Overview
When a test uses Test Data Management (TDM) to supply a value for a dropdown (select) field, the step may pass even if the provided value is not a valid option in the dropdown. This occurs because the system attempts to match the data using multiple attributes, not just the visible text. This can mask data validation issues and lead to incorrect test behavior.
How It Works
The standard 'Select' action is designed to be robust and attempts to select a dropdown option using three attributes in a specific order:
- Text: The visible text of the option.
- Value: The underlying 'value' attribute of the option tag.
- Index: The numerical position of the option in the list.
If a value provided by TDM does not match any of the visible text options, the system will then try to match it against the 'value' or 'index' attributes. If a match is found with either of these, the step will select that option and pass successfully. This is why providing an invalid text value from a TDM file might not cause the step to fail.
How to Enforce Strict Text Validation
If the goal is to ensure the step fails when the exact text from the TDM file is not present in the dropdown, you must force the action to only validate against the text. This is done by adding an executor to the step.
- Navigate to the specific test step that performs the dropdown selection.
- In the step's advanced settings, add the
Select by Textexecutor.
With this executor in place, the action will strictly attempt to select the option based only on the visible text provided by the TDM. If no option with that exact text exists, the step will fail as expected, correctly flagging the invalid test data.
Limitations
This behavior is by design to provide flexibility in test creation. The default 'Select' action's fallback mechanism is useful in many scenarios, but for strict data validation from a TDM source, explicitly using the Select by Text executor is the required approach.
Related Info
- Test Data Management (TDM)
- Using Executors