_facing_deck.pdf] you find the term eCATT on the second page of this presentation but nowhere else anymore.

Having seen the enormous functionality of the HP/Mercury testing tools in my old company I am convinced that

eCATT is dead !

So what am I expecting from the people answering this thread?

You may confirm my opinion
You may have arguments to override my opinion
You may have more information about if and how eCATT is integrated into SAP-TAO

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Uwe

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

former_member332953 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:43:27 GMT

the TAO is a quite new stuff and only release 1.0 is available; there is no further information since 2008.

eCATT is a technical tool; however it is still getting improved, at least new features to test Web Dynpro ABAP is sounding available soon. Within SAP, eCATT is getting more widen usage.

Some of the testing pains at customer side are what to test for a support package. With the [SAP ERP Enhancement Package strategy (since 2007), |https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/bpx-erp?rid=/webcontent/uuid/e0855959-7041-2b10-3790-e49d670c3eac] each EhP includes many Business Functions; for each Business Funcation (BF), customers will see what to be tested as SAP deliver documentations along with each BF. Mabye this kind of information will help customers to increase testing efficiency.

[Overview SAP Enhancement Packages |https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/wiki?path=/x/ewdp]

Regards, Qiang

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

Former Member — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:36:13 GMT

Hello ,

I dont agree that eCATT is dead , as there are lot of developements happened recently with the release os ECA 7.1 and continues to progress. Also i see that new features like WEB dynpro automation , support for the new front end editor , increased programming has been included in the current ECA 7.1 release which was recently upgraded.

So i see no end to eCATT .

Thanks and Best regards,

Ajay

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

former_member131788 — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:14:19 GMT

Hi Uwe,

I think your arguement on eCATT usability might not be correct. Today eCATT is being used as a Test Automation tool in most of the teams. SAP TAO - Test Acceleration and Optimization is new and we can expect an update on this very soon.

Having said that, eCATT (version 7.10) tool(SECATT) have being updated with so many new functionalities like

1. Extension of Logical Port handling in eCATTT

2. Trusted System login and the Webservice command

3. PERF ... ENDPERF comand to define blocks of performance measurements

4. LOOP ... ENDLOOP command

5. Start Profiles

6. The ESF command to test business object using either the Generic Client Proxy (GCP) or the Local Client Proxy (LCP)

7. Class-Based Types and Constants

8. Precondition Handling

9. Test Data Container Versions

10.Validation Objects

The description(or new functinalities) are very precise.

As Qiang said even Web Dynpro ABAP support is also expected soon. Webservice command is improvised. Integration to external tools are possible for NON-SAP applications.

Finally what i feel the answer/opinion to your query is "eCATT is vastly used and updated test automation tool which is very much alive.

Thanks and Kind Regards

Mohan

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

Former Member — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:49:06 GMT

There are a lot of new features recently developed in the eCATT tool and also a lot of features in the pipeline for the future. So eCATT is not dead, but it's the best integrated testing tool in the ABAP environment.

Some non-SAP test tools like Testpartner or QTP have some nice features, but eCATT has other nice features, which make it very effective (Database checks, Inline ABAP, automatic version finding, Testing Complex System Landscapes, etc. etc.). Concerning the stability, performance and maintainability eCATT has advantages compared to non-SAP tools in the ABAP environment.

For the non-ABAP environment (except WEBDYNPRO JAVA) non-SAP test tools should be used.

Regards

Matthias

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

uwe_schieferstein — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 20:49:07 GMT

Thanks to all of you for providing me with these obvious life signs of eCATT.

Regards (from TechEd 2008 in Berlin)

Uwe

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

uwe_schieferstein — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:49:02 GMT

Hello Everybody

I would like to add a few interesting information I received directly from SAP's own Test Management Consulting:

eCATT is alive!!!

SAP is aware that there are misconceptions around at customers' side about the future of eCATT. There are still some shortcomings of this tool, however, as long as are testing within your system landscape (including WebDynpro) eCATT is an excellent choice to do this testing job.

And, most importantly, is is absolutely FREE of charge - no additional license fees whatsoever!

Regards

Uwe

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

qianchen — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:47:47 GMT

Though the question has been answered, I would still like to add some other points

Besides the above information provided by other people, please also consider:

1. whether all other 3rd-party tools can 100% cover the functionaly of automating SAP Applications.

For example, is it possible to automate webdynpro via the 3rd-party tool?

2. if your answer to point 1 is yes, then how much more cost will have to be paid additionally by customers

3. also, if your answer to point 1 is yes, then how much more complicated your test automation archeticture would become

4. can a database check be easily done via any other 3rd-party tools?

5. is it easy to embed inline ABAP in any 3rd party tools?

6. can a 3rd-party tool be fast enough to support new SAP UIs if new UIs are introduced in the market?

With point 2 and 3 I would like to emphasize that SAP is customer-oriented. It would not be good for customers to have very complex automation architectures with different 3rd party tools and to pay any unnecessary additional cost.

Best Regards, Qian

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

Former Member — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:25:11 GMT

Hi,

The team I am with is evaluating the use of SAP TAO because the project is already using HP Quality Center and we also would like to do more with Solution Manager. We have downloaded the 2008 Tech Ed presentations on these topics. While there may still be some 'marketing' or 'vaporware' in these presentations, we like the as advertised functionality of the Business Process Change Analyzer and also the stated goal of creating automated testing scripts.

We are not using eCATT, but probably will need to at least write this up as an option. I remember using it on a project about 7 years ago, but have not seen it since then myself.

So from the software point of view, our next steps would be to upgrade Solution Manager to SP 17 (for TAO), ensure HP QC is on the right patch level and install the QC Adapter (Notes 1109650 and 1059350 mainly, though per usual several others are worth reading too).

From the TAO documentation, one limitation appears to be that currently you can only create test cases for SAPGUI transactions, whereas our users are on a Portal environment. Still, even with this limitation, it could be useful for some basic regression testing when, as one contributor pointed out, support packs are loaded or even with a new release.

If anyone out there has any hands on experience with TAO and/or Solution Manager <-> HP QC, it would be great to hear from you.

Mark

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

Former Member — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:46:31 GMT


> Hello Everybody
> 
> My first experiences with eCATT (on SAP release 6.20) date back about four years. At that time I was impressed by the much improved functionality and usability of eCATT as compared to the old CATT.
> 
> In 2006 I attended several eCATT sessions at the TechED in Amsterdam where they demonstrated the new features of eCATT delivered together with the latest SAP releases.
> However, in the company I previously worked for rumours spread that SAP might not further develop testing tools like eCATT. This company was also offering consulting for the testing tools of Mercury which is the market leader in software testing.
> 
> In 2008 I attended a session at the SAP Solution and Technology Days in Regensdorf dealing about:
> SAP TAO - Test Acceleration and Optimization
> 
> One major statement in this session was that instead of further developing own testing tools SAP will tightly integrate the testing tools of HP/Mercury into SAP (Solution Manager).
> 
> Looking at a reference I found in the internet [Getting Started with SAP Test Acceleration and Optimization|http://www.hp.nl/thrive/files/sap_tao_customer_facing_deck.pdf] you find the term eCATT on the second page of this presentation but nowhere else anymore.
> 
> Having seen the enormous functionality of the HP/Mercury testing tools in my old company I am convinced that
> eCATT is dead !
> 
> 
> So what am I expecting from the people answering this thread?
> * You may confirm my opinion
> * You may have arguments to override my opinion
> * You may have more information about if and how eCATT is integrated into SAP-TAO
> 
> Looking forward to hearing from you.
> 
> 
> Regards
>   Uwe

Hi Uwe,

As everyone said,eCATT is best while testing inside SAP systems.

I am happy to see eCATT is alive and confirmed by many resources.

As a experienced resource in SAP testing for complex testing,I feel eCATT is best in testing complex systems.

Regards,

Alex.

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

Former Member — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:17:23 GMT

There has been no comment here for the past few months, but I saw this post just today so I will anyway go ahead and add my viewpoint. I am from a testing background and have worked with HP Quality Center and QTP all my life. Currently SAP implementation is in process in my organization and we got the opportunity to work with TAO.

SAP is gearing up towards 2.0 release which will see integration with BPCA. This I believe will make it a more attractive proposition (provided it is as effective as it seems). It is a pretty decent utility for customers who are already using QC\QTP and do not want to migrate to CATT.

Re: Is eCATT dead ???

pb3030 — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:55:42 GMT

Hi All,

Thanks to Mohan Kumar, Matthias, Ajay and Qian Chen for the udates. I have been using the eCATT right from 2008 till today. It is a powerfull tool with all the features that is been listed above.

3 Cheers to eCATT.

Regards,