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Rational® Functional Tester
Administrator Guide
This guide describes how to install IBM® Rational® Functional Tester software. After you install the software, you can perform administration tasks such as license configuration and integration with other products. This guide is intended for administrators.
Integrations in Functional Test perspective
In this section, you will learn about the supported integrations for the Functional Test perspective.
Testing with Rational® ClearCase®
As you develop your Rational® Functional Tester test scripts and the supporting files that accompany those scripts, you can use Rational ClearCase® as your software configuration management system to maintain an auditable and repeatable history of your organization's test assets.
Rational® ClearCase®
When you use Rational® ClearCase® with Rational Functional Tester, you have a choice of snapshot or dynamic views with Rational ClearCase. There are advantages and disadvantages to each view.
Comparing versions of elements
If you use ClearCase® for source control management, you can compare an element with its previous version to determine whether to check in your changes.

Rational® Functional Tester
- Release Notes
  This document contains information about what's new, installation instructions, known problems in and contact information of IBM Customer Support.
- System Requirements
  This document includes information about hardware and software requirements for IBM® Rational® Functional Tester.
- Getting Started Guide
  This guide provides an overview of Rational® Functional Tester. You can find the task flows to get you started with Rational Functional Tester. This guide is intended for new users.
- Tutorials
  You can learn to start using Rational® Functional Tester by reviewing the information in the Tutorials for the UI Test perspective and Functional Test perspective.
- Samples
  This section describes about the sample project which can be used with Rational® Functional Tester to test the functionality of an application.
- Administrator Guide
  This guide describes how to install IBM® Rational® Functional Tester software. After you install the software, you can perform administration tasks such as license configuration and integration with other products. This guide is intended for administrators.
  - Installing
    In this section, you will learn about two ways to install the product. In the first approach, you use an executable file to directly install the product in an easy manner. In the second approach, you download and install IBM® Installation Manager and then use that tool to install the product.
  - Starting Rational® Functional Tester from the command line
    You can start Rational® Functional Tester from the desktop environment or a command-line interface.
  - Integrations in UI Test perspective
    In this section, you will learn about the supported integrations for the Web UI Test perspective.
  - Integrations in Functional Test perspective
    In this section, you will learn about the supported integrations for the Functional Test perspective.
    - Integration plugin compatibility matrix
      You can find information about the versions of the integration plugin that are compatible with Rational® Functional Tester.
    - Testing with Ant
      You can use ant to run functional tests from the command line. Starting with version 2.0 of the ant plugin, you can run multiple tests simultaneously. Version 2.0 of the ant plugin is supported in Rational® Functional Tester 9.2 and newer.
    - Integration with Azure DevOps for Functional tests
      When you use Azure DevOps for continuous integration and continuous deployment of your application, you can create tests for your application in Rational® Functional Tester and run those tests in Azure DevOps pipelines. You can integrate Azure DevOps with Rational Functional Tester by using the IBM Rational Test Workbench extension that is available in the Visual Studio Marketplace portal.
    - Testing with Cucumber
      Starting with Rational® Functional Tester 9.2, you can take advantage of Cucumber integration to create, annotate, and run functional test scripts that can be easily understood by all members of the team.
    - Integrating and running Functional Test scripts in Micro Focus Application Life Cycle Management
      To obtain test result details, you can integrate and run Functional Test scripts in Micro Focus Application Lifecycle Management by using a ready-made template available in the Rational® Functional Tester installation directory.
    - Testing with IBM® Engineering Test Management
      Rational® Functional Tester can be integrated with IBM® Engineering Test Management. You can execute the functional test scripts from Rational Functional Tester.
    - Integration with Jenkins
      You can use the Rational® Functional Tester Jenkins plugin to run tests on a Jenkins server.
    - Testing with Maven
      Starting with v9.2, you can use the Maven plug-in to run Functional Test scripts. Apache Maven is a software build tool based on the concept of a project object model (POM). You can use the Maven plug-in that is provided to run tests as part of your Maven build.
    - Testing with Rational® ClearCase®
      As you develop your Rational® Functional Tester test scripts and the supporting files that accompany those scripts, you can use Rational ClearCase® as your software configuration management system to maintain an auditable and repeatable history of your organization's test assets.
      - Switching between Rational® ClearCase® and Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client
        If you have installed both IBM® Rational® ClearCase® and Rational ClearCase Remote Client on your computer, you can switch between the two software configuration management systems by specifying the software configuration management client type in the ivory.properties file.
      - Rational® ClearCase®
        When you use Rational® ClearCase® with Rational Functional Tester, you have a choice of snapshot or dynamic views with Rational ClearCase. There are advantages and disadvantages to each view.
        Setting up ClearCase
        If you use ClearCase® for source control management, you need to do some preliminary tasks to set up a typical ClearCase installation.
        Setting up ClearCase on a Windows server
        If you use a version of ClearCase® earlier than 2003.06 for source control management of your test assets, you must update the ClearCase type managers to recognize Functional Test object map files on Windows®. The latest version of ClearCase includes Rational® Functional Tester type managers.
        Setting up ClearCase on a UNIX server
        If you use ClearCase®, you must update the ClearCase type managers to recognize Rational® Functional Tester test object map files on a UNIX® system.
        Setting up ClearCase to merge on UNIX
        If you use Rational® Functional Tester with ClearCase® on a UNIX® system, you need to set up ClearCase to merge the Rational Functional Tester files correctly.
        Setting ClearCase preferences for Rational® Functional Tester
        You can define the following settings for the ClearCase® integration with Rational® Functional Tester: enable integration with ClearCase, show script details, save a file with the keep extension, check out a script reserved, and save a new version of the script and keep it checked out.
        Sharing a project
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase®, you must share the functional test project and then add the project to source control. When you share a project, you move it to a Rational ClearCase snapshot or dynamic view. The project must be in a Rational ClearCase view for you to add it to source control.
        Adding an element to source control
        New projects and new scripts and their supporting files, are all view private files and are not under IBM® Rational® ClearCase® source control until you add them to source control.
        Checking out an element
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® for source control management, you must check out an element (a functional test script, a functional test project, an object map or a Java™ file) before you modify it.
        Showing checkouts
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® for source control management, you can list all the scripts and test assets that you currently have checked out.
        Editing an element
        If you use ClearCase® for source control of your test assets, you can edit an element of the project that is in ClearCase.
        Checking in an element
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® for source control management, you must check in a script to create a new version of a file.
        Undoing a checkout
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® for source control of your test assets, and if you check out an element and decide that you do not want to change it, you can cancel the checkout.
        Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client
        The IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client is an application designed to operate efficiently over high latency network or wide area network. With Rational ClearCase Remote Client, you can connect to a ClearCase web server and access resources in remote ClearCase repositories and load them into local ClearCase views as ordinary files and directories under ClearCase control.
        Switching between Rational® ClearCase® and Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client
        If you have installed both IBM® Rational® ClearCase® and Rational ClearCase Remote Client on your computer, you can switch between the two software configuration management systems by specifying the software configuration management client type in the ivory.properties file.
        Setting ClearCase Remote Client Preferences
        You can define the settings that govern IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client integration with IBM Rational Functional Tester.
        Logging on to the change management server
        After installing IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client and switching to Remote Client to connect to your repository, log on to the change management server.
        Creating a ClearCase view
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client, you must create a ClearCase view and then connect to the functional test project whose functional assets you want to maintain in Rational ClearCase Remote Client.
        Adding an element to source control
        New projects and new scripts and their supporting files are all view private files and are not under IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client source control until you add them to source control.
        Checking out an element
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client for source-control operations, you must check out an element that has been added or checked in to the database to modify it.
        Editing an element
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client for source control of your test assets, you can edit a project element that is in Rational ClearCase Remote Client.
        Checking in an element
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client for source control management, you must check in an element to create a new version of the file.
        Undoing a checkout
        If you use IBM® Rational® ClearCase® Remote Client for source control of your test assets, and if you check out an element and decide not to make changes or not to check in the changes, you can cancel the checkout.
        Using the ClearCase Explorer perspective
        Rational® Functional Tester integration withRational ClearCase® Remote Client is supported in the Eclipse integrated development environment (IDE). You install ClearCase Remote Client on the Eclipse IDE that you use for Rational Functional Tester. If you encounter problems when using Rational ClearCase Remote Client source control operations in Rational Functional Tester, you can complete the operations in the ClearCase Explorer perspective.
        Displaying the history of an element
        When you use ClearCase® as your source control system, you can view the element type, the element name, the date of the revisions, the first few characters of the comment, the user who made the change, and the nature of the change for a test script or other element in ClearCase.
        Comparing versions of elements
        If you use ClearCase® for source control management, you can compare an element with its previous version to determine whether to check in your changes.
        Getting the latest version
        When you use a snapshot view you must remember to get the latest files from the VOB on a regular basis or changes that others check in can break your script. Updating once a day is probably enough, depending on your particular team's needs.
        Support for geographically-distributed project teams
        As you develop your Rational® Functional Tester test scripts and the supporting files that accompany those scripts, you can use Rational MultiSite ClearCase® as your software configuration management system to support parallel software development across geographically distributed project teams.
        Unreserved elements
        There are two kinds of checkouts for an element when you use ClearCase® to manage your Rational® Functional Tester test assets: reserved and unreserved.
        Merging changes done by multiple users
        If you use Rational® ClearCase® as your software configuration management system, when multiple users make changes to the same file, the second user to check in the file is required to merge.
        Hijacked files
        When you work with a Rational® Functional Tester script or its supporting files in a ClearCase® snapshot view, if you do not check out the file in ClearCase, and modify the file, the file is hijacked.
        Source control icons
        If you use ClearCase® for source control management, you can use pop-up menus in the Script Explorer to do ClearCase operations on a selected element, or view ClearCase icons in the Script Explorer that indicate the state of an element.
    - Integration with IBM® Engineering Workflow Management
      You can manage test assets with Jazz™ source control management by integrating IBM® Rational® Functional Tester with Engineering Workflow Management, formerly known as Rational Team Concert™ eclipse client.
    - Testing with Tivoli Composite Application Manager
      Rational® Functional Tester can be integrated with IBM Tivoli® Composite Application Manager. You can schedule the interval at which the application manager agent runs to track the response time and generate logs using Rational Functional Tester scripts.
    - Testing with UrbanCode™ Deploy
      You can run functional test scripts remotely with the IBM® Rational® Functional Tester plug-in for UrbanCode™ Deploy.
- Test Author Guide
  This guide describes how to create test scripts and enhances them by applying different test elements such as dataset, variables, and verification points.
- Test Execution Specialist Guide
  This guide describes how to automate the playback of the tests by using different methods such as Docker, IBM® Cloud Private, Jenkins and so on. The test results can be pushed to Rational® Test Control Panel.
- Test Manager Guide
  This guide describes how to keep track of the performance of the application by evaluating the test results. Following topics cover how you can work with the test results.
- Troubleshooting
  This guide describes how to analyze and resolve some of the common problems that you might encounter while you work with Rational® Functional Tester.
- Reference Guide
  This guide describes the additional topics to gain more knowledge about Rational® Functional Tester.
- All Guides (PDF)
  You can find the link to view or download the content of the release notes, system requirements, and persona guides of IBM® Rational® Functional Tester as a PDF file.
- Security Considerations
  You can take certain actions to ensure that your installation is secure, customize your security settings, and set up user access controls.
- Notices
  This document provides information about copyright, trademarks, terms and conditions for the product documentation.

Comparing versions of elements

If you use ClearCase® for source control management, you can compare an element with its previous version to determine whether to check in your changes.

About this task

To compare an element with its previous version, from the Rational® Functional Tester Projects view, right-click an element, and click Team > Compare with Previous Version.

For scripts, the main Java™ file is compared with the previous version.

For scripts that are checked out, the current editable version is compared with the latest checked in version.

For scripts that are not checked out, the current version is compared with the previous version.

Rational® Functional Tester uses the ClearCase® Diff Merge tool to compare files. For information about the ClearCase® Diff Merge tool, see the ClearCase® Help.

From the Rational® Functional Tester Show History View, you can compare any version of an element to any other version. For information, see Displaying the History of an Element.