QTP Unplugged 2nd Edition Updates eBook

QuickTest ProfessionalUnplugged

SECOND EDITION

QuickTest Professional Unplugged

By Tarun Lalwani

Editor: Siddharth N Kanoujia

Technical Editor: Terry Howarth

Reviewer: Mark Smith and Terry Howarth

ISBN: 978-0-9836759-1-4

Printing History:

First Edition: May 2009 (ISBN: 978-0-5780257-9-7)

Second Edition: September 2011

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author or the publisher by including the below mentioned reference‘Source code taken from “QuickTest Professional Unplugged” By Tarun Lalwani

‘The link for downloads is KnowledgeInbox.com/demos/QTPUnplugged_SourceCodes.zip.

‘Website: KnowledgeInbox.com/books/quicktest-professional-unplugged

This document also contains registered trademarks, trademarks and service marks that are owned by their respective companies or organizations. The Publisher and the author disclaim any responsibility for specifying which marks are owned by which companies or organizations.

Copyright (2008) Mercury Interactive (Israel) Ltd. Reproduced with permission

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.

Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiiiWho This Book Is For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xivWhat’s New in the Second Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xivSource Code in the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xivFeedback and Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xivOrdering this Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvQuotes From Reviewers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xv

1. Introduction (Updated) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1What is Test Automation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1When Should Test Automation Be Used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1When Should Test Automation Be Avoided? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

The Automated Testing Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2What is HP QuickTest Professional (QTP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Getting Started with QTP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Downloading QTP from HP website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Installing QTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

QTP Licensing Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Seat License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Floating License. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

2. Using QTP Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Contents Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Properties returned by the GetROProperty Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Methods provided by a Test Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Index Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Search Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

3. Object Repository (OR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19How objects are added to the OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Test and Run-time Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22TO Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Object Repository Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Per-Action versus Shared Object Repository. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24The Object Spy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Object Repository Shortcomings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294. DataTables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Design and run-time data table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Design time data table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Run-time data table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

When to use the global or a local data table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35Setting data table iterations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36Data table object model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38Data table formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

5. Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Input and Output Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43Types of Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Inserting Calls to Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46Insert Call to New… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Insert Call to Existing… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48Insert Call to Copy…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

6. QTP Environment Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Types of Environment variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Environment Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

7. Utility Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61The Crypt Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61The OptionalStep Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62The PathFinder Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62The RandomNumber Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63The Setting Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63The WebUtil Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65The SystemUtil Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65The RegisterUserFunc Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

8. Checkpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Types of checkpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69Problems with QTP built-in checkpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70Alternatives to QTP checkpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Updating Checkpoints at run-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .719. Library Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Associating a Library globally with a Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75Dynamically Loading libraries locally at run-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Dynamically Loading libraries globally at run-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76Understanding Execution Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78Applicability of Option Explicit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79Executing code in Local scope from within Global Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

10. Descriptive Programming (DP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

Implicit Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84When to use Descriptive Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84Descriptive Programming Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84Using description objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Using Description Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Enumerating ChildObjects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Converting an OR-based script to a DP-based script. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87Using a VBScript DP object repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90Working with Multiple Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9311. Debugging in QTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97Using Breakpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Working with the Watch Expression Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98Working with the Variables Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99Working with the Command Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100

12. Recovery Scenarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103When not to use recovery scenarios?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103Situations in which a Recovery Scenario won’t work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107Recovery Scenario for IE Authentication window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109Default Recovery Scenarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110The Recovery object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Recovery Function Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

13. Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Regular Expression Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118When to use Regular Expressions in QTP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Testing a Regular Expression Using Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123Using a Regular Expression to Select a WebList or WebRadioGroup Value . . . . . .124Extracting Information Using a Regular Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124Replacing Data from a String Using a Regular Expression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

14. VBScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129Conversion function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137Date and Time functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138Misc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141TypeName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141VarType . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141GetRef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .141CreateObject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142GetObject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Working with Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148Fixed length arrays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148Dynamic Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

Execute Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149Eval function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150Optional arguments in VBScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

15. Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Synchronization Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1571st Method – Using the Sync method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1572nd Method – Using the Wait statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1583rd Method – WaitProperty method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158

Checking Object Existence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .158Browser Vs Page Sync. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159

Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159Replay Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

16. Test Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Filtering Steps in a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .166Reporting Custom Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167Inserting Files in Test Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167Inserting Snapshots in Test Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .168Converting XML Results to HTML. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170The QTP Reporter Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171Accessing Test Results at the end . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

17. Working with APIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Extern object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178QTP API Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182API using COM Objects in VB6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Running API using Excel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185Dynamically generating an Excel Macro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187Working with Modal dialog boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .190

18. QTP Automation Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195QTP Automation Object Model (AOM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195Passing arguments to Test Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196

19. HTML DOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201When to use the HTML DOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201When not to use the HTML DOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202HTML DOM Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202HTML Node. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .202The Document Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203The HTML Element Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203The HTML Element Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203Getting the Web page Element using the DOM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .204

Other HTML Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205Converting a DOM object to QTP Test Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208Checking Appearance using Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208Checking Visibility of a Object on a Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208

Selecting a Radio button by Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21020. Working with Web Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217Web Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217Accessing the WebTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218Using Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219Using Name or HTML ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219Using innerText/outerText . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .219Using OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222Using an object inside the table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .224Getting the location of an object inside the table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .225

Clicking inside a WebTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227Asynchronous Table loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229Exporting WebTable to a DataTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229Extending WebTable functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230Getting a QTP Table from a element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230Finding a cell in a Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231

21. Working with XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237QTP XML Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238Reading and Modifying XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .238

Working with Multiple environments of an Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .241Exporting XML to a DataTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243Comparing XML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

22. Working with Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Connecting to a Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249Building Connection Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250Checking the State of a Connection or Recordset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253

Exporting the Results of a Query to Data Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254Executing a Stored DB procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255

23. Working with Microsoft Excel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259The Excel Automation Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259Converting VBA to VBScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264Performance Enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .270

24. Working with Microsoft Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275Outlook Object model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .275Launching the Outlook Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276Logging in to the Namespace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276Enumerating the top level folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276Getting a Folder interactively from a user . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278Getting the default folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .278

Reading e-mail Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279Accessing e-mail Message Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280Downloading attachments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281

Sending an E-mail Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .281Outlook Security Dialogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282

Getting addresses from e-mail messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285Extended Email Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Clicking links inside an e-mail message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286Launching QTP using an email trigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287

25. Working with Microsoft Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291Word Automation Object Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .291

26. Working with Microsoft Internet Explorer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301Launching Internet Explorer (IE). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301IE COM Methods and Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .302Page Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303Enumerating all IE Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .304Finding an IE window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305Launching a new browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305Getting Web page DOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307Accessing webpage script variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .307Using IE to get user input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .308

IE Popup Dialogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310Disabling IE dialogs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310Changing IE settings using the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310Popup Blocker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311Disable Script Error dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .311Security Alert – Redirection popup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .312

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313Security Alert – Secure Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .313Security Information – Secure and non-secure item . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .314Active content/Java Script Prompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315File download – Information bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .315

Handling popup dialog by using a code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .316File Download – Security Warning popup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .317

Checking for Broken images on a Web Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320Using a Browser Object as a Window Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .320Custom Browser Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .322

27. Working with HP Quality Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325Quality Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325Connecting QTP with QC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325QC Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327Relative Paths in QC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327Resolving Relative Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .327

QCUtil Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328QC Open Test Architecture (OTA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330The TDConnection Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .330The Command and Recordset Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333The AttachmentFactory Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .334

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336Uploading Attachments to QC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337

Getting the Current Test Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338Enumerating All Tests present in a TestLab folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338Enumerating all the Tests in a Test Lab Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .340Getting the Current Test Set Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341

28. Advanced QTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343Synchronizing Script Execution between different machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343Enumerating the Setting Variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .344Setting Persistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349

Stop and Re-Run QTP using Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .350Adding Recovery Scenarios at Run-time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351Executing code when Script ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .352Making an Object visible on a Web Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354

Advanced Text Checkpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .354Extending Test Objects using Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .361Using JScript in QTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .363Passing variable number of arguments to a function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364Scope differences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .364Using Try…Catch block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365Working with JScript Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .366Working with JS classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .366

Object Class Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36729. QTP 11 (New) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371IDE Enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .371Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .371Improved IntelliSense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .371Run to Step, Debug from Step and Run from Step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .372Enable/Disable Breakpoints. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .372Renaming CheckPoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .372

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373Library Support Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .374

Web Drag and Drop Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .374Middle Click and Right Click methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .374Object Property Support for Firefox Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .374Recognizing Web objects using XPATH or CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .375Regular Expression Evaluator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .375Executing JavaScript Inside WebPages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .376Menu updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .377

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .378Ignore Browser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .378Movie Capture to Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379

Added and Enhanced Utility Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379QCUtil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .379SystemUtil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380The Print Log Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .380Hiding the Print Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .381Showing the Print window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .382Clearing the print window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .382Programmatically Capturing the Print Log text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .383

Loading and Running action at run-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .383Repository Utility Object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .383Local System Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .384Reporting Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .385Reporting Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .385Notes in Test Results Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386

MercuryTimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386RepositoriesCollection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .387DotNetFactory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388Getting Object name from a TestObject in OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388Object Repository Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390Local Object Repository (LOR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390Shared Object Repository (SOR). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .392Associating a SOR to the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .392

Adding objects to SOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393Adding object using Add Object button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .394Adding object through Spy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .394Navigate and Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .396Other Object Related features of OR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .398Locating the object in OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .399Updating an Object from the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .399Object Precedence when using both LOR and SOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .399Object Repository Parameters (ORP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401Importing and Exporting OR from XML. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .404Update from Local Object Repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .405

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .407Object Repository Merge tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .408Object Repository Comparison Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .409Local OR Vs Shared OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .411

Object Spy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41130. Working with .NET Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415Using the DotNetFactory Object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415Passing Parameters to Class Constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415Passing Parameters to .NET Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .416Passing Enums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .417Working with .NET Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .418Playing a Wav File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419Working with the Clipboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419Getting Computer Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419Accessing the Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .420Ping an IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .420Evaluating Keyboard Control Key Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .420.Net Arrays Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .421Working with .Net Stacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .421Working with .Net Queues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .422Working with .Net Date and Time Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .422Sending Emails using .NET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .423

Converting Images to other File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .424Getting user Input using .NET Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .426

31. Designing Frameworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433Design guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .433Support of different application versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434

QTP Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .436Reusability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .436Support for different application versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .437

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .438Logging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .438

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43932. Useful Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443QTP Script Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .443VBSEdit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444Notepad++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .444QTP Uninstaller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .445ScreenCapture API. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .446KnowledgeInbox IE Session Cookies Helper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .447VB 2 QTP API Converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .447IE WebDeveloper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .447Test Design Studio (TDS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .449RAD Regular Expression Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .450

Appendix A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1

Appendix B: Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1

Preface

I started with Web testing Automation in mid 2004 by creating a project in Visual Basic 6 using the Internet explorer COM Automation. The project was a great success but with every change to the

this maintenance issue, I stumbled upon QuickTest Professional 8.0 (QTP).

QuickTest Professional is a Test Automation tool and uses VBScript as its scripting language. QTP is a record and playback tool which can record events we perform on an application and replay them back. QTP is an object based tool which recognizes each element of the application as an object and provides various methods to work on them. All this makes QTP look like an easy-to-use test tool. The myth about Record & Playback is that it makes people think that they do not need development skills for QTP, but to create effective Automation Frameworks one needs to view QTP as a development tool and not as a testing tool. This book presents QTP as a development tool rather than a mere test tool.

One of my problems while evaluating the tool led to me to join www.SQAForum.com, without knowing that I will specialize in the use of this tool in future. After sometime I launched KnowledgeInbox.com for sharing my articles on QTP with the larger group. Dealing with day-to-day automation problems faced by people on the QTP forums, I tried solving those problems for them and learnt a few new things

community was missing is a book which can guide the amateur automation engineers in becoming a professional in the use of this tool. I took up this responsibility and started writing this book in May

of QTP.

But knowing what difference this book can make to the QTP community always kept me motivated.

I have organized the chapters in such a way that can make learning QTP an easier task. Each chapter is based on a QTP feature. The book is divided into two sections, Basics and Advanced. Chapters 1 to 18 cover features related to QTP while the chapters in the Advanced section cover integration/interaction of QTP with various external tools like Outlook, Word, Excel and Quality Center. The book discusses a lot of issues that are commonly faced while using various features of QTP and their resolution. This

Who This Book Is ForThis book is for Test Engineers, Test Analysts, Test Consultants, Test Managers and anyone who is

who have just started with QTP and want to be experts in its use. The book assumes that one has the basic knowledge of QTP and VBScript, if not than it is advised that one should go through the basic

does not teach how to record and replay script in QTP. Also the book does not discuss about the Keyword view of QTP, which is for non-technical people who don’t want to code in QTP.

What’s New in the Second EditionQuickTest Professional Unplugged, 2nd Edition comes with all the updates till QTP 11 in a new

over the previous versions of QTP. The chapter also discusses the Object Repository features in detail which had seen a major change from QTP 8.X to QTP 9.

Source Code in the BookThe source codes used in the book can be downloaded from the below url

KnowledgeInbox.com/demos/QTPUnplugged_SourceCodes.zip

Feedback and Queries KnowledgeInbox.com/contact-us

on the KnowledgeInbox forums – Knowledgeinbox.com/forums

You can also connect with us on Facebook.

facebook.com/pages/QuickTest-Professional-Unplugged/154615194628123

Ordering this BookFor bulk orders, contact us at [email protected]

India: You can place an order online at KnowledgeInbox.com/store

Other locations: Please check online at KnowledgeInbox.com/books

Acknowledgements

The following individuals deserve a special mention for reviewing my work in progress, and providing me with many useful comments and suggestions:

Mark Smith, Terry Horwath and Siddharth N Kanoujia

Mark works as a freelance consultant and can be contacted on [email protected]

Terry has not only worked as a reviewer but also as a Technical Editor for this book. Terry has worked with automated testing tools since the early 90’s when he started designing solutions with Segue’s QA Partner 1.0. He transitioned to Mercury Interactive tools in 1999 and has worked exclusively with QuickTest Professional since 2005. He can be contacted on [email protected].

Siddharth has worked as an Editor for this book and has done a great job making sure that contents of this book are lucid and unambiguous for the beginners. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Hindu College, University of Delhi. He can be contacted on [email protected]

I would especially like to thank my family and friends who have always motivated me while I was working on this book.

Quotes From Reviewers

.” – Terry

“Tarun Lalwani has single-handedly helped thousands of people to expand their knowledge of QuickTest Professional. Here is a book the automated testing community

– Mark

I realized that I am truly in the presence of a genius. Tarun has with his dedication

understand the ins and outs of QTP.” – Siddharth

Chapter 1

Introduction

What is Test Automation?Test automation is the process of reducing, and when possible, removing human interactions from an existing manual testing process.

When Should Test Automation Be Used?

Below is a list of parameters which makes a manual test a good candidate for automation:

The test must be repeated often.

The test’s workflow and its validation evolve and change slowly over time.

The test validates a business process or workflow, rather than look and feel, color, table layout, etc.

The test is very repetitive and/or has a lot of steps, and it is important that those steps be performed exactly the same each time, where manual tester fatigue must be avoided.

The test produces results for a regulatory body that demands that those results be electronically recorded and archived as formal evidence of compliance.

The test’s pass/fail results are reasonably easy to determine and capture with the selected automation tool.

The test needs to drive a significant amount of data to the application

When Should Test Automation Be Avoided?

Ad hoc testing where a subject matter expert randomly prowls through a variety of combinatorial workflows.

One time testing or testing repeated only a few times.

of virtually all of the product’s functionality.

Testing where look and feel, color, table layout, etc. are validated.

2 QuickTest Professional Unplugged

systems and/or applications.

The Automated Testing ProcessIt is important to understand the various phases involved in the automated testing process in order to develop and effective framework and test cases:

Figure 1-1. Automation Process

Selecting the “best fit” Automation Tool: Before starting to automate testing in any application it is important to pick the best fit tool for the majority of your applications. The choice should be based on variety of factors such as cost, ease of use, application support capabilities and product support.

Proof of Concept (POC): This activity involves creating a few sample scripts that validate a few important business workflows in one or two of your most important applications. This helps identify any major issues that might be encountered during future test case development. A proof of concept should also be used to select the best automation test tool for your applications.

Requirements Analysisexisting manual test cases and then defining the scope of the test automation project.

Project Estimates: Once the scope of automation is defined, estimates can then be formulated based on various factors like the number of test cases to be automated, their level of complexity, what re-usable

Framework Design: This activity involves creating shared object repository(s), any reusable components, writing a best practice guideline document and completing any supplementary activities to prepare a base of supporting components that will be utilized to develop automation test scripts.

2

3

Test Script development: Test cases are created by calling the reusable components and adding appropriate validations to each workflow specific script.

Debugging: Completed test cases are debugged to make sure they work as designed. Make sure you force the code through all error handling paths during phase.

Execution: In this phase test cases are finally put to work through regression testing and validating the application under test.

Result Analysis: Process followed by the results created by each executed test after execution.

Maintenance: This phase involves updating scripts to fix any code related to issues found during execution. These issues may include UI or markup changes, changes in flow or functionality or any other inevitable changes made to the application during new builds or releases. A well designed framework and set of tests ensures that maintenance costs are kept to a minimum.

What is HP QuickTest Professional (QTP)HP QTP is a Functional Test Automation tool. Out of the box, it supports a Record and Playback methodology where automation Engineers can record and capture events with the application under test and then replay those actions during the testing phase.

QTP has two modes in which it is possible to view and edit a test script:

Keyword View

Expert View

The Keyword View displays the script in the form of keywords (each object is an icon) arranged in a tree-like format that is targeted at Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) with little or no programming background. A snapshot of the Keyword View is shown below:

3


The Expert View exposes the underlying VBScript code shown as icons in the Keyword view and provides access to substantial capabilities not available in the Keyword view:

This book is targeted at automation engineers who want to exploit the power that QTP offers when working in the Expert View.

NOTE: QTP uses VBScript as its programming language. Virtually all VBScript functionality is available in the QTP Expert View. Conversely, any VBScript limitations are also present in QTP. It is important to learn what are QTP VBScript related in a test’s structure. This book also helps clarify those aspects.

Getting Started with QTPDownloading QTP from HP website

below steps to download the latest copy

Go to http://support.openview.hp.com/

Click on the Products link on the Left

Locate “HP Unified Functional Testing software” on the page and click on the link

Click on Trails and Demos and choose “HP FUNCTIONAL TESTING XX.00 EVALUATION”

Create a new HP passport in case you don’t have one, else login using your existing passport id

Download the demo the file. The demo file will be in ISO format

4

5

Installing QTP

Burn the ISO file on the a DVD using a DVD Burner tool

Mount the ISO file using any Virtual drive tool. You can use freeware tools like Virtual CloneDrive or Daemon tools to mount the ISO file.

NOTE: The book doesn’t endorse or recommend any of above tools

Once the DVD is inserted, double click on the drive. This should launch the setup, in case AutoRun

menu will appear as shown in Figure 1-5. Click on the “QuickTest Professional Setup” option. The installation home screen will be displayed as shown in Figure 1-6.

After accepting the license agreement, next comes the Add-in select screen. By default only ActiveX, Web and VB add-ins get installed. To add other any add-in select the same and choose “Entire feature will be installed on local hard drive” as shown in Figure 1-7.

After choosing the add-in select the folder where QTP needs to be installed. The default location usually is “C:\Program Files\HP\QuickTest Professional”. If you are planning to install the JAVA add-in then I would recommend changing the path to something like C:\QTP. This would help avoid some

recommend to use the default path itself. Click Next and start the installation. Let the installation


Figure 1-5. Installation Menu

Figure 1-6. Installation Home Srceen

7

Figure 1-7. Selecting Additional Add-ins for Installation

After the installation process we get an installation complete screen as shown in Figure 1-8. After we

the add-ins chosen for installation. This wizard screen is shown in Figure 1-9.

Figure 1-8. Installation Completion

To install QTP with a demo version license make sure to uncheck the “Run the Licenses Installation Wizard”.


NOTE: If the wizard is run and a concurrent license is selected then QTP does not install the demo license. This would be needed to accomplish manually at a later time.

QTP Licensing ModelQTP licensing model allows 2 different types of licenses

Seat License

Floating License

Seat License

Seat license is a node locked or machine-based license. This license can be used only for a machine

To apply for a seat license, select the “Seat License” radio button as shown in Figure 1-10 and click Next. After clicking next the license wizard will show the locking code of the machine as shown

https://webware.hp.com/welcome.asp. Once you receive the license launch the wizard again and click Next button on the Locking code screen and paste the license key received by HP. This will install the seat license.

NOTE: Seat license uses some of the system components to generate a locking code. Changes in these components can change the locking code invalidate the installed license. Similarly, the locking code becomes obsolete if for any reason it becomes necessary to uninstall the system OS and reinstall it. It would be required to install QTP after a fresh OS install, which will generate a new locking code rendering the previously generated Seat license useless.

9

Figure 1-9. Additional Installation Wizard

Floating License

At any point in time the machines using the QTP licenses cannot exceed the maximum license count on the server. The license server is a utility that needs to be installed separately and comes with the QTP installation. The license server can be installed on Windows 2000/2003/XP. Floating licenses are per session license i.e. they are only used when QTP is open on a machine.

1-10. Click on the next button and enter the Server IP or name in the server. Click on the Check Connection button and if successful the wizard will show the licenses available on the server as

NOTE: QTP uses UDP port 5093 for communicating with the license

NOTE: We can also create system environment variable with name LSHOST or LSFORCEHOST to specify the QTP License server IP or address.


11

Figure 1-12. Machine Locking Code

Chapter 29

QTP 11

This chapter describes additions and enhancements added between QTP 8.2 to QTP 11. It can be important for teams to know the reason behind upgrading to QTP 11 as there has been an introduction of some important features with the latest version. This chapter can also provide a reference for teams that are unsure whether the upgrade will be a worthwhile process for them.

NOTE: Some of the features listed in this section may have been introduced in versions 9.x or 10.0. This chapter, however, provides a list of all features since QTP 8.2 to make sure your environment is using the latest version of QTP.

IDE EnhancementQTP 11 IDE enhancements are described in this section.

Comments

You can now comment and uncomment select blocks of code. This can be done using one of the following ways:

Using the Edit toolbar

Using the shortcut hot keys after selecting the code block:

Comment Block (CTRL + M)

Uncomment Block (CTRL + SHIFT + M)

Improved IntelliSense

QTP 11 has improved IntelliSense as compared to its previous versions. Now, IntelliSense also works when creating tests using Descriptive Programming (which was not the case with QTP 8.x). QTP 11 also provides IntelliSense for COM objects created using CreateObject as shown in Figure 29-1.


Run to Step, Debug from Step and Run from Step

QTP 11 provides the following 3 features during debugging a test case:

Run to Step: This option allows QTP to execute the script upto a specific line of code and Pause where the option ‘Run to Step’ was selected Shortcut for this option is available using the CTRL + F10 combination

Debug from Step: This option starts the script in Pause mode from the specified line

Run from Step: This options start the script in Run mode from the specified line

NOTE: The ‘Debug from Step’ and ‘Run from Step’ options performs an event in background which can’t be noticed through the QTP IDE. When we use these 2 options, QTP does nothing bit removes all the code before the current line executes the scripts from that point. This is a very crude way of implementing these options. Because of this behavior, a few limitations arise. For example, it is not possible to run the script within a conditional If statement since it would generate a syntax error because of the If statement being deleted.

Figure 29-1. IntelliSense for COM Objects

Enable/Disable Breakpoints

QTP 11 allows you to disable and later enable existing breakpoints. In QTP 8.x you had to clear all CheckPoints to disable them but in 11 after disabling the CheckPoint the CheckPoint are still present but remain inactive until re-enabled.

Renaming CheckPoints

QTP 11 allows renaming CheckPoints which was not allowed in QTP 8.x. This feature allows teams to easily alter their code once its created without recreating the CheckPoint.

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A few pointers to note from the Figure 29-2 and the result after accepting the changes made to the

The string added to the Description text box appears as a tool tip when selecting the function from the IntelliSense list

The Documentation text is displayed in the documentation column when working in the Keyword View

The function parameters <File> and <Folder> are replaced with actual values for the Documentation text

To add description and/or documentation, it is not necessary to declare the function through Function Definition Generator only. If we type the function manually into the IDE, then the below code snippe twill work in the same manner:

'@Description Copies File to Specified Folder

'@Documentation Copy File - <File> to Folder - <Folder>

Public Function CopyFileTo(ByRef Folder, File)

' TODO: add function body here

End Function

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Library Support Enhancements

QTP 11 allows editing multiple libraries at the same time. It also allows debugging any library added to the Test Settings Resource tab. However, debugging of libraries loaded using the ExecuteFile statement is still not supported. To overcome this limitation, QTP 11 provides a new method called LoadFunctionLibrary to load a library at run-time while providing debugging support.

Web Drag and Drop SupportQTP 11 now supports performing drag and drop operation on web objects. This can be done by use the Drag and the Drop method on the test object.

Middle Click and Right Click methodsMost of the Web and SAP objects now support methods for Middle click and Right Click. These

Click method with micRightBtn constant.

NOTE: RightClick and onContextMenu events in series to simulate right click when the ReplayType is set as Events. To use it as proper mouse right click change the ReplayType to Mouse Setting.WebPackage("ReplayType") = 2

Object Property Support for Firefox BrowserQTP 11 allows accessing the Object property for Web objects in FireFox. This allows accessing the underlying DOM architecture of the web page. So the below code statement which earlier would have work on IE browser only would now work on FireFox as well:

'Set the WebEdit value using DOM

Browser("Google").Page("Google").WebEdit("q").Object.value = "Tarun Lalwani"

NOTE: IE and FireFox both use a different set of HTML DOM. Though they have few things in common but not all DOM based code written in IE will work for FireFox. For Ex – FireFox DOM doesn’t have any property called outerHTML which is frequently used in IE. Though FireFox DOM does support the innerHTML property.

NOTE: The properties and methods when used in Firefox are Case Sensitive. For example: nextSibling can be used as NextSibling, nextsibling or any other way in IE. However, with Firefox, it can only be used in its correct Case: nextSibling.

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Recognizing Web objects using XPATH or CSSQTP 11 also allows identifying web objects using XPATH. This makes it easier to specify few objects based on their DOM hierarchy. Instead of identifying a web object using different properties, we can just use one XPATH for the same. Consider the below HTML object

<INPUT class="hover" id=s size=45 value="Enter your search..." name=s>

Now we can identify this object using combinations of various XPATHs. Consider few of them

//INPUT[@class='hover']

//INPUT[@id='s']

//INPUT[@id='s',@class='hover']

By using such XPATHs, we can also limit our object search. For example: if we want access to an object inside a WebTable cell, we know that the object will have a parent with a TD html tag. In that case, we can use a XPATH like

//TD//INPUT[@name='s']

Regular Expression Evaluator

Expression Evaluator.

The tools allows testing the regular expression on a sample text as shown in Figure 29-4

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Executing JavaScript Inside WebPagesQTP 11 provides 4 methods to run JavaScript inside a web page

Browser().EmbedScript

Browser().EmbedScriptFromFile

Page().RunScript

Page().RunScriptFromFile

The EmbedScripr or EmbedScriptFromFile methods can be used to embed a JavaScript in a web page. QTP will load this script every time a Page or Frame refreshs. These methods make sure the JavaScript is always available in the browser memory. These methods should be used to inject

The RunScript and RunScriptFromFile method provides a way to execute a JavaScript and capture its results. Consider the below code:

'Embed a re-usable function that we can use on any pageBrowser("KnowledgeInbox").EmbedScript "function getPageTitle(){return document.title;}"

'Get the current page titlestrTitle = Browser("KnowledgeInbox").Page("KnowledgeInbox").RunScript("getPageTitle()")Print "Current page title = " & strTitle

'Navigate to a new pageBrowser("KnowledgeInbox").Page("KnowledgeInbox").Link("QuickTest Professional").ClickBrowser("KnowledgeInbox").Sync

'Get the current page titlestrTitle = Browser("KnowledgeInbox").Page("KnowledgeInbox").RunScript("getPageTitle()")Print "New page title = " & strTitle

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The output is shown below:

Menu updatesQTP 11 has added several changes to the IDE Menu structure. Table 29-1 shows these changes in respect to version 8.2.:

Table 29-1. Menu changes from QTP8.x to QTP 11

QTP 8.x QTP 11

Ø Action Properties…Ø Action Call Properties…Ø Split Action…

Ø Action Properties…Ø Action Call Properties…Ø Split Action…

Ø Object Properties…Ø CheckPoint Properties…Ø Output Value Properties…

Ø Object Properties…Ø CheckPoint Properties…Ø Output Value Properties…

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QTP 8.x QTP 11

Ø Record…Ø Run…Ø StopØ Run From Step…Ø Update Run…Ø Analog RecordingØ Low Level RecordingØ Record and Run Settings…Ø Results…

Ø Record…Ø Run…Ø StopØ Run From Step…Ø Update Run…Ø Analog RecordingØ Low Level RecordingØ Record and Run Settings…Ø Results…

-er… Manager…

dialog.

Ignore Browser

the Options Web tab as shown below in Figure 29-6

Figure 29-6. Ignore ALM/QC Browser Option

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Movie Capture to Results

using the Options Run tab as shown in Figure 29-7:

Added and Enhanced Utility Objects This section describes Utility objects that have been added and/or enhanced in QTP 11.

QCUtilYou may remember that this object was used in the “Working with Quality Center” chapter. The only change made to this object is that TDConnection property has now been renamed to QCConnection. So any places where we were using QCUtil.TDConnection, we now need to use QCConnection. If you want to create version independent scripts you can use the following approach:

'Check the version of QTP on which code is runningSelect Case Environment("ProductVer") Case "8.0", "8.1" , "8.2" Set TDConnection = QCUtil.TDConnection Case "9.0", "9.1", "9.2", "10", "11" Set TDConnection = QCUtil.QCConnectionEnd Select

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SystemUtilQTP 11 adds two new methods to the SystemUtil object: BlockInput() and UnBlockInput().

The BlockInput method allows you to block input from the keyboard and mouse while the script is running. This allows you to avoid any accidental keystrokes or mouse events which can disrupt the behavior of the executing test. This method should is suggested when using methods like Type or Set (with replay type set to mouse), etc. Input is blocked until one of the following events occur:

The UnBlockInput method is called

CTRL + ALT + DEL key is presses

The test run ends

Any error is encountered during the test run

A Breakpoint is reached

A System error occurs

The code below shows typical use of these methods:'Launch the calculator appSystemUtil.Run "calc.exe"

'Wait Max 10 seconds to calculator window to appearbWait = Window("title:=Calculator").Exist(10)

With Window("title:=Calculator") 'Block any user input SystemUtil.BlockInput

'Activate the application .Activate

'Type a event .Type "2" .Type "+" .Type "3" .Type "=" .Type "-10="

'Allow user inputs SystemUtil.UnBlockInput

'Display the output Msgbox .WinEdit("nativeclass:=Edit").GetROProperty("text")End with

The Print Log UtilitySimilar to some of its previous versions (not including 8.2), QTP 11 retains the Print Log utility that allows sending messages to a QTP dialog in real-time, most often for the purposes of debugging. It can be used as shown in the below code:

'Print something on to the Print LogPrint "Tarun Lalwani"

This code opens the ‘QuickTest Print Log’ window and displays the Print message as shown in Figure 29-8

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Figure 29-8. Print Log window

Once the log window is open, each additional call to the Print function adds a new line in the log window. The only control available in the Print Log window itself is a Clear All command. This new utility is limited as follows:

The window can’t be cleared programmatically

The window’s contents can’t be saved directly to a file (but you can interactively cut and paste the window contents to a text editor and then save the file)

The window can’t be configured to run hidden

It is possible to overcome the above limitations by using pointers described in the next section.

Hiding the Print Window

We can use the ShowWindow API call to hide and show the Print log window programmatically. The code for this is shown below:

'API declaration for ShowWindow APIExtern.Declare micLong,"ShowWindow","user32","ShowWindow",micLong,micLong

'ShowWindow constantsConst SW_HIDE = 0Const SW_SHOW = 5

'Function to hide the print log windowPublic Function HidePrintWindow() Set QTPlogWindow = Window("regexpwndclass:=Mercury::Qtprn::PrintWindow")

'Check if the LOg window exist If QTPlogWindow.Exist(0) Then hwnd = QTPlogWindow.GetROProperty("hwnd") 'Hide the window Extern.ShowWindow hwnd, SW_HIDE End ifEnd Function

Running the above code will hide the log window.

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Showing the Print window

the hidden log window using the following code:'Function to print the log windowPublic Function ShowPrintWindow() Set QTPlogWindow = Window("regexpwndclass:=Mercury::Qtprn::PrintWindow") 'Check if the LOg window exist

If QTPlogWindow.Exist(0) Then hwnd = QTPlogWindow.GetROProperty("hwnd") 'Show the window Extern.ShowWindow hwnd, SW_SHOW End ifEnd Function

However, if we attempt to use the above code when the print log window is hidden the window will not become visible. So what went wrong? If we observe closely we notice that QTPlogWindow.Exist(0) always return False. This happens because QTP does not work on invisible windows unless it has been instructed to do so explicitly. Therefore, to accommodate for the behavior, we can change the Window object in the function as described below:

'Specify using visible:=False that we are looking for a hidden windowSet QTPlogWindow = Window("regexpwndclass:=Mercury::Qtprn::PrintWindow","visible:=False")

Now though, the above code will fail if the window is currently visible. When the window is visible, we need not perform any steps. But in case we want to check the existence of the log window regardless of it being visible or invisible then we can use the following approach:

'Specify visible:=True|False ensures we get the window'regardless if it is visible/invisibleSet QTPlogWindow = Window("regexpwndclass:=Mercury::Qtprn::PrintWindow","visible:=True|False")

Clearing the print window

In the following functions we use the “visible:=True|False” approach for all objects so that our functions are compatible regardless of the visibility of the window.

'API Declaration for SendMessageExtern.Declare micLong,"SendMessage","user32","SendMessageA",micLong,micLong,micLong,micRef+micLong

'Message to Set text of a windowConst WM_SETTEXT = &HC

'Function to clear the print Log windowPublic Function ClearPrintWindow() 'Check if the print Log window exists or not Set QTPlogWindow = Window("regexpwndclass:=Mercury::Qtprn::PrintWindow","visible:=True|False") If QTPlogWindow.Exist(0) Then 'Get the handle of edit box 'It is important to use "visible:=True|False" here also as the 'for a hidden window the edit is also hidden hwnd = QTPlogWindow.WinEdit("nativeclass:=Edit","visible:=True|False").GetROProperty("hwnd")

'Send a message to clear the text box text

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Extern.SendMessage hwnd, WM_SETTEXT, 0, 0 End ifEnd Function

'Use the function to clear the windowCall ClearPrintWindow

'Print on to the logPrint "Tarun Lalwani"

Programmatically Capturing the Print Log text'Function to get the text from the QTP Print Log WindowPublic Function GetPrintWindowText() GetPrintWindowText = "" Set QTPlogWindow = Window("regexpwndclass:=Mercury::Qtprn::PrintWindow", "visible:=True:False") 'Check if the Log window exist

If QTPlogWindow.Exist(0) Then 'Get the text from of edit box GetPrintWindowText = QTPlogWindow.WinEdit("nativeclass:=Edit","visible:=True:False").GetROProperty("text") End ifEnd Function

Msgbox GetPrintWindowText

Loading and Running action at run-timeQTP 11 allows loading and running an Action at run-time. This eliminates the need of inserting a call through the QTP IDE for the re-usable action. The syntax of the method is as shown below:

LoadAndRunAction(TestPath, ActionName, [Iteration], [Parameters])

This is useful when the Action to be called is based on some condition evaluated at run-time. This

decide which action needs to be executed after an event occurs.

Repository Utility Object

property values. Once a SOR is mapped to a Test, its Repository parameters can be mapped to constant, DataTable, Environment or RandomNumber as shown in Figure 29-9

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Figure 29-9. Object Repository Parameter Mapping

These parameters can be accessed and updated at run-time using the Repository object as shown in the code below

Repository("repBrowserTitle") = "QuickTest Professional Unplugged | KnowledgeInbox"

Local System Monitoring

the memory usage of Internet Explorer crosses the 700MB mark.

NOTE: This feature does allow some amount of performance monitoring with QTP but cannot be used for extensive performance monitoring where server parameters or multiple applications need to be monitored. This is actually a good way to track the performance of IE or any other application when the tests are run for longer durations.

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Reporting EnhancementsReporting Images

QTP 11 also allows reporting images into the Test Results summary. Consider the below code:'Capture the screenshotWindow("title:=QuickTest Professional.*").CaptureBitmap "C:\QTP.png",True

'Report it to the Test ResultsReporter.ReportEvent micPass, "QTP", "Reporting Image", "C:\QTP.png"

The Test Result shows the image as shown in Figure 29-11. This image is also retained when the

Figure 29-11. Image Report in Test Results Summary

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Notes in Test Results Summary

With QTP 11, it is also possible to add notes to the test summary. These notes can be used for reporting the key highlights, issues or important information which may help analyze the test results easily. Consider a scenario where we execute a test against a given test data and it produces an error

is supposed to be usedstrErrorExists = Browser("KnowledgeInbox").Page("KnowledgeInbox").WebElement("Error").Exist(0)

If strErrorExists Then Reporter.ReportNote "The test data used is not valid. Please use a account which has access to the premium services"End If

The output of above code in the Test results summary is shown in Figure 29-12

Figure 29-12. Notes in Test Result summary

MercuryTimerMercuryTimers is a new utility objects that allows you to create various timers. A timer is

following code:'Get a timer using Timer propertySet newTime = MercuryTimers.Timer("Time1")

'Timer is the default property of MercuryTimers'so we don't need to specify TimerSet newTime = MercuryTimers("Time1")

A MercuryTimer object provides following methods:

Start: Start the timer

Stop: Stop the timer

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Reset: Reset the timer

Continue: Continue a stopped timer

ElapsedTime: Time elapsed till last stop (in milliseconds)

The following code shows how to use these methods:'Start the timerMercuryTimers("Time1").StartWait 2'Stop the timerMercuryTimers("Time1").Stop

'Print elapsed time - On my machine prints '2012'Print MercuryTimers("Time1").ElapsedTime

Wait 1

'Continue with the timerMercuryTimers("Time1").ContinueWait 1'Print the Elapsed Time - On my machine prints '3014'Print MercuryTimers("Time1").ElapsedTimeWait 1'Stop the timer - On my machine prints '4025'Print MercuryTimers("Time1").Stop

'Start the timer (this is equivalent to using Reset and then start)MercuryTimers("Time1").StartWait 2'Stop the timerMercuryTimers("Time1").Stop

'Print the elapsed timer - On my machine prints '2012'Print MercuryTimers("Time1").ElapsedTime

'Reset the timerMercuryTimers("Time1").Reset

'Print the elapsed time - prints '0'Print MercuryTimers("Time1").ElapsedTime

RepositoriesCollectionRepositoriesCollection utility object allows you to add any number of shared object repositories at Run-time to the current action, in addition to any object repositories associated the Action as well. The RepositoriesCollection object provides following methods:

Add: Add a shared repository

Find: Find a shared repository

MoveToPos: Move shared repository to a give position in the priority order

Remove: Remove a shared repository

RemoveAll: Remove all shared repositories

Count: Count of shared object repositories


Item: Get path to the shared object using a specified index'Remove all the object repositoriesRepositoriesCollection.RemoveAll

'Add the new object repositoryRepositoriesCollection.Add "C:\CompleteObjectRepository.tsr"

Above code will add object repository to the Action in which the code is being executed. These changes are run-time only changes and are reverted back when the test run ends.

WARNING: If you use the above mentioned code in an Associated

of the script and also the changes will not be reverted. Which mean the object repository will actually be added to the test and running the code again may throw an error as the object repository will already exists.

DotNetFactoryQTP 11 provides DotNetFactory utility object which allows creating instance of .NET classes in QTP. The object provides only one method, CreateInstance:

'Function SyntaxSet var_CreateInstance = DotNetFactory.CreateInstance (TypeName [,Assembly] [,args])

The method takes the following parameters

TypeName: Type name of class to be instantiated, for example "System.Windows.

Forms.Form", "System.Net.Mail.MailMessage", etc.

Assembly: Name of the Assembly class, for eample "System.Windows" etc.

Args: Parameters to be passed to the .NET object constructor. This is needed to

create object instance when there is no parameter-less constructor.

The DotNetFactory utility has greatly enhanced what can achieve in QTP and that’s why this book has a chapter dedicated to discussing this feature in detail.

Getting Object name from a TestObject in OREach QTP Test Object now support two new properties

TestObjName: Returns the Name of the object in repository.

In case the object is not from repository and the application is running then it will return the default name

In case the object is not from the repository and the application is not running then the micclass of the

TestObjGenType: Returns the generic type of the object. For example text box, list box, table, text label, etc.

These new properties prove very useful for debugging and logging purposes. The TestObjName property gives use the power to regenerate the whole object statement from an object. We created a

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function GetObjectSTR in the “Recovery Scenarios” chapter that allowed converting an object to its

code:'Function to convert a QTP test object into its string'description. Public Function GetObjectSTR(pObject) Dim sProps() ReDim sProps(0)

'Get the name property from TestObjName sProps(0) = pObject.GetTOProperty("TestObjName")

'Get the type of the objecy sClass = pObject.GetTOProperty("micclass")

'If the name contains [ in the start and ] in the end 'then it is not from object repository If Left(sProps(0),1)="[" and Right(sProps(0),1)="]" Then 'The object is not from the OR. Continue the normal method 'to get the description of the object

'Get all the test object identification properties Set oTOProps = pObject.GetTOProperties iCount = oTOProps.Count - 1 'Loop through and create a array for string description For i = 0 to iCount sProps(UBound(sProps)) = oTOProps(i).Name & ":=" & oTOProps(i).Value ReDim Preserve sProps(UBound(sProps) + 1) Next ReDim Preserve sProps(UBound(sProps)-1) End If

'Create the string object description of current object sObjectStr = sClass & "(""" & join(sProps,""",""") & """)"

'Check if the object is a top level object If TypeName(pObject.GetTOProperty("parent")) = "Empty" Then GetObjectSTR = sObjectStr Else 'Get the parent object of the current object Set oParent = pObject.GetTOProperty("parent") 'Recursivly call the function to get the complete description GetObjectSTR = GetObjectSTR(oParent) & "." & sObjectStr End IfEnd Function

'Prints "Dialog("Run").WinEdit("Open:")"Print GetObjectSTR(Dialog("Run").WinEdit("Open:"))

'Prints "Dialog("Run").WinEdit("text:=Open:")"Print GetObjectSTR(Dialog("Run").WinEdit("text:=Open:"))


Object Repository EnhancementsWorking of Object Repositories in QTP changed a lot from QTP 8.2 to QTP 11 (actual change being from QTP 9.0). Instead of being able to associate a single shared object repository (SOR) to a test now QTP allows associating multiple object repositories. The association happens at the Action level instead of the Test level.

Local Object Repository (LOR)

Every Action in a QTP script has an associated Local object repository. The LOR is stored as a

While recording scripts in QTP, if the object doesn’t exist in the associated shared object repositories (SOR) or LOR then QTP adds it to the LOR. This behavior of QTP adding objects to LOR cannot be changed.

R key combination. By default the LOR shows all objects present in LOR as well objects present in

on to just Local objects by using the Filter dropdown in the LOR UI.

A LOR object always takes precedence over the same object from SOR. Consider the below case where a SOR associated with the test has 5 objects. We can copy the top level “KnowledgeInbox” Browser object by right clicking and using “Copy to Local” option as shown in Figure 29-10. This creates the copy of the same object in the LOR.

Figure 29-13. Object Copy to Local

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Figure 29-14. Local Object Repository

When we use the below statement in the codeBrowser("KnowledgeInbox").Page("Login").WebButton("Log In").Click

properties will be taken from the SOR. This is one key reason for object not found defect as well:

problem cannot be caught by looking in just the SOR as the object may still get highlighted in the application through SOR. However, during execution, it may not work as expected.

LOR UI has 2 options for exporting the object repository

“Export Local Objects…” – This exports all the objects in LOR to a TSR file.

“Export and Replace Local Objects…” – This exports all the objects in LOR to a TSR file and removes them from LOR.

NOTE: Exporting TSR and not merge with the existing objects.


Shared Object Repository (SOR)

Shared Object Repository is external repository which can be shared by various test scripts. Despite its name, this object repository cannot be shared across users simultaneously as only one user at a time can modify it. For all other users accessing the SOR, it is viewed only in read-only mode.

A SOR is associated with a test at Action level. Actions and SOR have a manytomany relation i.e. an Action can have multiple SOR associated and an SOR can be associated with multiple actions

NOTE: SOR or LOR cannot be associated with the startup code of global scope. So if we Browser("KnowledgeInbox") object in our LOR or SOR and we place the below code Browser("KnowledgeInbox").Sync in one of our associated library then the code will error out as the OR will have no meaning without any action being loaded in memory and during execution of global libraries none of the actions exists.

Manager (ORM)…’ and click on the New icon

NOTE: One cannot record and have the objects created in the SOR directly. Objects can only be added to SOR manually or through Navigate and learn feature of ORM.

Figure 29-16. Object Repository Manager

Associating a SOR to the Test

button to add a new repository to add a SOR. After adding the SOR select the actions with which the

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SOR needs to be associated. Multiple actions can be selected at the same time by holding the CTRL key and clicking the actions in the list. After selecting all the actions (as shown in Figure 29-17) click on the arrow (>) button to make the SOR available to selected actions. Clicking on the double arrow (>>) selects all the actions.

NOTE: A SOR cannot be associated with the Test. It can be associated with actions only. When a new action is added to the test it will not get associated with the SOR. But it is still possible to achieve auto association of the SOR to any newly created action. To do so browse to one of the Actions with the SOR already associated. Go to menu Edit Action Action Properties… Associated Repositories (Tab). Click on the Set as Default button, this will make all the SOR associated with current action as the default SOR for new actions.

Figure 29-17. Associate Object Repository

Adding objects to SORObjects can be added in a few different ways to the SOR.

Adding object using Add Object button

Objects can be added to SOR clicking the button and clicking on the object with the hand pointer . After clicking the on the object QTP show the “Object Selection – Add to Repository” dialog as shown in Figure 29-18. From this dialog the whole hierarchy of the object is shown and we can select which object we want to add.


NOTE: QTP doesn’t add all the objects from the listed hierarchy. It only adds those which it needs to re-identify the object.

19. In this dialog we need to select the Class (the test object type), the Name (logical name) and the description property values

QTP displays the list of Mandatory properties by default in this dialog. To add additional properties

NOTE: This method is useful when the application is not ready to add objects. Also in certain cases QTP displays the object hierarchy but is not able to add the object to the OR. In such cases we can note down the property values and add them using this method.

Figure 29-18. Object Selection – Add to Repository

Adding object through Spy

We can add objects directly from the Spy. Click on the Object Spy button to launch object spy. In the object spy we can select the object that needs to add to the OR and then click on the button to add the object to OR as shown in Figure 29-20

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When we spy again on objects using Object Spy, the object icon shows if the object is already present in the OR as shown in Figure 29-21


Figure 29-21. Object Spy - Objects already present in OR

NOTE: The feature of adding objects directly from the Object Spy to OR is only available from QTP 11.

NOTE: If Object Spy is launched from QTP IDE then objects will get added to the Local OR of the active Action and if the Object spy is launched through Object Repository Manager then the objects will be added to current active SOR.

Navigate and Learn

This feature of ORM allows navigating in an application and learning all the objects in between. To

the small “Navigate and Learn” window at the top of the screen

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To learn objects from a screen select the main window and click the Learn button. QTP Filter icon, this

Figure 29-23. Object Filters

There are the following options available to this feature:

Selected object only (no descendants): will learn only the top-most or the window we have activated

Default object types will capture only a predefined sets of objects

All object types will capture all the objects from the application. This option should be used cautiously as it could create many unwanted objects in the OR. This option also increases the size of the Object Repository so when there is a better approach available, this option should be avoided.

Selected object types let you customize the filter. Pressing the select button after the selecting the radio button launches the “Select Object Types” dialog. This is a better and a more strategic way of adding target Test Objects as opposed to the previous approach.

Figure 29-24. Select Object Types


NOTE: Navigate and Learn can makes things easier by adding all the objects at once but if not used cautiously, it can also create a lot of unwanted objects in the SOR. This is not a good approach in case the screen has lot of controls and our scripts only covers few of them. In such a case it is better to add this manually.

Other Object Related features of OR

Highlighting the object in Application can be done by selecting the object in OR and clicking the highlight button. This will highlight the object in application. If QTP is not able to identify the object then it will raise one of the two possible errors as shown in Figure 29-25 and Figure 29-26.

The first error is due to the fact that properties used for identification are not sufficient to identify any object in the application.

The second error occurs due to multiple matches of the target object from the current description. In this

NOTE: If QTP is not able to identify an object then it doesn’t mean

possibility that QTP is not able to identify one of the parent objects in the hierarchy correctly. So one should check the entire hierarchys to

correctly.

WARNING: If QTP highlights the object correctly and the Smart

To make sure that object is being highlighted correctly always set the

object again.

Figure 29-25. Object not found error

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Figure 29-26. Multiple object matches error

Locating the object in OR

We can also locate if a given object in the application is already present in the OR. To locate an existing object click on the Locate in Repository button and then click on the object using the Hand pointer. If object already exists in the OR, then QTP will locate and activate the same in the object tree. Otherwise, QTP will raise an error as shown in Figure 29-27.

Figure 29-27. Cannot Locate object in OR

Updating an Object from the ApplicationIn case an object got changed after adding it the OR we can update the properties again by clicking on the Update from Application button

WARNING: We can update an object of the same object type though it might not be the same object we had earlier. Ex – An existing textbox for username can be updated with properties from a password textbox. This would create a object with logical name as username but would

Object Precedence when using both LOR and SOR

Figure 29-28 and SOR shown in Figure 29-29. Both the ORs have a common root object “Microsoft Word”. The only difference being the value of regexpwndclass property. The SOR has an object named “Microsoft Word Document” as the child of the “Microsoft Word” object. Now when we use the below statement

objExist = Window("Microsoft Word").WinObject("Microsoft Word Document").Exist(0)

LOR


WARNING: When using SOR only approach if the parent object gets added to the LOR by mistake then it can interfere with correct object

Figure 29-28. Object in Local Object Repository

Figure 29-29. Object in Shared Object Repository

401

Object Repository Parameters (ORP)

Object repository parameters (ORP) can be used to add parameters to the SOR. These parameters

Repository Parameters… and it will show the ORP dialog as shown in Figure 29-30

Clicking on the “+” button launches the “Add Repository Parameter” dialog as shown in Figure 29-31. In this we can add the name of parameter and its default value.

Figure 29-31. Add Repository Parameter

Once the parameter is added we use it to map to the property values. To map parameter values click on the button in parameter value or press CTRL + F11


Figure 29-33. Repository Parameters

NOTE: In SOR we can’t directly map parameters to DataTable or Environment variable as we do in LOR that is why the need of Object Repository parameter arises.

When a SOR with object repository parameter is associated to the test, the object repository parameters are available for mapping. In case there is no default value associated with a repository parameter it would be shown in the missing resources tab as “unmapped repository parameters”.

The mapping of parameters can be done for Entire Test or at Action level. The mapping can be

403

done to a DataTable parameter or Environment variable or a Random Number. We can also do this mapping at Run-time using the Repository utility object

'Prints KnowledgeInbox (the default value)Print Browser("KnowledgeInbpx").GetTOProperty("title")Repository("myBrowserTitle") = "Test"'Prints Test (the update value)

Print Browser("KnowledgeInbpx").GetTOProperty("title")

NOTE: Value changed using Repository object in code will have effect for the whole test. The value doesn’t change to the default value from one action to another action.

Figure 29-34. Map Repository Parameters


WARNING: One huge limitation of using Repository parameters is that we can’t specify the value as a regular expression pattern. I am not sure how HP missed this but this feature is not available with parameterize values in OR.

Importing and Exporting OR from XML

NOTE: Exporting and re-importing the OR can at times reduce the size of the SOR and is a good way to compact the same.

NOTE: Exporting SOR to XML includes CheckPoint information only in case of QTP 11. This is not true in case of QTP 10 or lower.

NOTE: Importing the XML always creates a new SOR and doesn’t merge the object with existing SOR.

405

Update from Local Object Repository

-

cal Repository… in the menu and click on the button to select the test. Once the test is selected the dialog shows all the Actions available in the test

Figure 29-36. Update OR from Local Object Repository

NOTE: Multiple tests can be selected in the Update from Local Repository dialog.

NOTE: Only those Actions from the test can be added to list which have the SOR associated in the tests. So if a Test has two actions: Action1 and Action2, but the current SOR is only associated with Action1 then the dialog would only show Action1 and not Action2.

NOTE: Repositories for a Test which is currently open in QTP IDE cannot be merged without closing the test.

Clicking on the Update All… button shows the Merge window and Merge results


Figure 29-37. Object Repository Merge Results

Figure 29-38. Object Repository Merge tool

407

Click on the button to save the merge and move to the next merge. The merge dialog will ask for

WARNING: The merge process deletes all the objects from the LOR of chosen scripts. Only those actions get impact which were shown in the Update from Local Object Repository Dialog.

resolution would either to take the description from LOR or SOR or Keep both the objects


Duplicate Objects - In this case a duplicate object exist. The resolution would be either to keep the LOR or SOR object or both the objects

WARNING: Choosing ‘Keep both objects’ option could mean that your scripts may not work as the object description would have changed. In case the number of scripts used by a shared object repository is high the merge process should be avoided as the logical name changes during the merge process can break the scripts.

Object Repository Merge tool

Object Repository Merge tool allows merging multiple object repositories into one. To launch the tool

2 object repositories to be merged and press Ok. Merge tool shows the merged repository and if there

Figure 29-42. New Object Repository merge

409

NOTE: One huge disadvantage of the merge process is that the merge

So in case we want to merge 10 object repositories, we will have to save merged OR to new OR every time and then use it as a primary OR for the next merge. This poor design of merge process makes it impractical to use such approach in real projects.

NOTE: In case of merge the object are NOT delete from the

NOTE: Checkpoints can never be added directly in a SOR. They can only be imported through a direct merge or indirect merge from local object repository.

Object Repository Comparison Tool

Object Repository Comparison tool can be used to compare two object repositories. To launch the

Shows the “New Comparison” dialog

Figure 29-43. Object Repository Comparison

Shows comparison stats


Figure 29-44. Comparison Statistics

Comparison Results

Figure 29-45. Object Repository comparison results

411

Local OR Vs Shared OR

LOR versus SOR has always been huge topic of discussion. LORs can be used in cases where the test

also be used in cases of use and throw scripts. Ex – Data creation scripts which are only used once

simple one can go for recording and use the LOR.

Object SpyThe QTP 11 Object Spy displays test object properties when the mouse cursor is placed over a GUI object. This allows interrogating multiple objects in a single spying session by just pointing the cursor at the objects of interest. QTP 11 also introduced few new features in Object Spy which allows adding the object directly from the Spy window to the Object Repository as shown in Figure 29-46.

clipboard.

NOTE: The properties.

NOTE: Sometimes QTP does spy the object through Object Repository Add Object button but doesn’t add the object to the OR. In such a case one should try adding the object directly from the Object Spy.


Figure 29-46. Objects Spy Add to OR and Copy feature

A-1

Appendix A

Problem 3-1. Working with Test Object properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Problem 3-2. Changing Test Object properties at run time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Problem 3-3. Getting Run-time Object properties during test execution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Problem 4-1. How to access a parameter from the global data sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Problem 4-2. How to access a parameter from a Local data sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Problem 4-3. How to check if a Sheet exists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Problem 4-4. How to preserve format of data output to a data table.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Problem 4-5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Problem 4-6. row of the data table contains the columns heading. We then add those as parameters of the data table:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Problem 4-7. . . . . .40

Problem 4-8. How to execute a script for all Global Data Table iterations, when the script is set to run for only one iteration:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Problem 4-9. How to get the number of columns that contain data:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Problem 6-1. How to access an environment variable?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Problem 6-2. How can we check if an environment variable exists?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Problem 6-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Problem 6-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Problem 6-5. How are QTP record and run settings changed using Environment variables?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

A-2

Problem 6-6. How is an environment variable cleared or destroyed?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Problem 6-7. How an object is passed using an environment variable?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Problem 6-8. How an array is passed using Environment variables?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Problem 6-9. . . . . . . . .58

Problem 8-1. How can we check if a checkpoint passed or failed?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Problem 9-1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Problem 12-1. How can we get the status of an Action as Pass/Fail at the end of the action?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Problem 13-1. What will the regular expression be for a domain which can have . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Problem 13-2. What will be the r.e. matching a date in the format MM/DD/YY?. . . . . . . . .120

Problem 14-1. “Page 4 of 15”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

Problem 14-2. How can we count the number of “if” phrases in the “if + if = 2 if” string?. 131

Problem 14-3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Problem 14-4. current page and the total page values from the string “Page 4 of 15”?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Problem 14-5. How can we split a string into words or lines?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Problem 14-6. How can the number of business/working days be calculated between two dates (i.e. difference should exclude the weekends)? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Problem 14-7. . . . . . . . . . . .142

Problem 14-8. Function to get a substring from a start character in a string. . . . . . . . . . . . . .143

Problem 14-9. Write a function that reads a string word by word where two words would be separated by one or more spaces.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Problem 14-10. Create a function TrimAll which trims not only spaces but other whitespace characters like new lines, carriage returns, and line feeds etc.:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Problem 14-11. Create a FilterStr function which takes a string and character set as input and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145

Problem 14-12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Problem 14-13. Write a function that compares two string ignoring new line, line feeds, tab etc. whitespace characters:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Problem 14-14. Write a function that replaces repeated occurrences of a given character by

A-3

another character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Problem 14-15. How can we get the UBound/LBound values of multi-dimensional array?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Problem 14-16. How can we declare and initialize a read only variable at run-time?. . . . . .150

Problem 17-1. How can we determine if the topmost window on the desktop is a browser window?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Problem 17-2. How can we get the value of a Windows Environment variable? (Note that QTP environment variables differ from Windows environment variables)... . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Problem 17-3. How can we check (select) an item in a List box using a Windows API?. . . .178

Problem 17-4. How can we get the background color of a text box (helpful when a color for a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Problem 17-5. How can we simulate a keyboard event using the Windows APIs?.. . . . . . . .179

Problem 17-6. How can we prevent a PC from being locked by its screen saver?. . . . . . . . .181

Problem 17-7. How can we maximize a window or a browser?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Problem 17-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Problem 18-1. How can we use AOM to run a QTP test case?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195

Problem 18-2. How can we use AOM to change the starting and ending iterations for a test case?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196

Problem 18-3. How can we use AOM to launch QTP on a remote machine?.. . . . . . . . . . . .198

Problem 21-1. . . . . . . . . .238

Problem 21-2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Problem 21-3. How can we create the following XML code at run-time in QTP, and then save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239

Problem 21-4. . . . . . . .240

Problem 21-5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242

Problem 21-6. How can we export a part of XML to a DataTable?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .243

Problem 21-7. How can we extract XML from a URL or Web browser?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Problem 21-8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .244

Problem 21-9. . . . . . .244

Problem 22-1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Problem 22-2. How can we determine the number of rows altered by an update or a delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254

A-4

Problem 23-1. How can we invoke and terminate an instance of Excel?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260

Problem 23-2. How can we create a new excel sheet and then save it?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260

Problem 23-3. how to create one?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261

Problem 23-4. . . . . . . .262

Problem 23-5. row?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .262

Problem 23-6. How can we use an Excel sheet as a QTP output Data Table?. . . . . . . . . . . .263

Problem 23-7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264

Problem 23-8. How can we access an Excel spreadsheet embedded in Internet Explorer?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .268

Problem 25-1. How to instantiate and terminate a word application?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292

Problem 25-2. How to get reference to an already open word application?. . . . . . . . . . . . . .292

Problem 25-3. How to enumerate all the open word documents?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .292

Problem 25-4. How to open and save a new document in word?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .293

Problem 25-5. How to get reference toan already existing word document?. . . . . . . . . . . . .293

Problem 25-6. How to open a word document in the read only mode?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294

Problem 25-7. How to print an open word document?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .294

Problem 25-8. . . . . . . .294

Problem 25-9. How to insert an image in a word document and scale its size by 50%?.. . . .295

Problem 25-10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295

Problem 25-11. How to insert a table into a word document?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .296

Problem 25-12. How to change the font for the text being written in a word document?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .297

Problem 25-13. How to preserve the text already present in a word document while writing?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .298

B-1

Appendix B: Index

AActions 43

Input and Output Parameters 43Insert Call to Copy… 49Insert Call to Existing… 48Insert Call to New… 47

actionsspath 349AddAttachment 337AddParameter 40–41AddSheet 40ADODB.Command 249, 253, 255ADODB.Connection 249ADODB.Recordset 249, 252Advanced Text Checkpoints 354API using COM Objects in VB6 182API using Excel 185ApplyXSL 245Array 134Asc 137Automation Object Model (AOM) 195

BBrowser Vs Page Sync 159

CCBool 137CByte 137CCur 137CDate 137Check 70CheckBrokenImages 320Checkpoints

Alternatives to QTP checkpoints 71Types of checkpoints 69Updating Checkpoints at run-time 71

ChildObjects 86Chr 138CInt 137CleanBrowserPopups 316CleanText 147CLng 137CloseDescendentProcesses 65CloseProcessByHwnd 65CloseProcessById 65CloseProcessByName 65CloseProcessByWndTitle 65Comparing XML 244Converting a DOM object to QTP Test Object 208Converting VBA to VBScript 264CreateDescription 85CreateObject 142CreationTime 90Crypt Object 61CSng 137CStr 137CurrentRun 329currentStyle 209CurrentTest 329CurrentTestSet 329CurrentTestSetTest 329

DDatabase 249DataTable 33

B-2

Data table formatting 38Data table object model 38Design time data table 35Run-time data table 35Setting data table iterations 36When to use the global or a local data table 35

Date 138DateDiff 139Day 138Debugging 97

Using Breakpoints 98Working with the Command Tab 100Working with the Variables Tab 99Working with the Watch Expression Tab 98

DefaultObjRepType 349DefaultTSRFilePath 349Descriptive programming 83

Property 93

Converting an OR-based script to a DP-based script 87Enumerating ChildObjects 86Implicit Properties 84

Using a VBScript DP object repository 89Using description objects 84Using Description Strings 86When to use Descriptive Programming 84Working with Multiple Browser 92

Desktop.CaptureBitmap 170DisableReplayUsingAlgorithm 348Document Object 203DotNetFactory

Accessing the Registry 420Converting Images to other File Formats 424Evaluating Keyboard Control Key Status 420Getting Computer Information 419Getting user Input using .NET Forms 426.Net Arrays Revisited 421Passing Enums 417Passing Parameters to Class Constructors 415Passing Parameters to .NET Objects 416Ping an IP Address 420Playing a Wav File 419Sending Emails using .NET 423Using the DotNetFactory Object 415

Working with .NET Arrays 418Working with .Net Date and Time Formatting 422Working with .Net Queues 422Working with .Net Stacks 421Working with the Clipboard 419

DownloadAttachments 335Dynamic Arrays 148

EEncrypt 61EnumerateAllTestSets 340EnumerateAllTestsinTestPlan 339EnumerateSettings 347Environment variables

BROWSER_ENV 55ExternalFileName 52LoadFromFile 52URL_ENV 55Value 52

Error Handling 113Eval 150Excel.Application 142, 187, 188, 260, 264, 353, 359Excel Automation Object Model 259Execute 57, 85, 149ExecuteFile 76ExecuteFileGlobal 77ExecuteGlobal 78ExecuteGlobalCode 78Executing a Stored DB procedure 255Executing code when Script ends 352Exist 159ExitAction 45Exporting XML to a DataTable 243Extend 362extendWebTable 362ExternalDataTablePath 348Extern.Declare 177Extern object 177

FFilter 137FilterStr 145FindAttachment 334FindWindow 190FindWindowEx 190FireEvent 160FirstGlobalIteration 348Fixed length arrays 148

B-3

GGenericSet 66GetAddressesFromMail 285GetBusinessDays 140GetColumnName 271GetCurrentTestPath 338GetCurrentTestSetPath 341GetCursorPos 185GetDC 179GetDOMObjectByPath 211getElementsById 204getElementsByName 204getElementsByTagName 204GetEnvironmentVariable 178GetFileName 146GetFilePath 146GetForegroundWindow 177, 178GetIECOMByhWnd 305GetIECOMByURL 305GetIEObjectFromhWnd 268GetObject 142GetParameter 40GetParentOfElement 224GetPixel 179GetRandomNumberByLen 306GetROProperty 14, 23GetRowCount 41GetSheet 39GetSMTPAddress 286GetStrBetweenChar 143GetStrFromChar 143GetSubFolderByPath 277GetTOProperties 22GetTOProperty 23GetVarXML 54GetWindowDC 179GetWordFromPos 144GlobalIterationMode 348GlobalSheet 38

HHex 138Hour 138HowManyWeekDays 139HTML Button 205HTML Checkbox 206HTML ComboBox 205HTML Element Collection 203

HTML Element Object 203HTML Link 205HTML List Box 205HTML Node 202HTML Radio Button 206HTML Table 207HTML Text Box 205

IIEDownloadFile 318InStr 130InStrRev 132Internet Explorer 301

EnumerateIE 304Popup Blocker 311Using IE to get user input 308

InternetExplorer.Application 302, 303, 307IsConnected 328IsEnvExist 53isParameterExists 39

JJoin 134JScript 363

Passing variable number of arguments to a function 364Scope differences 364Try…Catch block 365Working with JS classes 366Working with JScript Arrays 366

Kkeybd_event 179KeyDown 180KeyPress 180KeyUp 180

LLastGlobalIteration 348launchreport 349Lcase 129Left 130Len 130

Associating a Library globally with a Test 75Dynamically Loading libraries locally at run-time 76, 79

LoadFromFile 58LocalSheet 39

B-4

LTrim 133LTrimW 126

MMakeObjVisible 354MapVirtualKey 179micclass 86Mid 130Minute 138Modal dialog boxes 190Month 138

NNewSync 317Now 138

O, 83

Object Spy 25ObjRepType 348Oct 138On Error Resume Next 113OnReplayError 348Open Test Architecture (OTA) 330Optional arguments in VBScript 150

Using an Array of (Key, Value) pairs 152Using an Array of Key:=Value pairs 153Using an Array of values 151Using Null/Empty values 150

OptionalStep Object 62Outlook.Application 276Outlook Object model 275Outlook Security Dialogs 282

PPathFinder.Locate 63, 336PathFinder Object 62PostMessage 190

QQCUtil Object 328Quality Center 325

ResolveRelativePath 327QuickTest.Application 174, 195, 198, 331, 343, 344,

351

RRandomNumber Object 63Recovery_LoginProxy 109Recovery object 111

RegExp 123RegisterUserFunc Object 66RegularExpression 23Regular Expressions 117ReleaseDC 179Replace 133ReplaceMultipleByOne 147ReplayType 162Reporter.Filter 166Reporter.LogEvent 172Reporter.ReportEvent 167Reporter.ReportPath 170rfDisableAll 166rfEnableAll 166rfEnableErrorsAndWarnings 166rfEnableErrorsOnly 166Right 130RTrim 133RTrimW 125RunAction 45

SScripting.Dictionary 77, 154, 155, 172, 175, 263,

304, 355, 360Scripting.FileSystemObject 54, 167, 173, 174, 175,

246, 261, 335, 351, 353, 439Seconds 138SelectRadioByTextIndex 212SendMessage 178SetActiveWindow 190SetCurrentRow 40, 41SetForegroundWindow 179SetSecure 62Setting Object 63SetTOProperty 23ShowWindow 182SnapshotOnErrorActiveUI 348SnapshotReportMode 169Space 134Split 134SplitEx 135StopAndReRunQTP 350StrComp 129String 134StrReverse 130Sync 157Synchronization Points 157SystemUtil Object 65

B-5

SystemUtil.Run 92

TTDAPIOle80.TDConnection 332TDConnection 328, 330Test Arguments 197Test Results 165

Accessing Test Results at the end 173

Converting XML Results to HTML 170Inserting Files in Test Results 167Inserting Snapshots in Test Results 168

Time 138Timer 140Trim 133TrimAll 144TrimW 126TSRFilePath 349TypeName 141

UUBound 149Ucase 129URLDownloadToFile 182UseExternalDataTablePath 348Useful Tools 443

IE WebDeveloper 447Internet Explorer Session Cookies 447Notepad++ 444QTP Script Editor 443QTP Uninstaller 445RAD Regular Expression Designer 450ScreenCapture API 446Test Design Studio (TDS) 449VB 2 QTP API Converter 447VBSEdit 444

VValueByRow 40VarType 141

WWait 158WaitProperty 158WebRegSelectValue 124Web Tables 217

Access using OR 222Asynchronous Table loading 229

Clicking inside a WebTable 227Exporting WebTable to a DataTable 229Finding a cell in a Table 231FindTextBySearch 232GetTableFromElement 225Getting a QTP Table from a element 230Getting the location of an object inside the table 225GetWebTableFromElement 230Using an object inside the table 224Using Index 219Using innerText/outerText 219Using Name or HTML ID 219

WebUtil Object 65Weekday 139WScript.Shell 174, 189, 193, 288, 301, 311, 315,

351, 439, 440

XXMLAttribute 238XML Attributes 238XMLAttributesColl 238XML Child nodes 238XMLData 238XMLElement 238XMLElementsColl 238XMLItemColl 238XML Node values 238XML Root node 237XMLUtil 238XMLUtil.CreateXML 238XMLUtil.CreateXMLfromFile 239

YYear 138

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named “QuickTest Professional Unplugged”. He has worked on various automated testing projects utilising technologies like VBScript, VB6, VB.Net, C#.NET, Excel and Outlook Macros. He founded KnowledgeInbox.com — a blog targeted towards the QuickTest community. He uses the blog to share his custom APIs, products, articles, tips and tricks with his readers pro bono. He is also a regular contributor at AdvancedQTP and SQA forums. Tarun’s work has been showcased on several websites such as:

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Tarun was awarded with the ‘Best Feedback Award’ by HP for QTP 11 Beta testing. His book “QuickTest Professional Unplugged” was recognized as the Best Automation Book in the 2nd ATI Automation Honors award. It is the industry’s original set of awards dedicated to software test automation recognizing industry leading tools, resources and practitioners. The ATI Automation Honors awards rely on industry

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Education

QTP Unplugged 2nd Edition Updates eBook