TPS report

A TPS report (Testing Procedure Specification) is a document used in software engineering and electronic engineering, in particular by a quality assurance group or individual, that describes the testing procedures and the testing process.

Definition

The official definition and creation is provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as follows:

IEEE 829 - Test Procedure Specification

The Test Procedures are developed from both the Test Design and the Test Case Specification. The document describes how the tester will physically run the test, the physical set-up required, and the procedure steps that need to be followed. The standard defines ten procedure steps that may be applied when running a test.

In popular culture

After its use in the comedic 1999 film Office Space, "TPS report" has come to connote pointless, mindless paperwork, and an example of "literacy practices" in the work environment that are "meaningless exercises imposed upon employees by an inept and uncaring management" and "relentlessly mundane and enervating". According to the film's writer and director Mike Judge, the acronym stood for "Test Program Set" in the movie.

• In Reebok's 2003 Super Bowl commercial and surrounding ad campaign, Terry Tate: Office Linebacker tackles an officemate for failing to include a coversheet on his TPS report.

• In Valve Software's PC game "Counter-Strike: Source" there is a map used called "Office" and portions of the scenery have TPS reports lying about the cabinetry as well as a computer screen with TPS reports being worked on.

• In the first season episode "Walkabout" of the television series Lost, John Locke is in his cubicle having a confidential phone conversation when he is interrupted by his superior asking him to submit his TPS reports by noon.

• In the 2011 movie Arena, TPS report cover sheets are discussed by the character Yoshi (Michael Liu) in one of the cutaways.

• In the Kooman and Dimond musical Homemade Fusion the song "The Temp & the Receptionist" includes the line "You type your TPS reports / And got me feeling out of sorts."

• The Borderlands 2 Loot Locker Trading Card for the Hyperion "Conference Call" shotgun has the following description: "Fires more projectiles than you can shake a TPS report at."

• In the music video for the song "That's what's up" by the band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the lead male role gets questioned by his superior about missing TPS reports.