Power-Up Your Test Suite with OLE Automation by Joshua Russell
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- Power-Up Your Test Suite With OLE Automation discusses using OLE Automation and the combination of Ruby and WIN32OLE for test automation of native Windows applications like Excel, Internet Explorer, and mainframe terminal emulators. - OLE Automation allows automation of tasks on Windows applications through Microsoft's Automation interface when other popular options are unavailable. It provides access to an application's functionality through objects, properties, methods. - Specific examples are provided for automating Excel workbooks and worksheets, controlling a mainframe terminal emulator, and integrating the automation into Cucumber scenarios. The presentation aims to demonstrate how OLE Automation can help "power up" a test suite.
Power-Up Your Test Suite with OLE Automation by Joshua Russell
- 1. Power-Up Your Test Suite With OLE Automation Joshua Russell
- 2. • Application Architect • Huntington Bank About Me 2
- 3. Web Desktop Mobile Mainframe Database Services Test Automation 3
- 4. How Do You “Power-Up” A Test Suite? 4
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- 8. Useful Tool: OLE Automation 8 Desktop Mainframe
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- 13. Automate Windows applications Possible solution when popular options are unavailable Several names OLE Automation 13
- 14. • Created by Microsoft • Based on a subset of COM • Still included in “OLE” • Intended for use by scripting languages What is OLE Automation? 14 C C++ C# Visual Basic Java VBScript Perl PHP Python Ruby
- 19. Ruby Stuff 19
- 21. require ‘win32ole’ WIN32OLE.new ‘Program.ID’ WIN32OLE Basics 21
- 22. The Program ID 22 Program ID
- 23. • Object::methods • Not helpful Ruby Methods • WIN32OLE::ole_methods • WIN32OLE::ole_put_methods • Very informative OLE Methods Ruby Methods vs OLE Methods 23
- 25. OLE Automation and Mainframe Quick3270 Extra! Passport 25
- 26. • Control the terminal emulator application Application • Open, close, and manage sessions Sessions • Read, write, and find text • Send key strokes Screens Mainframe Application Functionality 26
- 28. TE3270: Page Object Pattern 28
- 31. TE3270 and Cucumber Scenarios 31
- 32. Mainframe 32
- 33. Enrollment 33
- 35. Launch Excel 35 require ‘win32ole’ excel = WIN32OLE.new ‘Excel.Application’ excel.Visible = true
- 40. Data (cells) 40 worksheet.Cells(4, 1) worksheet.Cells(8, 2) worksheet.Cells(11, 3) cell.Value cell.Value = ‘$50.49’
- 45. Resources (Background) • Microsoft – “Automation”: – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/mfc/automation • Microsoft – “Component Object Model (COM)”: – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/library/windows/desktop/ms680573(v=vs.85).aspx • Microsoft – “OLE in MFC”: – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/mfc/ole-in-mfc • Wikipedia – “OLE Automation”: – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLE_Automation • Wikipedia – “Component Object Model”: – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_Object_Model 45
- 46. Resources (Microsoft) • Excel Object Model: – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/wss56bz7.aspx • PowerPoint Object Model: – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vba/powerpoint- vba/articles/object-model-powerpoint-vba-reference • Internet Explorer Object Model: – https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms970456.aspx 46
- 47. Resources (Mainframe) • Mainframe OLE Automation (EXTRA!/PASSPORT): – http://docs.attachmate.com/extra/x-treme/apis/com/ • TE3270 gem: – https://github.com/cheezy/te3270 • TE3270 gem (modified for PASSPORT): – https://github.com/RussellJoshuaA/te3270 47
- 48. Resources • Joshua Russell on GitHub: – https://github.com/RussellJoshuaA • This presentation on GitHub: – https://github.com/RussellJoshuaA/ruby_win32ole_presentation/ 48
- 49. Consider using OLE • Task Automation • Acceptance Testing Applications on Windows • Microsoft Office • Mainframe Terminal Emulators Ruby and WIN32OLE Conclusion 49
- 51. Appendix
- 52. • COM is used to create software components that can interact • COM is a standard which specifies an object model and programming requirements that enable COM objects to interact with other objects • COM is the foundation for OLE, ActiveX, and other technologies Component Object Model 52
- 53. • A COM object is one which provides access to its data exclusively through one or more sets of interfaces • COM objects can be created with a variety of programming languages COM Object 53
- 54. • COM makes a fundamental distinction between interface definitions and their implementations • An interface is a group of related function prototypes whose usage is defined but whose implementation is not • An interface implementation is the code that carries out the actions specified in an interface definition COM Interfaces 54
- 55. • “OLE” was originally an acronym for Object Linking and Embedding. Now it’s just “OLE”. • OLE is a mechanism for manipulating documents created by multiple applications What is OLE? 55
- 56. • OLE incorporates many concepts: – Linking and Embedding – In-Place Activation (Visual Editing) – Automation – Compound Files – Uniform Data Transfer – Drag and Drop – Component Object Model OLE is made of stuff 56
- 57. • Power-Up Your Test Suite with OLE Automation – For test automation, every platform is a challenge that requires a unique solution. For many native applications in a Windows environment, the appropriate automation solution is OLE Automation. From testing desktop applications & stored procedures to data management & metrics, the combination of Ruby and WIN32OLE can automate tests on native Windows apps. The audience will learn the capabilities and limitations of automation using Microsoft’s Automation interface, with examples in Excel, Internet Explorer, and PASSPORT terminal emulator. For those staying through the End Credits, we’ll have a special bonus scene! Abstract 57
- 58. Change History Author Date Comment Joshua Russell 2018-02-26 Updated for QA or the Highway 58
Editor's Notes
- #10: Microsoft applications, implementation robust. Internet Explorer, IBM Notes, HP ALM/QC
- #11: Excel is an especially good target for OLE Automation. Ruby gems that manipulate Excel file formats have limitations
- #12: Mainframe applications for both task automation (test data) and acceptance testing. Rocket Passport, DN-Computing Quick3270, Micro Focus Attachmate Extra! X-treme
- #13: Automate repetitive tasks and test setup. OLE Automation does not exercise the user interface.
- #14: OLE Automation = means of manipulating applications directly by accessing objects that they expose || Popular options >> Selenium-webdriver, RAutomation || Several names: COM automation, subset of COM; Previously “OLE Automation”, now “Automation” …Too vague to be helpful. “The Application Interface Formerly Known As OLE Automation”.
- #15: Created by Microsoft >> Based on a subset of COM, standard for creating software which can communicate >> OLE, grab bag of semi-related functionalities, scripting languages, bunch of languages >> list (Java 3rd party)
- #16: Client and server model: Automation clients, automation servers
- #17: An application (a type of COM server) which exposes its functionality through COM interfaces to other applications is an automation server
- #18: An application which accesses the objects exposed by an automation server is called an automation client
- #19: Application implements object model. Objects exposed have properties and methods that can be accessed and manipulated. Dictates how automation can interact.
- #21: ATA!!! How many Ruby devs? The Ruby implementation of OLE Automation is called WIN32OLE. WIN32OLE is not a Ruby gem, it is a part of the Ruby standard library since 1.8
- #22: WIN32OLE does not need to be installed, just required. Access an OLE object by creating an instance of the WIN32OLE class and providing the program ID of the automation server
- #23: The program ID is located in the Windows registry
- #24: Ruby Object methods. Not helpful. OLE methods. Everything you need to know. Use OLE methods to get access to other OLE objects
- #25: Mainframe automation for data concerns. Cattle, not pets. Selfish data. Repeatable scenarios.
- #26: As mentioned before, several mainframe terminal emulators support OLE Automation. Quick3270 from DN-Computing, Extra! From Micro Focus, and Passport from Rocket all have published interfaces.
- #28: TE3270 is a Ruby gem for mainframe automation. Supports a handful of terminal emulators, some using OLE Automation. Except Passport. It doesn’t support Passport, unless you make some creative changes. I’ll link it.
- #29: TE3270Create classes to represent mainframe screens. Identify fields by row, column, and length. Define custom methods for screen classes
- #30: Example using Ruby, Cucumber, and the TE3270 gem for data management
- #31: TE3270 factory methods and simple interactions with screen classes make clean, readable step definitions for Cucumber scenarios that interact with mainframe screens.
- #32: First scenario wrapper for Ruby code, ease-of-use, second scenario more readable, actual example
- #33: Launch mainframe, log in, find user, unenroll, reenroll with temp credentials
- #35: ATA!!! Who manages daily/weekly/monthly reports with Excel? Collections of data? How much time?
- #36: Follow Ruby basics. What happened? One more step… manipulate the application object
- #37: There we go! Application -> Workbooks. Methods are like the File menu. Add new, open existing. In this case, open.
- #38: Workbook immediately visible. Workbooks collection. Access Customers worksheet by index, name. Same for Orders. Add new worksheet.
- #39: Rows collection, access rows by index.
- #40: Columns collection, just like Rows. Access by index.
- #41: Cells collection, again… the same. Access by row, column or by single index
- #42: Close one workbook or close them all.
- #43: Quit the application.
- #44: Charts. Formulas. Formatting. Version control. You can find more information about the capabilities of Excel OLE Automation by referencing the Microsoft documentation of the Excel Object Model…
- #45: DCOM: OLE Automation over network, Event handling with “sink interfaces”, A subset of the COM interface is implemented on Apple’s Core Foundation