Get pre-execution approval

Tosca's pre-execution approval is an automated process to request and grant approval for TestCases. It allows you to validate your TestCases before you run them, and it protects validated TestCases from unauthorized modifications. Pre-execution approval is a vital tool to safeguard your environment:

Your tests cover exactly what you need, when you need them. Plus, they don't cost valuable test infrastructure resources before they're ready.
Your test setup fully complies with security and compliance regulations.

Automation with Tosca speeds up your governance processes and makes them much easier to track. Your QA teams no longer need to deal with extensive spreadsheets and email threads. This lets you release faster and with more confidence.

Pre-execution approval is an early access feature and still under development. We can't guarantee full functionality in this or future versions.

Approval objects

The approval process is for TestCases only. It doesn't include TestCase-related objects such as TestCase Templates, Business TestCases, Modules, or ExecutionLists.

Available options

Tricentis offers two versions of pre-execution approval:

Tosca only.
Integrated version with Tricentis qTest and VERA.

Pre-execution approval in Tosca

In the Tosca-only version, pre-execution approval is a quick, easy way to validate your TestCases before you execute them and to lock down your TestCases once they're validated.

You can request and grant approvals either in the Tosca user interface or in the REST API.

Pre-execution approval in an integrated environment

If you work with regulated applications, for instance in the life sciences industry, we recommend that you integrate with qTest and VERA. This integration simplifies your Computer Systems Validation (CSV) process:

Manage requirements and objectives in qTest, sign off in VERA.
Create automated tests in Tosca that fulfill all requirements and objectives.
Trigger pre-execution approval in Tosca, sign off in VERA.
Trigger execution in Tosca or qTest.
Post-execution approval: test results serve as documented evidence and are available in Tosca, qTest, and VERA.

Approval process

The TestCaseWorkState lets users know how far along their TestCase is: PLANNED, IN_WORK, or COMPLETED. If you don't have pre-execution approval enabled, testers can change states manually to track their progress.

If you use pre-execution approval, only Tosca can change the state:

Every new TestCase that's in progress has the state PLANNED.
When a user requests approval for a TestCase, Tosca changes the TestCase to IN_WORK.
Approved TestCases get the state COMPLETED. Only users you define as approvers can approve or reject TestCases.
Rejected TestCases go back to PLANNED, so testers can correct them.

The state defines what users can and can't do with TestCases and their connected objects:

State	Edit Module	Edit TestCase	Edit ExecutionList/qTest TestEvent	Trial run in ScratchBook	Execute ExecutionList/qTest TestEvent	Available approval tasks
PLANNED	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Blocked*	Request approval
IN_WORK	Allowed	Blocked	Allowed	Allowed	Blocked*	Withdraw approval request Approve or reject request
COMPLETED	Allowed	Blocked	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed**	Revise approval
* As long as the ExecutionList has at least one TestCase that's not approved. ** Only if all TestCases in the ExecutionList are approved.

What's next

Set up pre-execution approval. To do so, you need to be an admin user. Learn more about required environments and how to enable pre-execution approval.

If everything's already set up, your next steps depend on which hat you're wearing: