What is Database Testing: Step-by-Step Tutorial With Examples

OVERVIEW

Database testing is the process where developers and testers ensure the quality, accuracy, and security of the data stored in a database. In simple terms, it involves verifying the data within a database by assessing the components of the software applications or systems that influence the data and its associated functionalities.

It is the most important part of the testing phase, which cannot be overlooked. This is because every software application being developed has a large amount of stored data like personal information, financial records, user preferences, and transaction histories of websites or web applications. Ensuring the integrity of this data is critical for maintaining the trust and functionality of the software, and this is accomplished by performing database testing.

The database storing the information or data of the software application requires regular testing to check how seamless data management can be done. In addition, database testing can evaluate any data loss or breach; it ensures optimal performance of the software applications and checks for the performance of a Database Management System (DBMS) and the data it contains. Noting its significance pertaining to software applications and development, it is important to know more about database testing.

What are Data and Database?

To better understand database testing, you must be familiar with the terms “data” and “database”.

“Data” is the term that signifies the facts, statistics, and information that software processes, manages, and stores. In general, data includes different elements like records, tables, columns, indexes, and others. In terms of software application development, data are the user inputs, files and documents, configuration data, etc.

Data is divided into two major types:

• Unstructured data: These data do not have any defined format and are generally non-organized. For example, unstructured data is stored in files or documents, such as text documents, images, audio files, videos, and more. They are mainly common in software applications associated with text processing, user-generated content, and others.
• Structured data: These are the information that are organized and have a defined format and structure. For example, they are stored in a database with labeled tables and fields. They are fields like names, addresses, details on financial transactions, etc. It is commonly used in Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle.

Now, let us walk through the database.

The database is a collection of the above mentioned data, which are organized and stored for easy access with the system. In other words, it is an organized collection of data that helps in data manipulation. It is easy to manage and retrieve data from the database by the users as they are organized into tables, rows, indexes, and columns. This, in turn, helps the users to quickly identify the required information on software applications and their features. Notable examples of databases are MySQL, Oracle, dBASE, and FileMaker.

Databases serve as robust tools for data storage, using tables for data retention, functions and triggers for data manipulation, and views for data presentation. Now that you have understood data and databases, you will better comprehend the database testing concepts in the below section.

What is Database Testing?

Database Management System allows for effective organization, retrieving, and storing of the data, but there are cases where data gets duplicated or unnecessarily added. Testers need to validate the stored data, and for this database testing is performed. It is an approach that checks the database and ensures it functions accurately.

It evaluates aspects like schema, tables, or triggers and tests the data integrity and consistency. To address this, testers create complex queries to perform load or stress tests for the database. In turn, it helps test the system's functionality and ensure responsiveness to scenarios like hardware failure, security incidents, software updates, etc.

Some of the common tests that are done during database testing are:

• Data validity checks
• Data integrity test
• Test for process
• Triggers and database functions
• Performance checks

Here are some key points on database testing:

• It involves a layered approach encompassing data access, User Interface (UI), the business, and database layers.
• The test is performed in a controlled testing environment.
• Also referred to as back-end testing and data testing.
• The process involves subjecting the database to various stressors, which may entail running intricate queries to comprehensively evaluate its functionality and responsiveness.
• It involves testing Database Management Systems (DBMS) like Oracle and SQL Server.
• Examples of the tests performed during database testing encompass assessments for data validity, data integrity, procedures, triggers, performance, and database functions.

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Why is Database Testing Important?

A fully functional database is essential for the adequate performance of software applications. It uses the database to store and create data corresponding to its features and respond to the queries. However, if the data integrity is impacted, it can cause monetary loss to the organization. This is because data integrity leads to errors in decision-making, operational inefficiencies, regulatory violations, and security breaches. Thus, it is imperative to perform database testing to handle and manage data in the database effectively.

Database testing simplifies backend interactions and prevents harmful or erroneous data within the application's backend systems. While it cannot eliminate all data breaches or integrity compromises, database testing can help eliminate the most critical impact associated with software application failures.

Here are some important aspects that database testing considers:

• Data mapping: It verifies the accurate mapping of the field or information in the user interface or front-end forms as per the corresponding fields in the database table.
• Data accuracy: It is performed to ensure that data stored in the database is correct and better adapted to the data type, business rule, and others.
• Data security: Data stored in the database has to be checked for any security-related error. Database testing is executed to assess the security measures applied to protect sensitive data. It also verifies any vulnerabilities like SQL injection and data leakage.
• Validate business rules accuracy: Complex databases often involve intricate components such as relational constraints, triggers, and stored procedures. To address these complexities, testers employ appropriate SQL queries to validate the accuracy of these complex database objects, ensuring that they adhere to the defined business rules.
• Seamless data migration: Database testing is required to ensure the accuracy of data transfer from one database system to another system or from one version to another.
• Data transformation: Database testing is important in the data warehousing and ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) process. It is performed to check data transformation rules and data integration across different systems.

Advantages of Database Testing

Database testing, being a crucial approach to ensure the reliability of data of the software application, holds several advantages. For better allocation of testing resources, planning tests, and ensuring complete test coverage, knowing the advantages of database testing is essential. Here are some advantages of database testing:

• Database testing permits the detection of any error or issue during the initial phases of the development of software applications, which could potentially lead to unnecessary expenses if addressed later in the development process.
• It enhances test coverage within the system or software application.
• It safeguards user data by inspecting the test scenarios that avert unauthorized entry and data leakage, among other security issues.
• It ensures both software quality and security.
• It simplifies the intricacies of the database backend, enabling developers to utilize views and stored procedures more extensively.
• It strengthens data durability by regularly validating data integrity and uniformity.
• It aids in averting issues such as deadlocks, data deterioration, and data breaches.

Disadvantages of Database Testing

Database testing also has some disadvantages, like other testing types. Understanding this will allow testers to identify any risks, issues, and challenges associated with database testing, thus helping them to have more targeted efforts by addressing those. Here are some important disadvantages of database testing:

• Manual testing can be highly intricate, especially when dealing with factors like expanding data volumes, multiple relational databases, and data intricacies, making testing challenging.
• The use of automation tools may escalate project costs.
• Testers must possess a profound understanding of the database and the application's functionality and requirements related to data.
• Continuous updates to the test plan are necessary to accommodate database changes.
• Identifying critical testing areas within large databases can pose a significant challenge.

Database Testing Activities

Database testing includes two main activities that highlight its need for testing purposes. Those are

• To make sure that each transaction adheres to the properties of ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability).
• To ensure data integrity.

ACID Properties

Database Management System needs to enforce ACID properties to be appropriately designed and managed. To this, database testing is crucial to verify that the Database Management System correctly applies the ACID properties for transactions. Those properties are as follows:

• Atomicity: The terminology “atomicity” in transactions refers to atomic data. It signifies that in case any operation is performed on the data, like inserting a new record, updating an existing record, or other, it has to be performed entirely or shall not be implemented. All the actions that could change the data within the transaction should be regarded as a single unit and should not be partially executed. Testing the database ensures that the database is in a consistent state, and in case any operation in the transaction fails, the data is returned and assures that the data is not in an incomplete state.
• Consistency: When the transaction is completed within the database, the data has to be correct, consistent, and intact. For example, if a transaction is supposed to transfer an amount between two accounts, it should do so accurately, ensuring that the balance of each account remains consistent with the actual transfer.
• Isolation: The term “isolation” is meant to be separation. In concurrent multiple transactions within the database, the data are independent and separated. In other words, the transactions can run together, and this does not interfere with each other; the database remains consistent.
• Durability: The concepts of durability signify the long-term permanence and reliability of modified data. This implies that once the transaction is committed, it will retain the changes done to the database without any failure and impact of external factors like system crashes, power outages, and others.

Data Integrity

Data integrity is the method that ensures and verifies that all the most recent data is consistently updated across all locations. It relies on four distinct components to validate data integrity. To achieve a superior level of data integrity, a tester must ascertain that:

• The data is verifiable.
• The data is accessible.
• The data is accurate.
• The data is complete.

If the data fails to satisfy the above four criteria, it falls short of the integrity standard. While data management tools can assist, the ultimate responsibility for upholding the highest data quality rests with QAs.

For maintaining data integrity, database testing ensures that updated and most recent values are consistently reflected across all forms and user interfaces. This verification also confirms data dependencies, foreign key relationships, uniqueness constraints, and referential integrity, aligning with the specifications outlined in the project documents.

The aim of validating data integrity is to:

• Ensure all triggers are well positioned for updating reference table records.
• Check the existence of any incorrect or invalid data in the table.
• Insert incorrect data in the table and test if a failure outcome occurs.
• Check sync of replicated servers and databases.

The concepts mentioned above are particular database testing, and it is performed to ensure ACID properties and data integrity. However, do you know there are different databases where you can perform database testing? Let us learn about this from the below section.

Testing Across Multiple Database Types

Various types of databases support testing, and these are elucidated as follows:

• Production database: This database contains live data, rendering it unsuitable for testing. It has most of the critical information continuously used by the application. Thus, any testing done in this can compromise the main working of the application.
• Local development database: Most testing activities are performed within this environment. It is the database that has data required for testing and development of software applications. Testers and developers mainly use this database for debugging code, ensuring the performance of the software applications.
• Populated development database: All developers share this database when running an application. It is utilized to ascertain that an application functions seamlessly with a substantial volume of data rather than exclusively testing a limited set of records in a test environment. This guarantees the application's ability to handle large data loads.
• Deployment database: Tests are executed in this stage before deployment to ensure that all local database modifications have been successfully applied. Performing tests in the deployment database validates the successful implementation of modification done to the local development database.

What Aspects to Analyze in Database Testing?

When it comes to testing the database, it is important to have information on what needs to be tested. It will help to ensure the inclusion of all test cases for a complete test of the database of the software application. Some attributes that require testing include the following:

Testing Transactions

When evaluating transactions, it's crucial to ensure they adhere to the ACID properties. The following statements are typically employed:

• Start a transaction: BEGIN TRANSACTION TRANSACTION#
• End a transaction: END TRANSACTION TRANSACTION#

The ROLLBACK statement ensures database consistency: ROLLBACK TRANSACTION#. After executing these statements, employ a SELECT query to confirm that the changes have been correctly applied to the tables involved in the transactions.

Testers must be well-acquainted with the database schema, which serves as the blueprint for the database structure. To confirm that it aligns with the application's expectations, testers utilize SQL describe (DESC) commands. Additionally, they use regular expressions to validate table field names and verify that values conform to the expected data types.

Triggers

You can understand triggers as the event handlers in the code. In a table, if any operation, for example, the row is added, a piece of code is auto-instructed to be executed by setting up a trigger. For instance, if a user is deleted from the database, its related information will also be deleted. Testers ensure that such operation functions appropriately and does not impact other user data.

Testers can initiate the triggering operation by running an SQL query or performing the operation through the application's interface to examine its impact on the database records. These aspects are assessed in both the black box and white box testing phases.

• White box testing: Stubs and Drivers manipulate data, invoking the trigger even before integrating with the front-end (UI).
• Black box testing: With the UI and database integration available, data can be Inserted/Deleted/Updated from the front end to invoke the trigger. Subsequently, SELECT statements are used to retrieve database data to verify if the trigger successfully performed its intended operation. Another approach is to directly load data that would invoke the trigger and assess if it functions as intended.

Stored Procedures

Stored procedures are similar to user-defined functions and can be invoked using Call Procedure/Execute Procedure statements, typically yielding the output in the form of result sets. These procedures are stored in the RDBMS and are accessible for applications.

During testing:

• In white box testing, Stubs invoke the stored procedures, and the results are compared to expected values.
• In black box testing, operations are performed through the application's front end (UI), and the execution of stored procedures and their results are checked.

CRUD

The primary set of test cases is for CRUD operations, which stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete, performed by the software application.

• C: When a user clicks 'Save' for a new transaction, the 'Create' operation is executed.
• R: When a user chooses to 'Search' or 'View' a saved transaction, the 'Retrieve' operation is carried out.
• U: When a user opts to 'Edit' or 'Modify' an existing record, the database performs the 'Update' operation.
• D: When a user selects to 'Remove' any record from the system, the database executes the 'Delete' operation.

CRUD operations are tested to ensure data storage and retrieval are executed, assuring data integrity. Testers mainly perform this test from a Database Management System or software application’s interface to execute queries using SQL data manipulation language commands. Further, to test the protection of the database from SQL injection attacks, testers often run malicious SQL commands.

Field Constraints

Evaluating field constraints related to Default values, Unique values, and Foreign keys involves the following steps:

• Perform a front-end operation that exercises the conditions associated with the database object.
• Validate the results using an SQL Query.
• Checking a field's default value is a straightforward process, often part of business rule validation. It can be accomplished manually or with tools like QTP. In manual testing, an action that introduces a value other than the field's default is performed from the front end to determine if it triggers an error.

Example of Database Testing

To have clear concepts of testing the database, one can better understand this with an example. Let us take a scenario and explain the involvement of database testing.

Scenario: Testers are testing a SaaS application that manages an organization's hardware and software assets. This application tracks and monitors IT assets like software licenses, servers, and database-related information.

Test objective: To verify that the database accurately stores and retrieves IT asset information for the end-users.

Test Steps:

• Setup: Prepare a test environment with a representative database.
• Data: Create test cases for asset creation, updates, and retrieval.
• Execution:
• Create and update assets to ensure they are stored accurately. This can be done by including details like asset name, associated user, and others. Testers also choose an existing IT asset from the application and include some of its details, like changing the location. It is important to confirm that the changes done are reflected in the application.
• Retrieve assets by name or other specified criteria within an application and check if they match the expected results.
• Ensure the system prevents duplicate assets from being created.
• Validation: Review test results and check if the database matches actions taken in the application.
• Cleanup: Remove test data and reset the application.
• Reporting: Document results and report any issues to the development team.

Real-Time Examples of Database Testing

Now, let us go more in-depth and understand some real-time examples of database testing. SQL queries are employed to demonstrate real-time examples of database testing, and in the below section, let us see how SQL queries are used to execute this test.

• To get recent data on the employee database

  SQL Query: SELECT TOP 1* FROM EMPLOYEE ORDER BY JOINING_DATE DESC

  The above query is employed to have data on the employee record from the table, organized based on the JOINING_DATE column in descending order. So, selecting the first data of the row will be the most recent record.

  Purpose in database testing: In database testing, you might use this query to verify that the application correctly inserts employee records with the latest JOINING_DATE.

• To check for duplicate records.

  SQL Query: SELECT * FROM EMPLOYEE GROUP BY E_ID HAVING COUNT(*) > 1

  This SQL query identifies duplicate employee records in the EMPLOYEE table based on the E_ID (Employee ID) column. It groups the records by E_ID and then filters for groups with a COUNT(*) greater than 1, indicating duplicate records.

  Purpose in database testing: You can use this query to ensure the database enforces data integrity rules. It helps identify situations where multiple records with the same Employee ID exist, which may indicate a problem with data entry or database constraints. Fixing duplicates can prevent issues like incorrect reporting or overcounting employees.

  They help ensure that the application behaves as expected by checking for recent data and identifying duplicate records, which are common scenarios in testing the database to guarantee data quality and consistency. From the above example, you now understand that database testing can be performed on different types of scenarios. Hence, for various purposes, different types of testing for databases are needed. Continue reading the below section to have more information on this.

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Types of Database Testing

Database testing is divided into three main types based on the structure and function of the database. Those include the following:

Structural Testing

Structural database testing is a crucial technique employed to verify all elements within the data repository, primarily utilized for data storage and inaccessible for direct end-user operations. To achieve a successful outcome in this testing method, it is imperative to possess a comprehensive grasp of SQL commands. Within structural testing, examination of database components that remain concealed from end-users is possible. Structural testing finds its primary use in the validation of the database.

Common database scenarios for structured database testing:

• Verify the database name.
• Check data device, log device, and dump device.
• Ensure sufficient allocated space for each database.
• Validate database option settings.
• Check the names of all tables in the database.
• Verify column names for each table.
• Check column types for each table.
• Check for null values.
• Verify the primary keys for each table.
• Confirm foreign keys for each table.
• Validate data types between foreign key columns and columns in other tables.
• Check indices (clustered or non-clustered) for uniqueness.

Here are the common components that are tested under structural testing.

Schema/Mapping Testing

This process involves verifying front-end application components by comparing them with the mapping of database objects.

In the context of schema testing:

• There are instances where the objects within the end-user application may not be accurately linked or compatible with the database objects. Consequently, it becomes necessary to assess the validation of diverse schema formats associated with the databases.
• Identifying unmapped entities in the database, such as tables, views, and columns, is essential.
• Various tools are available in the market to facilitate object mapping within schemas.

For instance, within Microsoft SQL Server, a tester can create simple queries to analyze and authenticate schemas within the database. If a tester wishes to modify the structure of a table, they must ensure that all the stored procedures associated with that table remain compatible with the proposed changes.

Following are the checklists:

• There are instances where the objects within the end-user application may not be accurately linked or compatible with the database objects. Consequently, it becomes necessary to assess the validation of diverse schema formats associated with the databases.
• Identifying unmapped entities in the database, such as tables, views, and columns, is essential.
• Various tools are available in the market to facilitate object mapping within schemas.

For instance, within Microsoft SQL Server, a tester can create simple queries to analyze and authenticate schemas within the database. If a tester wishes to modify the structure of a table, they must ensure that all the stored procedures associated with that table remain compatible with the proposed changes.

Following are the checklists:

• Validate the database name.
• Confirm the data device, log device, and dump device.
• Ensure adequate space allocation for each database.
• Verify database option settings.

Stored Procedures and Views Testing

In this form of testing, a tester ensures that the manual execution of stored processes and views yields the desired outcome.

The tester verifies the following:

• If it successfully triggers the required actions as anticipated.
• If the development team has comprehensively addressed all loops and conditions by supplying input to applications within the procedures.
• Whether there exist any unused stored procedures within the database.
• Adequate application of TRIM operations when retrieving data from the necessary database tables.
• Confirmation of the overall integration of the stored procedure modules in accordance with the application's test requirements.
• Adherence to exception and error handling mechanisms.

Commonly utilized tools for storing procedure testing include LINQ, SP Test tool, and others.

Following are the checklists:

• Validate the stored procedure name.
• Confirm parameter names and types.
• Verify output for multiple records, zero rows, or few records.
• Understand the function of a stored procedure and what it should not do.
• Test with sample input queries to ensure correct data extraction.
• Test stored procedure parameters with boundary and valid data.
• Check return values; failures should return non zero values.
• Validate error messages, including unpredictable error scenarios.

Trigger Testing

This form of testing involves evaluating the functionality of triggers, specifically checking whether data is updated successfully after trigger execution. Additionally, it encompasses the evaluation of naming and coding conventions.

In trigger testing, the tester must verify the following:

• Whether coding conventions were adhered to during the trigger's coding phase.
• Confirmation that the executed triggers satisfy the stipulated conditions.
• Validation of whether the triggers accurately update data after their execution.
• Examination of the functionality of Update/Insert/Delete triggers in relation to the application being tested.

Following are the checklists:

• Verify the correct trigger name.
• Validate if the trigger is linked to a specific table column.
• Test trigger updates with valid data
• Test trigger updates with invalid data, covering all error scenarios.
• Check updates when a record is referenced by another table.
• Ensure proper transaction rollback on failure.
• Identify cases where the trigger should not roll back transactions.

Tables and Column Testing

Let's explore various checks for the database table and column testing.

• Is the alignment of the database fields and columns in the backend consistent with the mappings in the front-end?
• Reviewing the length and naming convention of the database fields and columns as defined by the requirements.
• Confirming the presence of any unused or unmapped database tables/columns. Ensuring the compatibility of
• Data types
• Field lengths between the back-end database columns and those in the front-end of the application.
• Scrutinizing database table and column naming conventions to verify compliance with business requirements.
• Evaluating whether the database fields permit users to input the necessary information as outlined in the business requirement specification documents.

Following are the checklists:

• Verify the names of all tables in the database.
• Validate column names for each table.
• Verify column types for each table.
• Check for NULL values.
• Validate default values bound to the correct table columns.
• Verify rule definitions for table names and access privileges.

Database Server Check

Performing database server verification involves assessing whether the database server can accommodate the anticipated volume of transactions in alignment with the business stipulations. This process determines whether the database servers' configuration particulars align with the business's prerequisites.

Keys and Indexes Testing

To ensure the proper functioning of your database, it is crucial to perform the following verification procedures:

• Confirm that the required primary and foreign key constraints have been defined on the designated tables.
• Validate the references for foreign keys to ensure their accuracy and relevance.
• Verify that data types for the primary key and corresponding foreign keys are consistent across both tables.
• Ensure that all keys and indexes adhere to the prescribed naming conventions.
• Evaluate the dimensions and lengths of the mandatory fields and indexes.
• Determine whether the necessary clustered and non-clustered indexes have been created on the specified tables in accordance with business requirements.

Following are the checklists:

• Validate primary keys for each table.
• Confirm foreign keys for each table.
• Check data types between foreign key columns and columns in other tables.
• Verify indices, whether clustered or non-clustered, unique or not.

Functional Testing

The foremost database test approach is functional testing, which validates a database's functional requirements as perceived by end-users. Functional testing of databases primarily assesses whether end-user transactions and operations involving the database perform as expected.

Common Database Scenarios for Functional Database Testing:

• Identify relevant schema, triggers, and stored procedures for a specific function.
• Group-related functions for testing.
• Test data flow starting from the front-end.

This testing category can be further divided into:

• Black box testing – Within this testing category, the focus is assessing interfaces and database integration. It encompasses the evaluation of data mapping and incoming and outgoing data interactions. This approach employs diverse techniques like equivalence partitioning, boundary value analysis, and cause-effect graphing.
• White box testing – In this testing type, the scrutiny is directed towards the internal structure of the database. This encompasses the evaluation of triggers, views, tables, columns, schemas, and similar components. White box testing employs various techniques, including cyclomatic complexity, condition coverage, decision coverage, and statement coverage. It is important to note that in this approach, the intricate internal specifications remain hidden from the end user.

Non-Functional Testing

Non-functional testing encompasses activities such as load testing, stress testing, validation of minimum system requirements to align with business specifications, identification of risks, and optimization of database performance. It is performed to assess non-functional aspects of the database, including performance (load and stress handling), recovery, security, and more.

Common Database Scenarios for Non-Functional Database Testing:

• Write test scripts to exercise major functions.
• Ensure comprehensive testing of all functions over a full cycle.
• Verify log files for deadlocks, memory failures, data corruption, etc.
• Test data modification scenarios:
• Update records (involving UPDATE statements or update stored procedures and triggers).
• Insert new records (involving INSERT statements or insertion stored procedures and triggers).
• Delete records (involving DELETE statements or deletion stored procedures and triggers).
• Repeat test cases with invalid data to assess database response.

Following are the tests included under the non-functional testing type:

• Load testing: Load testing evaluates the system's capacity to handle concurrent transactions effectively. During this testing, evaluators assess the response time of the database system. Load testing within various testing types includes:
• Iteratively executing the most frequently used transactions to assess the performance of the database system.
• Initiating downloading a sequence of large files from the Internet to evaluate system responsiveness.
• Simultaneously operating multiple applications on a computer or server to measure system efficiency.
• Stress testing: Stress testing measures the system's resilience and durability. It involves imposing a substantial load by introducing multiple users and transactions until the database system reaches its breaking point or experiences failure.

Misconceptions about Database Testing

There are certain misconceptions associated with database tests that need to be clarified so that testers can avoid any incorrect assumptions in the test process. This will encourage unbiased and thorough testing. Some of those misconceptions about reality are given below:

• Database testing demands considerable expertise and is known for its meticulous nature: In truth, database testing within software testing ensures enduring functional stability upon the entire application. Therefore, dedicating diligent effort to this endeavor is imperative.
• There's a misconception that database testing introduces an additional bottleneck to the workflow: However, the reality is quite the opposite. Testing databases contributes substantial value to the project by unearthing latent issues, thus proactively enhancing the overall application's quality.
• It's often assumed that database testing hinders the overall development process: In reality, a substantial investment in database testing improves the overall quality of the database application.
• Some may perceive database testing as excessively expensive: Yet, in reality, any expenses on testing the database serve as a long-term investment that ensures the durability and robustness of the application.

Next, we will discuss approaches and methods of testing the database.

How to Write Test Cases for Database Testing?

When it comes to software applications, the priority step is to create test cases so that there is a miss of testing any key features or aspects. Among different testing types, database testing is a form of grey box testing since it necessitates validating the backend and the user interface responsible for retrieving data within the application.

The majority of software applications employ numerous databases, necessitating an understanding of their interrelationships. The fundamental principles for creating test cases for database testing are as follows:

• Initially, understand the application's prerequisites.
• Gather information regarding all tables, including their usage of joins, cursors, triggers, stored procedures, and input and output parameters.
• Initiate the composition of test cases for these tables, ensuring coverage of all possible paths with various input values.

Some examples of test cases:

• Verify the retrievability of database-related information, such as database name, device details, and device log, and include device details, as well as storage space, using queries.
• Validate that data entered via the application's user interface is stored in the database upon clicking the submit button.
• Verify that neither the primary nor foreign keys accept null values.
• Ensure the end-to-end data flow is functional within the system, spanning from the front end to the back end.
• Authenticate for the absence of issues like deadlocks, memory failures, data corruption, and so forth by scrutinizing the log files.

Now, let us learn about different approaches and steps to testing the database.

How to Test the Database?

Database testing can be performed using two different approaches:

• Manual approach
• Automation approach

Both manual and automated testing approaches are significant in terms of evaluating the functionality and performance of the database with respect to software applications. This, in turn, allows the testers and developers to ensure data integrity and security. It is important that testers should be aware of both approaches so that they can select the most suitable one as per their requirement and software project.

Manual Approach to Database Testing

The manual approach of testing the database involves the execution of test cases and SQL queries manually by the testers without any involvement of the automation tool. The advantage associated with this approach is easy verifying of data integrity, functionality, and quality. In this approach, the testers manually input the data, manipulate the database if needed, and validate the test outcome based on the comparison. It gives hands-on data inspection and is appropriate for complex scenarios and exploratory testing.

Below are the mentioned steps that need to be followed to perform manual database testing:

• To initiate the process, testers have to launch the SQL server on their local system.
• Subsequently, they access the query analyzer to compose commands and retrieve data.
• Upon obtaining the specified data, they will measure it against the anticipated results.
• They can then perform data updates or deletions to evaluate the software application's performance.
• The general procedure for testing the database shares similarities with testing other applications.

To execute the test, we can adhere to the following steps:

• Configure the test environment: Initially, it's essential to prepare the test environment for assessing the software application. For example, testers prepare the database server and configure the required hardware and software components and others. This is an important step because it ensures that the testing environment is similar to the production environment.
• Execute the test: Testers will execute specific test cases once the test environment is set up. Here, different types of tests can be executed by the testers, like data retrieval tests and data modification tests.
• Verify the results: After the successful execution of the test case without any issues, testers verify the designated test case results. This is done by checking the data, the response of the system, and any error message detected in the test process.
• Validate the output against the expected one: After verifying test case results, testers validate the obtained output against the expected outcome. If they align, the test case will be deemed a pass; otherwise, it will be categorized as a failure.
• Report findings to stakeholders: Finally, the testers share the test results with the stakeholders of the specific software application. This may include developers, project managers, and quality assurance teams to provide them with insights into the software's quality and any areas that require attention or correction.

Furthermore, the testing process may involve running these queries and assessing data integrity, ensuring the resulting data is truthful, precise, comprehensive, retrievable, and verifiable. Additionally, the evaluation may encompass monitoring data mapping, the various ACID properties, and verifying the accuracy of implemented business rules.

Automation Approach to Database Testing

Database testing may become intricate as data volumes expand, environments diversify, and data intricacy escalates. Manually ensuring comprehensive coverage can become laborious. To this, a test automation approach of database testing involves automated testing tools.

During testing, attention can be directed toward essential facets such as data schema, data integrity, and fundamental user interface functionalities through automation. When automating database testing, the following fundamental procedures should be adhered to, regardless of the chosen tools and methodologies:

• Determine the testing scope: In this step, testers first define the key area of the database that requires testing.
• Develop test scripts: Test script is an important component of database testing. Testers then create automated scripts with information on the interaction with the database, execute test cases, and validate the expected outcome.
• Identify high-priority test cases: There might be different test cases when performing database testing. Testers prioritize the critical test cases to execute first and require automation.
• Execute the tests: The prepared test scripts are then executed by the tester to perform testing like data retrieval, validation, and modification.
• Document the outcomes: After performing testing, testers record and document the outcome and the error if detected.
• Continuously monitor test results: Testers regularly monitor and analyze the test outcome to find any pattern (Performance Stability, Consistent Data Retrieval), trends (Gradual Performance Degradation), and issues (Spikes in Response Time) that require more validation.
• Validate the results by cross-referencing them with the UI test report: Testers finally cross-check the database test outcome by comparing it with the user interface test report.

Scenario for Automation Testing

In software testing, automation testing reduces repetitive manual tasks, enabling test engineers to concentrate more on crucial aspects, which applies similarly to database testing.

Let's explore several scenarios in which automation can prove highly advantageous for testers:

• Alterations in the database schema: When there are modifications to the database schema, extensive testing becomes necessary to verify that everything functions as intended. The scope of testing can be extensive, depending on the database's size, making manual execution a time-consuming process.
• Monitoring for data integrity issues: There may arise situations where a subset of data becomes corrupted due to recovery procedures or other factors, often stemming from human errors or unforeseen glitches. By employing automated monitoring procedures, detecting such discrepancies becomes more streamlined, facilitating prompt resolution.
• New or frequently changing applications: In the era of Agile methodology, where frequent production releases occur at the end of each sprint (typically every 2-3 weeks), automation plays a pivotal role. By automating stable and unchanging features from previous sprints, testers can allocate more attention to validating newly modified requirements, thereby enhancing testing efficiency.

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Database Testing Tools

There are different automation testing tools that can be used to perform database testing. Knowing different types will help you select the relevant one based on your testing requirements. Here are different categories of automation testing tools.

• Load testing tools: These applications serve the purpose of subjecting your database to high usage loads, enabling the analysis of your system's capacity to meet your business requirements effectively.

Examples:

• Web Performance
• Rad View
• Mercury
• Data security tools: These tools are employed to enforce compliance and adhere to information security regulations.

Examples:

• IBM Optim Data Privacy
• Protegrity Data Security
• Test data generation tools: Testers utilize these tools to create test data for database systems, which is particularly useful when dealing with extensive datasets for tasks like load testing and stress testing.

Examples:

• Data Factory
• DTM Data Generator
• Turbo Data
• Test data management tools: These tools facilitate version control for test data by defining expected outcomes and comparing them with actual test results.

Examples:

• IBM Optim Test Data Management
• Informatica
• Unit testing tools: These tools are employed to conduct regression testing on your database, ensuring its integrity throughout software development.

Examples:

• SQLUnit
• TSQLUnit
• DBFit
• DBUnit

Different Database System Threats

Database testing requires considering some of the threats associated with the database. This is because the threat could complicate the test process and render security errors in the software application. Hence, when learning about database testing, it is equally important to know about database threats to optimize the test process.

• SQL injection: The most prevalent form of attack on a database system involves the insertion of malicious SQL statements into the system to execute them to extract critical data from the database. This attack capitalizes on vulnerabilities within the user application's implementation. To counteract this threat, it is crucial to handle user input fields carefully.
• Privilege escalation in databases: In this type of attack, a user who already possesses some level of access within the database system attempts to raise their access privileges to a higher level, enabling them to carry out unauthorized activities within the database system.
• Service denial: Service denial attacks make a database system or application resource inaccessible to legitimate users. These attacks can also target applications in ways that render them, and occasionally the entire machine, inoperable.
• Unauthorized data access: Another attack category entails gaining unauthorized access to data within an application or database system. This includes
• Unauthorized data access through user-based applications.
• Unauthorized access by monitoring the activities of others.
• Unauthorized access to reusable client authentication information.
• Identity impersonation: Identity impersonation occurs when a hacker uses a user's or device's credentials to launch attacks against network hosts, steal data, or bypass access controls to gain entry to a database system. Preventing this type of attack necessitates IT infrastructure and network-level countermeasures.
• Data tampering: In a data tampering attack, a hacker manipulates data to gain an advantage or affect the reputation of database owners.

Database Security Testing Overview

Database security testing identifies vulnerabilities in security measures and uncovers potential weaknesses within the database system. The primary objective of conducting database security testing is to unearth system vulnerabilities and ascertain whether the data and resources are shielded from potential unauthorized access. Regularly performed security testing establishes an effective means of consistently recognizing potential vulnerabilities.

Techniques for testing database security:

• Penetration testing: Penetration testing involves initiating an attack on a computer system with the aim of discovering security vulnerabilities, which may grant access to its functionality and stored data.
• Risk assessment: Risk assessment is a procedure for evaluating and determining the risks associated with various losses and the likelihood of vulnerability occurrences. This assessment is carried out within the organization through various methods, including interviews, discussions, and analytical processes.
• SQL injection analysis: SQL injection analysis inspects user inputs within application fields. For example, inputting special characters such as ',' or ';' in any text box within a user application should be prohibited. To identify potential SQL injection vulnerabilities in your web application, review the code in which direct MySQL queries are executed on the database while accepting user inputs. SQL injection testing should encompass checks for brackets, commas, and quotation marks.
• Password decryption: Conducting password decryption checks is a critical aspect of database system testing. Hackers may attempt to access crucial information by utilizing password-decryption tools or attempting to guess common username/password combinations, which are readily accessible on the Internet. Numerous password-cracking tools are freely available.
• Database system security audit: A security audit entails the periodic evaluation of an organization's security policies to determine whether the necessary standards and protocols are being adhered to.

Challenges in Database Testing

To execute database testing effectively, testers must gather information on requirements from various sources, including technical (related to how the database is built) and functional specifications (related to what the database is supposed to do) about what the database should do and how it should work.

Some requirements may be high-level, necessitating their breakdown into smaller parts. In this process, testers encounter several difficulties. The most common challenges in database testing with their solutions are:

• Testing scope is extensive: Having incomplete or least information on the testing requirements is a crucial challenge. This is because testers without a clear understanding of the testing scope, which may be extensive, may end up testing uncritical database cases.

  Solution: Testers must identify the list of aspects to be tested so that they can be prioritized based on criticality. With this, estimating the time and effort needed to design the tests becomes easy.

• Changes in database structure: The sudden change in the database structure is another main challenge of database testing. It may impact the testing process and render it ineffective.

  Solution: Testers must be aware of the change done to the database during the test process. When they identify the changes, it becomes easy to analyze their impact, and based on this modification, the test process can be done.

• Parallel testing pitfalls: Running multiple tests simultaneously is another challenge in database testing, especially when it comes to performance tests. This is because of several reasons:
  • When multiple tests run concurrently, they may compete for the same system resources, such as CPU, memory, and disk I/O.
  • One test may insert or modify data that another relies on, leading to unexpected behavior or errors.
  • Finding the root cause of problems can become more complex.

  Solution: It is preferred to run one test at a time, particularly for performance testing, to avoid resource conflicts and ensure accurate results.

• Data reusability and test data generation: Efficiently reusing data for testing and generating test data poses challenges because they demand careful management to prevent data interference between tests.

  Solution: To address the above issue, testers need to have a better strategy to generate important data, especially for repeated test scenarios. This will help to make better use of data. Further, isolating the commands from each other can also be done to ensure that the input or output of the command does not affect their outcome.

• Managing data acquisition costs and timelines: Obtaining data from a vast database incurs both time and financial overheads.

  Solution: It becomes crucial to strike a balance between project timelines, desired data quality, and the volume of data to be acquired.

• Unauthorized data modification: Any unintended or unauthorized changes done in the database are a crucial challenge in database testing as they may disrupt the complete test process. Those modifications could be like alterations to data values, configuration, and others.

  Solution: Testers must have access control to the database. Access can only be given to a limited number of people and should be restricted to DELETE and EDIT options.

• Complex test planning: Database structures are typically complex, involving vast amounts of data, which can lead to the risk of running incomplete or repetitive tests.

  Solution: It's essential to create a detailed test plan and follow it diligently while regularly monitoring progress.

Best Practices of Database Testing

To improve the database test, the following are some of the best practices that can implemented:

• Thoroughly validate all data, encompassing both metadata and functional data, in accordance with their mapping as specified in the requirement documentation.
• Ensure validation of test data collaboratively generated with the development team.
• Employ a combination of manual and automated procedures to validate output data.
• Utilize diverse techniques such as cause-effect graphing, equivalence partitioning, and boundary-value analysis to generate essential test data conditions.
• Verify the referential integrity rules for the requisite database tables.
• Proficiency in SQL queries and adeptness with essential database management tools are prerequisites for successful database testing.
• Enhance coverage by integrating graphical user interface (GUI) and data verification techniques within relevant tables. If employing an SQL server, leverage the SQL Query Analyzer to craft, execute, and retrieve query results.
• Execute CRUD operations via the GUI and evaluate their effects by running corresponding SQL queries provided by the developer. This approach doesn't mandate in-depth SQL knowledge or familiarity with the application's database structure but should be employed cautiously.

Conclusion

In the tutorial, we have discussed database testing, its significance, examples, way to perform it, and other concepts. Let's provide a summary of the key learning. Testing databases involves evaluating the structure, tables, triggers, and other elements within the tested database.

This evaluation includes multiple checks, including data mapping, adherence to business rules, data integrity, and the fulfillment of ACID properties. Database testing primarily comprises structural, functional, and non-functional investigation. Verifying the proper functioning of essential database operations is imperative to minimize the risk of system failures.

Adopting a systematic approach and employing diverse testing techniques significantly bolsters the reliability and performance of the database. Consequently, implementing effective database testing practices becomes crucial for establishing a sturdy and trustworthy data foundation, significantly contributing to the overall success of your applications. To grasp the core concepts of the database testing process, test engineers should acquaint themselves with the various facets, types, manual and automated procedures, and database test tools associated with database testing.