QTP Descriptive Programming

DP 101 in 60 simple slides

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What is DP?

DP stands for

Descriptive Programming

But what IS DP?

It’s a cool way to work without QTP’s Object-Repository (OR)

Why would I want to do that?

Many reasons

You have to

Functions & Recovery scenarios work with different actions

Different actions = Different ORs

Do I know you?

Can’t be sure…

You have to

Can’t record certain objectsAuto-hide panels

Objects with changing hierarchies

Nested inner-objects, Sub menus

Hold still, damnit!

Even when you think you got it, all the properties turn out null

Simplicity

Why kill a fly with an atom bomb?

No need to use the OR for every one-time click button in the application

And,You can do VERY cool things with DP

OK, bring it on

First, we need to better understand the Object Repository

What the OR is

How does the OR work

I thought DP is all about NOT using the OR…

Well, yes, but under the hood, DP & the OR work the same way

To understand the OR, is to understand DP

What is the OR?

A mysterious beast that records objects, in order to use them later

What is to record an object?

Write down how to identify it

Who are you?

=How can I identify you?

Identification is done with

properties and values

Who are you?

=Your height = 400

Your title = “NotePad”

You are visible (=True)

So, What IS the OR?

Collections of properties & corresponding values

Each collection represents an object

No mysterious beast here

OK, So what IS DP?

DP is a way for specifying the properties & values without using the OR interface

No mysterious beast here, either

OK, I get it, there’s nothing more than properties and values

Can we get on with it?

How do I actually use DP?

There are two ways

1Throw the properties and values

straight into a command

It’s the good old syntax you know, except the string between the () is not the OR name.

It’s the property:=value identification string

That’s kinda restrictive

What if I want to use multiple identification properties?

No problem:

VBWindow(“height:=400”, “title:=New Document”).Maximize

You can use as many properties as you like

All fine and well, but what if I want to use regular expressions?

No problem:

VBWindow(“title:=.*Document.*”).Maximize

ID strings are automatically interpreted as regular expressions

2Throw the properties & values into a description object, and throw IT into

the command

Here also, all the values are interpreted as regular expressions. To turn it off, use

oDesc(“Property1”).RegularExpression = False

Method 1 is faster, best used for one or two commands, tops

When you want to execute multiple commands on an object, method 2 is a better choice by far

(allows one-time definitions, multiple uses)

You can use DP with OR

VBWindow(“OR”).VBButton(“text:=OK”).Click

Or (when oDesc is a description object):

VBWindow(“OR”).VBButton(oDesc).Click

But, you can only start from OR, and move to DP

So this will not work:

VBWindow(“title:=notgood”).VBButton(“clickme”).Click

And that’s about it

You can use each of the methods (or combine them), and you’ll be able to use objects that are not in the OR

You said I could do really cool stuff with DP!

Right you are

We’ll cover some of the more popular tricks and tips

These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Play with them and see the true power of DP

The power of the string

DP is nothing more than simple strings

We can do such interesting things with strings…

The power of the string

Say we got an app with 4 checkboxes, check0, …, check4

We can set all of them with a nice simple loop:

The power of the string

Very complex identification tasks can be done via strings manipulation

Try different variations for yourself

Solving double objects

When QTP finds two object which match the same description, it freezes

This kinda sucks

?

DP has a magic property: “index”, which allows us to tell the double objects apart

Index is a zero-based counter

All is well

Getting objects collections

This feature is so cool, deserves a title on its own

THE coolest thing you can do with DP, is to get a

collection of all the objects that math an identification

I don’t know who you are, or how many are you, but I want to mark all of you!

Regular DP won’t help - Don’t know how to identify each checkbox

Object collections to the rescue!

Step 1: define a description object

Object collections to the rescue!

Step 2: get all matching objects

Object collections to the rescue!

Step 3: Use the collection

oChildren now holds a collection of all the checkboxes

So the first checkbox is accessed by: oChildren(0)

What can we do with it?

Anything we want

Example for common uses

Mark all Checkboxes

Mark all checkboxes with a certain property (even RO)

The possibilities are endless

Randomly input fields

Input only mandatory fields

Zero maintenance (new fields are added automatically, blind to UI changes)

Select object which match complex identification criteria (write custom if filters)

The list goes on and on…

OK, this is indeed cool, but it only gets us the inner controls of a given window.

Can we also get the application’s top level windows?

Sure

So, With DP we can work with no OR

Sometimes we have to use it

Other times it’s just more fun and useful

DP also throws in a lot of extras that make it an inseparable part of good QTP automation

Taste it, Experience it, Learn it, Use it, Love it

It’s worth your while

And that was DP in 60 slides