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Most of the software companies today depend on data flow such as large amount of
information made available for access and one can get everything which is needed.
This is where the concept of ETL and ETL Testing comes into the picture. Basically ETL is
abbreviation used for Extraction, Transformation and Loading. Presently ETL Testing is
performed using SQL scripting or using spreadsheets which may be time-consuming and
error-prone approach.
In this article, we will have detailed discussions for several concepts viz. ETL, ETL Process,
ETL testing and different approaches used for it along with ETL testing tools.
another database
Loading: Writing the data into target database
#2) ETL is used to transfer or migrate the data from one database to another, to prepare
data marts or data warehouses
Following diagram elaborates the ETL Process in precise way
2) Duplicate Check Testing: Source and target tables contains huge amount of data with
frequently repeated values, in such case testers follow some database queries to find such
duplication.
3) Navigation Testing: Navigation concerns with GUI of the application. User finds
application friendly when he gets easy and relevant navigation throughout entire system.
Tester must focus on avoiding irrelevant navigation through user point of view.
4) Initialization Testing: Initialization Testing is performed to check combination of
hardware and software requirements along with platform it is installed
5) Attribute Check Testing: This testing is used to perform for verifying all attributes of
source and target system that should be same
From above listing one may consider that ETL Testing is quite similar to Database Testing
but the fact is ETL Testing is concerned with Data Warehouse Testing and not Database
Testing.
There are several other facts due to which ETL Testing differs from Database Testing, lets
have quick look towards it one by one.
1) The primary goal of Database Testing is to check if the data follows the rules and
standards of data model where on the other hand ETL Testing checks if data is moved or
mapped as expected
2) Database Testing focuses on maintaining primary key-foreign key relationship while
ETL Testing verifies for data transformationas per requirement or expectation and same
at source and target
3) Database Testing recognizes missing data where as ETL Testing determines duplicate
data
4) Database Testing is used for data integration and ETL Testing forenterprise business
intelligence reporting
These are some major differences which makes ETL Testing different from Database Testing.
ETL bugs are also of several types such as;
Type of bug
Description
Calculation Bugs
Input/output Bugs
Accepts
values
H/W bugs
User
Interface
invalid
values
and
rejects
valid
Type of bug
Description
bugs
Load
bugs
condition
Informatica Data Validation provides complete solution for data validation along with
data integrity
Reduces programming efforts and business risks due to intuitive user interface and
built-in operators
Identifies and prevents data quality issues and provides greater business productivity
Allows 64% free trial and 36% paid service that reduces time and cost required for
data validation
Official Link: Informatica Data Validation
QuerySurge is an automated testing tool specifically used for data warehouse testing
Verifies, converts and upgrades data through the ETL process
Reduces testing time and schedules tests for specific time
Builds test scenario and test suits along with configurable reports
Commercial tool connects source and target data and also supports real time
#3) iCEDQ
iCEDQ is designed for ETL Testing, Data Migration Testing and Data Quality
Verification
Identifies data integration errors without any custom code
Supports rule engine for ETL process, collaborative efforts and organized QA process
Commercial tool with 30 days trial provides custom reports with alerts and
notifications
Official Link: iCEDQ
ETL Validator is data testing tool specifically for automated data warehouse testing
ETL Validator is used to check Data Validity, Data Accuracy and also used to perform
Metadata Testing
Checks Referential
Transformation
Commercial tool with 30 days requires zero custom programming and improves
Integrity,
Data
Integrity,
Data
Completeness
and
Data
business productivity
Official Link: Datagaps ETL Validator
While performing ETL testing several things to be kept in mind by testers, some of them are
listed below;
Create and execute absolute test cases, test plans and test harness
Assure accuracy of data transformation, scalability and performance
Make sure ETL application reports invalid values
Unit tests should be created as targeted standards
Conclusion
ETL Testing is not only testers duty but it also involves developers, business analyst,
database administrators (DBA) and even users. ETL Testing process became vital because it
is required to make strategic decisions at regular time intervals.
ETL Testing is being considered as Enterprise Testing though it requires good knowledge of
SDLC, SQL queries, ETL procedures etc.