Forum Discussion

JoernH's avatar
JoernH
New Contributor
14 years ago

Need "Pause" functionality

Dear SmartBear, 



I am a SW validator in a IT company which is using TestComplete to create suites of automatic tests.

Me - I need to validate these suites which includes hundreds of steps. As soon as the validation is done - these scripts can be trusted to run alone.

I am using TestExecute to validate these test suites, but have a big problem in following the test steps. I need to be able to pause the TextExecute application in any step - without having to restart ( and then redo the previous 50 steps ). With this I can register, think through what just happened, and compare with the documentation.



As the TextExecute works today

- I have to edit scripts to run one test step at the time - too much waste of time.

- I have to stop and re-run the script - too much waste of time

- I have to film the execution of the script and pause the movie - too cumbersome for a functionality that should be in the application in the first place.



Please do not ignore the validation people and create a "Pause" function.



Kind regards



Joern.



PS: Since this is my first visit here I most certainly did post this on the wrong place. I am more than happy to stand corrected :-)
  • AlexanderM's avatar
    AlexanderM
    Staff
    14 years ago

    Hi Joern,





    I need to be able to pause the TextExecute application in any step


    TestExecute has the ability to pause the execution. To do it, click the Pause button on Indicator (the object in the upper right corner of the screen that appears during the execution).





    Also, as an alternative, you can use the debugging capacities of TestComplete.





    I have to film the execution of the script and pause the movie


    We have a suggestion to implement the ability to record playback progress, and your request has increased its rating.
  • JoernH's avatar
    JoernH
    New Contributor
    14 years ago
    Hi Alex, 



    Thanx a bunch for helping a poor novice :-)



    I think I know what you mean with the "Indicator" - but wherever I click on it, the test script just keeps going on.

    Is there some functionality that needs to be enabled via configuration ?

    I do not seem to find any documentation about any "Pause" function.



    The version of "TestExecute" is 7.52.678.11



    I attached a screen shot of the indicator so you can see what I see.



    I would be very glad to find that what I seek is already there !



    Kind regards



    Joern
  • JoernH's avatar
    JoernH
    New Contributor
    14 years ago
    Hello again :-)



    Realizing I have a "older-than-latest" version of "TestExecute" I downloaded version 8.20.538.11 with a "Trial Key".

    Indeed there is a "Pause" button, but alas - clicking it gave me the message :



    "Cannot pause tests run by TestExecute." ( screenshot attached )



    Since the controversy in the message seems a tad bizarre I presume that I ( again ;-) did something wrong.



    Any hint would be very welcome !



    Kind regards



    Joern
  • tristaanogre's avatar
    tristaanogre
    Esteemed Contributor
    14 years ago
    TestComplete has the ability to create user forms to allow user interaction with the automation if need be.  I wonder if that might be the route you want to go.  You'd create a user form that you would trigger with an "OnStopTest" event handler that a user has to click a button to proceed to the next step.



    Out of curiosity, unless I missed it, what's the purpose for pausing after every step?
  • JoernH's avatar
    JoernH
    New Contributor
    14 years ago
    Hi Robert, 



    Thank you very much for showing interest. That is very motivating !



    The reason for the pause button is to be able to validate that the test script does what it should.

    I am validating software with test suites that can take hours and days to complete. These we are working with replacing with TestCommand and TestExecute. My written test suites are sent to some development office to create scripts for them. The scripts comes back to me so I can validate that the correct things are being tested. As soon as I ok them, they are "on their own" ;-), and I can spend my time on more interesting stuff :-)



    Anyways - In the process of validating the created test scripts I replay them with TestExecute, but it goes fairly fast ( which is good ). Too fast for me to be able to follow the written procedure, checking the result, and finding the correct test step in my document.



    In this process it would be great to be able to pause the script - to read the screen, document, go to the toilet ( these scripts can be hours long ), etc.



    You dig ?



    Kind regards



    Joern
  • tristaanogre's avatar
    tristaanogre
    Esteemed Contributor
    14 years ago
    Yeah, I dig.  :-)



    Sounds like what you need is for the tests to do more than just exercising the actions but logging results at the various points.  TestComplete/TestExecute can take screen shots, right out/compare database queries, etc.  So, rather than having user interaction, it might be more advantageous to have your automation development group write into the automation those various validation tasks that you need to have performed.  That way, you can just let it run and then, when it's all done, e-mail the results to you to peruse at your leisure.



    Log.Picture is one such action that will log a screen shot.



    You can use DBTables and Object check points for checking SQL data and such.



    For that matter, the automation developers can write out Log.Message, Log.Warning, etc, types of messages during the tests to write out any results that you need to have recorded for your validation work.



    I'd be happy to assist with any of this, for technique and such.  I think this would be the way to go rather than even having to monitor the tests with a "Pause" every time a test completes.
  • AlexanderM's avatar
    AlexanderM
    Staff
    14 years ago

    Hi Joern,





    Sorry for the confusion - TestExecute does not have the ability to pause the test execution. To debug tests, you need to use debugging abilities of TestComplete. TestExecute is just a player for TestComplete tests.





    As TestExecute does not support pausing tests, we will remove the pause button from Indicator - it got there by mistake.