These instructions will help you get TestPlan installed and working on a Windows 7 machine. If you already have Java installed you may skip the Java step.

Windows 7 Install

Download and Extract

You will first need to download TestPlan. Go to the Launchpad Project Page↗ and download the newest Release tgz (or tar.gz) file.

Using your favourite archive tool, extract the files to c:\testplan. Your extractor might produce a directory like c:\testplan-1-0-r5, simply rename this to c:\testplan. Insider this directory should be several subdirectories, such as bin and tests.

If you can't open the testplan.tgz file then consider using WinZIP or 7-zip (that latter is free, but has a very confusing interface). Also, TestPlan does work from any directory, but we find c:\testplan\ to be simple and convenient.

Install Java

You'll also need to install Java if you have not yet done so. Any relatively recent version of the JRE or JDK will work fine. The installer can be found at http://java.sun.com/↗ click on Get Java then click the Download JRE button. We assure you that navigating the Java/Oracle/Sun website is far more difficult than using TestPlan.

Command Prompt

Now we have to get to the command prompt. A quick reminder, click the windows logo, type cmd and press enter.

If Java has been installed correctly you can type java -version. If this does not work then you have not installed Java correctly.

Now type c:\testplan\bin\testplan --version and you should get the version information for TestPlan.

Add to Path

If this all works we suggest adding testplan to the path. Click the windows logo and type environment then choose the listed option (both go to the same place). Click the Environment Variables button. Select PATH and click Edit. At the end of the path type ;c:\testplan\bin. Note the semi-colon is just a list separator.

Now open a new command prompt and type testplan --version.

Starting TestPlan

To finally verify that testplan is installed correctly type testplan samples.check. You should get output like this:

00000000-00 NOTICE TestPlan is installed.
Test Execution Trace:
        Run: samples.check Pass
Finished.

Writing your First Test

Now continue to Concepts→ and work through the first examples provided there. You're well on your way to becoming a great automated tester!