InfyOm Blog

In the last Blog we have discussed the basics of BSC, let's start a discussion about four perspectives of BSC.

A Balanced Scorecard looks at an organization from four different perspectives to measure its health, each of these perspectives focuses on various sides of the company and creates a balanced view of the organization.

And yes all four areas of BSC are interrelated; we cannot ignore any out of four to the success of the organization.

Financial Perspective:

This perspective views organizational financial performance and the uses of financial resources.

We need to focus on two points:

• Is the company achieving its financial goals?
• How well do the strategies and operations contribute to improving financial health?

Well, now the question is how we can measure the output from a financial perspective?

These data are always past-focused, we need to gather two types of data.

1. Historical Data: How did we do last month, last week, last year, and so on.
2. Current Data: How are we doing right now, Today?

For instance,

1. Our net profit for the year versus last year
2. Our sales revenue this year versus last year

These measures of corporate performance are based on history and also vary from organization to organization.

As the BSC is a holistic approach, any key objectives that are related to the company's financial health and performance may include in this perspective as given below:

1. Cost Saving and Efficiencies: Specified Goals: Reduced production cost 10% by 2021
2. Profit Margins: increase operational profit Margins
3. Revenue Sources: adding new revenue channels/department/products

In the end,

• Are you making money?
• Are your investors happy?

If yes then be happy...

The financial health of your organization may be an indicator of your past decisions but still incredibly important.

Money keeps the company alive and the financial perspective focuses solely on this.

Internal Process Perspective:

This perspective views various organizational processes and the efficiency of the particular process.

1. From this view, the question should be asked what internal processes have added values within the organization and what activities need to carry in the organization (In all three perspectives).
2. The internal Process perspective looks at how smoothly your business is running (Here, Efficiency is important )
3. It's all about,
   • Reducing waste,
   • Speeding process/ production
   • Doing more with less

We need to focus on three points:

• Is the company improving the critical process?
• Are there any obstacles standing between ideas and execution?
• How quickly can you adapt to changing business conditions?

This perspective answer the question :

"what process we must excel at to satisfy our shareholders/financial Backers and customers?"

To know more about BSC please read my weekly Blog.

In the previous article, we learned 4 cases for how to  test  Android Applications.

In this article, we will learn more cases for how to  test  Android Applications.

5. Compatibility testing test cases

1. Have you tested on the best test devices and operating systems for mobile apps?
2. How does the app work with different parameters such as bandwidth, operating speed, capacity, etc.?
3. Will the app work properly with different mobile browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, etc.
4. Does the app's user interface remain consistent, visible and accessible across different screen sizes?
5. Is the text readable for all users?
6. Does the app work seamlessly in different configurations? 

6. Security testing test cases

1. Can the mobile app resist any brute force attack to guess a person's username, password, or credit card number?
2. Does the app allow an attacker to access sensitive content or functionality without proper authentication?
3. This includes making sure communications with the backend are properly secured.  Is there an effective password protection system within the mobile app?
4. Verify dynamic dependencies.
5. Measures taken to prevent attackers from accessing these vulnerabilities.
6. What steps have been taken to prevent SQL injection-related attacks?
7. Identify and repair any unmanaged code scenarios
8. Make sure certificates are validated and whether the app implements certificate pinning
9. Protect your application and network from denial of service attacks
10. Analyze data storage and validation requirements
11. Create  session management to prevent unauthorized users from accessing unsolicited information
12. Check if the encryption code is damaged and repair what was found.
13. Are the business logic implementations secure and not vulnerable to any external attack?
14. Analyze file system interactions, determine any vulnerabilities and correct these problems.
15. What protocols are in place should hackers attempt to reconfigure the default landing page?
16. Protect from client-side harmful injections.
17. Protect yourself from but vicious runtime injections.
18. Investigate and prevent any malicious possibilities from file caching.
19. Protect from insecure data storage in app keyboard cache.
20. Investigate and prevent malicious actions by cookies.
21. To provide regular checks for the  data protection analysis
22. Investigate and prevent malicious actions from custom-made files
23. Preventing memory corruption cases
24. Analyze and prevent vulnerabilities from different data streams 

7. Localization testing test cases

1. The translated content must be checked for accuracy.  This should also include all verification or error messages that may appear. 
2. The language should be formatted correctly.(e.g. Arabic format from right to left, Japanese writing style of Last Name, First Name, etc.) 
3. The terminology is consistent across the user interface. 
4. The time and date are correctly formatted. 
5. The currency is the local equivalent. 
6. The colors are appropriate and convey the right message. 
7. Ensure the license and rules that comply with the laws and regulations of the destination region.
8. The layout of the text content is error free. 
9. Hyperlinks and hotkey functions work as expected. 
10. Entry fields support special characters and are validated as necessary (ie. postal codes)
11. Ensure that the localized UI has the same type of elements and numbers as the source product. 

8. Recoverability testing test cases

1. Will the app continue on the last operation in the event of a hard restart or system crash?
2. What, if any, causes crash recovery and transaction interruptions?
3. How effective is it at restoring the application after an unexpected interruption or crash?
4. How does the application handle a transaction during a power outage?
5. What is the expected process when the app needs to recover data directly affected by a failed connection? 

9. Regression testing test cases

1. Check the changes to existing features
2. Check the new changes implemented
3. Check the new features added 
4. Check for potential side effects after changes start 

That's it. If you want a good application, take these tips and follow cases for Android Application test. It will help to make quality & standardize your Applications.

We have recently developed a site into the gatsby.

We have a blog site and hosted it on a different domain but now we want to move to one place at our main site. now, we have challenges for displaying dynamic blogs on the gatsby site.

Finally, I found that gatsby provides support to render dynamic blogs as a static page. when build created that time fetch the blogs from the server and create a static page for all the blogs.

Gatsby is a very good platform and manages such a kind of thing easily.

So, I will show you how to create static pages from the API response into the Gatsby site.

Here are the steps you need to follow correctly.

Steps 1

Create a one blog file where you want to load a blog in your design.

For an ex. I created a file `blog/index.js` inside the component directory and the code looks like this,

Steps 2

Open a file `gatsby-node.js`

Declare the const for the API URL at the beginning of the file.

const blogURL = 'http://blog-api.com/api/posts';
We need to create an instance of the  `node-fetch` for fetching a data from API server.

const fetch = require(`node-fetch`);

Import the path for a resolve the page while creating a static page.

const path = require('path');
See the example how to create a static page from APIs. code look's like,
exports.createPages = (async ({graphql, actions}) => {
    const blogs = await fetch(blogURL);
    blogs.data.forEach((blog) => {
        createPage({
            path: 'blog/' + blog.slug,
            component: path.resolve(`./src/components/blog/index.js`),
            context: {
                // Data passed to context is available
                // in page queries as GraphQL variables.
                slug: blog.slug,
                blog: blog,
            },
        })
    })
Now we are done, and you can access blogpage via slug.

7. Know your sales Channel

8. Find a new Customer

9. Remove unprofitable service and product

10. Reduce labor costs with part-time workers

11. Develop a CEO monthly letter to employees to create teamwork and communication

12. Invest in your people

13. Send personal notes of congratulations or thank employees at their home

Development:

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was originally developed by Robert Kaplan of Harvard University and Dr. David Northon as a framework for measuring organizational performance using the more " BALANCED " set of performance measures.

Traditionally companies used only short-term financial performance as a measure of success but now non-financial strategic measures are also added in order to focus on long-term success.

The BSC system evolved over the years and is now considered a fully integrated "Strategic Management System".

What is a Balanced Scorecard (BSC)?

• A Balanced Scorecard is a performance metric used to identify, improve, and control a business's various internal processes and resulting outcomes.
• Balance Scorecard is a framework to implement and manage strategies.
• The Balanced scorecard is derived from the idea of looking at strategic measures to get a more balanced view of performance. The concept of a Balanced Scorecard evolved beyond the simple use of perspectives, every business can implement it according to the requirements and therefore it is a holistic system for managing strategy.

Why do we need to implement it?

• The key benefit of using a BSC framework is that it gives way to the organization to "Connect the Dots" between various components of strategic planning and management and it means there will be a visible connection between Projects and Programs that people are working on it.
• BSC framework also helps management to meet pre-decided targets.

Perspectives of Balanced Scorecard:

Indeed a balanced scorecard plays a significant role to aid management to keep updated internal processes and the external Business world as well.

The framework Balanced Scorecard is divided into four areas (perspectives) that are critical to business success as given below.

1. Financial
2. Internal process
3. Learning and Growth
4. Customer

The BSC suggests that we view the Organization from four Perspectives to develop Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives (relative to each of these points of view).

To know more details about all four perspectives, read my upcoming weekly Blogs.

Few main things remember to test an Android Application which is mention below:

1. Functional testing test cases

There are many hands involved in creating a mobile app. These stakeholders may have different expectations. Functional testing determines whether a mobile app complies with these various requirements and uses. Examine and validate all functions, features, and competencies of a product.

Twelve functional test case scenario questions:

1. Does the application work as intended when starting and stopping?
2. Does the app work accordingly on different mobile and operating system versions?
3. Does the app behave accordingly in the event of external interruptions?
4. (i.e. receiving SMS, minimized during an incoming phone call, etc.)
5. Can the user download and install the app with no problem?
6. Can the device multitask as expected when the app is in use or running in the background?
7. Applications work satisfactorily after installing the app.
8. Do social networking options like sharing, publishing, etc. work as needed?
9. Do mandatory fields work as required? Does the app support payment gateway transactions?
10. Are page scrolling scenarios working as expected?
11. Navigate between different modules as expected.
12. Are appropriate error messages received if necessary?

There are two ways to run functional testing: scripted and exploratory.

Scripted

Running scripted tests is just that - a structured scripted activity in which testers follow predetermined steps. This allows QA testers to compare actual results with expected ones. These types of tests are usually confirmatory in nature, meaning that you are confirming that the application can perform the desired function. Testers generally run into more problems when they have more flexibility in test design.

Exploratory

Exploratory testing investigates and finds bugs and errors on the fly. It allows testers to manually discover software problems that are often unforeseen; where the QA team is testing so that most users actually use the app. learning, test design, test execution, and interpretation of test results as complementary activities that run in parallel throughout the project. Related: Scripted Testing Vs Exploratory Testing: Is One Better Than The Other?

2. Performance testing test cases

The primary goal of benchmarking is to ensure the performance and stability of your mobile application

Seven Performance test case scenarios ensure:

1. Can the app handle the expected cargo volumes?
2. What are the various mobile app and infrastructure bottlenecks preventing the app from performing as expected?
3. Is the response time as expected? Are battery drain, memory leaks, GPS, and camera performance within the required guidelines?
4. Current network coverage able to support the app at peak, medium, and minimum user levels?
5. Are there any performance issues if the network changes from/to Wi-Fi and 2G / 3G / 4G?
6. How does the app behave during the intermittent phases of connectivity?
7. Existing client-server configurations that provide the optimum performance level?

3. Battery usage test cases

While battery usage is an important part of performance testing, mobile app developers must make it a top priority. Apps are becoming more and more demanding in terms of computing power. So, when developing your mobile app testing strategy, understand that battery-draining mobile apps degrade the user experience.

Device hardware - including battery life - varies by model and manufacturer. Therefore, QA testing teams must have a variety of new and older devices on hand in their mobile device laboratory. In addition, the test environment must replicate real applications such as operating system, network conditions (3G, 4G, WLAN, roaming), and multitasking from the point of view of the battery consumption test.

Seven battery usage test case scenarios to pay special attention to:

1. Mobile app power consumption
2. User interface design that uses intense graphics or results in unnecessarily high database queries
3. Battery life can allow the app to operate at expected charge volumes
4. Battery low and high-performance requirements
5. Application operation is used when the battery is removed Battery usage and data leaks
6. New features and updates do not introduce new battery usage and data
7. Related: The secret art of battery testing on Android

4. Usability Testing Test Cases

Usability testing of mobile applications provides end-users with an intuitive and user-friendly interface. This type of testing is usually done manually, to ensure the app is easy to use and meets real users' expectations.

Ten usability test case scenarios ensure:

1. The buttons are of a user-friendly size.
2. The position, style, etc. of the buttons are consistent within the app
3. Icons are consistent within the application
4. The zoom in and out functions work as expected
5. The keyboard can be minimized and maximized easily.
6. The action or touching the wrong item can be easily undone.
7. Context menus are not overloaded.
8. Verbiage is simple, clear, and easily visible.
9. The end-user can easily find the help menu or user manual in case of need.
10. Related: High impact usability testing that is actually doable

We will see more points in our next articles.

Snackbars are fairly common in the Android app. Almost every app uses a snack bar to display some information about what's going on in the app. You can consider Snackbar as an alternative or the best version of Toasts in Android.

Step 1: Using a normal Snackbar

To use Snackbar in your app, you just have to have the material design dependency in your app. Add Material design dependency to your build.Gradle app-level.

dependencies {
    implementation "com.google.android.material:$latest_version"
}

And then you can use the snack bar just like toast. For example:

Snackbar.make(view, "Show some message here", Snackbar.LENGTH_SHORT).show()

Step 2: Working with the MainActivity.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:id="@+id/coordinatorLayout"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context="com.example.application.snackbarapp.MainActivity">

    <RelativeLayout
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent">

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:layout_centerHorizontal="true"
            android:layout_centerVertical="true"
            android:text="show snackbar" />

    </RelativeLayout>

</android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout>

Step 3: Creating a custom layout for a snack bar

Under Layout, the folder creates a layout for the snack bar that must be inflated when creating a snack bar under the mainactivity.java file.

import android.graphics.Color;
import android.support.design.widget.CoordinatorLayout;
import android.support.design.widget.Snackbar;
import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Button;
import android.widget.TextView;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    private CoordinatorLayout coordinatorLayout;
    private Button button;

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        coordinatorLayout = findViewById(R.id.coordinatorLayout);
        button = findViewById(R.id.button);

        button.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                showSnackbar();
            }
        });
    }

    public void showSnackbar() {
        Snackbar snackbar = Snackbar.make(coordinatorLayout, "Marked as Read", Snackbar.LENGTH_INDEFINITE)
                .setAction("UNDO", new View.OnClickListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onClick(View v) {
                        Snackbar snackbar1 = Snackbar.make(coordinatorLayout, "Undo successful", Snackbar.LENGTH_SHORT);
                        snackbar1.show();
                    }
                })
                .setActionTextColor(Color.RED);

        snackbar.show();
    }
}

Hope you guys are familiar with Spatie Media Library. It's a very useful and time-saving package to manage file uploading.

It's also providing support to convert your images to thumbnails while storing images. you can generate a thumbnail of the image with the size (height, width) you want.

They are calling thumbnails to Conversions. You can generate multiple thumbnails with different sizes as you want.

So let's see some short examples which help us to create thumbnails of an uploaded image.

Implement the HasMediaTrait into your Model

Here we have a User model and we want to generate a thumbnail of the user uploading his profile image. you have to add HasMediaTrait to the User model and need to extend HasMedia.

use IlluminateDatabaseEloquentModel;
use SpatieMediaLibraryModelsMedia;
use SpatieMediaLibraryHasMediaHasMedia;
use SpatieMediaLibraryHasMediaHasMediaTrait;

class User extends Model implements HasMedia
{
    use HasMediaTrait;

    public function registerMediaConversions(Media $media = null)
    {
        $this->addMediaConversion('profile-thumb')
              ->width(150)
              ->height(150);
    }
}

Here we have defined a function registerMediaConversions in which we can manage the size of a thumbnail, which means how much height or width we want for the thumbnail.

So when we upload an image using the media library,

$media = User::first()->addMedia($pathToImage)->toMediaCollection();

it will auto-generate the thumbnails with the given height and width.

How to fetch the generated thumbnail?

$media->getPath();  // the path to the where the original image is stored
$media->getPath('profile-thumb') // the path to the converted image with dimensions 150*150

$media->getUrl();  // the url to the where the original image is stored
$media->getUrl('profile-thumb') // the url to the converted image with dimensions 150*150

How to generate multiple thumbnails for a single image?

..... in User Model .....
use SpatieImageManipulations;

    public function registerMediaConversions(Media $media = null)
    {
        $this->addMediaConversion('profile-thumb')
              ->width(150)
              ->height(150);
    }

        $this->addMediaConversion('old-profile-thumb')
              ->sepia()
              ->border(8, 'black', Manipulations::BORDER_OVERLAY);
    }

so, it will generate 2 thumbnails with different image properties. you can use different image properties directly while generating thumbnails.

That's it, you can read more about the spatie media library conversions (thumbnails) here.

Keep connected to us for more interesting posts about laravel.