TPS report

A TPS report (Testing Procedure Specification) is a document used in software engineering, in particular by a Software Quality Assurance group or individual, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.

Contents

Definition

The official definition and creation is provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as follows:

IEEE 829 - Test Procedure Specification
The Test Procedures are developed from both the Test Design and the Test Case Specification. The document describes how the tester will physically run the test, the physical set-up required, and the procedure steps that need to be followed. The standard defines ten procedure steps that may be applied when running a test.

In popular culture

Office Space

After its use in the comedic film Office Space, "TPS report" has come to connote pointless mindless paperwork,[1] and an example of "literacy practices" in the work environment that are "meaningless exercises imposed upon employees by an inept and uncaring management" and "relentlessly mundane and enervating".[2] According to the film's writer and director Mike Judge, the acronym stood for "Test Program Set" in the movie.[3] In the story, the protagonist is reprimanded by several of his superiors for forgetting to put the new cover sheet on his TPS report. When one of the efficiency consultants that visits the firm asked "What does TPS stand for?", the audio cut away so that the term was left undefined in the released film.

Notes

  1. ^ Steven S. Little, The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth (John Wiley & Sons, 2008), ISBN 9780470257463, p.51. Excerpt available at Google Books.
  2. ^ Bronwyn T. Williams, Amy A. Zenger, Popular Culture and Representations of Literacy (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2007), ISBN 978-0415360951, p. 61. Excerpt available at Google Books.
  3. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/15765/92346

External links