Software Test Engineering with IBM Rational Functional Tester: The Definitive Resource

Praise for Software Test Engineering with IBM Rational Functional Tester

Finally, a manual for the Software Test Engineer! Many manuals on the market today are geared toward developers, and none exist for Rational Functional Tester. This is one of the first manuals geared toward the Automated Test Engineer acknowledging the depth of knowledge required for a very complex job. The manual will assist all levels of test engineering with very specific steps and hands-on advice. This manual is a reference book that no Automated Test Engineer using RFT should be without!

Penny Bowser, CTFL, CHE, QA Manager

The authors succeed in walking a line between sharing a wealth of technical knowledge and providing enough context to ensure the readers understand what they need to do and why. Novices and skilled practitioners alike should find the work a good read and a solid reference. Automating functional testing tends to receive less investment than it should, to the detriment of organizations everywhere. If the reader is seeking to improve his knowledge of Rational Functional Tester and make an impact using that knowledge, there is no better reference than this excellent distillation of years of field-proven experience.

David J. Trent, Market Manager of Process and Best Practices Segment for Rational Software, IBM

As a former manager of the group that tested IBMs Rational Functional Tester, like a few others, I see clearly how this book can help teams multiply the benefits they derive from this product.

Ted Rivera, Senior Agile Transformation Architect, IBM Software Group

This book is a wonderful, in-depth resource for novice and expert users alike.

Brian McCall, former IBM IT Specialist

This collection of Rational Functional Tester information is a must have for anyone using this solution. Everyone from beginners to advanced users will find this book very helpful.

Lew Cote, IBM Technical Solution Architect

This much needed book describes effectively the value of Rational Functional Tester for functional testing needs. The book is well organized, thought through, and has all the latest information. The authors are no doubt subject matter experts.

Kamala Parvathanathan, Senior Manager, IBM Rational

Daniel Chirillo, Senior IT Specialist for IBM Software Services, has done consulting, mentoring, and training on Rational Functional Tester for clients throughout the Americas. Daniel Gouveia, Consulting IT Specialist for IBM's Sales and Distribution Group, has mentored and trained customers on IBM Rational testing tools and processes since 2000. Fariz Saracevic, IBM Senior IT Architect, was team lead consultant on architectural design and testing for IBM's IRS Modernized eFile Project. Jeff Bocarsly is VP and Division Manager for Functional Test at RTTS, a leader in software quality engineering services. IBM Rational's J. Lee Thomas is a leader in the automated functional testing community.

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 Objects 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 Objects 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 Objects 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 . . . 2...