[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
Right now we are using as3 as the scripting language to automate flex apps. Since your scripts deploy with the app in the Flash Player you have direct access to all the components on the ui which you can control through normal actionscript calls. We are also providing an api that will allow you to easily find a specific component through the display hierarchy. Now the Automation API does open up some properties and functions that are marked as internal, so we will leverage these as much as possible. We are also looking to support other languages like Javascript, Ruby, and Java which will require some sort of remote access via ExternalInterface or the FABridge. Right now we would like to get the core as3 support in first. The placeholder project we have on sourceforge is called Flexor. We haven't released anything just yet. Please email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and we can look into sharing what we have so far. --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, pmotzfeldt [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, since my message I have been able to create a simple adapter with the use of the ExternalInterface and Automation API to be able to perform actions on objects in a Flex application. My plan is to create the framework using Ruby, and maybe provide a recording GUI with Flex on top of it. This way it will be possible to provide acceptance testing for customers too. But I am wondering how you are going to be able to perform actions on objects, without the automation API? What is the name of your project in sourceforge? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, brian.knorr wundahwheel@ wrote: If you are interested we can collaborate on creating this...we are taking a similar tdd approach to automating flex apps. We too explored using the automation package and found some useful functionality, but we still intend to abstract this to a higher level api so one can write test scripts using AS3 and never have to deal with the automation packages. Currently we are experimenting with using asunit and flexunit as our test runner...no need to reinvent the wheel here. The one thing that they both lack though is a mechanism to handle async events in the setUp method. Also since the Flash Player is single threaded, everything is event based. Which doesn't work very well with procedural scripts. Basically you end up have to pass in continuation functions all over the place which is very messy. Currently we are working with the Flash VM team to see if they can provide something that will help us get around this issue. Can your school assignment only be completed on your own, or can you collaborate with others in an open source project? We have already created a project on sourceforge to house the new framework. Would you like to join us in this endeavor? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, pmotzfeldt pmotzfeldt@ wrote: Hi, I am a last year student at Norwegian University of Science and Technology and in my assignment I will try to make an open source framework for functional testing of flex applications. I have been playing a bit with the automation in Flex and is capable to record event, even though I do not need that, because I am going to have an Test Driven Development approach for this framework. But one thing that I have not managed is to programatically drive the Flex application. What methods in the automation package do you use, I have tried the replay event stuff, but does not get any response? Do you have any pointers? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, brian.knorr wundahwheel@ wrote: I started playing around with the automation package. I first had to copy the automation source from the Flex SDK into my project and compile it...for some reason the classes are not accessible starting out. I see that I can drive the Flex UI through the automation events programmatically...I did a little test and it seems to work so far. I will continue looking into leveraging the automation classes found in the SDK. I still plan on creating a scripting layer that abstracts folks from having to do event based logic. But why do I need FDS? It seems to work fine so far without it. --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote: FDS requirement first: it is a licensing requirement; it is not a technical requirement. And the license is that you need to pay for one FDS CPU license per tester seat. That license could be Departmental (list $6k) or Enterprise. So if you're looking to create a tool that can be used for free by the testers, the automation framework is probably not for you. But if you're just looking to avoid using QTP then this could give you a big head start. We are working on documentation for writing an agent. That has been slower to come out
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
If you are interested we can collaborate on creating this...we are taking a similar tdd approach to automating flex apps. We too explored using the automation package and found some useful functionality, but we still intend to abstract this to a higher level api so one can write test scripts using AS3 and never have to deal with the automation packages. Currently we are experimenting with using asunit and flexunit as our test runner...no need to reinvent the wheel here. The one thing that they both lack though is a mechanism to handle async events in the setUp method. Also since the Flash Player is single threaded, everything is event based. Which doesn't work very well with procedural scripts. Basically you end up have to pass in continuation functions all over the place which is very messy. Currently we are working with the Flash VM team to see if they can provide something that will help us get around this issue. Can your school assignment only be completed on your own, or can you collaborate with others in an open source project? We have already created a project on sourceforge to house the new framework. Would you like to join us in this endeavor? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, pmotzfeldt [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi, I am a last year student at Norwegian University of Science and Technology and in my assignment I will try to make an open source framework for functional testing of flex applications. I have been playing a bit with the automation in Flex and is capable to record event, even though I do not need that, because I am going to have an Test Driven Development approach for this framework. But one thing that I have not managed is to programatically drive the Flex application. What methods in the automation package do you use, I have tried the replay event stuff, but does not get any response? Do you have any pointers? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, brian.knorr wundahwheel@ wrote: I started playing around with the automation package. I first had to copy the automation source from the Flex SDK into my project and compile it...for some reason the classes are not accessible starting out. I see that I can drive the Flex UI through the automation events programmatically...I did a little test and it seems to work so far. I will continue looking into leveraging the automation classes found in the SDK. I still plan on creating a scripting layer that abstracts folks from having to do event based logic. But why do I need FDS? It seems to work fine so far without it. --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote: FDS requirement first: it is a licensing requirement; it is not a technical requirement. And the license is that you need to pay for one FDS CPU license per tester seat. That license could be Departmental (list $6k) or Enterprise. So if you're looking to create a tool that can be used for free by the testers, the automation framework is probably not for you. But if you're just looking to avoid using QTP then this could give you a big head start. We are working on documentation for writing an agent. That has been slower to come out because it's primarily ISV/partners who are interested in building agents. When the docs are ready we'll post them. I think it is fair to say that playback is essentially what you need to support scripting, even if you don't need recording. QTP for example records actions into scripts, then the tool plays the script back and we turn those into the playback commands. You can do the same thing. Either you can write to the automation framework directly with events, or you could write some layer that takes your own scripting calls and generates the automation events for you. The automation framework is written in AS and exposes classes, methods, and events, so it is capable of being used programmatically. Matt From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of brian.knorr Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 7:35 AM To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps? Is there any documentation on building an adapter to use the automation packages? I browsed through the source of the classes in the automation package and it appears to support the record and playback model of testing, which in my opinion what you want to avoid. Can the automation package be leveraged for programmatically controlling the Flex components like you would do in a tool like Watir, Watij, or Jemmy? Is FDS absolutely required to build on top of this system? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com , Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote: I am not looking to derail
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
Ya...I discovered that there isn't an AutomationManager implementation
in the automation packages in the SDK. But now I am looking into
implementing the IAutomationManager and the IAutomationObjectHelper
myself with my own classes. With this I should be able to play
events to instrument the Flex ui components. Matt - do you know of
any gotchas that I should be aware of in doing this?
Thanks,
Brian
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Matt Chotin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Yes, there is a licensing restriction on mx.automation. The
implementation of IAutomationManager which is the main entry point into
the system is restricted by the per-seat license of FDS as we've been
discussing. The reason the rest of the code is included is because you
need to be able to write your components to implement the appropriate
methods and whatnot to support the larger system. If you were a
component developer you can still implement the APIs for free.
Matt
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Chris Luebcke
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 10:45 AM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I think you could have saved yourself some time by adding
${FRAMEWORKS}\libs\automation.swc (there's also an
automation_charts.swc) to your project's library path.
Matt Chotin, et al: Is there a licensing restriction on using the
mx.automation package (i.e. FDS)? This thread has kind of lead me to
believe that there is, but I don't think it's been stated explicitly,
so maybe I'm just smoking.
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
, brian.knorr wundahwheel@ wrote:
I started playing around with the automation package. I first had to
copy the automation source from the Flex SDK into my project and
compile it...for some reason the classes are not accessible starting
out. I see that I can drive the Flex UI through the automation events
programmatically...I did a little test and it seems to work so far. I
will continue looking into leveraging the automation classes found in
the SDK. I still plan on creating a scripting layer that abstracts
folks from having to do event based logic. But why do I need FDS? It
seems to work fine so far without it.
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com , Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote:
FDS requirement first: it is a licensing requirement; it is not a
technical requirement. And the license is that you need to pay
for one
FDS CPU license per tester seat. That license could be Departmental
(list $6k) or Enterprise. So if you're looking to create a tool that
can be used for free by the testers, the automation framework is
probably not for you. But if you're just looking to avoid using QTP
then this could give you a big head start.
We are working on documentation for writing an agent. That has been
slower to come out because it's primarily ISV/partners who are
interested in building agents. When the docs are ready we'll post
them.
I think it is fair to say that playback is essentially what you
need to
support scripting, even if you don't need recording. QTP for example
records actions into scripts, then the tool plays the script back
and we
turn those into the playback commands. You can do the same thing.
Either you can write to the automation framework directly with
events,
or you could write some layer that takes your own scripting calls
and
generates the automation events for you. The automation framework is
written in AS and exposes classes, methods, and events, so it is
capable
of being used programmatically.
Matt
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
[mailto:flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
] On
Behalf Of brian.knorr
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 7:35 AM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
Is there any documentation on building an adapter to use the
automation packages? I browsed through the source of the classes in
the automation package and it appears to support the record and
playback model of testing, which in my opinion what you want to
avoid.
Can the automation package be leveraged for programmatically
controlling the Flex components like you would do in a tool like
Watir, Watij, or Jemmy? Is FDS absolutely required to build on top
of
this system?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
, Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote:
I am not looking
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
Is there any documentation on building an adapter to use the
automation packages? I browsed through the source of the classes in
the automation package and it appears to support the record and
playback model of testing, which in my opinion what you want to avoid.
Can the automation package be leveraged for programmatically
controlling the Flex components like you would do in a tool like
Watir, Watij, or Jemmy? Is FDS absolutely required to build on top of
this system?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Matt Chotin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am not looking to derail any interest in you guys building
alternatives, but would like to point out that the Flex team did a large
amount of work to enable the kind of functionality you're looking for
(minus the tool). Check out the mx.automation packages and you'll see
the infrastructure that is in place to solve problems like using
semantic events instead of x/y coordinates, etc. Admittedly, this is
the portion that we consider the more interesting IP rather than the
plugin that enables QTP to leverage this functionality (and what you
need to pay to use). If you have FDS or are willing to invest money in
the APIs even if not in QTP itself, I'd encourage you to build on top of
this system. Interest from other vendors is increasing as well and I
hope that we'll see offerings in addition to QTP in the future (they
will be built using this framework).
As I stated previously we will continue to examine licensing options for
things like the automation package, but do not expect any changes in the
short term.
Matt
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of brian.knorr
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 4:02 PM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I took a look at imacros...my only concern is that it uses WINCLICK to
automate flash apps. This means everything is x/y coordinate based. We
want to interact with the actual ui components, finding them by their
properties or type. For example here is a short snippet of a simple
test we are using...I added the comments in order to explain what is
going on:
//find the first ComboBox in the app
var comboBoxOperator:ComboBoxOperator = flexOperator.find(ComboBox) as
ComboBoxOperator;
//select the option with the specified label
//upon user selection the app fires an event that sets a label component
with the text 'You selected: X'
comboBoxOperator.select(MasterCard);
//find the label with the specified properties and assert the correct
selection was made
assertEquals(You selected:
MasterCard,LabelOperator(flexOperator.find({id:myLabel})).text);
Thoughts?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
, Allen Riddle ariddle@ wrote:
I've posted on here before about this topic. I think this is something
that lacks in the Flex community. Just curious if you or your company
have looked at a product called imacros. I downloaded the demo and it
was pretty decent. It's a lot cheaper than QTP. It also lets you
script
out tests. I've also wondered if it was possible to get Ruby's Watir
tool to work with Flex, that would be my first choice if so. Cool
suggestion, we'd use it.
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
[mailto:flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
]
On
Behalf Of Simeon Bateman
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:56 PM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [flexcoders] any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I am interested in this. I had been playing with the thought of using
the FA Bridge to allow you to use Selenium to test your applications.
Then you could use the Firefox plugin to record our actions and test
the
movie.
Not sure how feasible it is but even that would start with having a
testing framework in flex to tie into.
simeon
On 2/7/07, brian.knorr wundahwheel@
mailto:wundahwheel@ wrote:
Automating functional tests is critical to the way we develop software
at my company. And there are two big things that stop us from using
QTP.
1) It's record and playback - we want to write test scripts
2) It costs a lot of money - we want a tool that is free and community
driven
At my company we are writing several applications in Flex2 and are
building out an as3 library that allows us to write test scripts in
as3 to drive the Flex ui as if the user was interacting with it. If
you are familiar with the Java Swing testing tool called Jemmy, it's
very similar in design.
Is there any interest out there for a tool like this? I am about to
create a sourceforge project, but first wanted to get a feel for the
need.
Thanks
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
Yes - we are very interested in leveraging the existing automation
packages...we need some questions answered first...please see my
response here:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/message/64177
Two most important things for us to consider using the automation
packages:
1) They enable scripting, not record and playback
2) They don't require FDS
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, slangeberg [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Brian,
I am very interested in in a testing library like you speak of, and was
wondering what you thought of Matt's reply? Does your current system
utilize
mx.automation and/or are you considering leveraging this?
Thanks,
-Scott
On 2/7/07, Matt Chotin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am not looking to derail any interest in you guys building
alternatives, but would like to point out that the Flex team did a
large
amount of work to enable the kind of functionality you're looking
for (minus
the tool). Check out the mx.automation packages and you'll see the
infrastructure that is in place to solve problems like using
semantic events
instead of x/y coordinates, etc. Admittedly, this is the portion
that we
consider the more interesting IP rather than the plugin that
enables QTP to
leverage this functionality (and what you need to pay to use). If
you have
FDS or are willing to invest money in the APIs even if not in QTP
itself,
I'd encourage you to build on top of this system. Interest from other
vendors is increasing as well and I hope that we'll see offerings in
addition to QTP in the future (they will be built using this
framework).
As I stated previously we will continue to examine licensing
options for
things like the automation package, but do not expect any changes
in the
short term.
Matt
--
*From:* flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *On
Behalf Of *brian.knorr
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 07, 2007 4:02 PM
*To:* flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
*Subject:* [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I took a look at imacros...my only concern is that it uses WINCLICK to
automate flash apps. This means everything is x/y coordinate based. We
want to interact with the actual ui components, finding them by their
properties or type. For example here is a short snippet of a simple
test we are using...I added the comments in order to explain what is
going on:
//find the first ComboBox in the app
var comboBoxOperator:ComboBoxOperator = flexOperator.find(ComboBox) as
ComboBoxOperator;
//select the option with the specified label
//upon user selection the app fires an event that sets a label
component
with the text 'You selected: X'
comboBoxOperator.select(MasterCard);
//find the label with the specified properties and assert the correct
selection was made
assertEquals(You selected:
MasterCard,LabelOperator(flexOperator.find({id:myLabel})).text);
Thoughts?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com,
Allen
Riddle ariddle@ wrote:
I've posted on here before about this topic. I think this is
something
that lacks in the Flex community. Just curious if you or your
company
have looked at a product called imacros. I downloaded the demo
and it
was pretty decent. It's a lot cheaper than QTP. It also lets you
script
out tests. I've also wondered if it was possible to get Ruby's Watir
tool to work with Flex, that would be my first choice if so. Cool
suggestion, we'd use it.
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
[mailto:
flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com]
On
Behalf Of Simeon Bateman
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:56 PM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [flexcoders] any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I am interested in this. I had been playing with the thought of
using
the FA Bridge to allow you to use Selenium to test your
applications.
Then you could use the Firefox plugin to record our actions and test
the
movie.
Not sure how feasible it is but even that would start with having a
testing framework in flex to tie into.
simeon
On 2/7/07, brian.knorr wundahwheel@
mailto:wundahwheel@ wrote:
Automating functional tests is critical to the way we develop
software
at my company. And there are two big things that stop us from using
QTP.
1) It's record and playback - we want to write test scripts
2) It costs a lot of money - we want a tool that is free and
community
driven
At my company we are writing several applications in Flex2 and are
building out an as3 library that allows us to write test scripts in
as3 to drive the Flex ui as if the user was interacting with it. If
you
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
Yes you are correct...we could get a free FDS Express license for each
of our developers and have them install FDS locally. We decided a
while back to stay away from FDS because of the cost of using it in
production. But for testing purposes we could use the free licenses,
which begs my other questions to be answered, because we are very
interested in using the existing system that is in place.
Is there any documentation on writing your own adapter for the
automation packages?
Can the automation packages be leveraged for scripting, not record and
playback?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Johannes Nel [EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
why is FDS such a problem. there are free license options availible
On 2/8/07, brian.knorr [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Yes - we are very interested in leveraging the existing automation
packages...we need some questions answered first...please see my
response here:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/message/64177
Two most important things for us to consider using the automation
packages:
1) They enable scripting, not record and playback
2) They don't require FDS
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com,
slangeberg slangeberg@ wrote:
Brian,
I am very interested in in a testing library like you speak of,
and was
wondering what you thought of Matt's reply? Does your current system
utilize
mx.automation and/or are you considering leveraging this?
Thanks,
-Scott
On 2/7/07, Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote:
I am not looking to derail any interest in you guys building
alternatives, but would like to point out that the Flex team did a
large
amount of work to enable the kind of functionality you're looking
for (minus
the tool). Check out the mx.automation packages and you'll see the
infrastructure that is in place to solve problems like using
semantic events
instead of x/y coordinates, etc. Admittedly, this is the portion
that we
consider the more interesting IP rather than the plugin that
enables QTP to
leverage this functionality (and what you need to pay to use). If
you have
FDS or are willing to invest money in the APIs even if not in QTP
itself,
I'd encourage you to build on top of this system. Interest
from other
vendors is increasing as well and I hope that we'll see
offerings in
addition to QTP in the future (they will be built using this
framework).
As I stated previously we will continue to examine licensing
options for
things like the automation package, but do not expect any changes
in the
short term.
Matt
--
*From:* flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
[mailto:flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com] *On
Behalf Of *brian.knorr
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 07, 2007 4:02 PM
*To:* flexcoders@yahoogroups.com flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
*Subject:* [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to
QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I took a look at imacros...my only concern is that it uses
WINCLICK to
automate flash apps. This means everything is x/y coordinate
based. We
want to interact with the actual ui components, finding them
by their
properties or type. For example here is a short snippet of a
simple
test we are using...I added the comments in order to explain
what is
going on:
//find the first ComboBox in the app
var comboBoxOperator:ComboBoxOperator =
flexOperator.find(ComboBox) as
ComboBoxOperator;
//select the option with the specified label
//upon user selection the app fires an event that sets a label
component
with the text 'You selected: X'
comboBoxOperator.select(MasterCard);
//find the label with the specified properties and assert the
correct
selection was made
assertEquals(You selected:
MasterCard,LabelOperator(flexOperator.find({id:myLabel})).text);
Thoughts?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
flexcoders%40yahoogroups.comflexcoders%40yahoogroups.com,
Allen
Riddle ariddle@ wrote:
I've posted on here before about this topic. I think this is
something
that lacks in the Flex community. Just curious if you or your
company
have looked at a product called imacros. I downloaded the demo
and it
was pretty decent. It's a lot cheaper than QTP. It also lets you
script
out tests. I've also wondered if it was possible to get
Ruby's Watir
tool to work with Flex, that would be my first choice if so.
Cool
suggestion, we'd use it.
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
flexcoders%40yahoogroups.comflexcoders%40yahoogroups.com
[mailto:
flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
flexcoders%40yahoogroups.comflexcoders%40yahoogroups.com]
On
Behalf Of Simeon
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
That is definitely possible with what we have built so far...I was
just using the first combobox as a simple example.
For what you want you could do the following:
flexOperator.find(ComboBox,{name:countryList});
Or if countryList is the only component with that name:
flexOperator.find({name:countryList});
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Dimitrios Gianninas
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
thats very interesting indeed but I would the tool to find
things by instance name I dont like the `find the first combobox`
idea, it should by the combobox referenced by instance name, ex:
flexOperator.find(`countryList`);
and thus you assert would become:
assertEquals(You selected:
MasterCard,LabelOperator(comboBoxOperator.find({id:myLabel})).text);
but yes, very cool indeed.
Dimitrios Gianninas
Optimal Payments Inc.
-Original Message-
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com on behalf of brian.knorr
Sent: Wed 2/7/2007 7:01 PM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I took a look at imacros...my only concern is that it uses WINCLICK to
automate flash apps. This means everything is x/y coordinate based. We
want to interact with the actual ui components, finding them by their
properties or type. For example here is a short snippet of a simple
test we are using...I added the comments in order to explain what is
going on:
//find the first ComboBox in the app
var comboBoxOperator:ComboBoxOperator = flexOperator.find(ComboBox) as
ComboBoxOperator;
//select the option with the specified label
//upon user selection the app fires an event that sets a label component
with the text 'You selected: X'
comboBoxOperator.select(MasterCard);
//find the label with the specified properties and assert the correct
selection was made
assertEquals(You selected:
MasterCard,LabelOperator(flexOperator.find({id:myLabel})).text);
Thoughts?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Allen Riddle ariddle@ wrote:
I've posted on here before about this topic. I think this is something
that lacks in the Flex community. Just curious if you or your company
have looked at a product called imacros. I downloaded the demo and it
was pretty decent. It's a lot cheaper than QTP. It also lets you
script
out tests. I've also wondered if it was possible to get Ruby's Watir
tool to work with Flex, that would be my first choice if so. Cool
suggestion, we'd use it.
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On
Behalf Of Simeon Bateman
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:56 PM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [flexcoders] any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I am interested in this. I had been playing with the thought of using
the FA Bridge to allow you to use Selenium to test your applications.
Then you could use the Firefox plugin to record our actions and test
the
movie.
Not sure how feasible it is but even that would start with having a
testing framework in flex to tie into.
simeon
On 2/7/07, brian.knorr wundahwheel@
mailto:wundahwheel@ wrote:
Automating functional tests is critical to the way we develop software
at my company. And there are two big things that stop us from using
QTP.
1) It's record and playback - we want to write test scripts
2) It costs a lot of money - we want a tool that is free and community
driven
At my company we are writing several applications in Flex2 and are
building out an as3 library that allows us to write test scripts in
as3 to drive the Flex ui as if the user was interacting with it. If
you are familiar with the Java Swing testing tool called Jemmy, it's
very similar in design.
Is there any interest out there for a tool like this? I am about to
create a sourceforge project, but first wanted to get a feel for the
need.
Thanks,
Brian
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[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
I started playing around with the automation package. I first had to copy the automation source from the Flex SDK into my project and compile it...for some reason the classes are not accessible starting out. I see that I can drive the Flex UI through the automation events programmatically...I did a little test and it seems to work so far. I will continue looking into leveraging the automation classes found in the SDK. I still plan on creating a scripting layer that abstracts folks from having to do event based logic. But why do I need FDS? It seems to work fine so far without it. --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Matt Chotin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: FDS requirement first: it is a licensing requirement; it is not a technical requirement. And the license is that you need to pay for one FDS CPU license per tester seat. That license could be Departmental (list $6k) or Enterprise. So if you're looking to create a tool that can be used for free by the testers, the automation framework is probably not for you. But if you're just looking to avoid using QTP then this could give you a big head start. We are working on documentation for writing an agent. That has been slower to come out because it's primarily ISV/partners who are interested in building agents. When the docs are ready we'll post them. I think it is fair to say that playback is essentially what you need to support scripting, even if you don't need recording. QTP for example records actions into scripts, then the tool plays the script back and we turn those into the playback commands. You can do the same thing. Either you can write to the automation framework directly with events, or you could write some layer that takes your own scripting calls and generates the automation events for you. The automation framework is written in AS and exposes classes, methods, and events, so it is capable of being used programmatically. Matt From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of brian.knorr Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 7:35 AM To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps? Is there any documentation on building an adapter to use the automation packages? I browsed through the source of the classes in the automation package and it appears to support the record and playback model of testing, which in my opinion what you want to avoid. Can the automation package be leveraged for programmatically controlling the Flex components like you would do in a tool like Watir, Watij, or Jemmy? Is FDS absolutely required to build on top of this system? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com , Matt Chotin mchotin@ wrote: I am not looking to derail any interest in you guys building alternatives, but would like to point out that the Flex team did a large amount of work to enable the kind of functionality you're looking for (minus the tool). Check out the mx.automation packages and you'll see the infrastructure that is in place to solve problems like using semantic events instead of x/y coordinates, etc. Admittedly, this is the portion that we consider the more interesting IP rather than the plugin that enables QTP to leverage this functionality (and what you need to pay to use). If you have FDS or are willing to invest money in the APIs even if not in QTP itself, I'd encourage you to build on top of this system. Interest from other vendors is increasing as well and I hope that we'll see offerings in addition to QTP in the future (they will be built using this framework). As I stated previously we will continue to examine licensing options for things like the automation package, but do not expect any changes in the short term. Matt From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com [mailto:flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of brian.knorr Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 4:02 PM To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com mailto:flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Subject: [flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps? I took a look at imacros...my only concern is that it uses WINCLICK to automate flash apps. This means everything is x/y coordinate based. We want to interact with the actual ui components, finding them by their properties or type. For example here is a short snippet of a simple test we are using...I added the comments in order to explain what is going on: //find the first ComboBox in the app var comboBoxOperator:ComboBoxOperator = flexOperator.find(ComboBox) as ComboBoxOperator; //select the option with the specified label //upon user selection the app fires an event that sets
[flexcoders] any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
Automating functional tests is critical to the way we develop software at my company. And there are two big things that stop us from using QTP. 1) It's record and playback - we want to write test scripts 2) It costs a lot of money - we want a tool that is free and community driven At my company we are writing several applications in Flex2 and are building out an as3 library that allows us to write test scripts in as3 to drive the Flex ui as if the user was interacting with it. If you are familiar with the Java Swing testing tool called Jemmy, it's very similar in design. Is there any interest out there for a tool like this? I am about to create a sourceforge project, but first wanted to get a feel for the need. Thanks, Brian
[flexcoders] Re: any interest in an alternative to QTP to automate Flex apps?
I took a look at imacros...my only concern is that it uses WINCLICK to
automate flash apps. This means everything is x/y coordinate based. We
want to interact with the actual ui components, finding them by their
properties or type. For example here is a short snippet of a simple
test we are using...I added the comments in order to explain what is
going on:
//find the first ComboBox in the app
var comboBoxOperator:ComboBoxOperator = flexOperator.find(ComboBox) as
ComboBoxOperator;
//select the option with the specified label
//upon user selection the app fires an event that sets a label component
with the text 'You selected: X'
comboBoxOperator.select(MasterCard);
//find the label with the specified properties and assert the correct
selection was made
assertEquals(You selected:
MasterCard,LabelOperator(flexOperator.find({id:myLabel})).text);
Thoughts?
--- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Allen Riddle [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I've posted on here before about this topic. I think this is something
that lacks in the Flex community. Just curious if you or your company
have looked at a product called imacros. I downloaded the demo and it
was pretty decent. It's a lot cheaper than QTP. It also lets you
script
out tests. I've also wondered if it was possible to get Ruby's Watir
tool to work with Flex, that would be my first choice if so. Cool
suggestion, we'd use it.
From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On
Behalf Of Simeon Bateman
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 3:56 PM
To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [flexcoders] any interest in an alternative to QTP to
automate Flex apps?
I am interested in this. I had been playing with the thought of using
the FA Bridge to allow you to use Selenium to test your applications.
Then you could use the Firefox plugin to record our actions and test
the
movie.
Not sure how feasible it is but even that would start with having a
testing framework in flex to tie into.
simeon
On 2/7/07, brian.knorr [EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Automating functional tests is critical to the way we develop software
at my company. And there are two big things that stop us from using
QTP.
1) It's record and playback - we want to write test scripts
2) It costs a lot of money - we want a tool that is free and community
driven
At my company we are writing several applications in Flex2 and are
building out an as3 library that allows us to write test scripts in
as3 to drive the Flex ui as if the user was interacting with it. If
you are familiar with the Java Swing testing tool called Jemmy, it's
very similar in design.
Is there any interest out there for a tool like this? I am about to
create a sourceforge project, but first wanted to get a feel for the
need.
Thanks,
Brian
[flexcoders] mx.automation adapters for functional testing
Are the mx.automation only for QTP? Is there any documentation on how to build your own adapter?
[flexcoders] Re: httpservice method=DELETE does not work
The documentation for HTTPService.method states that Permitted values are GET, POST, HEAD, OPTIONS, PUT, TRACE and DELETE See the docs here: http://livedocs.macromedia.com/flex/2/langref/mx/rpc/http/HTTPService .html#method So are the docs wrong? --- In flexcoders@yahoogroups.com, Carson Hager [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: DELETE is not supported. Carson Carson Hager Cynergy Systems, Inc. http://www.cynergysystems.com http://www.cynergysystems.com/ Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Office: 866-CYNERGY Mobile: 1.703.489.6466 From: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of brian.knorr Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 10:33 AM To: flexcoders@yahoogroups.com Subject: [flexcoders] httpservice method=DELETE does not work We are building REST apis in our Rails backend and for a delete action it expects to recieve a HTTP DELETE request, but with Flex2 when you set the method=DELETE on an httpservice it doesn't send the DELETE, instead it sends a GET which causes our REST apis to fail. The documentation for httpservice says it supports method=DELETE. Any advise is greatly appreciated...thanks, Brian -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[flexcoders] Flex 2 and maps
I have been struggling to find a clean way to integrate mapping into a flex 2 app. I know you can use the legacy Yahoo Maps Api (Flex 1.5 / AS2) and via a LocalConnection communicate with it, but this is a big hack. Does anyone know of a mapping component that supports Flex 2 / AS3? Thanks, Brian -- Flexcoders Mailing List FAQ: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/files/flexcodersFAQ.txt Search Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexcoders%40yahoogroups.com Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/flexcoders/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
