Forum Discussion
Hi Jenny,
> Now, we need to.
Have you applied a patch mentioned by rickm? Didn't it resolve the problem? If it didn't, then this is a good reason to report this to SmartBear via the https://support.smartbear.com/message/?prod=TestComplete form.
> the reasons behind this occurring
My personal opinion is that this is not something planned to be introduced, but something that slipped through testing. Version 12.4 introduces at least such significant update as 32- and 64-bit flavors of TestComplete and it is my guess that this required significant changes in the code base.
BTW, do you have problems with the Indicator with both flavors of TestComplete or with some specific one?
I can confirm that regular SmartBear practice is to keep compatibility and do not introduce changes that may break already existing test code. So, one more time: I consider this to be a non-planned change that will be corrected in the next TC update.
Hi Alex
Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I've applied the patch following the install of 12.41 (to resolve the MS Update issue with the JET Engine). It has resolved it, in so far as I can now use Indicator.Hide and Indicator.Show to perform operations in the test where the Indicator was overlapping the target object. I'm happy that I can now Hide and Show the Indicator when I need to, I'm just unhappy that I have to Hide and Show it, where I didn't before. I guess, once I've implemented it in any failing script I won't need to do it again in future... Which is good :)
I've only used x64 version of TestComplete so far and not x32. I'm using a Win 10 64bit so assume I should use the equivalent of TestComplete - I have no knowledge of this though in terms of recommended usage. If you know more please let me know.
It's good to know your opinion as to why this has occurred. Thank you for this.
At present I'm experiencing more major problems with speed and as of this morning the Jet Engine again.. So I'm happy with what I have on this now, in terms of implementing the Hide & Show. I was just interested in more information as to why it occurred and looking to vent a bit.. :)
Thanks Alex!
- AlexKaras7 years agoChampion Level 3
Jenny,
> I've only used x64 version of TestComplete so far and not x32. I'm using a Win 10 64bit so assume I should use the equivalent of TestComplete - I have no knowledge of this though in terms of recommended usage.
Until version 12.40 TestComplete was 32-bit application and it equally well drove both 32-bit and 64-bit tested applications and was able to run on both 32-bit and 64-bit OSes. I did not met any problems with versions 12.40 and up related to any limitations related to the bitness of the tested applications. Neither I saw some specific recommendations in the documentation. So my current understanding that 64-bit flavor:
a) May be more efficient in case of handling really huge amounts of test data (far not sure if this is the real case for test automation software); and
b) May be preferred option when the test needs to access backend data and only 64-bit data provider exists for the given data storage.
So you may try both flavors and check if both of them work equally well for you. (Just in case: you already have both flavors installed on your machine - 64-bit is in the <TestComplete>\x64\bin\ folder while 32-bit is in the <TestComplete>\bin\ one.)
> Yes, I've applied the patch following the install of 12.41
I understood the message from rickm that the patch he obtained from Support solved the problem that he had for checkpoints and no test code corrections were required. Have you applied this patch or you mentioned some other one?
- rickm7 years agoContributor
I don't know if Jenny installed the same patch that I have. Mine is for 12.40, hers is for 12.41. My patch has replacement files for \Bin\tcCore.dll and \x64\Bin\tcCore.dll. I'm running 64-bit. The patch that I installed fixed two problems: Indicator.Hide() now works (from Run Code Snippet), and the Indicator no longer gets included in playback Region Checkpoints.
In 6 years I've never had to hide the Indicator. I only tried to hide it and discovered that I couldn't a few days ago when I was desperate for a work-around to the Region Checkpoint problem. Without hiding it, just now I did a test where I sized and positioned a window such that the Indicator would cover some menubar items during playback. I recorded a test where I clicked those menu items and during playback the Indicator seemed to be hidden automatically during the mouse clicks and then appeared again afterwards.
tristaanogre- I'd be interested to know when and why one would ever have to hide the Indicator?
- JennyH117 years agoFrequent Contributor
Hi Rickm
It sounds like we have the same patch - 2 dll files (tcCore.dll) in \bin\ & \x64\bin. I have applied this to both version 12.40 and 12.41 to date and have seen the issue persist on both. It does seem to happen less on 12.40 however.
My colleague (who has used TC much longer than I have!) has also not had to hide the Indicator. He has been more successful with his patch application on version 12.40 and rarely sees the issue, if at all.
The scenario that you've described is precisely where I see the issue. In many of the applications I use to test there is a close button in the top right hand corner (where the Indicator positions itself), it is at this point that, if the issue occurs, the test stops and gives an "Overlapping window" reason in the log. Alternatively, part of the Indicator overlaps an image capture in a Region Checkpoint and again, will fail.
For now, I'm using Indicator.Hide & Show as it seems to add robustness at times when the Indicator doesn't instinctively know to "Hide" etc.
I don't know if it's worth mentioning but we have noticed that the Indicator gets "stickier" towards the end of the day and doesn't tend to flicker as much during test playback. We know when it's working well for us when the Indicator flickers frequently and doesn't remain static during test playback. This may sound strange if you've not studied it as much as we have but it could be a significant observation. :)
Thanks,
Jenny
- JennyH117 years agoFrequent Contributor
Hi Alex
Thank you for the information regarding x64 and x32 bit versions of TestComplete. This is very helpful. I currently have x64 bit version working well but will take this into account should I have any future issues.
I have applied the patch which involved replacing the original tcCore.dll files in \bin and \x64\bin. I did this after installing the newest version of TestComplete (as I was experiencing issues with the MS Jet Engine being recognised. So, I believe this is the same patch as rickm but I applied it to a later version (12.41).
As a side note, my current state has moved on. Due to slow test playback I have rolled back to 12.40 and reapplied the patch (replacing the two .dll files). At present I've only seen intermittent issues with the Indicator overlapping the window. So I'm not confident the patch has resolved the issue at this stage - I will contact Support asap.
Thanks
Jenny