41.10

Queries

Automating a GUI test gets difficult whenever the SUT shows dynamic or unpredictable behavior, i.e. when it displays values that change with every run of the program. This is typically the case for fields that are filled automatically with things like the current time, an automatic ID from a database, etc.

QF-Test addresses this issue with means to read values from the SUT's components or to determine the numerical index of a sub-item when given its name. These values are stored in variables to be used again later as the test proceeds.

41.10.1

'Fetch text'

This node lets you read a value from the SUT during the execution of a test run. The text is assigned to the local or global variable (see chapter 6) named by the 'Variable name' attribute. Not all components display text and some complex components contain multiple textual items, so this operation is only supported for certain components or sub-items. If you try to fetch the text from the wrong component, an OperationNotSupportedException is thrown, while an unsupported sub-item leads to an UnexpectedIndexException. The following table lists the supported component and sub-item targets for this operation. (P/S) means primary/secondary index. Web In web applications every node could contain some text, so QF-Test returns either the text or an empty value, but never throws an OperationNotSupportedException. Class Index (P/S) Result AbstractButton -/- getText() Dialog -/- getTitle() Frame -/- getTitle() ComboBox -/- Current value (use renderer) ComboBox List item/- List item (use renderer) JEditorPane Character index/- Structural element at index (experimental) Label -/- getText() List Item/- Item (use renderer) TabbedPane Tab/- Title of tab Table Column/Row Cell contents (use renderer) JTableHeader Column/- Column title (use renderer) TextArea Line number/- Line of text JTextComponent -/- getText() Tree Node/- Node (use renderer) Label -/- getText() TextField -/- getText() Table 41.25:  Components supported by 'Fetch text'

Contained in: All kinds of sequences.

Children: None

Execution: The data of the target component is sent to the SUT. The TestEventQueue determines the corresponding component, retrieves the requested value and sends it back to QF-Test, where it is stored in a global variable.

Attributes:

		Figure 41.68:  'Fetch text' attributes

'Client'

The name of the SUT client process from which to query the data.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'QF-Test component ID'

The 'QF-Test ID' of the 'Window', 'Component' or 'Item' node that is to be queried.

The "Select component" button brings up a dialog in which you can select the component interactively. You can also get to this dialog by pressing [Shift-Return] or [Alt-Return], when the focus is in the text field. As an alternative you can copy the target node with [Ctrl-C] or »Edit«-»Copy« and insert its QF-Test component ID into the text field by pressing [Ctrl-V].

This attribute supports a special format for referencing components in other test suites (see section 25.1). Furthermore, sub-elements of nodes can be addressed directly without requiring separate nodes for them (see section 5.9). When using SmartIDs, you can address a GUI element directly via its recognition criteria. For more information, refer to SmartID and 'Component' nodes versus SmartID.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'Variable name'

The name of the global variable to which the result of the query is assigned (see chapter 6).

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'Local variable'

This flag determines whether to create a local or global variable binding. If unset, the variable is bound in the global variables. If set, the topmost current binding for the variable is replaced with the new value, provided this binding is within the context of the currently executing 'Procedure', 'Dependency' or 'Test case' node. If no such binding exists, a new binding is created in the currently executing 'Procedure', 'Dependency' or 'Test case' node or, if there is no such node in the topmost node on the variables stack, falling back to the global bindings if necessary. See chapter 6 for a detailed explanation of variable binding and lookup.

In order to predefine the option use Enable 'Local variable' attribute by default.

Variable: No

Restrictions: None

'QF-Test ID'

At the moment the 'QF-Test ID' attribute has no meaning for this type of node.

Variable: No

Restrictions: Must not contain any of the characters '\', '#', '$', '@', '&', or '%' or start with an underscore ('_').

'Delay before/after'

These attributes cause a delay before or after the execution of the node. If a value is empty, the Default delay from the global options is used.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Valid number >= 0

'Comment'

Here you can enter a comment that explains the purpose of this node. This is the preferred way of documenting the test suite.

Note For detailed documentation, especially for 'Test set', 'Test case' or 'Procedure' nodes, this text area might not be the right place. There are many excellent editors that are much better suited to this task. The option External editor command lets you define an external editor in which comments can be edited conveniently by pressing [Alt-Return] or by clicking the button.

You can trigger special behaviors of some nodes using doctags, please see Doctags.

If you enter text in the comment field of a 'Component' node, the node will be considered as 'used' when you want to mark or delete unused components.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

41.10.2

'Fetch index'

With the help of this node you can determine the index of a sub-item during the execution of a test, provided its displayed text is known. Obviously only an 'Item' is supported as the target component. The result is assigned to the local or global variable (see chapter 6) named by the 'Variable name' attribute.

Contained in: All kinds of sequences.

Children: None

Execution: The data of the target component is sent to the SUT. The TestEventQueue determines the corresponding component, searches for the requested sub-item and sends its index back to QF-Test, where it is stored in a global variable.

Attributes:

		Figure 41.69:  'Fetch index' attributes

'Client'

The name of the SUT client process from which to query the data.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'QF-Test component ID'

The 'QF-Test ID' of the 'Window', 'Component' or 'Item' node that is to be queried.

The "Select component" button brings up a dialog in which you can select the component interactively. You can also get to this dialog by pressing [Shift-Return] or [Alt-Return], when the focus is in the text field. As an alternative you can copy the target node with [Ctrl-C] or »Edit«-»Copy« and insert its QF-Test component ID into the text field by pressing [Ctrl-V].

This attribute supports a special format for referencing components in other test suites (see section 25.1). Furthermore, sub-elements of nodes can be addressed directly without requiring separate nodes for them (see section 5.9). When using SmartIDs, you can address a GUI element directly via its recognition criteria. For more information, refer to SmartID and 'Component' nodes versus SmartID.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'Variable name'

The name of the global variable to which the result of the query is assigned (see chapter 6).

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'Local variable'

This flag determines whether to create a local or global variable binding. If unset, the variable is bound in the global variables. If set, the topmost current binding for the variable is replaced with the new value, provided this binding is within the context of the currently executing 'Procedure', 'Dependency' or 'Test case' node. If no such binding exists, a new binding is created in the currently executing 'Procedure', 'Dependency' or 'Test case' node or, if there is no such node in the topmost node on the variables stack, falling back to the global bindings if necessary. See chapter 6 for a detailed explanation of variable binding and lookup.

In order to predefine the option use Enable 'Local variable' attribute by default.

Variable: No

Restrictions: None

'QF-Test ID'

At the moment the 'QF-Test ID' attribute has no meaning for this type of node.

Variable: No

Restrictions: Must not contain any of the characters '\', '#', '$', '@', '&', or '%' or start with an underscore ('_').

'Delay before/after'

These attributes cause a delay before or after the execution of the node. If a value is empty, the Default delay from the global options is used.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Valid number >= 0

'Comment'

Here you can enter a comment that explains the purpose of this node. This is the preferred way of documenting the test suite.

Note For detailed documentation, especially for 'Test set', 'Test case' or 'Procedure' nodes, this text area might not be the right place. There are many excellent editors that are much better suited to this task. The option External editor command lets you define an external editor in which comments can be edited conveniently by pressing [Alt-Return] or by clicking the button.

You can trigger special behaviors of some nodes using doctags, please see Doctags.

If you enter text in the comment field of a 'Component' node, the node will be considered as 'used' when you want to mark or delete unused components.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

41.10.3

'Fetch geometry'

Use this node to find out the geometry of a window, component or sub-item in the SUT. The result is stored in up to four local or global variables, one each for the X and Y coordinates, width and height. This node is useful if you want to set the 'X' and 'Y' coordinates of a 'Mouse event' relative to the right or bottom border of the target component. Simply fetch the component's width and height and define the coordinates using the extended variable syntax for expressions (see section 6.7). The following table lists the supported sub-item targets for this operation. (P/S) means primary/secondary index. Class Index (P/S) Result JList Item/- Item JTabbedPane Tab/- Tab JTable Column/- Column JTable Column/Row Cell JTableHeader Column/- Column title JTree Node/- Node Table 41.26:  Components supported by 'Fetch geometry'

Contained in: All kinds of sequences.

Children: None

Execution: The data of the target component is sent to the SUT. The TestEventQueue determines the corresponding component, retrieves its geometry and sends it back to QF-Test, where the values are stored in global variables.

Attributes:

		Figure 41.70:  'Fetch geometry' attributes

'Client'

The name of the SUT client process from which to query the data.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'QF-Test component ID'

The 'QF-Test ID' of the 'Window', 'Component' or 'Item' node that is to be queried.

The "Select component" button brings up a dialog in which you can select the component interactively. You can also get to this dialog by pressing [Shift-Return] or [Alt-Return], when the focus is in the text field. As an alternative you can copy the target node with [Ctrl-C] or »Edit«-»Copy« and insert its QF-Test component ID into the text field by pressing [Ctrl-V].

This attribute supports a special format for referencing components in other test suites (see section 25.1). Furthermore, sub-elements of nodes can be addressed directly without requiring separate nodes for them (see section 5.9). When using SmartIDs, you can address a GUI element directly via its recognition criteria. For more information, refer to SmartID and 'Component' nodes versus SmartID.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Must not be empty.

'Location relative to window'

This attribute determines whether the X and Y coordinate of a component or sub-item is calculated relative to its parent component or relative to its parent window. For windows there is no difference.

Variable: No

Restrictions: None

'Variable for x'

The name of the global variable to which the X coordinate of the window, component or sub-item is assigned (see chapter 6). If you are not interested in the X coordinate, leave this value empty.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

'Variable for y'

The name of the global variable to which the Y coordinate of the window, component or sub-item is assigned (see chapter 6). If you are not interested in the Y coordinate, leave this value empty.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

'Variable for width'

The name of the global variable to which the width of the window, component or sub-item is assigned (see chapter 6). If you are not interested in the width, leave this value empty.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

'Variable for height'

The name of the global variable to which the height of the window, component or sub-item is assigned (see chapter 6). If you are not interested in the height, leave this value empty.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

'Local variable'

This flag determines whether to create local or global variable bindings. If unset, the variables are bound in the global variables. If set, the topmost current binding for a variable is replaced with the new value, provided this binding is within the context of the currently executing 'Procedure', 'Dependency' or 'Test case' node. If no such binding exists, a new binding is created in the currently executing 'Procedure', 'Dependency' or 'Test case' node or, if there is no such node in the topmost node on the variables stack, falling back to the global bindings if necessary. See chapter 6 for a detailed explanation of variable binding and lookup.

In order to predefine the option use Enable 'Local variable' attribute by default.

Variable: No

Restrictions: None

'QF-Test ID'

At the moment the 'QF-Test ID' attribute has no meaning for this type of node.

Variable: No

Restrictions: Must not contain any of the characters '\', '#', '$', '@', '&', or '%' or start with an underscore ('_').

'Delay before/after'

These attributes cause a delay before or after the execution of the node. If a value is empty, the Default delay from the global options is used.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: Valid number >= 0

'Comment'

Here you can enter a comment that explains the purpose of this node. This is the preferred way of documenting the test suite.

Note For detailed documentation, especially for 'Test set', 'Test case' or 'Procedure' nodes, this text area might not be the right place. There are many excellent editors that are much better suited to this task. The option External editor command lets you define an external editor in which comments can be edited conveniently by pressing [Alt-Return] or by clicking the button.

You can trigger special behaviors of some nodes using doctags, please see Doctags.

If you enter text in the comment field of a 'Component' node, the node will be considered as 'used' when you want to mark or delete unused components.

Variable: Yes

Restrictions: None

Last update: 9/10/2024 Copyright © 1999-2024 Quality First Software GmbH