To run a folder in ATB, open the folder’s details view and go to the Run tab. The Pattern field there controls what the run includes — which setups run, and whether test cases run with them — and the Run button starts it.
A folder contributes setups in two ways, both under its Setup tab. The Steps tab holds setup steps defined directly on the folder. The References tab holds Setup References to setup test cases defined elsewhere; each reference points to one test case, so referencing several test cases means adding several references. Together, a folder’s steps and references are its own setups; within the folder, the references always run before the steps. Its ancestor setups are the own setups of the folders above it, up to the workspace; its descendants are the sub-folders beneath it — each with its own setups and test cases — recursively.
There are three patterns:
- Setups to Here — runs every setup defined or referenced from the workspace level down to the folder, and no test cases. It prepares the environment without running any test.
- Default — runs the folder’s own setups, then recurses through everything beneath it: each descendant sub-folder’s setups and all test cases. It does not run ancestor setups.
- All — the same as Default, plus the ancestor setups first, from the workspace down: ancestor + own + descendants, a fully self-contained run.
| Pattern | Ancestor setups | Folder’s own setups | Descendant setups | Test cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setups to Here | ✓ | ✓ | — | — |
| Default | — | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| All | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
For worked examples of choosing a pattern — during API development, where a run is triggered from the ATB UI, and in a CI/CD pipeline, where it is triggered over ATB’s REST API — see Structured Test Setup for Integration Unit Test Isolation and Integration Unit Testing Automation in CI/CD Pipeline.
A Current Limitation
Running a single test case on its own runs no folder setups — neither its own folder’s nor its ancestors’. To prepare those setups, run the containing folder (or an ancestor) with Setups to Here first, then run the test case.