CTFL 2.3.1: Summarize maintenance testing and its triggers
K2Syllabus section 2.3.1
3 original PrepBench practice questions for learning objective 2.3.1 of the CTFL 4.0 syllabus. Try the examples below and check each answer against its syllabus reference.
Practice questions
Question 1
An insurer will take its legacy policy application out of service at the end of the year, but regulation requires the policy data to stay retrievable for ten more years. Which maintenance trigger is this, and what testing does it call for?
- A modification, calling for tests of the planned enhancement and regression tests of the rest
- Retirement, calling for tests of data archiving and of the restore and retrieval procedures
- An upgrade or migration, calling for tests of data conversion into the system being maintained
- A hot fix, calling for confirmation of the corrective change and an impact analysis of the areas hit
Show answer
- A modification, calling for tests of the planned enhancement and regression tests of the restModifications are planned enhancements, corrective changes or hot fixes; nothing is being changed here.
- Correct answer: Retirement, calling for tests of data archiving and of the restore and retrieval proceduresAn application reaching the end of its life is retirement, and long retention makes archiving and retrieval testing necessary.
- An upgrade or migration, calling for tests of data conversion into the system being maintainedUpgrades or migrations move the operational environment or migrate data into the maintained system.
- A hot fix, calling for confirmation of the corrective change and an impact analysis of the areas hitA hot fix is an unplanned corrective release; no defect is being corrected in this situation.
The triggers for maintenance and maintenance testing are classified as modifications, upgrades or migrations of the operational environment, and retirement. Retirement occurs when an application reaches the end of its life; it can require testing of data archiving if long data retention periods are required, and testing of restore and retrieval procedures after archiving may also be needed in case certain data is required during the archiving period.
Syllabus section 2.3.1
Question 2
Before deciding whether to make a change to an operational system, a team works out the potential consequences the change would have in other areas of the system. What is this called?
- Root cause analysis
- Risk analysis
- Impact analysis
- Test analysis
Show answer
- Root cause analysisRoot cause analysis establishes why a defect arose, not what a proposed change would affect.
- Risk analysisRisk analysis assesses risk; it does not map the consequences of a specific change.
- Correct answer: Impact analysisImpact analysis assesses the potential consequences in other areas of the system.
- Test analysisTest analysis identifies test conditions from the test basis; it does not evaluate a change.
Impact analysis may be done before a change is made, to help decide if the change should be made, based on the potential consequences in other areas of the system. It is also advisable before regression testing, where it shows which parts of the software could be affected and so indicates the extent of the regression testing needed.
Syllabus section 2.3
Question 3
Two changes are planned for the same large operational system. Change 1: a one-line correction to the wording of a rarely used report heading, assessed as low risk. Change 2: a rewrite of the payment calculation used by every order, assessed as high risk. Which change calls for the larger maintenance test scope, and on what grounds?
- Change 1, because a small change is easily overlooked and therefore needs the wider regression testing
- Both equally, because the scope depends on the size of the existing system, which is the same in both cases
- Change 2, because maintenance testing always covers the whole system whatever the change was
- Change 2, because the scope depends on the degree of risk of the change and on the size of the change
Show answer
- Change 1, because a small change is easily overlooked and therefore needs the wider regression testingBeing easy to overlook is not among the factors the scope depends on.
- Both equally, because the scope depends on the size of the existing system, which is the same in both casesSystem size is one of the three factors, but it is identical here and so does not discriminate.
- Change 2, because maintenance testing always covers the whole system whatever the change wasTesting the changes also means checking for regressions, not covering the whole system regardless.
- Correct answer: Change 2, because the scope depends on the degree of risk of the change and on the size of the changeRisk of the change and size of the change are what separate these two cases.
The scope of maintenance testing typically depends on the degree of risk of the change, the size of the existing system, and the size of the change. The system is the same for both changes, so its size does not separate them; the degree of risk and the size of the change do, and both are higher for Change 2.
Syllabus section 2.3.1
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