Testing More With Less

IBM Software Group Rational software ®

IBM Software Group

Testing More With Less

Tom Swain
Rational Robot AutomationTest Guy
2003
tombasay@gmail.com

Click to edit Track Number on Title Master

Rational User Conference 2003Group
IBM Software Rational software

Why are we here?

 Testing More With Less:

the arena of automated testing

Two things:
 MAPPING
 REDUCED INSTRUCTIONS

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Somebody say Mapping?
 Mapping: Getting awful object recognition strings out of your scripts
and putting them in one place.
 Napping?

Pros Cons
Reduce script maintenance Well somebody has to make
the maps and keep them
updated
Scripts can be written before
application delivery

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What’s the point of Mapping?
 Script Before Mapping
Window SetContext, "Caption=Open", ""
ComboBox Click, "Label=Files of type:", "Coords=235,9"
ComboListBox Click, "Label=Files of type:", "Text=Text Documents"
ListView Click, "ObjectIndex=1;;ItemText=MyStory.txt", "Coords=55,7"
PushButton Click, "Text=Open"

 Script After Mapping (with FUN added in bold)
SetScreen "Open"
ComboClick "Files of type", "Text Documents"
ListClick “File Names”, "MyStory.txt"
PushButtonClick "Open”

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First, name your controls as “intuitively” as possible…

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Second, get your control “recognition strings”
Use this Rational command:
 SQAGetProperty

Third, put them together
Name you assigned + recognition string >
“Search” + “Type=PushButton;Name=cmdSearch”

Search=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdSearch

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Now you have a Map:
[frmSearch.ScreenControls]
Search=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdSearch
Clear=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdClear
Beneficiary Accounts=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdBenAcct
Inquiry=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdInq

Transaction Type=Type=ComboBox;Name=cmbTranTyp
Station=Type=RadioButton;Name=Option1(0)
File Number=Type=RadioButton;Name=Option1(1)
Name=Type=EditBox;Name=txtName

Station Value=Type=EditBox;Name=txtStn
File Value=Type=EditBox;Name=txtSrch

Authorization=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdAuth
Accounting=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdAcct
Reports=Type=PushButton;Name=cmdReport

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Where Does Your Map Go?
 Glove Compartment
 INI Files
 Excel spreadsheets
 Databases

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What Do You Map?
 Screens
 Forms
 Transactions

What Don’t You Map?
 Modal dialog boxes
 Labels
 Frames

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Head-Scratching Mapping “Issues”
 Too many controls on a form?
 Bit-mapped controls?
 Generic controls
 Changed controls
 java
 html
 What if the FUN changes

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Map Recap
 Mapping simplifies and reduces script maintenance by
storing object recognition strings outside of your
scripts
 Map maintenance is still required; there is no escape
from this
 Mapping in conjunction with custom library code can
reduce your scripting instruction set data driven

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What Next? Do We Really NEED 89 Scripting
Commands?

 This …
 SetScreen "Open"
 ComboClick "Files of type", "Text Documents"
 ListClick “File Names”, "MyStory.txt"
 PushButtonClick "Open”

 Can be reduced to this:
 SetScreen "Open"
• Clik "Files of type", "Text Documents"
• Clik “File Names”, "MyStory.txt"
• Clik "Open”

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Reducing Scripting -- Risky Business
 What is it a Reduced Instruction Command Set?
 What’s the benefit?
 Reduced script maintenance
 Easier to read by anybody
 Easier to write by anybody
 Less training
 What’s the cost?
 Library construction
 Library maintenance
 Training time

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Ask Yourself, What Does Any Script Really Do?

Two Things: (1) Clicking Stuff and (2) Verifying Stuff

 Clicking
 push buttons, tab controls
 check boxes, radio buttons
 edit boxes
 combo boxes, generic (e.g., grid cells)
 Verifying the presence or contents of the above

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How About One Clik Instead of Many “Clicks”?
 From the map, we know the type of each object
 Does the tester/scripter really need to script
 PushButton Click
 EditBox Click
 CheckBox Check
 ComboBox Click
 ComboEditBox Click
 ListBox Click
 RadioButton Click
 TabControl Click
 GenericObject Click
 When a simple Clik will do?

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Verify? Yes. Rational Verification Points? No.
 When you verify, do you use verification points for object
properties?
 How about SQAGetProperty?
 Eventually you will have to verify something.
 CurrentWindow: caption, visible, enabled, windowstate
 ChildWindow: same as CurrentWindow
 Check Boxes: focus, enabled, state, caption
 Combo Boxes: text, itemcount, visible, enabled, focus, tooltiptext
 Combo Edit Box: visible, focus, enabled, readonly, text, locked
 Combo List Box: visible, focus, enabled, readonly, text, locked
 Edit Box: text, visible, enabled, focus, windowstate, readonly, locked
 tooltiptext
 Generic (grid or tab): focus, enabled, text, visible, selected, caption
 tooltiptext
 Group Box: focus, enabled, text
 List Box: itemcount, visible, enabled, itemselected, selcount
 Label: caption, visible, text (text is same as caption)
 Push Button: text, focus, visible, enabled, tooltiptext
 Radio Button: enabled, visible, focus, state, tooltiptext
 Status Bar: numparts, panel0, panel1, panel2, panel3, panel4, panel5, visible
 Tab: enabled, visible, itemcount, numparts, panel0, panel1, caption
 TreeView: enabled

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Your Scripting – Simplified.

 Clik
Clik FUN
Clik FUN, value
 VerifyProp
VerifyProp FUN, “Enabled=True”
VerifyProp FUN, “Text=Mama mia”

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You’ll Need Some Supporting Functions
 SetScreen, does the job of Window SetContext
 Various logging functions,
 VerifyList to verify contents of combo/list boxes
 VerifyText to verify large volumes of text
 PopUpChecker to verify/deal with pop up dialogs
 Data setting functions
 Sql execution functions
 Grid functions
 Access MDB verification

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Is it worth it? Yup.
 Pros
Less reliance on tool-trained testers
Simplified scripting
Less time spent scripting = more
time creating AUT test cases

 Cons
Like any framework, someone has to
maintain it

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This is all great, yes.

But no, there is no escaping Age-old Script Problems:
 Script synchronization
 Transitioning between screens
 Grids, grid data, embedded controls

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Courage.
I see tree controls, list boxes too
Try to record them, Robot no can do
And I think to myself, what a Rational world.

I see screens of blue, hex dumps in white
Fight Robot all day, fight app bugs all night
And I think to myself, what a Rational world.

The colors of the splash screen, so pretty when displayed
Are also on our faces, now twisted and dismayed
I see some shaking fists, shouting "How can this be?"
They're really saying "Just shoot me."

I hear testers cry: Bugs grow jumbo-size!
Makes us wish for button: "Euthanize"
And I think to myself, What a Rational world
Yes, I think to myself, what a Rational world
Copyright Tomba 1996-2013

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Acknowledgements
 The Wonderful World of Libraries supplied by:
 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RationalUsers/ (with over 6000
members)
 http://lyris.dundee.net/read/?forum=sqa-suite-users
 The incredible contributions of devoted and talented and genius
Rational Robot contributors, many of whom I fail to list here owing to
decrepitude. But you know who you are, and you have my
appreciation.
 Paul Downes, Andy Tinkham, Carl Nagle, Mark Butler,
 Maxine McNaughton, Steve Gray, Tim Gerrels, Torsten Zelger,
 Calvin Arnason, Kai Schrimpf, Chris Gendreau, Dave Marsh,
 John Crunk, Paul Harris

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Tom Swain
tombasay@gmail.com

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Testing More With Less

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