Skip to main content

Step Duplicate Detection

TestPlanIt can scan your test cases for repeated step sequences — consecutive steps that appear in multiple cases — and convert them into reusable Shared Steps in one click. This reduces duplication, simplifies maintenance, and keeps your test suite consistent.

How Detection Works​

The scanner compares all test cases in a project pairwise, looking for contiguous runs of steps that appear in more than one case. It uses fuzzy matching (Levenshtein similarity ratio of 85% or higher), so minor wording differences between otherwise identical steps are still detected.

When a matching sequence is found across multiple cases, it is grouped into a single match result. Each result shows:

  • Step count — the number of consecutive steps in the sequence
  • Matched steps — a preview of the step text
  • Cases count — how many test cases contain this sequence

Minimum Step Threshold​

By default, the scanner requires at least 3 consecutive matching steps to report a match. This avoids noise from single-step overlaps that are usually coincidental.

Running a Scan​

  1. Navigate to your project and click Shared Steps in the left sidebar.
  2. Click Find Duplicates in the toolbar to open the Step Duplicates page.
  3. Click Scan to start a scan. A progress bar shows comparison progress as a percentage.
  4. When the scan completes, matching results appear in the table automatically.

Only one step duplicate scan can run per project at a time. You can cancel an in-progress scan using the X button next to the progress bar.

note

Each new scan replaces the previous scan's pending results. Dismissed and converted matches are preserved across rescans.

Reviewing Results​

The results page lists all matched step sequences sorted by step count. Each row shows the matched steps preview, the number of affected cases, and available actions.

You can:

  • Sort by step count or case count
  • Filter by case name
  • Select multiple rows for bulk dismissal
  • Click a row to open the conversion dialog

Converting to Shared Steps​

Click any result row to open the conversion dialog. The dialog shows:

  1. Matched Step Sequence — a preview of the detected steps. You can edit the steps before conversion if needed.
  2. Affected Test Cases — all test cases containing this sequence, each with a checkbox. Uncheck any cases you want to exclude from conversion.
  3. Shared Step Group Name — auto-populated from the first step's text. Change it to something descriptive.

Click Convert to Shared Steps to create the shared step group. The conversion:

  • Creates a new Shared Step Group with the specified name and steps
  • Removes the matched steps from each selected test case
  • Inserts a shared step reference in their place
  • Creates a version snapshot of each modified test case

The conversion runs as a single atomic transaction — either all cases are updated or none are.

After conversion, a toast notification appears with a link to view the new shared step group.

Dismissing Matches​

If a match is a false positive — the steps look similar but serve different purposes — you can dismiss it:

  • Single dismiss: Click a result row to open the dialog, then click Dismiss Match
  • Bulk dismiss: Select multiple rows using checkboxes, then click Dismiss

Dismissed matches are removed from the results list and will not appear again until the next scan.

Best Practices​

  • Run scans periodically as your test suite grows to catch new duplicates early
  • Review before converting — not all repeated steps should be shared. Steps that happen to look similar but test different behaviors are better left independent
  • Use descriptive names for shared step groups so they are easy to find and reuse
  • Convert selectively — if a sequence appears in 10 cases but only 8 should be converted, uncheck the other 2 in the conversion dialog. Unchecked cases keep their original steps unchanged