Written by Raj
HP Mercury QTP
Overview of Object Repository:
QTP Object Repository displays a tree of all objects in the current component or in
the current action or entire test( depending on the object repository mode you
selected).
we can view or modify the test object description of any test
object in the repository or to add new objects to the repository.
Quicktest
learns the default property values and determines in which test object class it
fits.If it is not enough it adds assistive properties, one by one to the
description until it has compiled the unique description.If no assistive
properties are available, then it adds a special Ordianl identifier such as
objects location onthe page or in the source code.
QuickTest has two types of object repositories for storing object information:
shared object repositories
and action object
repositories. You can choose which type of object repository you
want to use as the default type for new tests, and you can change the default as
necessary for each new test.
The object repository per-action mode is
the default setting. In this mode, QuickTest automatically creates an object
repository file for each action in your test so that you can create and run
tests without creating, choosing, or modifying object repository files. However,
if you do modify values in an action object repository, your changes do not have
any effect on other actions. Therefore, if the same test object exists in more
than one action and you modify an object's property values in one action, you
may need to make the same change in every action (and any test) containing the
object.
For any automation tool that follows OO concept the object repository forms
the basis of automation frame-work. It is indeed important to make a choice between Shared & script
specific (Action specific) object repository. For a web based application, it is
not possible to have a shared object repository as too many objects in one .mdb
file could lead to commotion especially when we have a team of automation
testers. Thus, automation testers should be assigned partition specific
responsibility in maintaining the object repository and updating it as when
required. Further, QTP 9.0 has a wonderful drag & drop feature in creating
object respoitory. Thus both shared as well as action specific can be
maintained.
Now comes the golden question - Is it possible to create OR without using
RECORD feature of QTP. Well, the answer is YES. Descriptive Programming is the
best way of doing it. But for doing so the business documents should have UI
mock-ups that have been reviewed and sign-off by the business experts. These
mock-ups would then give the tester an idea about the various objects and their
respective classes. The automation tester should than create his own repository
using the describe method. But this is again time-consuming. Try avoiding
descriptive programming to create OR. However, DP is the only the best option
when the DEV team are developing the APP using customized objects; as a result
of which QTP cannot recognize these objects. HTCs are the best example of
customization. The best work-around is treating these customized objects as
combination of objects and creating scripts accordingly. This is too much of
trial & error method.
Once the OR is ready, then it should be maintained using QC or TD. However,
during script execution the run-time is affected, but at the cost of having
well-maintained OR.
Adding objects to a local object repository:
An object
can be added to the local object repository in one of the following ways:
1. Record some actions on the object; this will automatically add this object
to the object repository. If you do not need the recorded statements in your
script, you can delete them and it will not remove the added object from the
object repository.
2. Add objects manually.
-
Go to Resources -> Object Repository.
-
In the Filter combobox, select Local Objects.
-
Go to Object -> Add Objects to Local.
-
Click on the object to be added to the repository.
-
If the Object Selection window appears, select the desired object, and click
<OK>.
-
If the Add Object to Object Repository window appears, select the
appropriate option:
To add only the selected object, select the Only the selected object radio
button. To add the selected object and its child objects of a specified type,
select the Selected object and its descendants of type radio button. Then,
select the checkbox next to the child object types that should be added.
-
Click <OK>.
3. Manually define a new test object.
-
Go to Resources -> Object Repository.
-
In the Filter combobox, select Local Objects.
-
Go to Object -> Define New Test Object.
-
Select the appropriate Environment for your test object. For example, to add
a Link object, select Web.
-
Select the desired test object class for the new object.
-
Enter a name for your test object.
-
Fill in the Test object details as needed. The Test object details area
automatically contains the mandatory properties defined for the object class in
the Object Identification dialog box. You can add or remove properties as
required, and define values for the properties.
To add properties, click the Add description properties button (with the +
icon). Select the properties to be added and click <OK>.
To remove
properties, select the properties to be removed, and click the Remove selected
description properties button (with the X icon)
-
Click <Add> to add the new object.
-
Repeat steps d through h as needed.
-
When done, click <Close>.
Note:
When you manually define an object, QuickTest
Professional will not automatically add the objects parent. If the parent
objects are not present, you will need to define them as well. Once the objects
are added to the repository, you can drag-and-drop them to their appropriate
positions.
4. Add the object using the Active Screen.
-
In the Active Screen, right-click on the object to be added.
-
Select View/Add Object.
-
If the Object Selection window appears, verify the desired object is
selected, and click <OK>.
-
In the Object Properties window, click <Add to Repository>.
Adding objects to a shared object repository:
An object
can be added to a shared object repository in one of the following ways:
1. From a local repository.
2. Add objects manually.
-
Go to Resources -> Object Repository Manager.
-
Go to File -> Open -> <repository to open>.
-
By default the repository will open in read-only mode. Go to File ->
Enable Editing.
-
Go to Object -> Add Objects.
-
Click on the object to be added to the repository.
-
If the Object Selection window appears, select the desired object, and click
<OK>.
-
If the Add Object to Object Repository window appears, select the
appropriate option:
To add only the selected object, select the Only the selected object radio
button. To add the selected object and its child objects of a specified type,
select the Selected object and its descendants of type radio button. Then,
select the checkbox next to the child object types that should be added.
-
Click <OK>.
3. Manually define a new test object.
-
Go to Resources -> Object Repository Manager.
-
Go to File -> Open -> <repository to open>.
-
By default the repository will open in read-only mode. Go to File ->
Enable Editing.
-
Go to Object -> Define New Test Object.
-
Select the appropriate Environment for your test object. For example, to add
a Link object, select Web.
-
Select the desired test object class for the new object.
-
Enter a name for your test object.
-
Fill in the Test object details as needed. The Test object details area
automatically contains the mandatory properties defined for the object class in
the Object Identification dialog box. You can add or remove properties as
required, and define values for the properties.
To add properties, click the Add description properties button (with the +
icon). Select the properties to be added and click <OK>.
To remove
properties, select the properties to be removed and click the Remove selected
description properties button (with the X icon)
-
Click <Add> to add the new object.
-
Repeat steps d through h as needed.
-
When done, click <Close>.
Note:
When you manually define an object, QuickTest
Professional will not automatically add the objects parent. If the parent
objects are not present, you will need to define them as well. Once the objects
are added to the repository, you can drag and drop them to their appropriate
positions.
4. Merge with another shared object repository.
Merging a local object repository with a shared object
repository:
To merge the contents of a local repository into a
shared repository, the shared repository must be associated with the action
containing the local repository. In the Object Repository Manager, select the
Update from Local Repository option.
Updating the Shared Object Repository with the objects in the Local
Repository will merge all objects from the Local Repository into the Shared
Repository. All objects will be removed from the Local Repository.
1. Save the script containing the Local Repository. Open a new test.
2. Go
to Resources -> Object Repository Manager.
3. In the Object Repository
Manager window, go to File -> Open, and select the Shared Object Repository
file. Clear the Open in read-only mode checkbox.
4. If the repository file
opened in read-only mode, go to File -> Enable Editing.
5. Go to Tools
-> Update from Local Repository.
6. Click the Add Tests icon button. If
you are connected to a TestDirector for Quality Center with Business Process
Testing, you will have the option to browse for a test or a component. Select
the appropriate choice.
7. Navigate to the test or component containing the
Local Repository.
Note:
You can only add a test containing actions that are
associated with the Shared Object Repository you are updating and whose Local
Object Repositories contain objects.
8. In the Update from Local Repository dialog, select the desired
action.
9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 as needed.
10. Click <Update
All>.
Note:
If the test using the Shared and Local Repositories
is currently open, you may receive an error similar to the following:
You cannot update this shared object repository from the <path> tests
local object repository because the test is currently locked by
<username> on machine <machine name>. Wait for the test to be
unlocked and then try to perform the update operation for this test again.
If so, open a new test in QuickTest Professional to release (unlock) the test
and repeat step 10.
11. Perform any steps needed to resolve conflicts.
12. If you are
performing multiple merges, go to File -> Save and Merge Next to perform the
next merge (the Local Object Repository of the next action being merged into the
Shared Object Repository).
13. Click <Yes> to save your changes between
merges. If you click <No>, the current merge (objects merged from the last
action) will not be saved.
14. Repeat steps 11 through 13 to complete the
multiple merges.
15. Choose File -> Exit, then click <Yes> to save
the updated Object Repository.
Merging shared object repositories:
1. Open the Object
Repository Manager.
2. Go to Tools -> Object Repository Merge Tool.
3.
In the New Merge window, browse to the primary repository file. Mercury
recommends selecting the repository file you have invested the most time into as
the primary repository file.
4. Select the secondary repository file.
5.
Click <OK>.
6. Review the merge statistics, as described in Viewing
Merge Statistics, and click <Close>.
7. Resolve any merge conflicts
that were reported.
Resolving object conflicts:
Conflicts between objects in
the primary and secondary object repositories are resolved automatically by the
Object Repository Merge Tool using default resolution settings. For information
on defining the default settings, refer to the QuickTest Professional Users
Guide (Help -> QuickTest Professional Help -> QuickTest Professional
Users Guide -> Managing and Merging Object Repositories -> Merging Shared
Object Repositories -> Defining Default Settings).
The Object Repository Merge Tool also allows you to change the way the merge
was performed for each individual object that causes a conflict.
1. In the object repository tree, select an object that has a conflict (there
will be an icon to the left of the object name). The conflicting objects are
highlighted in the source repositories. A description of the conflict and the
resolution method used by the Object Repository Merge Tool is described in the
Resolution Options pane.
2. In the Resolution Options pane, select a radio
button to choose a resolution method. The target object repository is updated
according to your selection and redisplayed.
Note:
The resolution method the Merge Tool used is
selected by default.
3. Click <Previous Conflict> or <Next Conflict> to jump directly
to the next or previous conflict in the target object repository
hierarchy.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3, as needed.
5. Save the merged
object repository file
