Converting Manual Tests to Automated Tests
What are manual tests?
They are system tests run through the user interface.
Converting a manual test to an automated test would mean converting the test to an automated user interface test using Selenium etc or converting it to an API test or a subcutaneous test.
The notion that a test should have only one assert per test is misguided, although it's a good goal to “check” one thing, that check may involve more than one assert. However, do not be dogmatic about it as an automated procedure is better than a manual procedure.
Problems with Manual Tests
They are hard to repeat
They are slow as they do not provide quick feedback to the development process.
It’s not easy to track problems back to code changes.
Reasons to Convert Manual Tests to Automated Tests
To fix all the problems of manual tests.
Procedure for Converting Manual Tests to Automated Tests
Read through the manual procedure completely.
Markup things that should be automated and things that should be left manual and why.
For the things that should be automated, try to understand the thing that you want to test. This will help you in writing the tests.
Now write the tests and get them to run. Hopefully, your automated tests are catching what your manual procedure will.
In conclusion, writing tests is writing software, so do not make it an afterthought.