Recording Monitor

The monitor displays messages for every action performed during your recording session, such as starting and pausing the recording, starting an application or browser, clicks and all other actions recorded against an application, and inserting verification points and script support features into the script. It also displays errors. When the monitor displays actions recorded, some of it may look like code, but this text is for informational purposes only and is not meant to be pasted into a script.

When you stop recording, the monitor is closed. Your script and object map are then written into your project directory. Also, the Functional Test window is restored, and the script is displayed.

The text in the record monitor is similar to the sequence of commands that will be recorded in the script. It may contain additional information about errors that occurred during recording. The text is available while you have the monitor open. When you end recording, the text is discarded and is not written to a file. If you want to save the text, use the Copy Selected Text or Save Monitor Text As commands listed below, before you stop recording.

Toolbars

The recording monitor contains the Recording toolbar, which is the left-most set of icons, and the Monitor toolbar, which is the right-most set. The Recording toolbar is nested within the Monitor toolbar when you open the monitor. You can use the Recording toolbar to pause and stop recording, start applications, create a verification point, and insert items into your script. You can undock the Recording toolbar by clicking the Display Toolbar Only button . The monitor will float such that it only displays the Recording toolbar. To re-dock the Recording toolbar and show the monitor, click the Display Monitor button . The display setting is a sticky setting -- if you only display the Recording toolbar, it is displayed this way the next time you record.

For information on the Recording toolbar buttons, see Recording toolbar.

The Monitor toolbar is always embedded in the monitor, and contains the following buttons:

Copy Selected Text -- Copies text from the monitor. When you select text, the Copy Selected Text button becomes enabled. You can select some or all of the text within the monitor and click the Copy Selected Text button. The selected text is copied to your system clipboard. You can then paste the text into a new or existing file.

Clear All Monitor Text -- Clears all text from the monitor. To save the text before you clear it, use the Copy Selected Text button or the Save Monitor Text As button on the Monitor toolbar. Clearing the monitor text does not affect your recorded script.

Save Monitor Text As -- Saves all the text within the monitor to a file. It opens the Save As dialog box, which you can use to designate the name and location of the file. The Save Monitor Text As command selects and saves all the text into a .txt file.

Monitor Message Preferences -- Opens the Monitor Options dialog box, which you can use to set preferences for the Recording Monitor Getting Started Help, message time stamp, the message filter level, and the message color.

When you click the Monitor Message Preferences button on the Monitor toolbar, two tabs appears: the Monitor options tab and the Message Text Color tab.

The Monitor options tab contains the following options:

Show Getting Started Help -- Displays instructions at the top of the monitor window on how to record a script using the buttons on the Recording toolbar. The default is to display the Getting Started Help. If unchecked, the Getting Started Help does not display.

Include time stamp in this message -- Designates whether you want each line in the monitor to have a time stamp. This option is off by default. When on, each message begins with the time stamp of when that action took place. The message goes out to seconds.

Select message types to display -- Specifies the message filter level you want to display in the Record Monitor. You can choose whether to display errors, warnings, or informational messages. The default is to display the most detailed level -- all three types of messages.

The Message Text Color tab specifies the text color of the different types of messages displayed in the Recording Monitor. The defaults are: errors in red, warnings in mustard yellow, and information in black. You can use this tab to change to different display colors.