Software Test Engineering with IBM Rational Functional Tester The Definitive Resource

The Indispensable Resource for Automated Testing

Automated software testing has become a critical exercise, especially for developers utilizing iterative and agile methods. However, to achieve the full benefits of automated testing, teams need a deep understanding of both its principles and their testing tools. If you’re among the thousands of developers using IBM Rational Functional Tester (RFT), this book brings together all the insight, examples, and real-world solutions you need to succeed. Eight leading IBM testing experts thoroughly introduce this state-of-the-art product, covering issues ranging from building test environments through executing the most complex and powerful tests. Drawing on decades of experience with IBM Rational testing products, they address both technical and nontechnical challenges and present everything from best practices to reusable code.

• Integrating IBM RFT into your development processes
• Building highly efficient test environments, test harnesses, and test scripts
• Using RFT Visual Editor to extend testing automation to novice users
• Mastering basic scripting techniques, from data capture to script synchronization
• Managing script data using RFT Datapools
• Efficiently debugging scripts using Eclipse™ or Visual Studio®
• Managing execution flow: playback settings, logic, error handling, and more
• Handling domains that are not supported by RFT
• Using advanced techniques, such as mouse delays and custom verification pointsTesting specialized software, including mainframe, SAP, Siebel, and Adobe® Flex® applications
• Extending RFT with external libraries
• Developing RFT support for third-party Java™ or .NET controls
• Using RFT in both Linux® and Windows® environments
• Configuring internationalized testing within the RFT framework

Chip Davis, member of IBM Rational Brand Services, has been deploying solutions for clients across North America since 1999.

Daniel Chirillo, Senior Consulting IT Specialist with IBM Rational Brand Services, helps customers deploy Rational tools, with a focus on testing and change management.

Daniel Gouveia, Certified Consulting IT Specialist with IBM Rational Technical Sales, has mentored and trained customers on RFT tools and processes since 2000.

Fariz Saracevic, member of Automated Software Quality Product Management, focuses on advancing capabilities and defining customer inputs into RFT requirements.

Jeff Bocarsly is VP and Division Manager for functional testing services at RTTS, a leader in software quality engineering services.

Larry Quesada, Amazon Web Services sales rep, drives technical sales and delivers consulting services.

Lee Thomas, Open Group Master-Certified IT Specialist with IBM Rational Brand Services, tests software, helps clients in various industries, and is a leader in the automated functional testing community.

Marc van Lint, technical professional with IBM Rational Brand Services, focuses on the software-delivery process.

Foreword . . . xi

Preface . . . xiii

Acknowledgments . . . xix

About the Authors . . . xxi

Chapter 1 Overview of Rational Functional Tester . . . 1

Architecture of Rational Functional Tester . . . 1

Installation and Licensing . . . 4

Enabling the Environment for Testing . . . 8

Configuring Applications for Testing . . . 11

Configuring Object Recognition Properties . . . 12

Recording a First Script . . . 12

Playing Back a Script and Viewing Results . . . 20

Script Editing and Augmentation . . . 22

ScriptAssure . . . 37

Playback Settings . . . 49

Chapter 2 Storyboard Testing . . . 54

Overview of Storyboard Testing . . . 54

Similarities and Differences to Chapter 1 . . . 55

Enabling Storyboard Testing . . . 56

Recording a First Script . . . 57

Playing Back a Script and Viewing Results . . . 72

Script Editing and Augmentation . . . 77

Setting Preferences for Storyboard Testing . . . 83

Chapter 3 General Script Enhancements . . . 85

Test Script Synchronization . . . 85

Placing a Generic Delay in Your Script . . . 86

Waiting for Test Objects to Come into Existence . . . 88

Timing How Long Something Takes to Execute in a Script . . . 93

Working with Test Objects . . . 98

Working with the Clipboard Object . . . 98

Viewing an Object’s Properties . . . 105

Retrieving All Properties of a Test Object . . . 110

Retrieving the Value of a Single Property . . . 112

Programmatically Retrieving Data from an Object in My Application . . . 113

Determining a Test Object’s Valid Test Data Type Arguments to getTestData(). . . 116

Using getTestData to Extract Data from a Text Field . . . 117

Using getTestData to Extract Data from a List . . . 118

Using getTestData() to Read Data in a Table . . . 121

Using getTestData() to Extract Data from a Tree . . . 126

Obtaining Data from a Test Object That the Rational Functional Tester Verification Point Wizard Does Not Capture . . . 130

Creating a Custom Verification Point . . . 131

Changing the Value of a Test Object’s Property . . . 135

Evolving Custom Scripting into Reusable Methods . . . 136

Chapter 4 XML and Rational Functional Tester . . . 144

Handling XML in Rational Functional Tester . . . 144

Using the XML DOM with Rational Functional Tester . . . 146

Processing XML with SAX in Rational Functional Tester . . . 167

Chapter 5 Managing Script Data . . . 176

Accessing Rational Functional Tester Datapools . . . 176

Database Access from Java and .NET . . . 184

Handling User-Specific Runtime Variables . . . 197

Chapter 6 Debugging Scripts . . . 207

Common Debugging Concepts . . . 207

Debugging in Eclipse . . . 210

Debugging in Visual Studio . . . 216

Chapter 7 Managing Script Execution . . . 221

Setting Execution Options Within Your Scripts . . . 221

Manipulating Playback Options Within Scripts . . . 222

Flow Control . . . 224

Returning Values from My Scripts . . . 263

Developing Regression Scripts . . . 267

Executing a Functional Tester Script from the Command Line . . . 281

Scheduling Script Execution . . . 288

Executing a Functional Tester Script from a Plain Java Class . . . 288

Chapter 8 Handling Unsupported Domain Objects . . . 290

Rational Functional Tester and Unsupported Objects . . . 290

Using Rational Functional Tester with Unsupported Objects . . . 291

Unsupported Objects on Windows and Linux . . . 300

Chapter 9 Advanced Rational Functional Tester Object Map Topics . . . 301

Rational Functional Tester Object Map . . . 301

Rational Functional Tester Object Recognition Framework . . . 307

Customizing Recognition Properties and Weights . . . 318

Renaming Test Objects (ScriptHelper Methods) . . . 320

Searching the Object Map . . . 322

Sharing Test Objects Between Multiple Scripts . . . 326

Chapter 10 Advanced Scripting with Rational Functional Tester TestObjects . . . 330

Mapped TestObjects and Unmapped TestObjects . . . 331

Unregistering TestObjects . . . 331

Finding Objects Dynamically . . . 332

Handling Third-Party Controls . . . 342

How Many Different Ways Are There to Capture Data from a Control in Rational Functional Tester? . . . 359

Chapter 11 Testing Specialized Applications . . . 362

Why Rational Functional Tester Won’t Test Every Application . . . 362

Extension for Terminal-Based Applications . . . 363

Recording the Test Script . . . 365

SAP . . . 368

Siebel . . . 379

Recording the Test Script (Siebel) . . . 382

Adobe Flex . . . 384

Recording the Test Script (Flex) . . . 391

Chapter 12 Extending Rational Functional Tester with External Libraries . . . 396

Testing PDF Files . . . 396

Writing to a Custom Log File with Log4j and Log4net . . . 419

Interfacing with COM Scriptable Components . . . 449

Chapter 13 Building Support for New Objects with the Proxy SDK . . . 477

Figuring Out Which Proxy to Extend . . . 478

Creating a Proxy Project . . . 483

Adding Object Recognition . . . 490

Verifying Object Properties . . . 497

Verifying Object Data . . . 505

Executing a Click Using Object Information . . . 514

Building the Proxy . . . 523

Mapping the Proxy . . . 528

Taking an Easier Path . . . 533

Debugging a Proxy . . . 539

Chapter 14 Developing Scripts in the VB.NET Environment . . . 543

Installing Rational Functional Tester into Visual Studio .NET . . . 543

Locating Projects on Network Shares . . . 543

Reusing Code . . . 545

Chapter 15 Using Rational Functional Tester in a Linux Environment . . . 548

Installation . . . 548

Using Rational Functional Tester . . . 553

Chapter 16 Internationalized Testing with Rational Functional Tester . . . 569

Unicode and Rational Functional Tester . . . 569

Handling Internationalized Data in Rational Functional Tester . . . 572

Setting Up an Internationalized Test in Rational Functional Tester . . . 574

Modifying a Language-Specific Object Map . . . 592

Modifying Language-Specific Verification Points . . . 596

Modifying Language-Specific Datapools . . . 598

A Fully Internationalized Driver Script . . . 600

A Target Script for the Internationalized Driver Script . . . 602

The Real World . . . 604

Appendix A Advanced Logging Techniques . . . 606

Sending Test Results Via Email . . . 606

Transforming the XML Log by Using XSL . . . 612

Creating Your Own RSS Log Type . . . 622

Appendix B Regular Expressions in Rational Functional Tester . . . 632

Using Regular Expressions in Rational Functional Tester Scripts . . . 633

Writing Regular Expressions . . . 634

Index . . . 650

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