Visual Studio integration
TAFX
supports full VS integration. The User interface map is edited graphically
inside the studio as a designer. The UIMap can also be edited in code through
the InitializeComponent method. When recording tests the code for the test will
be automatically inserted into the code editor. The user can choose if he want
to add new methods or append/replace existing methods. For a feature summary,
see the
Feature Matrix
Appropriate and easy-to-use Recording Control
TAFX has a
recording mode which you can use to record your tests. During the recording the
recorded actions are displayed in the recorder control window. The recording can
be paused and resumed if you have to perform actions that you do not want to
have in the recorded test.
When the recording is stopped code is generated for the recorded actions. This
code can be adjusted to make the test better and more robust. The test code is
plain .NET code in the language of your choice (C# or VB.NET).
To verify your application under test you can also add verification code during
recording. Just point to the user interface element you want to verify and
select the property that is of interest. Code will be inserted into the test
that will verify that the element has the same value during playback. For a
feature summary, see the
Feature Matrix
User Interface Map
To be able
to find the user interface elements in your test, TAFX uses something called the
user interface map (UIMap). The UIMap will map a complex path of finding the
user interface element into a simple name (e.g. ButtonPlus in the calculator).
In the UIMap designer you can add user interface elements by dragging a
crosshair to the object. Elements can also be added by showing a list of
children of already added elements.
The UIMap makes the test more robust and tolerant against user interface
changes. The test only accesses the object through the short alias (the
component name). So if the UI changes all that has to be done is to remap the
object n the UIMap and all references to that element will work fine again.
Although the names of the UIMap objects are generated to give you a good idea of
which UI element it maps to, it can sometimes be hard to remember. It can then
be a great help that all UIMap object saves an image of the object that it
represents. This image is shown in the UIMap designer when an UI object is
selected. For a feature summary, see the
Feature Matrix
Framework Approach
TAFX is a
framework and behind this approach lies the conviction that to be able to meet
the needs of current and future development environments we need to support
flexibility also in the test tool implementation.
Without the framework approach this is difficult to meet. This is also one of
the building blocks constituting TAFX as a collaboration and communication
facilitator since the framework approach also enables certain key customizations
and adoptions to the test projects within each development team.