WinRunner 101

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WinRunner 101
- created by Garry Shum
AGENDA

• Duration 5.5 hours
• Theme Introduction to WinRunner
• Description Instructs how to get started with
  WinRunner how to use its different components
  and how those components work together to form
  the building blocks required for creating and
  executing reliable and effective automated tests.

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WinRunner Overview
What is WinRunner?

• WinRunner is a test automation tool, designed to
  help customers save testing time and effort by
  automating the manual testing process
• manual process perform operations by hand,
  visually check results, and log results by hand
• automated process create a test script that will
  perform the same operations as a Human operator,
  check the same information, and create a summary
  report showing the test status

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Recording
Recording Modes

• Context-sensitive mode
• Analog mode
• Tests can combine both recording modes
• Context-Sensitive is the default mode
• Switch between modes using same record key (F2)

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Context-Sensitive Mode

• Object-based
• Unaffected by minor UI changes
• Maintainable (readable/editable)
• Generally used with GUI applications
• Portable script

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Context-Sensitive Mode
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Analog Mode

• Position-dependent
• Works with any application
• UI changes force test script changes
• Usually drives tests with mouse, keyboard and
  other such manual user inputs
• Less maintainable

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Analog Mode
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Recording Modes

• Context-Sensitive mode statements can be recorded
  or programmed
• record button_press, win_activate
• program list_get_num_items, edit_get_text
• recommended for most situations due to greater
  robustness
• Analog mode statements are rarely programmed,
  mostly recorded and edited
• record move_locator, type, mtype
• program move_locator_abs, move_locator_rel,
  click
• Analog statements are useful for literally
  describing the keyboard, mouse, and mouse button
  input of the user

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Recording Tips

• plan your work
• decide exactly what actions / data to record
• check initial conditions
• test cases may have data dependency
• test cases may have screen dependence
• establish a common initial state for testing
• walk through the test case manually
• Verify that the test case is functional before
  recording script
• test your test script
• verify that the script will replay reliably by
  executing several times.
• watch the script execute and verify that it
  performs its intended function

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Recording Tips

• Use RapidTest Script Wizard to generate a
  comprehensive GUIMap for the tested application

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Recording Tips
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Run Modes

• Debug
• debug is good to use while the test script is
  being debugged
• these test results are overwritten with each new
  run
• Verify
• Corresponds to actual results
• Generally used when executing testing sessions
  where results need to be stored
• Update
• Corresponds to expected results. Expected
  results are the benchmarks used to verify test
  results
• Test runs in Update mode generate the expected
  results for future runs to compare back against
• These test results become the expected results
  for subsequent test runs in Verify mode

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Synchronization

• Enhances a test script to ensure reliable replay
• accounts for delays in order to prevent the
  automated script from running faster than the
  tested application
• critical for successful test automation
  implementation
• among the main reasons why record-n-playback is
  not reliable
• In Context-Sensitive mode
• Examples (operations)
• wait for a window to appear
• wait for a bitmap to refresh
• wait for an object property
• wait for a specific amount of time
• In Analog mode
• Examples (operations)
• wait for a window bitmap to appear / refresh
• wait for a specific amount of time

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Window Synchronization
invoke_application(Notepad,, c\\temp,
SW_SHOW) set_window (Login, 10) edit_set(User
ID, guest) edit_set(Password,
mercury) button_press(OK)
set_window Waits for the specified window to
appear onscreen. If the window appears before the
timeout, the script immediately proceeds to the
next line.
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Bitmap Synchronization
button_press(Submit) obj_wait_bitmap
(Object,Img1,10) button_press(Confirm) win
_wait_bitmap (Screen", "Img2", 10, 209, 170, 81,
20)
win_wait_bitmap, obj_wait_bitmap Waits for a
bitmap to be drawn onscreen. Bitmap may be
complete window/object or partial area. Bitmap is
captured and stored during recording.
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Object Synchronization
win_wait_info(Payment, enabled, 0,
30) button_press(Confirm Payment) obj_wait_inf
o (StatusBar","label", Complete...", 20)
win_wait_info, obj_wait_info Waits for a window
or object attribute to reach a specified value.
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Time Synchronization
wait(10)
wait Waits for the specified amount of time.
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Analog Synchronization
win_wait_bitmap(Win_1",icon_editor", 4, 855,
802, 292, 88) type("ltt6gtls \-l
ltkReturngt") win_wait_bitmap(,icon_editor",
4, 855, 802, 292, 88)
win_wait_bitmap Waits for a window bitmap to
appear onscreen. Bitmap may be full/partial
window area. Optionally, bitmap filename may be
omitted, thus synchronizing on window
refresh/redraw. In analog mode, this is invoked
using softkeys.
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Synchronization Controls
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GUI Map

• The GUI Map is an ASCII file that stores a unique
  description for each application window/object
• These unique descriptors act as a liaison between
  the tested application and the automated script

?
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GUI Map Basics

• The GUI Map is created automatically through the
  recording process (RapidTest Script Wizard, GUI
  Spy Learn and script recording), but can also
  be built manually
• WinRunner test scripts depend on this information
  to simplify maintenance
• Each release of a tested application contains
  changes that however subtle may affect the object
  properties within that application. This can have
  the effect of breaking scripts that may or may
  not appear unchanged. The GUI Map helps to
  mitigate this situation by providing a
  centralized location where changes are made
  rather than modifying individual scripts
  accessing those object(s) that might have been
  changed by the latest release of the AUT.

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GUI Map Basics

• Objects in the GUI Map are organized with each
  Window object encapsulating all the other object
  types within each specific window object
• GUI Map files can either be test script specific
  or global in nature
• Just as it is desirable to use a centralized
  source for data driven testing, so it is usually
  most desirable to have centralized GUI Map files
  serving more than 1 automated test script. This
  helps prevent duplication of GUI Map objects as
  well as simplifying maintenance when the GUI Map
  needs to be updated
• Having script specific GUI Maps allow greater
  independence for each automated script which may
  be useful and make automation easier in some
  circumstances.
• The tradeoff for using non-global GUI Map files
  is that when maintenance for an object is
  required, it would require changing every GUI Map
  file containing a physical description for that
  object.
• Too many objects in a few GUI Map files may slow
  down performance

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GUI Map Basics ()

• Recording
• object is stored in GUI map first
• object is assigned a name
• based on object class and name, statement is
  generated in WinRunner script

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GUI Map Basics

• Replay
• WinRunner searches the current window context in
  the GUI map (set_window)
• WinRunner searches window for the object name
• Physical description is used to locate object

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GUI Map Tips ()

• Learn GUI Map
• use the Learn feature in the GUI map editor to
  store all the objects in a window all at once
• Instead of recording individual objects piecemeal
  as a record session is progressing, every
  encapsulated object within another object can be
  recorded at one time, and ready to be accessed

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GUI Map Tips ()

• Use the GUI Spy
• used to view object properties
• useful for debugging purposes
• Use regular expressions
• increases robustness of the GUI Map
• helps recognize transient object states
• simplifies maintenance
• Can be used in scripts and custom functions as
  well

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Regular Expressions

• Regular Expressions are wildcards
• . any single character
• 0-9 any single numeral
• A-Z any single uppercase letter
• a-z any single lowercase letter
• mf a single letter either m or f
• NOT boolean
• OR boolean
• AND boolean
• any repetition of the previous character or
  expression
• . any string of any character
• Eg. practicefile.txt - Notepad which regular
  expression is equivalent to this string?
• a) .file.t.t - Notepad
• b) ptracticefile. - notepad

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Regular Expressions answer a and d

• Regular Expressions are wildcards
• . any single character
• 0-9 any single numeral
• A-Z any single uppercase letter
• a-z any single lowercase letter
• mf a single letter either m or f
• NOT boolean
• OR boolean
• AND boolean
• any repetition of the previous character or
  expression
• . any string of any character
• Eg. WinRunner 101 which regular expression
  is equivalent to this string?
• a) a-zinru.01
• b) Wi..a-s.1-9

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Regular Expressions answer c and d

• Regular Expressions are wildcards
• . any single character
• 0-9 any single numeral
• A-Z any single uppercase letter
• a-z any single lowercase letter
• mf a single letter either m or f
• NOT boolean
• OR boolean
• AND boolean
• any repetition of the previous character or
  expression
• . any string of any character
• Eg. 30,000,000 lottery pot which regular
  expression is equivalent to this number?
• a) 2-8.0a-z
• b) 2345.0.a-z

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GUI Map Tips answer b

• Save the GUI file
• For reuse in future iterations of the automated
  test
• To possibly be used in different automated tests

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GUI Map Tips

• close any previously opened GUI files before
  loading
• eliminates conflicts - GUI map files containing
  duplicate objects cannot be loaded
• modify the script to automatically load and use
  the GUI Map file youve created

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TSL (Test Script Language)

• TSL is a C-like language
• High-level proprietary programming language
  designed for test automation
• procedural language
• Full programming support
• variables, arrays, functions
• regular expressions
• control flow, decision logic, looping

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Built-in TSL Functions

• TSL provides a comprehensive library of hundreds
  of built-in functions to simplify test creation
• window/object functions
• environment functions
• reporting functions
• database query functions
• file/spreadsheet functions
• Win32 functions
• WinRunner provides a graphical function browser
  to assist you
• Function Generator

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Function Generator
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Language Syntax

• Same syntax as in standard C

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Variables

• Basic Rules
• do not need to be declared / defined
• specific data types are not explicitly defined
• case sensitive
• first letter must be a character or underscore
• cannot be a reserved word
• by default all variables are local (static)
• can also be public and/or const
• Arrays
• single dimension cust1, cust2, cust3
• multi-dimension address1,1, address1,2
• Can be indexed with number
• address1, address2
• Can be indexed with strings (associative)
• addressJohn, addressMary

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Operators

• Math
• - / --
• Logical
• !
• Relational
• ! gt lt gt lt
• Assignment
• - /
• Concatenation

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Test Verification

• Enhancing a test script to verify data onscreen
• check objects values / states
• check images
• check text
• check the database
• Context-Sensitive verification
• Analog verification

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Checkpoints
Definition A checkpoint is a WinRunner statement
which determines whether a particular object
property is as expected. This is determined by
either comparing previously captured results to
current results or defining an expected result to
compare to the actual result. Expected results
are captured when running in Update mode.

• GUI
• single object / single property
• single object or window / multiple properties
• multiple objects / multiple properties
• stores expected results in checklists
• Bitmap
• for object / window, screen area
• dependant on screen resolution, color depth, font
  configuration
• Text
• uses text recognition
• Fonts Expert (if text recognition does not work)
• Database

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GUI Checkpoints (skim)
set_window(Insert Order) button_press(OK) ob
j_check_gui (ProgressBar",list1.ckl,
gui1,25) set_window(Reports,
10) menu_select_item(AnalysisReports) win_ch
eck_gui (Reports, list2.ckl, gui2, 4)
win_check_gui, obj_check_gui Verifies that
object(s) properties match the expected results.
Properties to verify are saved in a checklist.
The checklist is used to capture the expected
results during recording, and is also used to
capture the actual results for comparison.
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Bitmap Checkpoints (skim)
set_window(Insert Order) button_press(OK) ob
j_check_bitmap ( ProgressBar",Img1",25) obj_che
ck_bitmap ( StatusBar",Img2",25, 0, 10, 50,
10) set_window(Reports, 10) win_check_bitmap(
Reports, Img3, 4)
win_check_bitmap, obj_check_bitmap Verifies a
object/window bitmap matches its expected image.
Bitmap may be full/partial window area. If a
partial area is selected, the coordinates of the
partial area are captured (relative to the
object).
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Text Checkpoints (skim)
obj_get_text( Statusbar95, text ) if ( text
Insert Done) tl_step(Check statusbar,
PASS, Insert was completed) else
tl_step(Check statusbar, FAIL, Insert
failed)
obj_get_text retrieves the text within an area
(absolute coordinates) tl_step logs message to
the WinRunner report and changes test status
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Error Handling

• addresses specific predictable errors
• Using error-handler routines
• error codes
• most TSL statements have a return code
• this is used as a basis for error-checking
• running in Batch Mode
• ignores all script errors, continues execution
• also ignores breakpoints and pause statements
• break when verification fails
• halts the test if a verification fails in
  Verify mode
• Initializing and closing subroutines
• Prevents cascade errors
• Allows test case independence during batch runs

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Error Handling
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Exception/Recovery Handling ()

• Unexpected errors during replay
• unlike error-handling, these can appear at any
  time when running a script
• WinRunner provides a mechanism to trap and handle
  exceptions
• popup exceptions
• popup windows
• object exceptions
• object property value changes
• TSL exceptions
• TSL error codes

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Functions and Libraries

• simplifies building test frameworks
• application-specific functions
• general-purpose functions
• greater modularity
• can be stored in a script
• compiled module (function library)
• can be loaded as part of startup or
  initialization script and available globally
• facilitates data-driven testing
• data-driven testing is where data retrieved
  externally from the test being executed drives
  the test rather than using hard-coded data within
  each test case. Using application specific custom
  functions and scripts helps further the benefits
  of data-driven testing.

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Functions
public function flight_login( in uid, in passwd
) set_window( Login, 10) edit_set(
Agent Name, uid ) edit_set(Password,
passwd ) button_press(OK)

• function type
• public (global)
• static (local)

• function name
• first character cannot be numeric
• parameters can be overloaded

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Functions
public function flight_login( in uid, in passwd
) set_window( Login, 10) edit_set(
Agent Name, uid ) edit_set(Password,
passwd ) button_press(OK)

• function parameters
• in
• out
• inout
• arrays must be indicated with

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Functions
public function flight_login( in uid, in passwd
) auto x set_window( Login, 10)
edit_set( Agent Name, uid )
edit_set(Password, passwd )
button_get_info(OK, state, x ) if ( x
ON) button_press(OK)

• variables
• unlike scripts, variables must be
• declared before using
• auto
• static
• extern

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Compiled Modules
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Compiled Modules
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3rd Party Support

• extensive 3rd party public libraries
• CSO TSL libraries
• WrExtra DLL encapsulated TSL callable functions
• Many other public libraries
• ability to access functions/capabilities in other
  programming languages for use in WinRunner either
  directly or indirectly
• Easy method of programming DLLs with functions
  that can be imported for use with TSL

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Calling Test Scripts ()

• call(), call_close() allows shelling out to and
  executing code in other scripts
• allows greater modularity
• Does not need to be loaded prior to use like
  custom functions need to be

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Caveats

• Some testing environments are friendlier towards
  automated testing tools than others
• Good
• Bad
• Ugly
• Out-of-the-Box support
• Visual C/C, most C or C programs
• Visual Basic
• PowerBuilder
• Delphi
• ActiveX
• Terminal Emulators (WinRunner/2000 only)

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Caveats

• Custom environments poorly programmed
• Custom objects (3rd party APIs)
• Unrecognized objects
• Every object is displayed as a generic object
• difficult to map to a class and work reliably
• Virtual Object Wizard is unreliable (not
  recommended to use)

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Conclusion

• It is obvious at this point that Test Automation
  is not as simple as record-n-playback regardless
  of how good the test automation tool may be. The
  more powerful the test automation tool, either
  greater rewards will be reaped or more pitfalls
  will be encountered. It all depends on the skill
  and training of the automation specialist.
  Hopefully, this presentation has provided a
  grounding in the basics that will be required to
  effectively implement test automation with
  WinRunner.
• This concludes Introduction to WinRunner
  101
• Resources
• www.support.mercury.com
• www.qaforums.com
• www.stickyminds.com
• wilsonmar.com/1winrun.htm