EPF with Smartsheet

Eggplant Functional
1

We are looking at using Smartsheet to provide forms for business needs/data entry (without giving access to Excel data) that feed into one or more Excel spreadsheets to be consumed by EPF. Seems simple on the surface, since EPF and Excel have a longstanding relationship, but there are a few added dependencies when using Smartsheet. For example, Smartsheet (which is a web application) allows a spreadsheet to be downloaded/exported as an Excel file, which is an added step.

Has anyone else played with Smartsheet and how to use it with Eggplant Functional? I wasn’t seeing much online, so thought I’d post here as well.

2

Hey @bh_eggy,
haven’t used smartsheets much yet. Can you elaborate a bit more about your use case and intended use within a test case?

Do you want to interact with it on the EPF host machine or on the SUT?

Options:

  1. Use the API to download the excel file via terminal or EPF API capabilities. In case they allow to download a file via API. I wasn’t able to find an endpoint for it
  2. login, open , read and edit the File within the SUT.
  3. Download via SUT and save the file on a network drive which you can access from the EPF machine and you can use the build in commands.
  4. Use a python script with their python sdk to retrieve what you need.

Cheers,
Karsten

1 Like
3

Hi @Karsten, Great options, thank you!

Our use case involves several teams needing one or more test patients. Each patient (or group of patients) will likely need different characteristics (such as age, gender, complaint/situation, etc.) depending on the team and/or workflow.

Smartsheet has been presented as an opportunity to create customized forms for various development teams based on their needs, while also populating Excel files as needed for script automation (might be a test script, staging data script, etc.). This provides the dev teams ONLY what they need in a simple format, while providing the automation engineers a familiar data format for automated scripting. This also avoids the dev teams from “dealing with” (or “messing with” :slight_smile: ) the script Resource files.

Your question regarding the EPF host machine vs. the SUT, as well as many other questions, have not yet been answered. I’m assuming the workflow would be similar to:

  1. Team needing patient(s) completes form(s) (which is a url), which populate(s) one or more Excel file(s) (online)
  2. Appropriate Excel file(s) is/are downloaded from the web to a known/shared location
  3. Eggplant goes to location, retrieves Excel file(s), and executes script using said Excel file(s)

Does this information help?

I’ll look into the options you have provided.

Thank you!
bh_eggy

4

Hi Brian,

I really like the SmartSheets idea. Back in the day when I was asking end users to complete Patient Creation spreadsheets, I added lots of data validation rules and drop-down lists to the Excel template and that got me most of the way there. I know that there are some basic automation options baked into SmartSheets that can export to Excel unattended. One other option to consider is using Excel Forms to provide a simple input for your users. This is the basic info: Create forms that users complete or print in Excel - Microsoft Support but there are lots of YouTube instructional videos as well.
Good luck!
Dave

1 Like
5

Awesome, thank you @DaveHester!

6

Hello,

Our use case involves multiple teams, each requiring one or more test patients with specific characteristics, such as age, gender, or specific complaints, based on their workflows and needs. Smartsheet has been proposed as a solution to create customized forms tailored to each development team’s requirements. These forms would not only simplify data entry for the teams but also generate Excel files as needed for automation purposes. These files could be used for tasks such as test scripting or staging data setup. This approach ensures that development teams receive exactly the data they need in a user-friendly format while shielding them from having to work directly with the script resource files.

You mentioned questions about the EPF host machine versus the SUT, along with other open questions. Assuming a similar workflow, it would likely look something like this:

Teams submit patient requests via customized forms (accessible via URLs).
The forms populate one or more online Excel files.
These Excel files are downloaded to a shared, predefined location.
Eggplant retrieves the required Excel file(s) and executes scripts accordingly.

Best Regard,
Faruk

7

Your summary of the workflow is correct.