Deploying Test Complete Automated Tests

In your project's events, add something like the following in your OnStartTest handler:

Sub dynacom_OnStartTest(Sender)

    set objFSO = createobject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

    set objFile = objFSO.OpenTextFile("C:\SomePath\TestConfig.txt", 1)

    

    strConfig = objFile.ReadAll

    

    ParseAndApplyConfig strConfig

End Sub

Add whatever configs you want in the text file (could use XML too), and have the ParseAndApplyConfig routine set your variables as you want them depending on what's in the config file. Everytime you start a test the text file is read and the variables are modified.

Is the ParseAndApplyConfig  something I will need to write? Is there an example somewhere of handling this function?

Hi Mitch,



You can work with environment variables in the TestedApps section here



or



pass arguments in the command line like here in the Remark section



or



Start TE via COM, set variable values with specialized functions and finally start your test.



Sincerely

Hi,



Also, you may open your test project in Networked mode (http://support.smartbear.com/viewarticle/26639/, http://support.smartbear.com/viewarticle/28482/) and use Project Variables (http://support.smartbear.com/viewarticle/32457/) that will keep local values for every machine test project was opened from.

I notice that the tcls file saves the string variable in some sort of encrypted format - is there a setting I can change so I can set the DB connection string in each file on each tested pc?

So if I put a variable in Project Suite under Persistent variables and name is ApplicationLocation I can assign in Test Complete a default value and a local value.



When I open the project in networked mode to run under Test Execute on another machine it opens in network mode but the default value is always used. I have looked at the machine specific tcLS file and the variables are not in it.



How do you set the variable in the file for the individual testing machines?

If the names of the VMs where the projects are deployed is known and fixed you could use an OnStartTest event to read the name of the machine using Sys.HostName and based on the name of the machine change the connection string.  Sys Object





A pseudo code example:

Sub GeneralEvents_OnStartTest(Sender)

  Dim machineName

  machineName = Sys.HostName

  Select Case machineName

    Case MyMachine

      ProjectSuite.Variables.connectionString = "C:\MyDatabase"

    Case VM1

      ProjectSuite.Variables.connectionString = "C:\VM1sDatabase"

  End Select

End Sub

Hi Mitch,



Unfortunately, for the reason that is not clear for me, TestExecute does not provide any UI means to set the local values for the entities that are designed to be the the machine-specific (e.g. Project and Project Suite variables, path to the Tested Applications, checked/unchecked state of the Test Items, etc.). And the encoding method used to store their values in the configuration files is not documented either. The bad news are that despite the obvious benefits and usefulness of project variables and other stuff, there are very little chances that TestExecute will get any means to set their values visually. So you have to elaborate some coding approach from the options set mentioned above, implement it and use.



As a workaround, considering the configuration with TestComplete installed on machine A and TestExecute installed on machine B, and assuming that you need to set the local value of variable C for the B box, I believe, that it is possible to:

-- Set the value of the variable on the A box;

-- Save the project;

-- Copy variable's value from the configuration file that keeps local values for the A box using some external editor;

-- Paste the copied value into the configuration file that keeps local values for the B box using the same external editor and save the modified file;

-- Revert the value of the variable to its initial value on the A box and save the project.

So in order to use my Test Complete on my devleopment machien and then deploy to several other machines in order to test under different SQL Server scenarios and Operating Systems I have to change the project each time in my Test Complete and then either copy the values from the config file into the testing machine. Even if I set the code to read the machien name sometimes I want to use the machien with SQL Server 2008, sometimes it would be 2012.



This does not work efficiently for me as these approaches require that I edit the files in Test Complete then upload those changes somehow to my testing machine.



I am very frustrated with my purchase at this point, had I fully understood the lmitations of distributed testing I would have went with QTP over TestComplete/Test Execute.

I'm also now fighting against local values that are stored after the first launch of my suite on a specific machine via test agent...



My configuration:



- Development machine with TestComplete

- Test Controller with TestExecute

- Test Agent and Test Execute 



Default values set and local values clear - after first launch of suite - local values are created from default values, than I need to have some local values wich will overwright with data from default values each time my suite is executed.



I thought If I will leave local values blank in my suite it will help me to solve this case - but nope, it overwrights local values only once on first run :( and then uses them without any clear way of how to change them.



P.S.: Local values settings file is not added to source control when adding suite to it, so I added it manually, but it doesn't help as well