General options

This is the node for general QF-Test settings.

General options
Figure 40.2:  General options
Ask before closing (User)

When a test suite or a test run log has been modified, QF-Test asks whether it should be saved before it closes its main window. That query can be suppressed by turning off this option. Be warned that auto saving is not implemented yet, so you may lose data if you forget to save before closing.

Ask before overwriting (User)

When you try to save a test suite or a run log or generate a report, pgkdoc or testdoc or save the image of a 'Check image' over an existing file or directory, QF-Test asks for confirmation unless you turn off the option for the respective type of file.

Restore last session on startup (User)

If this option is set and QF-Test is opened in the workbench view, the previous session is restored by loading previously opened test suites and selecting the previously selected node in each suite. If one or more test suites are specified on the command line, this are loaded in addition to the previous session and receive the initial focus on startup.

Number of recent files in menu (User)

The »File« menu offers quick access to recently used test suites or run logs. This option determines the maximum number of recent file entries in the menu.

Default script language for script nodes (User)

This option can be set to either "Jython", "Groovy" or "JavaScript" and determines the default setting for the 'Script language' attribute of newly created 'Server script' or 'SUT script' nodes.

Default script language for conditions (User)

This option can be set to either "Jython", "Groovy" or "JavaScript" and determines the default setting for the 'Script language' attribute of newly created 'If', 'Elseif', 'While', 'Test set' or 'Test step' nodes.

5.3+Literal Jython strings are unicode (16-bit as in Java) (System)
Server (automatically forwarded to SUT) script name: OPT_JYTHON_UNICODE_LITERALS

This option defines how to treat literal strings (explicitly specified string constants like "abc") in Jython scripts in 'Server script' and 'SUT script' nodes, 'Condition' attributes in 'If' and other nodes as well as the interactive Jython consoles for QF-Test and the SUT.

If set, it defines that literal Jython strings should be treated as 16-bit unicode strings, just like in Java itself. Otherwise literal strings are 8-bit Python 2 strings that don't integrate well with Java and thus QF-Test. Please see subsection 11.3.4 for detailed information and examples.

If QF-Test encounters an existing older system configuration, the default value in QF-Test is off, meaning 8-bit literal strings. For new installations the option is turned on.

Default character encoding for Jython (System)
Server (automatically forwarded to SUT) script name: OPT_JYTHON_DEFAULT_ENCODING

This option defines the default encoding for converting between Jython 16-bit unicode strings and 8-bit byte strings. It applies to explicit conversions like str(...) and to implicit conversions. If the previous option Literal Jython strings are unicode (16-bit as in Java) is unset, implicit conversions include all occurrences of literal Jython strings (explicitly specified string constants like "abc"). Please see subsection 11.3.4 for detailed information and examples.

5.3+ Starting with QF-Test 5.3 the default value is "utf-8" (it used to be "latin-1"). Existing system configurations are not be affected by that change.

3.5+Use native file chooser on Windows or macOS systems (User)
Server script name: OPT_USE_NATIVE_FILECHOOSER

On Windows or macOS systems the native file chooser is more advanced and more convenient to use than the Swing file chooser so QF-Test uses the native one by default. In case you prefer the Swing file chooser you can get it back by deactivating this option.

4.1.3+Show complete file path and QF-Test version in the title bar (User)

If set, QF-Test shows the full path of the current test suite and the QF-Test version in the title bar of the main window.

3.5+40.1.1
Project settings

There are several options that influence the way QF-Test manages and displays projects.

Projects
Figure 40.3:  Projects
Project refresh interval (s) (User)

The interval at which a project automatically gets completely refreshed. You can refresh a directory at any time by selecting it and pressing [F5]. To refresh the complete hierarchy below the selected directory, press [Shift-F5] instead.

Number of test suites to open in one go without warning (User)

From the project tree you can open all test suites contained in one directory hierarchy in one go. If you accidentally select too many test suites, QF-Test will first issue a warning with the number of test suites, allowing you to cancel that action. This option determines the threshold for that warning.

Project files and directories to exclude (System)

In many cases a directory hierarchy holds files and directories that don't really belong to a project, most notably sub-directories created by version control systems like git, subversion or cvs. In this option you can specify patterns for files and directories to generally exclude from projects.

The patterns used here are not regular expressions but a simpler form often used by development tools: An '*' stands for any number of characters up to the next file separator - for compatibility reasons only forward '/' is used - while '**' means 0 or more characters of any kind, including '/'. Every pattern is relative to the root directory of the project. Some examples:

**/.svn
All directories named .svn at any depth.
**/.*
All directories starting with a '.' at any depth.
deprecated
A directory named deprecated directly below the project root.

7.0+40.1.2
Saving test suites

The following options specify the format for saving test suites as XML files. The format for saving run logs is determined by the option Save run log in current XML format with UTF-8 encoding.

Note Regardless of the chosen XML format, test suites and run logs can also be opened with QF-Test versions older than 7.0 (although node types introduced later are obviously not recognized). Saving with an old QF-Test version always causes the old XML format to be used.

Saving test suites
Figure 40.4:  Saving test suites
7.0+Overwrite XML format of existing test suites (System)

Changing the XML file format can lead to a lot of purely syntactical changes the next time a test suite gets saved. These changes will show up in version control and possibly hide the real semantic changes. To avoid this, the XML format defined in these options only applies to new files by default. QF-Test will not change the format of already existing test suites unless this option is activated.

Note Changing the XML format should be a project-wide decision and ideally performed in one go with all files checked into version control as a single commit with no other changes. Conversion can easily be done using QF-Test in batch mode with the -convertxml command line argument as described in section 43.1.

7.0+Use UTF-8 encoding for saving test suites (System)

If this option is active (the default), test suites are saved using UTF-8 encoding. Otherwise the encoding is ISO-8859-1.

QF-Test versions older than 7.0 always use ISO-8859-1 encoding.

7.0+Number of blanks for indentation when saving test suites (System)

XML files that use indentation are easier for humans to read. However, test suites are mostly processed by QF-Test and the only time a typical QF-Test user need to work at that level is when resolving merge conflicts. The latter are reduced by using an indentation level of 0, the new default, because otherwise all lines in the XML will change for nodes that are wrapped into or moved out of a parent node.

QF-Test versions older than 7.0 always use 2 characters for indentation.

7.0+Line length for saving test suites (System)

The only lines in test suite XML files that can safely be wrapped are those containing attributes of XML nodes. Wrapping actual text, e.g. from scripts or comment attributes would change its meaning so this option does not impose a hard limit for line length.

Unfortunately there is no ideal default value for this option. The current default of 160 is a compromise between the following two extremes:

A negative or extremely large value results in practically unlimited line length, enough to always keep all attributes of an XML node on a single line. This is both compact and good for merging because attribute changes are kept on a single line that also includes the - typically unique - ID of the node.

The value 0 introduces a special format that causes each attribute and even the closing > character to be written on its own line. As a result, line-based version control tools like git blame can show the most recent change of each individual attribute whereas for a long line only the most recently changed attribute is shown. Also, it is easier to interpret the changes in diffs between two versions of an XML file. The downside of this mode is that the context of a change - typically 3 lines - might not include the ID attribute which increases the chance of an incorrect merge.

QF-Test versions older than 7.0 always use a line length of 78 characters.

Display

The following options specify the display of the test suite tree and its nodes.

Display
Figure 40.5:  Display
UI theme (User)

This option determines which QF-Test UI theme to use. There is a shortcut for changing this option via the menu »View«-»UI theme«.

UI mode - light or dark (User)

This option determines whether the current QF-Test UI theme is displayed in light or in dark mode. The default setting is to follow the setting of the underlying operating system. There is a shortcut for changing this option via the menu »View«-»UI theme«.

Paint lines in trees (User)

The option controls whether to display vertical lines between tree nodes of the same indentation.

4.0+Syntax highlighting for tree nodes (User)

This option controls activation of syntax highlighting for tree nodes within test suites and run logs. If active, specific text parts of nodes (e.g. node name, parameters, client) are outlined in different colors and styles. This significantly improves readability.

7.0+Show step types for named tree nodes (User)

If this option is deactivated, labels like "Test case" are hidden in tree nodes of test suites and run logs provided the respective node has a name and its icon is unique.

7.1+Show script language for script nodes (User)

When you activate the option the script language of a 'Server script' or 'SUT script' node will be displayed in the test suite tree.

7.1+Show result variables (User)

When you activate the option the name of the result variable will be shown in the tree nodes of the test suite and the run log.

7.1+Show result values (User)

When you activate the option the value of the result variable will be shown in the node of the run log tree. The option Maximum length for values in trees determines the maximum length of the value displayed.

7.1+Show client name in tree (User)

Use the option to display the name of the client the node relates to in the test suite tree, either "Always" or "Never" or only when the value of the 'Client' attribute is not the default value $(client).

7.1+Maximum length for values in trees (User)

The option is only relevant when Show result values has been activated. It determines the maximum length of the result value displayed in a test suite tree node.

7.1+Maximum length for component IDs in trees (User)

The option determines the maximum lenght of the 'QF-Test component ID' displayed in the tree node.

Font size (pt) (User)

This option specifies the font size (as point value) used for display of UI elements within QF-Test. A change in this value becomes operative after restarting QF-Test.

3.5+Show symbols for tab and line break characters (User)

If this option is set, QF-Test shows symbols for tabulator and linebreaks in tables and relevant textareas.

Editing

These options are used to configure various settings regarding editing in the tree or detail view.

Editing
Figure 40.6:  Editing
Warn when modifying a test suite that cannot be saved (User)

If saving test suites is prohibited, for example when working without a license, QF-Test will warn you that you will not be able to save your changes when a test suite is modified for the first time. Deactivating this option suppresses that warning.

4.0+Ask before discarding detail modifications (User)

When you have started making changes to an existing or newly inserted node and then abort by pressing [Escape] or clicking the "Cancel" button, QF-Test asks for confirmation before discard your modifications. This dialog can be suppressed by disabling this option. In this case, please be aware that - especially in case of scripts - a lot of work may get lost in case of a mistake.

Ask before implicitly accepting detail modifications (User)

A very common mistake made while editing a test suite is to forget pressing OK after making changes in the detail view of a node before switching to some other node, running a test, etc. If that happens QF-Test can either accept the modified values automatically or ask for confirmation by popping up a dialog with the detail view. The following options are available:

Always
Don't accept values implicitly, always ask for confirmation.
Only if values are suspect or invalid
Try to accept values implicitly as long as they are valid and not suspect. Currently "being suspect" is defined as having leading or trailing whitespace which can lead to subtle problems which are very hard to locate.
Never
Accept all valid values implicitly without asking for confirmation.

This option doesn't change the effect of explicitly discarding your modifications with the Cancel button or by pressing [Escape].

Number of undo levels per suite (User)

This option lets you set the number of edits that can be undone in a test suite or run log.

Intelligent scrolling in trees (User)

The default methods for interacting with Swing trees are not ideal. Moving the selection around causes a log of unnecessary horizontal scrolling and Swing has the tendency to scroll trees to a position where little context is visible around the selected node.

Because tree navigation is essential for QF-Test, some of these methods are implemented differently to provide a more natural interface and to make sure that there is always enough context visible around the selected node. However, your mileage may vary, so if you don't like the alternative methods you can switch back to the default Swing way of things by deactivating this option.

3.4+Check references before deletion (User)

If this option is set, QF-Test searches for references of nodes before nodes will be deleted. If references can be found, they will be shown in a dialog.

3.5.3+Ask after changing QF-Test component IDs or use default (User)

If this option is set, QF-Test asks whether the user wants to update the QF-Test component IDs of any referring node after the QF-Test ID of a component has been changed. If this option isn't set QF-Test updates all references in case of unique QF-Test component IDs.

3.5.3+Ask after changing callable names or use default (User)

If this option is set, QF-Test asks whether the user wants to update the callable names (i.e. procedures, packages, tests and dependencies) of any referring node after the name of a callable node has been changed. If this option isn't set QF-Test updates all references in case of unique names.

4.1.2+Check if configuration files are writable (User)

If this option is set, QF-Test checks whether the configuration files have writing permissions once opening the 'Options' dialog. If one configuration file has no writing privileges, QF-Test will show a message.

6.1.0+Automatically open created nodes (User)

Automatically open nodes that just have been created.

8.0+Activate workbench view (User)

If this option is set, all test suites are displayed in one window - the workbench. Working without workbench with each test suite in its own window was deprecated in QF-Test version 8.0.

Bookmarks

Here you can edit your bookmarks, a list of files and nodes that can be accessed quickly via the menu »File«-»Bookmarks«.

4.0+ Instead of a file you can also specify a directory. When the respective bookmark is selected, the file selection dialog is opened directly for this directory. The QF-Test ID for the node is ignored in this case.

Bookmarks
Figure 40.7:  Bookmarks

Though you can also create new bookmarks manually, it is preferable to use the menu item »File«-»Bookmarks«-»Add current file«to add a bookmark for a whole test suite or run log or to select »Add to bookmarks« in the context menu of a node in a test suite to add a bookmark for this specific node.

External tools

The following options determine which external programs are called by QF-Test.

External tools
Figure 40.8:  External tools options
External editor command (User)

Scripts can be edited in an external editor by pressing [Alt-Return] or by clicking the Edit row button above the text area. The contents of the text area are then saved to a temporary file and the external editor is run to edit that file. It is recommended to define a name for the script before opening it in the external editor (see also Warn when running external editor without file name). Otherwise a random number is chosen as file name, which makes it difficult to distinguish several scripts opened in the external editor.

Changes made to an external file are picked up automatically by QF-Test. Depending on your settings, you may get a warning message when this happens (see Warn when test suite is changed by an external editor). In case you are tempted to edit your script code parallel in the internal QF-Test editor: These changes are also saved in the temporary file. Editors like jEdit on their part are smart enough to detect the change and reload the file automatically.

This option determines the external editor command to use. There are two variants, the plain name of an executable file or a complex command including options. The latter is distinguished by the string $(file) which is the placeholder for the name of the temporary file. Additionally, $(line) may be used to pass the current line number to the editor as well.

Note The $(file)/$(line) syntax is used simply to avoid yet another different convention for variable attributes. No standard QF-Test $(...) variable expansion is taking place.

Plain commands need never be quoted. Examples are:

  • emacsclient
  • notepad
  • C:\Program Files\Crimson Editor\cedt.exe

Complex commands on the other hand may need to use quotes, especially on windows. QF-Test takes care of quoting the $(file) argument itself:

  • "C:\Program Files\eclipse-3.6\eclipse.exe" --launcher.openFile $(file)
  • javaw.exe -jar C:\Programs\jEdit4.2\jedit.jar -reuseview $(file)
  • "C:\Program Files\Crimson Editor\cedt.exe" $(file)
  • xterm -e vi +$(line) $(file)

If this option is left empty, the value of the environment variable EDITOR is used, if it is defined when QF-Test is started.

4.1+Directory passed temporary files to external editor (User)

This option can be used to change the directory in which QF-Test saves temporary files for opening in an external editor (see External editor command). If empty, the user configuration directory is used.

Warn when test suite is changed by an external editor (User)

Display a warning message when changes to a script made by an external editor are picked up by QF-Test (see also External editor command).

Warn when running external editor without file name (User)

Display a warning message when a script without name is opened in an external editor (see also External editor command).

External imaging program (User)

The 'Image' of a 'Check image' node can be edited in an external imaging program. The image is saved to a temporary PNG file and the external imaging program is run to edit that file. When finished editing, the file must be saved and the program exited. QF-Test will read the image back from the temporary file.

This option determines the program to use for the operation. There are two variants, the plain name of an executable file or a complex command including options. The latter is distinguished by the string $(file) which is the placeholder for the name of the temporary file.

Note The $(file)/$(line) syntax is used simply to avoid yet another different convention for variable attributes. No standard QF-Test $(...) variable expansion is taking place.

Plain commands need never be quoted. Examples are:

  • gimp
  • mspaint
  • C:\Windows\System32\mspaint.exe

Complex commands on the other hand may need to use quotes, especially on windows. QF-Test takes care of quoting the $(file) argument itself:

  • gimp --no-splash $(file)
  • "C:\Windows\System32\mspaint.exe" $(file)
HTML browser (User)

This option allows you to set the HTML browser used to open HTML pages (e.g. report files or the context sensitive help). You can specify a complex command using '$url' as placeholder for the URL to show, e.g.
netscape -remote openURL($url)
or just a simple command like
firefox
in which case the URL is passed as the last argument. If the option is empty the system browser is used.

PDF reader (User)

This option allows you to set the program used to display PDF files. This is necessary to open the PDF manual from the »Help« menu. If the option is empty, the program associated with the .pdf extension is used.

Backup files

Unless told to do otherwise, QF-Test creates backups of existing files when saving test suites or run logs. These backup files are useful only in protecting against failures when saving a file. They are by no means a replacement for proper system backups. The following options determine if, when and how backup files are created.

Backup files
Figure 40.9:  Backup file options
Create backup files for test suites (User)

Backup files for test suites are created only if this option is activated. Please be careful and don't turn it off without a good reason, such as using a version control system for test suites which obviates the need to create backups. Just think about the amount of work that goes into creating a useful test suite and imagine the frustration if it gets destroyed accidentally.

Create backup files for test run logs (User)

Usually a run log is far less valuable than a test suite, so there is a separate option that determines whether backups are created for run logs.

Backup frequency (User)

There are two possibilities for the frequency with which backup files are created.

With the first option, "One backup per session", QF-Test creates a backup file only the first time a file is saved. If you continue editing the suite or run log and save it again, the backup file is left unchanged. Only when you edit a different file or restart QF-Test, a new backup is created. This setting is useful is you keep only one backup per test suite.

If, on the other hand, you keep multiple backups per suite, "Backup on every save" may be the preferred choice.

Name of the backup file (User)

Like many other things, the conventions for the names of backup files differ between Linux and Windows. While the common extension for a backup file under Windows is .bak, there are many variants under Linux. One of the most common is appending a tilde character '~'.

Number of backup files to keep (User)

You can keep more than one backup file for each test suite or run log. If you do so, backup files are named after the scheme .bak1, .bak2... for the .bak naming style and ~1~, ~2~... for the other. The most recent backup is always numbered 1. When a new backup is created, the old number 1 is renamed to 2, 2 renamed to 3 and so on. When the maximum is reached, the oldest files are deleted.

Auto-save interval (s) (User)

Interval after which a modified test suite is saved automatically. Setting this value to 0 will disable auto-saving. Otherwise values less than about 20 seconds are not useful. Run logs are never saved automatically. Auto-save files are created in the same directory as the test suite or - in the case of new suites that have never been saved - in the user configuration directory.

Library path

Library path option
Figure 40.10:  Library path option
Directories holding test suite libraries (System)

This is a list of directories that are searched for test suites whenever a suite reference is given as a relative path that cannot be resolved relative to the current suite. This includes direct suite references in the 'Procedure name' attribute of a 'Procedure call' or a 'Component''QF-Test ID' reference as well as suites included through the 'Include files' attribute of the 'Test suite' node.

The include directory belonging to the current version of QF-Test is automatically and invisibly placed at the end of the library path. This ensures that the common library qfs.qft can always be included without knowing its actual location and that its version is matching the version of QF-Test at all times.

Note If the command line argument -libpath <path> is given it will override the settings of this option. In interactive mode, the value of the command line argument is displayed here, but it will not be saved with the system configuration unless it is modified.

License

License options
Figure 40.11:  License options

Normally QF-Test license bundles contain a homogeneous mix of GUI engines. For example, a bundle of QF-Test/swing licenses only supports the AWT/Swing engine, QF-Test/suite licenses support both AWT/Swing and SWT for all included licenses. For these kinds of simple licenses these license settings can be ignored.

A small problem arises in case of mixed engine licenses where some GUI engine is included only for a part of the licenses. An example for this is a license bundle that was formerly purchased for qftestJUI, upgraded to QF-Test/suite with QF-Test 2.0 and then extended with further QF-Test/swing licenses, say two licenses for QF-Test/suite and another two for QF-Test/swing. Such a license allows running four concurrent instances of QF-Test, but only two of these can make use of the SWT engine. If more than two instances are started with SWT support there will be a license conflict.

When QF-Test detects such a mixed license bundle for the first time it asks the user which engine licenses to use. The choice made then can be changed here at any time. Besides, QF-Test can be started with the command line argument -engine <engine> to override the supported GUI engines for this execution.

Updates

To get the latest features and bug-fixes QF-Test can check for updates automatically. The following options determine whether to check and when to notify for available updates. Using the command line argument -noupdatecheck you can disable the automatic update check.

Update
Figure 40.12:  Update options
Automatically check for updates (User)

QF-Test automatically checks for updates upon startup. Deactivating this option disables this feature.

Ask for Update (User)

If a new version is available QF-Test shows a notification with links to the release notes and the download page. This option limits those notifications to specific kinds of versions.

  • Minor updates contain mostly bug-fixes and small improvements.
  • Medium upgrades are released to provide new features.
  • Major upgrades include significant new features and may change the behavior of QF-Test.