Identifying Code Change Impact on Tests

This topic applies to:

Visual Studio Ultimate	Visual Studio Premium	Visual Studio Professional	Visual Studio Express

By using Test Impact Analysis during code development, you can identify the methods in a test project that have been affected by code changes in your managed code solution. At each build of the solution on the local computer, Test Impact Analysis identifies the methods in the code project that have changed and lists the test methods that directly or indirectly call those methods. You can then run the tests from the Test Impact View window. You can also use the Test Impact View window to identify and run any test method that affects a particular code method.

Note

Test Impact Analysis is not supported on obfuscated binaries

Test Impact Analysis can also be used in Microsoft Test Manager, as part of the check-in policies for team projects in Team Foundation Server, and in build definitions for Team Foundation Build. For more information about Test Impact Analysis in different feature areas, see the following Help topics:

Feature Area	Topic
Visual Studio IDE	How to: Identify the Test Impact of Code Changes During Development
Microsoft Test Manager	Recommending Tests to Run That are Affected by Code Changes
Check-in policies for team projects	Set and Enforce Quality Gates
Build definitions for Team Foundation Build	Define Your Build Process

The Test Impact View Window

The Test Impact View tool window shows the tests that are affected by changes to your code, the methods in your code that have changed, and the test methods that call a selected function in your code. From the Test Impact View window, you can also run tests to verify code changes.

You control the test impact views and commands from the Test Impact View toolbar.

Command Button	Description
Show Impacted Tests	Displays the test methods that have been affected since the last build of the application. When you select one or more test methods, the Code changes window display only those application methods that impacted the selected test methods.
Show Code Changes	Displays the application methods that have failed one or more tests and have not been verified as passing those tests. When you select one or more application methods, the Impacted tests window display only those test methods that were impacted by the selected application methods.
Show Calling Tests	Displays the test methods that call a selected method in the code editor.
Run / Debug Test	Runs or debugs all or some of the impacted test methods.
Show Team Foundation Server Tests	Includes the tests that are run through Team Foundation Server or Test Manager in the list of impacted and calling tests.
Refresh	Requires the test impact database for the impacted, code change, and calling test lists.

External Resources

Videos

Visual Studio Developer Center video: How do I get started with Visual Studio 2010 Test Impact Analysis

Visual Studio Developer Center video: How Do I configure and use Test Impact Analysis

See Also

Concepts

Setting Up Test Machines to Run Tests or Collect Data

Running Tests

Verifying Code by Using Unit Tests

Completing Development Tasks