QA/Firefox3/TestPlan/Content Handling - Web Protocol and Application

Feature Content Handling: Web Protocol/Web Application Support Test Plan

IN DRAFT -- Please post comments on the discussion page

Overview

This feature enables Firefox to hand off content to both web applications (like Google Calendar) and to local applications that have been registered to handle this type of data (like Mozilla Sunbird).

There is a large number of such data types and web/local application types. For our testing, we will try to cover all of the most likely types and popular applications.

The list of popular data formats and protocols that this feature aims to handle: (TODO: link these to sites and determine completeness)

• hCalendar
• hCard
• microformats
• audio feeds
• video feeds
• RSS
• text/calendar file type
• Image file type
• Application file type
• text/vcard file type
• webcal: protocol
• callto: protocol

Scope of planned testing

It is not possible to test every version of every application on every OS for every type of feed/format combination. Doing so would result in a gigantic test matrix. We have instead taken the view to test the most prominent applications for each of these items on each platform. We will also run some automated tests against the code to verify that extension authors have the required abilities to create their own protocol handlers and that users can associate other applications to handle specific types of content.

Also, it is expected that Firefox will automatically detect the proper local applications that are registered to handle this type of content. So, in addition to the "popular" applications, we should also test linking in other applications via the OS and ensure that they are properly detected and handled in Firefox.

However, if the user uses Firefox to set up a linkage for a particular type of data, it is not currently expected that Firefox will write that information out to the OS. This could change post alpha 5.

Platform and Configurations

We will want to test with the most popular web and platform specific applications for each high-priority type of format we want to support.

TODO: Is there a need to test cross platform products on more than one platform? Because at some point, you end up testing that product and not the content handler integration.

Protocol/File Type	Windows Apps	Linux Apps	MacOSX Apps	Web Applications
mailto:	Outlook 2007 Windows Mail (Outlook Express) Thunderbird	KOrganizer Evolution Thunderbird	Mail.app Thunderbird	Gmail Yahoo Mail Hotmail AIM Zimbra
hCalendar, text/calendar, webcal:	Outlook 2007 Outlook 2003 Windows Calendar (Vista Only) Mozilla Lightning or Sunbird	KOrganizer suite Evolution Mozilla Lightning or Sunbird	iCAL.app Microsoft Entourage Mozilla Lightning or Sunbird	Google Calendar Yahoo Calendar Hotmail Calendar Zimbra iCalShare
hCard and text/vcard	Outlook 2007 Outlook 2003 Thunderbird	KOrganizer suite Evolution Eudora Thunderbird	Addressbook.app Thunderbird Entourage	Gmail Yahoo Mail Hotmail Zimbra Memotoo.com TODO: Other hCard enabled sites?
Geo Links (type of microformat)	TODO: Are there any thick clients for this?	TODO: Are there any thick clients for this?	TODO: Are there any thick clients for this?	Flickr.com OpenGuides.org
Audio Feeds	Windows Media Player iTunes Real-Player TODO: Others?	Real-Player, Real-Player Firefox plugin Helix player	iTunes	Rhapsody Online
Video Feeds	Windows Media Player iTunes Democracy Player Real-Player	Democracy Player Helix Player	Quick Time Democracy Player	MSN Video PeekVid
RSS	Thunderbird RSS reader in Vista Desktop RssReader	Thunderbird Straw	Thunderbird Mac Dashboard widgets NewsFire NetNewsWire	Firefox LiveMarks (possibly covered by other testing) Bloglines Google Reader My Yahoo MSN
Image Files	Paint	Gimp	Preview	Show in browser
PDF Files	Adobe Reader	Evince	Preview	Online PDF Viewer
callto:	Skype Gizmo	Skype Gizmo	Skype Gizmo	Seem to be no online apps offering this service at this time

Major Test Areas

Major test areas are to test the applications in the table above with the proper type of content. We must ensure that the content types are handled appropriately in the handoff between Firefox and the third party application. We will probably use Litmus to test this.

We also must test the back-end architecture of this, to ensure the extensibility of the design. We should do this using a test extension code that can be run on an automated basis and will use all the available APIs so that we have complete coverage even if not all of the current implementations of these content type handlers currently make use of those APIs today.

Schedule/milestones

Given the the current state of the UI design (in deep design) at the moment, I do not think that creating detailed Litmus test cases will be possible. A general structure and base testcases for each type can be completed before the UI is totally finalized though.

Before the UI lands, we can work on the test extension/automated piece of this process so that we can test registering new content handlers. This part can coincide with the alpha 5 release.

TODO: Provide more details on schedule.

References

• General information regarding this feature

TODO: Include litmus groups, locations for automated test cases