Web UI recording

Recording a Web UI test that captures both functional and HTTP traffic in the same recording

With this style of recording, Rational® Functional Tester starts the browser and configures the test environment before you start the recording. This style of recording provides a unified recording capability that lets you capture both functional and HTTP traffic in the same recording. As a result, you can generate both a Web UI functional test and an HTTP load test from the same recording session.

Support is provided for Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer on Windows™ computers, Chrome and Firefox on Linux® computers, and Safari, Chrome, and Firefox on Macintosh computers.

Recording a Web UI test using a running browser instance

With this style of recording, you can record functional tests for web applications that are already running in an existing browser tab or window. You cannot, however, generate HTTP load tests. To use this style of recording, you must install a Web UI browser extension for each supported browser.

Support is provided for Chrome and Firefox on Windows™ and Linux® computers and for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox on Macintosh computers. Internet Explorer is not supported.

Recording Web UI steps to add to an existing test

If you already have a test and want to add more steps to it, open the test and initiate the recording from a step after which you want to add the new steps. This style of recording is useful when the task flow of an application has changed in a newer version of the application and you want to update the existing test script.

Recording a Web UI test in the private mode of a browser

While you record Web UI tests, if you do not want the user profile that is stored in the browser to affect your test recording, then you can use the private or incognito mode. Also, when you do not want cookies and caches of the browser to impact your test recording, you can choose the private mode.

Variable for storing the name of the browser used to record the test

Prior to 9.1.1, you could define a variable in a test to specify the web browser to use for running the test. The feature was available for running a test from the command line, as part of a schedule from IBM® Rational® Performance Tester, or from IBM® Rational® Quality Manager. The reserved name for this variable is RTW_WebUI_Browser_Selection. However, after defining the variable, if you ran the test from the Web UI Test perspective, the browser selected in the Run configuration dialog box took precedence over the browser specified in the variable.

Now, IBM® Rational® Functional Tester creates a test variable automatically whenever a new Web UI test is recorded or when an old test is used that does not already have this variable defined.

You can use this test variable in If conditions to assign different behavior for different browsers. Doing so allows you to create more robust tests that will run successfully in more than one browser.

During test execution, the value of the test variable is set to the name of the browser on which the test is being run. If you select Firefox in the run wizard, the value of the variable is set to Firefox, thus ignoring the original value that was set in the test during recording or while editing the test. For a command line or a Schedule execution, the value that was set in the test is used, since in these cases there is no run wizard.

During test execution, an If condition accepts the following value names:

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Internet Explorer
• Safari
• Microsoft™ Edge