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malj's avatar
malj
Contributor
15 years ago

TestComplete Tests Started by Windows Service

Some time ago we started looking at running TestComplete tests from our continuous integration environment, Cruise Control. To trigger tests on a remote machine, Cruise Control communicates with an SSH server running as a service under user name "SYSTEM" on the remote machine. The SSH server runs a batch file to perform the testing. We edited the batch file to launch TestComplete but found that TestComplete was always launched with no GUI. Applications started by TestComplete were also invisible. Processes were seen and simple tests like "Log.Message "HelloWorld" could be run successfully but, without any visible GUI I believe TestComplete will not be able to do any serious testing. TestComplete was run as the user we were logged in as.



I guess this has something to do with the service. Running TestComplete manually or using scheduled tasks is no problem. You can select "Allow service to interact with desktop" for the service. Doing so seems to notify me that TestComplete or the tested application has something to show to me but I never see anything. Does anyone have any idea how to make TestComplete run visibly?       



I am today using Network Suite, partly to workaround the problem described but also to be able to run tests concurrently on multiple OS but I would really like to know if there is a way to solve the problem described.    
  • Dmitry_Nikolaev's avatar
    Dmitry_Nikolaev
    Icon for Staff rankStaff
    15 years ago

    Hi Magnus,





    I guess this has something to do with the service. Running TestComplete manually or using scheduled tasks is no problem. You can select "Allow service to interact with desktop" for the service. Doing so seems to notify me that TestComplete or the tested application has something to show to me but I never see anything.


    You are right, the problem is that the service is running in a session without the GUI. However, enabling the 'Allow service to interact with desktop' option should help. Do you have any user logged in to the computer when the TestComplete test is launched by the service with this option enabled? Exactly how does this option 'notifies' you that TestComplete has "something to show"?
  • malj's avatar
    malj
    Contributor
    15 years ago
    Hi David,

     

    Thanks for confirming what I have suspected.



    I just made a new attempt to run the test (simple installation test). Shortly after the installer process starts up a dialog "Interactive Services Dialog Detection" appears on the screen. It says "A program can't display a message on your desktop. The program may need information or permission to complete a task." I have the options "Show me the message" and "Remind me in a few minutes". When I click to "Show program details" I see that TestComplete is the "program or device requesting attention". There is also a text saying "This problem happens because of partial incompatibility with Windows. Please contact the program or device manufacturer for more information." If I select to show the message the screen goes almost black (some impossible-to-identify stripes and lighter areas) and after half-a minute or so I get logged out. When I login again things look normal and I see the "Interactive Services Dialog Detection" dialog again. UAC is disabled on this machine if that is of any relevance. I am manually logged in as the same user as TestComplete gets run as.



    Hope you can make something of this.



    /Magnus              
  • Dmitry_Nikolaev's avatar
    Dmitry_Nikolaev
    Icon for Staff rankStaff
    15 years ago

    Hi Magnus,





    We have investigated this behavior here and found that using the SERVICE account with the Allow service to interact with desktop option enabled is not enough for TestComplete to work correctly as in this case the tool cannot perform some required actions.





    We will try to find a workaround for this restriction at a TestComplete side.





    BTW, as far as I remember, Cruise Control can be running as a Windows service or as a console application. I think that the problem you get will not occur if you choose the second option.
  • malj's avatar
    malj
    Contributor
    15 years ago
    Hi David,



    Thanks for your work on this. When you mention Cruise Control running as a console application are you talking about the SSH server on the remote (my) machine which is now running as a service? I am not familiar with the rest of the Cruise Control solution except that our CM group has created a project that runs the TestComplete tests on my machine using the SSH server.

     

    Regards,

    Magnus
  • Dmitry_Nikolaev's avatar
    Dmitry_Nikolaev
    Icon for Staff rankStaff
    15 years ago

    Hi Magnus,





    Sorry, it seems that I missed the fact that you are trying to run a test on a remote machine. In this case, I can suggest you using the Network Suite feature of TestComplete. You can run a master project on the local computer and this master project will run a slave project on the slave computer without any problems.
  • malj's avatar
    malj
    Contributor
    15 years ago
    Hi David,



    From my first post: "I am today using Network Suite, partly to workaround the problem described but also to be able to run tests concurrently on multiple OS...". 



    Still interested in the other solution though.



    Thanks,

    Magnus
  • Dmitry_Nikolaev's avatar
    Dmitry_Nikolaev
    Icon for Staff rankStaff
    15 years ago

    Hi Magnus,





    Ok, in this case, I can suggest another workaround: using the Windows Task Scheduler. You can schedule an interactive task to run a test for the next minute. Information on the Task Scheduler command line can be found in this article.





    Please let me know whether this solution is good for you.
  • malj's avatar
    malj
    Contributor
    15 years ago
    Hi David,

     

    I have checked the at command and I am able to create scheduled tasks from command line but how am I supposed to get my TestComplete tests run and results returned when  the SSH server (running as a service) launches the batch file from which we have tried to run the tests? I may be able to create a scheduled task (if I find out how to get the current time etc) but then the batch file finishes so how am I supposed to get any results back? Is there a way to run a scheduled task immediately after creating it and wait for it to finish and get the results (0= Success, 1=Warnings, 2=Errors) back? 



    Regards,

    Magnus     
  • AlexanderM's avatar
    AlexanderM
    Icon for Staff rankStaff
    15 years ago

    Hi Magnus,





    It is impossible to get this information using the Task Scheduler workaround. I think that the best option in this case is to use the Network Suite feature as you do now.
  • j_faber's avatar
    j_faber
    12 years ago
    Hello,



    In one of the posts smartbear writes:



    "We have investigated this behavior here and found that using the SERVICE account with the Allow service to interact with desktop option enabled is not enough for TestComplete to work correctly as in this case the tool cannot perform some required actions.



    We will try to find a workaround for this restriction at a TestComplete side."



    Did smartbear ever search for (and find) a solution at the Testcomplete side?

    Other solutions in this post may work, but all have drawbacks.



    Thanks,

    Jaap.