Two Approaches for Data Looping - Implicit vs. Explicit
- Implicit Data Looping
- Explicit Data Looping (includes support for hierarchical "Nested" Loops)
"Implicit" Data Looping
This is an extremely valuable feature in Worksoft SaaS, especially to non-programmer type resources that use Worksoft SaaS, to be able to make their tests data-driven. Even for programmers that use Worksoft SaaS, implicit looping eliminates the need to figure out where the looping has to begin and end and to make sure that the appropriate commands are used to implement the loops, etc.
There is a straight forward trick that you have to use to give Worksoft SaaS a "cue" so that Worksoft SaaS automatically identifies and creates a Data Loop for you "implicitly". The cue is to "associate" a series of test scripts that you want to iterate as a loop to the same "Data Definition' within your project in Worksoft SaaS.
If Worksoft SaaS notices a 'contiguous' set of Test Scripts that are mapped to the same Data Definitions, then it automatically understands your 'intent' and creates a Data Loop for you implicitly. More on this later.
"Explicit" Data Loops
You may be programmer type resource that wants to define your own Data Loops or it may be that the 'Implicit' Looping does NOT meet your data-driven testing needs.
You can define your Data Loops 'explicitly' in this case. For each Data Loop, you just have to select the Test Script where your loop should start and the Test Script where your Data Loop ends.
If your particular automation situation/context demands that some Test Scripts within a Data Loop have to iterate multiple times for each iteration of the outer Data Loop, Worksoft SaaS also allows you to create "Nested" Data Loops (meaning a Data Loop within another Data Loop). You can create up to 5 levels of nesting of Data Loops for a single test in Worksoft SaaS.