Test Cases For Stapler

Test Cases For Stapler: How would you test a stapler? It’s simple and easy to understand (no industry-specific knowledge required). There is no underlying technology you need to know. Heck, odds are you’re even an expert user!

The following is my attempt to test a stapler. If you have the patience to read all the tests I thought of, please comment on the ones I missed (I’m curious to see how complete my list is). If you don’t read all of them, that’s fine too. But scroll to the end and read the last couple of paragraphs after the list, where I talk about the significance of this exercise.

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I chose to test the Stanley Bostitch B660-Black Anti-Jam Desktop Stapler. Following the exploratory process, I would take a minute and learn about the company whose stapler I’m testing and a little bit about staplers in general.

Based on that information, and that information alone, I came up with the following tests, and I try to discuss the following test methods of a stapler:

Requirements based testing
Scenario testing
Function testing
Performance testing
Parallel testing
Usability testing
Stress testing
Test Cases For Stapler

Test Cases For Stapler & Requirements-Based Testing

Dimensions:

  • Is that 1 inch and OR 43.18 mm tall?
  • Is the stapler 2 inches and OR 61.72 mm long?
  • Is the stapler 6 inches and OR 176.28 mm wide?
  • Does the stapler weigh .5 lbs and OR 0.23 kilos?
  • When packaged, are the dimensions of the package 1.73″ x 6.79″ x 2.45″?

Color:

  • Is the stapler black?
  • Is it okay for the anvil and the staple magazine to be silver?
  • Is it ok for the company logo on the front to be white? (After all, the logo on the top is in black)

Features:

  • Does the stapler open 180 degrees for tacking?
  • Does the anvil have a clincher for curling staples in?
  • Does the anvil have a clincher for curling staples out?
  • Can I change the anvil settings (most likely by rotating the anvil)?
  • Can I see the staple supply indicator?
  • If the stapler is full, does the stapler indicator show staples?
  • If the stapler is empty, does it not show staples?

A glance at the stapler tells me that I can see seven staples in the indicator and that the indicator does not show the first staple in the stapler. Based on this, I can ask the following questions:

  • Is it okay if the staple indicator reads empty with fewer than five staples?
  • How many staples should the staple indicator show?
  • Should there be a staple indicator on both sides of the stapler (there are currently; is this redundant)?
  • Does the stapler hold 210 standard staples?
  • Does the stapler hold 211 standard staples?
  • What are the defined dimensions of a standard stapler? (I tried to find this, but I had a problem. I can find the staple “leg” size, but not the standard length and width.)
  • What is anti-Jam technology? (I looked but could not find anything specific.)
  • What is an acceptable jam rate to be called anti-Jam? (For example: is it one jam per 100,000 staples?)
  • What factors affect anti-Jam technology?

Warranty:

  • What constitutes normal wear (for the stapler as a whole)?
  • How did we gather the normal wear statistics (for the stapler)?
    Based on normal wear statistics (for the stapler), set up a test lab and a mechanized staple.
  • Apparatus (a test harness, if you will) to push multiple staplers to test the effects of our normal wear requirements. What do our normal wear performance results look like (for the stapler)?
  • What do we define as neglect?
  • Where did we get our definition of neglect?
  • What tests can we run to test neglect? (For example, If we define neglect as leaving your stapler in a bathtub full of water (do not ask how it got there!) for three weeks and then returning it because it rusts, should we test for the effects of rust on our product?) (I see many tests relating to neglect, but I need to know more about
  • what we mean by neglect.)
  • What do we define as abuse?
  • Where did we get our definition of abuse?
  • What tests can we run to test abuse? (I see many tests relating to abuse, but I need to know more about what we mean by abuse.)
  • What do we define as an accident?
  • Where did we get our definition of an accident?
  • What tests can we run to test accidents? (I see many tests relating to accidents, but I need to know more about what we mean by accident.)
  • What is the normal wear on a driver’s blade? How long should one last?
    Based on normal wear statistics, set up a test lab and a mechanized staple apparatus (a test harness, if you will) to push multiple staplers to test the effects of our normal wear on driver blades. What do our normal wear performance results look like?
  • What is normal wear on a bumper? How long should one last?
    Based on normal wear statistics, set up a test lab and a mechanized staple apparatus (a test harness, if you will) to push multiple staplers to test the effects of our normal wear on bumpers. What do our normal wear performance results look like?
  • What is the normal wear on an o-ring? How long should one last?
    Based on normal wear statistics, set up a test lab and a mechanized staple apparatus (a test harness, if you will) to push multiple staplers to test the effects of our normal wear on o-rings. What do our normal wear performance results look like?

Packaging:

  • Is there a copy of the requirements in the packaging?
  • Is there a copy of the warranty in the packaging?
  • Is the product identified on the packaging?
  • Are the package dimensions 1.73″ x 6.79″ x 2.45″?
  • Is the packaging easy to open for our standard consumer?
  • Is our packaging harmful to the environment?
  • Does our packaging contain any claims we did not test against?
  • Does the packaging/website/catalog show similar information?
  • Are the packaging and warranty printed in the same language as the stapler is sold?

Parallel Testing:

  • How well does this compare to other staplers we make?
  • How well does this stapler compare to our competitor’s stapler?
  • How do our performance stats (see below) correspond to our competitors?

Scenario Testing:

  • Use the stapler for your average knowledge worker on a typical corporate office day.
  • Use the stapler on a typical office day for a secretary.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for a teacher.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for a student.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for a waiter.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for a checkout clerk.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for the shipping yard attendant.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for an event promoter.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for a construction foreman.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for an editor.
  • Use the stapler on a typical day for a writer.

Usability Testing:

  • Is the design self-consistent?
  • Is the feature set the minimum necessary to meet the stated requirements?
  • Is this product similar to competitors’ products with the same or similar requirements?
  • Do we have customer complaints on this or similar products we can use as tests?
  • Do we have customers who can beta-test this product for us?
  • If the standards for a “standard” staple change, how hard will it be to retrofit our staplers?
  • How long does it take a user to re-load the stapler?
  • How long does a user take to figure out how to tack the stapler?
  • How long does it take a user to figure out how to use the stapler?
  • Does our stapler contain text telling us what type of staples it takes?
  • Does our stapler contain text about the make and model number?
  • Did the users want an automatic stapler?
  • Is this the most attractive color of black? Should it be flat instead of gloss?
  • Is the font on the packaging the right type and size?
  • If our stapler returns to us with a defect, how hard will it be to fix and ship back to the customer?
  • Who are our users? What are they looking for in a stapler?
  • In what environment will they be using our stapler?

Function testing:

  • Is this an appropriate implementation of stapler technology?
  • Does it have a base?
  • Does it have a body?
  • Does it have a rear pivot?
  • Does it have a pivot spring?
  • Does it have the ability to engage a tracking function?
  • Does it have a staple magazine?
  • Does it have a staple pusher?
  • Does it have a magazine tension spring?
  • Does it have a ram head?
  • Does it have a drive blade?
  • Does it have a staple exit?
  • Does it have an anvil?
  • How loud is the sound of the stapler stapling? Is this acceptable?
  • What happens if I staple materials other than paper?
  • What happens if I staple nothing at all?

Fault Injection:

  • Will it still work if I remove the rubber sheet from the base?
  • If I remove the rubber sheet from the base, will that slip off my desk while I apply pressure to staple something?
  • Can I still rotate the anvil if I remove the spring that rotates the anvil?
  • If I remove the spring that rotates the anvil, will the anvil remain in the desired setting?
  • If I remove the spring that rotates the anvil, will the stapler still staple correctly?
  • If I flatten one of the small metal tabs that keep the stapler from tacking, is the other tab sufficient to keep that from tacking?
  • Does the stapler still staple correctly if I remove both small metal tabs?
  • If I remove the spring attached to the pusher, can I still staple it?
  • If I remove the staple pusher head, can I still staple it?
  • If I remove the drive blade, can I still staple it?
  • If I remove the anvil, can I still staple it?
  • If I remove the body, can I still staple it?
  • If I remove the o-rings, can I still staple them?
  • What happens if I clog the staple exit? How big of an obstruction must be to stop the stapler from working?
  • How easy is it to remove a staple if it is jammed?
  • Can I still tack if I remove the spring below the staple magazine?
  • If I remove the spring below the staple magazine, can I still staple it?
  • If I remove the spring above the staple magazine, can I still staple it?
  • If I bend the staple magazine, can I still staple it?
  • What if I use a staple other than a standard staple?
  • What if I staple something other than a paper-based product (plastic, wood, etc…)?

Stress Testing:

  • At what temperature does the plastic melt? Is that acceptable?
  • At what cold temperature does that cease functioning (springs, rear pivot, etc…)? Is that acceptable?
  • How many pounds of pressure, while using in the recommended way, does it take to break the materials of the stapler? Is that acceptable?
  • How will different types of staples work?
  • Does it work underwater?
  • Does that work in the desert or on the beach (the effect of sand on moving parts)?
  • Does that conduct heat (what if I leave it on the stove and then try to move it)?
  • Does that conduct electricity?
  • How to be impact-resistant?
  • If I drop it from my desk, what happens?
  • What if I drop it from the second story?

I bet you never thought of that as an impact analysis!

Performance Testing:

  • How long does it take a user to switch to tracking mode?
  • How long does it take a user to switch to standard mode?
  • How many staples can be stapled in the stapler’s useful life?
  • How often can the anvil be rotated before a noticeable degradation in the anvil spring?
  • How long does it take to complete a single staple in tacking mode?
  • How long does it take to complete a single staple in standard mode?
  • How often can it be switched between standard and tacking mode before a noticeable loss of “grip” on the tacking limiting tabs?
  • How often can it be reloaded with staples before a noticeable loss of functionality on the staple pusher spring?
  • How many staples can a drive blade drive before there is a noticeable effect on performance (loss of ability to drive staples, clogs, etc…)?
  • How far does Staples travel in tacking mode if shot in the air? (I don’t know if this is a requirement, but I want to know if I desire to sell this to college students for staple fights.)
  • How many pieces of “standard” paper can be stapled before there is a noticeable effect on performance?

Regulations:

  • Is there some governing body that must approve the safety of our product?
  • Do we require any documentation for them as proof?
  • Does our stapler tell us what country it was manufactured in?

What I hope to illustrate by all this is the following. This is a simple stapler. I came up with 144 tests in about an hour. I’ll grant that some of the tests are impractical, and some are probably not worded the best or need more information, but it’s still 144 tests.

Conclusion:

Your average piece of software is infinitely more complex than a stapler. And odds are your software interacts with more than one user at a time, relies on more than one input, has more than two states (maybe four if you’re picky), has more than a handful of features, and runs in an operating environment with things happening then your top desk drawer.

As testers, we are faced with an impossible task. We can’t possibly test everything, even if we know what we need to test. Our job is one of discovery. That we can look at a stapler and ask how it could be better, look at an online shopping cart and ask how it could be more secure, or how a life-support system can be more reliable is wonderful! Someone who pays you to break stuff gives developers a headache, and if you’re the bottleneck for your project – you get all the attention! Why doesn’t everyone want to be a tester?

Either way, today, I asked, “How far does staple travel if shot in the air?” And that makes today a good day for me.

I love open-source technologies and am very passionate about software development. I like to share my knowledge with others, especially on technology that's why I have given all the examples as simple as possible to understand for beginners. All the code posted on my blog is developed, compiled, and tested in my development environment. If you find any mistakes or bugs, Please drop an email to softwaretestingo.com@gmail.com, or You can join me on Linkedin.

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