What is the test for establishing an attempted murder?

Rather, to establish attempted murder, "there must be sufficient evidence of the intent to commit the murder plus a direct but ineffectual act towards its commission. [Citation.] 'Preparation alone is not enough, there must be some appreciable fragment of the crime committed[] [and] it must be in such progress that it will be consummated unless interrupted by circumstances independent of the will of the attempter . . . .'" (People v. Morales (1992) 5 Cal.App.4th 917, 925.)