Facing an issue where Flex Modules are not getting recognised by QTP?

This is a regression bug in the automation swcs for sdk 3.4 where in flex modules loaded using module loader are not being recognised by the Automation framework and in turn are not getting recorded in the QTP script.In case this issue is blocking your work Adobe has fixed it and uploaded the corresponding automation swcs containing that fix. Go to http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FLEXENT-1088 .Please note these AT swcs are compatible with the sdk 3.4.1 which came along with the beta 2 Flash Builder  .

Flex Automation support for Spark Components in Flash Builder beta2

We have now extended automation support for Spark compnonents as well (if your wondering what are spark components,  there are the components that are prefixed with <s: like for example if u just create a project using sdk 4 you flex application will be a spark application i.e it will be <s:Application instead of <mx:Application the latter is called halo components).Previously automation support was only provided for halo components .As this feautre is still in progress we have only provided automation support for certain spark components.

List of Spark Components made automation ready for Beta 2

1. Application 
2. Button  
3. CheckBox 
4. Panel
5. Radio Button 
6. ScrollBar
7. TextArea
8. Text Input
9. VGroup
10. HGroup
11. RichEditableText
12. Slider
13. NumericStepper

 

Also we will need to specify that Automation of these Spark Components is currently supported only for Flex applications.

Users interested in trying this new feature will need to include flash_builder_root\sdks\4.0.0\frameworks\libs\automation\automation_spark.swc along with the other automation swcs in the additional compiler arguments.

Code Hinting for Flex operations not appearing in QTP 10 ?

QTP 10 as of now does not display code hinting for flex operations and this can be a real problems for users that work extensively with decriptive programming.

We are currently working with QTP to get this sorted out but till then here is a workaround which you can use.

1.Copy the TeaFlex.xml from Flex folder present inside the Flex plugin for QTP folder and the TeaFlex_AIR.xml from the AIR foder also present inside the same Plugin folder.

2.Place these xml files under the C:\Program Files\HP\QuickTest Professional\dat\Extensibility\TEA folder within the QTP10 installation.

 3.Then type regedit in the command prompt and open the registry.

4.Then you need  to add string value “C:\Program Files\HP\QuickTest Professional\dat\Extensibility\TEA” to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mercury Interactive\QuickTest Professional\MicTest\StepInformationManager\TypeInfoFiles node in the registry.

5.Once you do this restart QTP and you will notice that the code hinting appears

Common issues faced in AIR Automation and simple ways to work around them !

AIR automation as the name rightly suggests provides automation of flex/AIR components only within the boundaries of the AIR application.Normally this should be fine but as the AIR capabilities are soo awesome that they allow lots of interaction with the users system like drag drop of components from the desktop to the air app and vice versa .This is where we can fall back on the basic window recording of QTP to overcome these problems.

So lets say you want to automate dragdrop from desktop onto the AIR app or you would like to minimize/ maximize the AIR Application window this is how to go about it.

1.Just go to Automation->Record and run Settings and click on the Window Application tab.

2.Now select the first radio button ie Record and run test on any open windows based application.

Perform the required action outside the AIR app and then switch back to the 2nd option in the Windows application tab.

QTP 10 and flex automation

I have seen a lot of people wondering if flex automation is supported with QTP 10 or IE8 .Well all I can say is that currently both these configurations are not officially supported by Adobe but i dont see any reason as to why these configurations shouldnt work. In case you do come across any issues please do log a bug in the adobe bugbase.

Feedback on Automation of Marshalled applications and AIR Automation

Have any of you tried these new automation features of Flash Builder 4 ? ?? I would love to get some feedback on them .Also are there any new features or enhancements which you would like to see in flex or AIR automation? If yes then you can either post a comment or log an enhancment request in the adobe bug base

Steps required to automate a flex application

Flex automation has been around for a long time but i still felt the need for this blog entry in order to welcome new users and to make their first step into the flex automation world a little easier.

Just follow the steps below and you should be able to start automating in no time.

1. First you need to ensure that you have qtp installed on your machine (qtp version 9.5 or 9.2).
2. Now download the qtp installer from here
3. Unzip the file and click on Install_QTP.bat file.
4. Now go to your flex project in flex builder and go to Project->Properties->Flex Compiler and in the additional compiler arguments text box enter replacing flash_builder_root with your install directory : -include-libraries “flash_builder_root\sdks\4.0.0\frameworks\libs\automation\automation.swc” “flash_builder_root\sdks\4.0.0\frameworks\libs\automation\automation_agent.swc” “flash_builder_root\sdks\4.0.0\frameworks\libs\automation\qtp.swc” “flash_builder_root\sdks\4.0.0\frameworks\libs\automation\automation_dmv.swc”
5. Click on Apply and OK and go to Project->clean and clean the corresponding project.
6. Now start QTP and select Flex and web add-in in the add in manager screen of QTP.
7. Now run your application.

How to enable the Error log for AIR Automation

AIR automation now comes with its own in built error logging mechanism.This is extremely useful when you need to drill down to the actually function call that is failing when you are faced with an issue.This also makes life much easier for the developer and QE if you were to attach this error log when you log a bug in the Adobe Bug base.

Steps how to enable this error log.

1. Go to the path where you ave unzipped the Installer zip ie Adobe Flex 4 Plugin for HP QuickTest Pro\AIR
2. Open the AIRPluginLogConfigFile.cfg file.
3. Set LOG_ENABLING=1 and based on the amount of details you want for each function you can set the function values to 0,1 or 2 under the CONFIG_DETAILS_START section.
4. Now restart QTP and the perform the erronous action .
5. You will find the log file being generated in the Adobe Flex 4 Plugin for HP QuickTest Pro\AIR folder under the name Flex_Plugin_Log.txt.

Enabling the error log slows down automation.So i would recommend that you switch it off whenever not needed

Bugs in Automation that have been fixed in Flash Builder 4 Beta

Ok this is just a list of the high profile bugs that have been fixed in Flash Builder beta 4

1. http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FLEXENT-791 Unable to access underlying / overlapped controls when automation libraries compiled with application
2. http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FLEXENT-838 In masked FlexTextArea field, when I input the value through my script, it gets some junk data in the fields…
3. http://bugs.adobe.com/jira/browse/FLEXENT-770 When you try recording Flex Applications with QTP 9.5 using the Flex Plugin in combination with Internet Explorer 7 QTP does not generate any script . (This issue was resloved in flex builder 3.0.2 itself )

Try the new AIR Automation using a sample Automatable AIR application

Ok in order to try this new and excitng feature of Flash Builder you need to have the following Pre-requistes

• QTP 9.5 or QTP 9.2
• IE 7 or IE6 (if you have QTP 9.2)

Ok now follow these steps and you can have a trial run of our feature is all about.

1. Download Flex QTP zip file from  here  and unzip it on the machine where you have QTP installed.
2. Run the Install_QTP.bat file.
3. Please go to the below link and install the Adobe Air Installer
   http://get.adobe.com/air/
4. Now go to the link and download the automatable Flexstore AIR application  .
5. Start QTP and select the AIR  add-in in the add-in manager screen.
6. Now run the Flexsotre AIR application.You will get a message saying “Successfully connected to QTP”
7. Now you can start automating the sample AIR app and explore the powers of AIR automation.