SWBS Error in OpenOffice.org Math

 

Summary

When pasting information between cells in OpenOffice.org Math, a single white breaking space (SWBS) is added to the end of the information. If the user deletes this space, information in the cell is deleted, which can skew or damage statistics or results.

Application Description

OpenOffice.org is a free office suite that includes a word processor, a spreadsheet creator, and a presentation creator. Math is the spreadsheet component of OpenOffice.org and is used to calculate statistics, create graphs, merge data, and perform other math-data functions.

Test Design

This example demonstrates the use of Scenario testing. In scenario testing, we create a hypothetical situation the program could be run through, and then we run through it ourselves based on that situation. This helps us to evaluate the program's real-world adaptibility, as well as help us to test many functions that are not frequently used or tested (or simply aren't tested thoroughly enough).

For this presenation, imagine you're a business owner and, for simplicity, you have five employees. Your employees work differing hours, but many times some of the employees work the same number of hours and so therefore get the same amount of pay. To save time when doing the payroll you cut and paste the wages for that week into each of the workers' columns that work the same hours. The others you type in individually.

We will now create a payroll sheet and type in some wages. We are expecting the program to store our data precisely as we enter it, as precision in payroll is absolutely important, and to maintain the integrity of that data, because keeping records of how much we have paid the employees is important for good bookkeeping.

Performing the Test

  1. Open OpenOffice.org Math.
  2. Create a new spreadsheet using File->New->Spreadsheet.

  3. Using the Input Line, add some payroll data, such as:

          

  4. We now have 5 employees and their first week of pay. Save the file as "payroll" using File->Save As....
  5. Close the file (to pretend waiting a week), and then reopen the file so we can add more values.
  6. Pretend the first employee, in column A, made the same amount this week as he made last week. Click on cell A1 and use Ctrl-C to copy the amount.
  7. Now click on cell A2.
  8. Once the cell is selected, click in the Input Line and press Ctrl-V to paste the amount.

  9. Notice the space after the amount. Press the Backspace key on your keyboard to remove the space. This space is a single white breaking space (SWBS), a single "empty space" character that is added onto a string to signal to a program that it terminates.

Results/Relevance

Despite that there was no change to the data in the data entry field, the data in the cell was altered (and this is the data that is stored). Since we are doing this slowly and methodically, of course we probably notice the error immediately, but what if we were a payroll manager keeping track of 100 employees with a full spreadsheet? Many employees might end up with severe miscalculations in their wages.

Scenario testing was a powerful testing technique in this scenario because it gave us an "avenue" for testing. We could see where we had to go, and used whichever function was necessary to get there, evaluating each one as we used it.

Similar Tests/Additional Notes

Testing any application with scenario testing is a great way to familiarize oneself with the application and understand more of how and why a user will be using the application. Read about a program and develop a set of tasks that you, as a user, would like to accomplish. Then evaluate that program by running it through those tasks.

Configuration Notes

Testing OpenOffice.org's Math v1.1.1 on:

Created 9 June 2004 for the CSTER

All images and written material ©Copyright Sam Oswald 2004

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