Enabling web browsers

To use Rational® Functional Tester to test HTML applications that run on Internet Explorer you need not manually enable the browser. It is automatically enabled when you begin recording a script. If you use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, you must enable the browser manually.

Before you begin

Rational® Functional Tester automatically enables the environments for functional testing. As a result, you can directly record functional test scripts without enabling components manually. The automatic enablement takes place under certain conditions and has limitations. For more information about the conditions and limitations, see Automatically enabled environment for functional testing.

Rational® Functional Tester does not automatically enable Google Chrome browsers. If you use a Google Chrome browser, you must enable it manually. For instructions, see the related task Enabling Google Chrome browsers.

If required, you can manually enable Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox browsers as described in the following procedure.

To enable browsers for testing, you must log on as an administrator. On Microsoft™ Windows™ 7 or later, and on Microsoft™ Vista operating systems, you must also run Rational® Functional Tester by using the Run as Administrator option.

Notes:
  • Rational® Functional Tester supports testing on Mozilla Firefox. When you enable Firefox as a test environment, an extension is installed.
  • In Firefox, you need to enable the browser for recording the tests. Rational® Functional Tester facilitates playing back the tests directly in Firefox without enabling the browser.
  • Web application testing is not supported on IE 11 in Java environments from 9 onwards.
  • You must use 32-bit Rational® Functional Tester for testing 32-bit Mozilla firefox or Google Chrome browser.
  • You must use 64-bit Rational® Functional Tester for testing 64-bit Mozilla firefox or Google Chrome browser.
Important: If you enabled Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browser for IBM® Rational® Functional Tester, the latest Java update must be associated with the browser. If not done, security messages prompt up when you open the browser and Java will be blocked.

Procedure

  1. Click Configure > Enable Environments for Testing from Rational® Functional Tester to invoke the Enable Environments dialog box (the enabler).
  2. Click the Web Browsers tab.
    1. Click Search. The Search for Web Browsers dialog box opens.
    2. Search for the browser by using any of the following search method:
      • Select Search All to let the enabler locate all the browsers on your system. Rational® Functional Tester scans all of your hard disk drives or partitions and lists the browsers in the Web Browsers list.
      • Select Search In to browse to a specific disk drive or root directory to search.
      Note: You must not use the Search All option to find browsers on Linux™ or UNIX™ systems. Instead, use the Search In option and browse for it.
    3. Click the Search button.
  3. Select the browsers that you want to enable by clicking them in the Web Browsers list. You can select multiple browsers by using the Ctrl key while you are selecting. Click the Select All button if you want to enable all of them.
  4. Click Enable.
    The selected browser or browsers are enabled for HTML testing. The enabled browsers will be indicated in parentheses after each browser name in the list.
    Note: In Rational® Functional Tester version 8.5.1 and later, to enable Firefox, JRE associated with Firefox must be enabled. Once Firefox is enabled, the browser is launched when the Test button is clicked. Users are then prompted to install a Firefox extension for Rational® Functional Tester support. Once the extension is installed, Firefox must be restarted. To ensure that the extension is enabled, in Firefox select Tools > Add-ons > Extensions and verify that the extension is enabled.
  5. Select a browser to be the default and click the Set as Default button.
  6. Click Close.
  7. Test that your browser is enabled properly by clicking the Test button to run the Browser Enablement Diagnostic tool.

Results

The browser is enabled for testing.

Notes:
  • If the enabler fails to find a browser in the registry or on your system, you can click the Add button. Clicking the Add button brings up the Add Browser dialog box, which you can use to locate the browser. After you select it and click Add, the browser will then be added to the Web Browsers list in the enabler, and you follow the same steps to enable or disable it. If you try to add a file that is not a browser, you see an error and it is not added to the list.
  • If your browser is not enabled, the Recording Monitor is blank when you try to record against an HTML application. For this reason, leave the Recording Monitor in view while recording. If you see this symptom, you must run the enabler.
  • To test applets in HTML, you must enable your JREs. To enable JREs for Java™ testing, see the Enabling Java environments topic.
  • The first time that you run Rational® Functional Tester, it automatically enables the JVM of your browser's Java™ plug-in so that HTML recording works properly. If you install a different JVM, you must rerun the enabler to enable it. However, if you experience an error with the Java™ plug-in during HTML testing, or when you are trying to launch the Verification Point Comparator from the HTML log, you must make sure your plug-in is configured properly. See Enabling the Java plug-in of a browser topic for instructions.
  • If you are using Firefox and you must manually enable the browser, use the Enable button as described. When you select a browser and click Enable, it launches the browser and you are prompted to click in the browser to enable it. Click the link, and then click OK if you see a message box.

What to do next

You can test that your browser is enabled properly by clicking the Test button. Clicking the Test button opens the Browser Enablement Diagnostic Tool. If you suspect your browser is not enabled properly, run this tool and follow the instructions that it gives to solve the problem.
  • Additionally, for Mozilla Firefox, make sure that the Firefox Enabler extension is enabled in the Add-ons manager in Firefox. To open the Add-ons manager in Firefox, click Tools and then click Add-ons. In the Extensions tab, verify whether is enabled. If it is disabled, enable it.
  • If the enablement fails for a Google Chrome browser the error CRFCN0794E is displayed when you try to record on the browser, see the related topic Troubleshooting functional tests in Google Chrome browsers.