ETL Testing

1. Challenges of Data warehouse Testing

--Data selection from multiple source systems and analysis that follows pose great challenge.
--Volume and the complexity of the data.
--Inconsistent and redundant data in a data warehouse.
--Inconsistent and Inaccurate reports.
--Non-availability of History data.

2. Testing Methodology
--Use of Traceability to enable full test coverage of Business Requirements
--In depth review of Test Cases
--Manipulation of Test Data to ensure full test coverage
Fig 1 Testing Methodology (V- Model) Provision of appropriate tools to speed the process of Test Execution
& Evaluation Regression Testing

3. Testing Types
The following are types of Testing performed for Data warehousing projects.
1. Unit Testing.
2. Integration Testing.
3. Technical Shakedown Testing.
4. System Testing.
5. Operation readiness Testing
6. User Acceptance Testing.
3.1 Unit Testing
The objective of Unit testing involves testing of Business transformation rules, error conditions,
mapping fields at staging and core levels.
--Unit testing involves the following
1. Check the Mapping of fields present in staging level.
2. Check for the duplication of values generated using Sequence generator.
3. Check for the correctness of surrogate keys, which uniquely identifies rows in database.
4. Check for Data type constraints of the fields present in staging and core levels.
5. Check for the population of status and error messages into target table.
6. Check for string columns are left and right trimmed.
7. Check every mapping needs to implement the process abort Mapplet which is invoked if the
number of record read from source is not equal to trailer count.
8. Check every object, transformation; source and target need to have proper metadata. Check
visually in data warehouse designer tool if every transformation has a meaningful description.
3.2 Integration Testing
The objective of Integration Testing is to ensure that workflows are executed as scheduled with
correct dependency.
--Integration testing involves the following
1. To check for the execution of workflows at the following stages
Source to Staging A.
Staging A to Staging B.
Staging B to Core.
2. To check target tables are populated with correct number of records.
3. Performance of the schedule is recorded and analysis is performed on the performance result.
4. To verify the dependencies among workflows between source to staging, staging to staging and
staging to core is have been properly defined.
5. To Check for Error log messages in appropriate file.
6. To verify if the start job starts at pre-defined starting time. Example if the start time for first job has
been configured to be at 10:00AM and the Control-M group has been ordered at 7AM, the first job
would not start in Control-M until 10:00AM.
7. To check for restarting of Jobs in case of failures.
3.3 Technical Shakedown Test
Due to the complexity in integrating the various source systems and tools, there are expected to
be several teething problems with the environments. A Technical Shakedown Test will be conducted prior to
commencing System Testing, Stress & Performance, and User Acceptance testing and Operational
Readiness Test to ensure the following points are proven:
• Hardware is in place and has been configured correctly (including Informatica architecture, Source system
connectivity and Business Objects).
• All software has been migrated to the testing environments correctly.
• All required connectivity between systems are in place.
• End-to-end transactions (both online and batch transactions) have been executed and do not fall over.
3.4 System Testing
The objective of System Testing is to ensure that the required business functions are implemented
correctly. This phase includes data verification which tests the quality of data populated into target tables.
System Testing involves the following
1. To check the functionality of the system meets the business specifications.
2. To check for the count of records in source table and comparing with the number of records in the target
Table followed by analysis of rejected records.
3. To check for end to end integration of systems and connectivity of the infrastructure (e.g. hardware and
network configurations are correct),
4. To check all transactions, database updates and data flows functions for accuracy.
5. To validate Business reports functionality.
==Reporting functionality
Ability to report data as required by Business using Business Objects Report Structure Since the universe
and reports have been migrated from previous version of Business Objects, it’s necessary to ensure that the
upgraded reports replicate the structure/format and data requirements (until and unless a change /
enhancement has been documented in Requirement Traceability Matrix / Functional Design Document).
Enhancements Enhancements like reports’ structure, prompts ordering which were in scope of upgrade
project will be tested Data Accuracy The data displayed in the reports / prompts matches with the actual
data in data mart.
==Performance
Ability of the system to perform certain functions within a prescribed time. That the system meets
the stated performance criteria according to agreed SLAs or specific non-functional requirements.
Security That the required level of security access is controlled and works properly, including domain
security, profile security, Data Security, UserID and password control, and access procedures. That the
security system cannot be bypassed. Usability. That the system is useable as per specified requirements.
User Accessibility That specified type of access to data is provided to users Connection Parameters Test
the connection Data provider Check for the right universe and duplicate data Conditions/Selection criteria
Test the for selection criteria for the correct logic Object testing Test the objects definitions Context testing
Ensure formula is with input or output context Variable testing Test the variable for its syntax and data type
compatible Formulas or calculations Test the formula for its syntax and validate the data given by the
formula
Filters Test the data has filter correctly
Alerts Check for extreme limits Report alerts
Sorting Test the sorting order of Section headers fields, blocks
Totals and subtotals validate the data results
Universe Structure Integrity of universe is maintained and there are no divergences in terms of joins /
objects / prompts
3.5 User Acceptance Testing
The objective of this testing to ensure that System meets the expectations of the business users.
It aims to prove that the entire system operates effectively in a production environment and that the system
successfully supports the business processes from a user's perspective. Essentially, these tests will run
through “a day in the life of” business users. The tests will also include functions that involve source systems
connectivity, jobs scheduling and Business reports functionality.

3.6 Operational Readiness Testing (ORT)

This is the final phase of testing which focuses on verifying the deployment of software and the operational
readiness of the application. The main areas of testing in this phase include:
Deployment Test
 1. Tests the deployment of the solution
2. Tests overall technical deployment “checklist” and timeframes
3. Tests the security aspects of the system including user authentication and authorization, and
user-access levels.
Operational and Business Acceptance Testing
1. Tests the operability of the system including job control and scheduling.
2. Tests include normal scenarios, abnormal, and fatal scenarios

4 Test Data
Given the complexity of Data warehouse projects;
preparation of test data is daunting task. Volume of data required for each level of testing is given below.
Unit Testing - This phase of testing will be performed with a small subset (20%) of production data for each
source system.

Integration Testing - This phase of testing will be performed with a small subset of production data for each
source system.
System Testing – This phase of a subset of live data will be used which is sufficient in volume to contain all
required test conditions that includes normal scenarios, abnormal, and fatal scenarios but small enough that
workflow execution time does not impact the test schedule unduly.

5 Conclusion

Data warehouse solutions are becoming almost ubiquitous as a supporting technology for the
operational and strategic functions at most companies. Data warehouses play an integral role in business
functions as diverse as enterprise process management and monitoring, and production of financial
statements. The approach described here combines an understanding of the business rules applied to the
data with the ability to develop and use testing procedures that check the accuracy of entire data sets. This
level of testing rigor requires additional effort and more skilled resources. However, by employing this
methodology, the team can be more confident, from day one of the implementation of the DW, in the quality
of the data. This will build the confidence of the end-user community, and it will ultimately lead to a more
effective implementation.