A Block is a grouped sequence of Steps that may be embedded within a Test Case. A Block may be used in multiple Test Cases. This means that a Test Case can consist of a series of Steps and/or one or more Blocks.
The purpose of Blocks is to group Steps that are common across multiple Test Cases. Any change made in a Block will be applied dynamically to all Test Cases using that Block. This makes changes to common prompts much easier because edits can be made once at a central point instead of having to make multiple individual changes to all affected Test Cases.
Unlike Test Cases, a Block is only a collection of Steps and not a functional testing unit in itself.
Blocks can also be cloned to allow for easy creation of similar Blocks, without having to go through the process of creating each Block from scratch.
Creating a Block
To create a Block, perform the following steps:
- Click the Test Case Library
menu item from the Build menu in the side navigation bar
and the following Test Cases & Blocks page is displayed as
below:
Click the New Block button in the top right corner of the Test Cases & Blocks page and the following screen is displayed:
The Block Details dialog contains the following fields:
- Channel: Select the Block's Channel type.
-
Test Type: The following are the allowed Test
Types:
- Both: The Block can be inserted in any Test Case type (Inbound/Outbound). This Block type cannot contain Step 0
- Inbound: The Block must contain Step 0: Time to Connect and can be inserted into Inbound Test Cases only
- Outbound: The Block must contain Step 0: Time to Answer and can be inserted into Outbound Test Cases only
- Name (required): A unique name for each Block is required
- Folder Path: The folder path where the Block should be placed
- Description: A brief description of the Block
Entering Block Steps
Each Block must have at least one Step added to it. Unlike Test Cases, Step 0 is not mandatory for a Block with the Test Type selected as Both.
Adding steps to a Block is the same as adding Steps to a Test Case. Refer to the Test Case Steps section.
Example Test Case using Blocks
Expect to Hear | Reply With | Reply Type |
---|---|---|
Welcome to share trader. | ||
What’s your account number | 760002# | DTMF |
Thanks, to get a market price, say the stock name, index or commodity. For other transactions say, login. | Login | Speech |
I think you want to log in, is that right. | Yes | |
I'll need your pass number or password. If it’s all numbers, go ahead and key it in, otherwise just spell it. | 1673579# | DTMF |
Thanks. Main menu. Which would you like? You can say prices; place a trade, watch list, review orders, portfolio, or market news. At any time you can say more information. | Prices | Speech |
Okay, just say the stock name. | ABC Company | Speech |
ABC Company, last traded at 42 dollars and 69 cents, down 1 dollar |
- Create a new Block in the Cyara Web Portal. Click the New Block menu item from the Test Cases menu in the navigation box.
- Give the Block a name; in this case we have called it Share Trader IVR – Welcome Block. Since this Block will be included at the beginning of an Inbound Test Case, select Test Type as Inbound.
- Next add Steps to the Block you have created:
Step 1
The first Step of the Test Case will be Step 0 (the connection
step), This block will use Step 1 for its first step as this Block will be
included at the beginning of an Inbound Test Case.

Once all required information has been entered, click Add Step to add the Step.
Step 2
Expect to Hear | Reply With | Reply Type |
---|---|---|
Welcome to share trader. |
In the example above, the
Expect to Hear at Step 1 is
Welcome to Share Trader. The figure below shows an example of
how information for this Step may be entered. The Adding Step 1 process is as
shown:

Once all relevant information has been entered, click the Add Step button to add the Step.
Step 3
Expect to Hear | Reply With | Reply Type |
---|---|---|
What’s your account number |
760002# | DTMF |
In the example above, the Expect to Hear prompt is “What’s your account number” and the reply using DTMF is “760002#”.
This information has been entered below as follows:

Add the Step and
Save the Block. The screenshot below shows the
completed Block Steps. The Block should now be saved.

- Create a new Test Case in the Cyara Web Portal.
- Click the New Test Case menu item from the Test Case Manager menu in the navigation box.
- Give the Test Case a
name. In this example, it has been named:
Share Trader IVR - Login with quote. Refer to the
Test Case Steps
section.
The Block that was created above will be inserted at the beginning of this Test Case as follows. Under Add Steps, select Insert Block. Type the Block name into the search box and a list of existing Blocks will be displayed.
Note: If the Test Type of the Test Case is Inbound, only Blocks with the Test Type of Both and Inbound will be listed, and if the Test Type of the Test Case is Outbound, only Blocks with Test Type as Both and Outbound will be listed. - Search for the Block to be inserted; in this case, “Share Trader IVR – Welcome Block” and enter the step number where this block should be inserted into the test case.
- Click the Insert At button to add this block to the test case.
The Steps within the Block are displayed as one unit under the Test
Case’s Associated Step(s). Note the blue border around the Steps outlining the
Block. Continue adding the remainder of the Test Steps. An example showing
Block inserted within Test Steps is as shown:
The Test Case can now be validated and run in a Campaign the same way as before.
Creating a Block from an Existing Test Case
Blocks can also be created from an already created Test Case. To do this, open the Test Case that has the Steps required for the Block.
- Put a tick beside those
Steps and click
Save As Block
- Select a folder, enter a
unique Block name and click
Save
- The Steps get grouped as
a Block which is displayed as one unit within the Test Case
Flatten Existing Blocks
Flattening a Block merges each Step of the Block into the Test Case. Although the Block is not deleted, it is no longer linked to the selected Test Case, and the Steps may be modified without affecting the Block.
- To flatten a Block
within a Test Case, select it by placing a tick next to the Block and click
Flatten Block. The Block Steps are merged
into the Test Case.
Viewing/Moving/Copying/Cloning/Deleting/Searching
The Block can be viewed, moved, copied, cloned, deleted, and searched in the same way as Test Cases. Refer to the Test Cases Chapter for detailed instructions.
Editing a Block
To edit an existing Block, click the link that appear on each attribute of the Block on the Test Cases/Blocks screen. This is the same as editing a Test Case. Refer to the Editing Test Cases section.
Blocks can also be edited from within a Test Case by selecting the
link that appear on each attribute of the
Block from within the Test Case.

This will open the Block for editing in a pop-up screen. Edit the Block and click Save & Run. This will update the Block and apply the changes to all Test Cases that use the Block.
After you finish editing a block, to edit other blocks in the same
folder, you can use the
Previous and
Next icons,
from the
Edit Block page.
Importing and Exporting Blocks
Blocks can be imported and exported in the same way as Test Cases.
If a Test Case with a Block is exported, you have the following options:

Include Blocks:
- Yes: the Blocks associated with the Test Case are included in the exported file
- No: the Blocks are not exported and are removed from the Test Cases
- Flatten: the Block Steps are flattened and merged with the Test Case
Structure of Block XML
Each Block contains mandatory elements and optional elements. These rules apply to the creation of a Block in the Web Portal and are the same as having a mandatory field and an optional one.
<Block>
element contains:
-
<BlockName>
Mandatory -
<FolderPath>
Optional -
<Description>
Optional -
<Steps>
Mandatory
<Steps>
element contains the Steps of the call
flow:
-
<RingingStep>
Optional -
<CallSteps>
Optional element block containing one or more call Steps
<RingingStep>
element contains:
-
<MinorThresholdTime>
Mandatory -
<MajorThresholdTime>
Mandatory -
<MinPauseTime>
Mandatory -
<MaxPauseTime>
Mandatory
The
<CallSteps>
elements contain one or more
<Step>
elements.
<Step>
element contains:
-
<StepNo>
Mandatory Step number starting from 1 -
<Description>
Mandatory -
<ExpectedText>
Mandatory -
<ExpectedExchangeType>
Optional element defaulted to “Speech” (can either be Speech, DTMF, or Audio File) -
<ReplyText>
Optional -
<ReplyExchangeType>
Optional element defaulted to “Speech” (can either be Speech or DTMF) -
<MinorThresholdTime>
Mandatory -
<MajorThresholdTime>
Mandatory -
<MinPauseTime>
Mandatory -
<MaxPauseTime>
Mandatory -
<MinConfidenceLevel>
[deprecated] - if present, it will import into both Minor and Major confidence level values. -
<PostSpeechSilenceTimeout>
Mandatory -
<MajorConfidenceLevel>
- Mandatory if<MinConfidenceLevel>
is not used. Imports into Major Confidence Level. If present, thenMinorConfidenceLevel
also has to be present. -
<MinorConfidenceLevel>
- Mandatory if<MinConfidenceLevel>
is not used. Imports into Minor Confidence Level. If present, thenMajorConfidenceLevel
also has to be present.
Blocks - Adding Agent Step
If the Cyara installations have a license for the Velocity product functions, then you can add an Agent Block to perform attached data validation on the agent side of the call.
The Adding Agent Block steps are similar to the steps mentioned in the Creating a Block section.
Blocks - Adding SMS/Web/Service Step
In the Cyara Platform, selected accounts have access to add the Service Step as a Block functionality. Check with your account administrator for more details.
The SMS/Web Step Block enables setup of an Omnichannel Test Case linkage to invoke dependent Test Cases on other channels. Refer to the Adding a Cyara SMS/Web Step section for more information.
The Service Step enables you to call an external service, currently limited to Web services such as REST. Refer to the Adding a Cyara Service Step section for more information.
Saving a Block
After you have entered all the required details, you can use the following buttons to save the block:
- Click the
Save button to save the block and to remain
on the
Edit Block
page.
Note: You can use the Previous and Next icons,
to start editing the next or previous block in folder or search results.
- Click the Save and Exit button to save the block and navigate to the Test Cases and Blocks page.
Test Case Blocks Walkthrough Video
Watch the video below for a walkthrough on how to use Cyara Test Case Blocks to simplify building your Test Cases.
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