Separate test steps and test results

Configuring separate test steps

To use separate test steps in your test cases, simply choose the “Test Case (Steps)” default template from the Template dropdown field on any test case:

The separated steps test case template is called Test Case (Steps) by default, although if you have Admin permissions, you can change the name for this template under the Administration > Customizations > Templates tab. The defining feature of the Test Case (Steps) template is that comes with a separated_steps case field out of the box, which is what allows you to add separate test steps to your test cases when using this template.

You can enable up to 4 fields for separated test steps: Step, Additional Info, Expected Result, and References. If you would like to use separate test steps by default, you can also change the default template under Administration > Customizations.

Configuring separate test steps in earlier versions of TestRail (prior to 5.2)

TestRail versions prior to 5.2 support either entering test steps and expected results for test cases via simple text fields (the default configuration), or you can configure TestRail to manage test steps separately in a more structured way (including specifying separate test results for the test steps). The following screenshot shows the separate test steps configuration and this guide explains how to configure TestRail this way.

Follow these steps to configure separate test steps in TestRail:

1. Select Administration > Customizations
2. Under the Case Fields table, click the Add Field button
3. For the Label enter Steps. For the System Name enter steps_separated. As the Type, select Steps.
4. Before you save the new field, click the Add Projects & Options link in the Projects table below. In the dialog, just click OK to use the defaults and to assign the custom field to all projects
5. Now click the Add Field button to submit the field

Test results

Now, in addition to the test steps for the cases, you can also configure TestRail to display the steps in the Add Test Result dialog. This will allow you to select results for separate steps like this:

To configure separate test step results, just add a custom field to the Add Test Result dialog:

1. Under the Result Fields table, click the Add Field button
2. For the Label enter Step Results, and for the System Name enter step_results. As the Type, select Step Results.
3. Add the field to all projects again
4. Click the Add Field button to submit the field

Actual results

You can optionally also allow testers to enter actual test results in the Add Test Result dialog. This can be useful to record additional details when testers enter the results. For example, if you want to record specific measurements for each step (such as the measured temperature of a device you are testing), then configuring the Actual Result field can be useful.

To do this, simply follow these steps:

1. Edit the Step Results field under Administration > Customizations
2. Edit the project assignment in the table at the end of the Edit Custom Field page (via the little pencil icon)
3. Check the option to Use a separate Actual Result field for each step and click OK
4. Click the Save Field button to submit the field

When you then enter a test result for a test case that has separate test steps entered, you can optionally enter an actual result for each step:

Additional notes

You might also want to delete or disable the preconfigured custom fields such as Preconditions, Steps, and Expected Results (please see the note above). To disable a field, edit it and simply remove the entry from the Projects table. This will remove the fields from all projects without deleting the entered data so you can restore the fields later if needed.

We usually recommend adding a Description text field to cases and disabling the Preconditions, Steps, and Expected Results fields when configuring separate steps, but this can be configured as needed. You can also keep the built-in steps text field temporarily in order to migrate your existing data to the new format, in case you have any.