diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/templateengine/TestSharedDefaults.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/templateengine/TestSharedDefaults.java
index 583bbf1d1f4..91318334137 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/templateengine/TestSharedDefaults.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests/src/org/eclipse/cdt/ui/tests/templateengine/TestSharedDefaults.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2007 Symbian Software Limited and others.
+ * Copyright (c) 2007, 2013 Symbian Software Limited and others.
  * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
  * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
  * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
@@ -10,11 +10,17 @@
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.cdt.ui.tests.templateengine;
 
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Set;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
+
+import org.w3c.dom.Document;
+import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.templateengine.SharedDefaults;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.templateengine.TemplateEngine;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.templateengine.TemplateEngineHelper;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.testplugin.util.BaseTestCase;
 
 /**
@@ -23,6 +29,9 @@ import org.eclipse.cdt.core.testplugin.util.BaseTestCase;
 
 public class TestSharedDefaults extends BaseTestCase {
 	private SharedDefaults sharedDefaults;
+	private final String TEST_KEY = "org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine.project.HelloWorld.basename";
+	private final String TEST_VALUE = "Astala Vista";
+	private final String TEST_VALUE_UPDATED = "Astala Vista Updated";
 	
 	/*
 	 * @see TestCase#setUp()
@@ -40,22 +49,40 @@ public class TestSharedDefaults extends BaseTestCase {
 		sharedDefaults = null;
 	}
 	
+	/**
+	 * Get a value from the backend storage
+	 * 
+	 * @return the value for this key or null if no value exist for this key
+	 */
+	private String getValueFromBackEndStorate(String key) throws Exception {
+		File parsedXML = TemplateEngineHelper.getSharedDefaultLocation("shareddefaults.xml");
+		
+		Document document = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance().newDocumentBuilder().parse(parsedXML.toURI().toURL().openStream());
+
+		List<Element> sharedElementList = TemplateEngine.getChildrenOfElement(document.getDocumentElement());
+		int listSize = sharedElementList.size();
+		for (int i = 0; i < listSize; i++) {
+			Element xmlElement = sharedElementList.get(i);
+			String key2 = xmlElement.getAttribute(TemplateEngineHelper.ID);
+			String value2 = xmlElement.getAttribute(TemplateEngineHelper.VALUE);
+			if (key.equals(key2)) {
+				return value2;
+			}
+		}
+		
+		return null;
+	}
+	
 	/**
 	 * This test checks if data gets added to the back end
 	 * New data gets persisted in SharedDefault XML file 
 	 */
-	public void testAddToBackEndStorage() {
-		Map<String, String> actualSharedDefaults= sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap();
+	public void testAddToBackEndStorage() throws Exception {
+		sharedDefaults.addToBackEndStorage(TEST_KEY, TEST_VALUE);
+		assertTrue(sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap().containsKey(TEST_KEY));
+		assertEquals(TEST_VALUE, sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap().get(TEST_KEY));
 		
-		actualSharedDefaults.put("provider.name","eclipse"); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
-		actualSharedDefaults.put("copyright","Symbian Software Ltd."); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
-		actualSharedDefaults.put("author","Bala Torati"); //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
-
-		Map<String, String> expectedSharedDefaults= sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap();
-		
-		assertEquals("Contents are different  :", //$NON-NLS-1$
-				expectedSharedDefaults,
-				actualSharedDefaults);
+		assertEquals(TEST_VALUE, getValueFromBackEndStorate(TEST_KEY));
 	}
 	
 	/**
@@ -63,50 +90,23 @@ public class TestSharedDefaults extends BaseTestCase {
 	 * to verify whether the key-value pair gets updated with new value
 	 * New data gets persisted in SharedDefault XML file 
 	 */
-	public void testUpdateToBackEndStorage() {
-		Map<String, String> actualSharedDefaults = sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap();
-	 	
-	 	for (Map.Entry<String, String> entry : actualSharedDefaults.entrySet()) {
-	 		String key = entry.getKey();
-	 		String value = entry.getValue();
-	 		if (key.equals("org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine.project.HelloWorld.basename")) { //$NON-NLS-1$
-	 			entry.setValue("Astala Vista"); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		 		sharedDefaults.updateToBackEndStorage("org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine.project.HelloWorld.basename", value); //$NON-NLS-1$
-		 		break;
-	 		}
-	 	}
-		
-		Map<String, String> expectedSharedDefaults=sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap();
-		
-		assertEquals("Contents are different  :", //$NON-NLS-1$
-				expectedSharedDefaults,
-				actualSharedDefaults);
+	public void testUpdateToBackEndStorage() throws Exception {
+		sharedDefaults.addToBackEndStorage(TEST_KEY, TEST_VALUE);
+		assertTrue(sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap().containsKey(TEST_KEY));
+		sharedDefaults.updateToBackEndStorage(TEST_KEY, TEST_VALUE_UPDATED);
+	 	assertEquals(TEST_VALUE_UPDATED, sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap().get(TEST_KEY));
+	 	assertEquals(TEST_VALUE_UPDATED, getValueFromBackEndStorate(TEST_KEY));
 	}
 	
 	/**
 	 * This tests the deleteBackEndStorage of SharedDefaults
 	 * to verify whether the key-value pair gets deleted at the backend
 	 */
-	public void testDeleteBackEndStorage() {
-		Map<String, String> actualSharedDefaults= sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap();		
-		Set<String> keySet = actualSharedDefaults.keySet();
-	 	Iterator<String> iterator = keySet.iterator();
-	 	String keyName = null;
-	 	
-	 	while (iterator.hasNext()) {
-	 		String key = iterator.next();
-	 		keyName = key;
-	  		if (keyName.equals("org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine.project.HelloWorld.basename")) { //$NON-NLS-1$
-	 			actualSharedDefaults.remove(keyName);
-	 			break;
-	 		}	 			
-	 	}
-	 	
-	 	sharedDefaults.deleteBackEndStorage(new String[] { keyName });
-		Map<String, String> expectedSharedDefaults= sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap();
-				
-		assertEquals("Contents are different  :", //$NON-NLS-1$
-				expectedSharedDefaults,
-				actualSharedDefaults);
+	public void testDeleteBackEndStorage() throws Exception {
+		sharedDefaults.addToBackEndStorage(TEST_KEY, TEST_VALUE);
+		assertTrue(sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap().containsKey(TEST_KEY));	 	
+	 	sharedDefaults.deleteBackEndStorage(new String[] { TEST_KEY });
+	 	assertFalse(sharedDefaults.getSharedDefaultsMap().containsKey(TEST_KEY));
+	 	assertNull(getValueFromBackEndStorate(TEST_KEY));
 	}
 }