Manual test recording monitor

When you record a manual test script from Rational® Quality Manager, the manual test recording monitor is displayed.

Rational® Functional Tester, version 8.2.2 supports the manual test script recorder feature in Rational® Quality Manager. When Rational® Quality Manager is integrated with Rational® Functional Tester, you can record a manual test script in Rational® Quality Manager to test applications by using the Rational® Functional Tester recorder. The recorded test script is displayed in the Rational® Quality Manager editor and can be modified.

For more information about the manual test script recorder feature, see the Rational® Quality Manager Information Center.

Using the manual test recording monitor

When you initiate the recording of the manual test script from the Rational® Quality Manager computer, the Rational® Quality Manager interface minimizes and the manual test recording monitor is displayed on the Rational® Functional Tester computer. You can open the application-under-test (AUT) and record your actions.

The monitor is displayed while you are recording, and is always the top window. The monitor displays messages for every action performed during the recording session, such as starting and pausing the recording, starting an application or browser, clicks and all other actions recorded against an application, inserting manual steps and inserting verification points into the script. The monitor also displays errors. You can minimize or resize the monitor, and you can also choose to see only the Recording toolbar by clicking the Display Toolbar Only button.
Note: You can insert data verification points or image verification points, but you cannot insert properties verification points, or get specific values for an object. For more information about verification points, see the related links at the bottom of this page.

When you stop recording, the monitor closes. In the Rational® Quality Manager browser, the Manual Steps list displays the recorded script actions.

The text in the recording monitor is similar to the sequence of commands that are recorded in the script. The text might contain additional information about errors that occurred during recording. The text is available while you have the monitor open. When you stop recording, the text is discarded and is not sent to Rational® Quality Manager. The text is not shown in the steps displayed in the Manual Steps list in Rational® Quality Manager. If you want to save the text, use the Copy Selected Text or Save Monitor Text As commands before you stop recording.

Manual test recording monitor toolbars

The recording monitor contains the Recording toolbar, which is the leftmost set of icons, and the Monitor toolbar, which is the rightmost set. The Recording toolbar is nested within the Monitor toolbar when you bring up 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 Display Toolbar Only button. The monitor will float so that it only displays the Recording toolbar. To dock the Recording toolbar again and show the monitor, click the Display Monitor button Display Monitor button. The display setting persists between recordings: if you only display the Recording toolbar, it is displayed this way the next time that you record.

Recording toolbar options

Table 1 lists the buttons available on the Recording toolbar and describes how to use them:
Table 1. Recording toolbar options for recording manual test scripts
Button Action
Stop Recording button Stop Recording Stop the recording. When recording stops, the monitor closes. In the Rational® Quality Manager browser, the Manual Steps list displays the recorded script actions.
Pause Recording button Pause Recording Suspend recording. The monitor remains in view.
Resume Recording button Resume Recording Continue recording.
Start Application button Start Application Start the application that you want to test. The Start Application dialog box opens, in which you choose an application. For more information about starting applications, see the Starting Your Test Applications or Start Application Dialog Box links at the bottom of this page.
Insert Verification Point or Action Command button Insert Verification Point

Select an object and action. The Select an Object tab of the Verification Point Wizard is opens and displays the object selector tool from which you can select an object to start a verification point.

You can insert data verification points or image verification points, but you cannot insert properties verification points, or get specific values for an object. For more information about selecting objects to create a verification point, see the Select an Object tab of the Verification Point Wizard link at the bottom of this page. For more information about verification points, see the related links at the bottom of this page.
Note: You can also use the Insert Verification Point toolbar button Insert Verification Point or Action Command toolbar button itself to select an object. If you click the button and drag it off the toolbar, the button becomes the object selector tool from the Select an Object tab of the Verification Point wizard.
Insert Manual Step button Insert Manual Step Insert a manual step into the script. The Insert Manual Step dialog box opens, in which you can provide the name of the step.
Enable Image Capture buttonEnable Image Capture Enable the capturing of images during recording. When you enable this option, images are captured for the steps in the recording. If you do not want images to be captured, disable this option.

Monitor toolbar options

The Monitor toolbar is always embedded in the monitor. Table 2 lists the buttons on the Monitor toolbar, and how to use them:
Table 2. Monitor toolbar options
Button Action
Clear All Monitor Text Clear All Monitor Text Clear all text from the monitor. To save the text before you clear it, use the Copy Selected Text button Copy Selected Text button or the Save Monitor Text As Save Monitor Text As button button on the Monitor toolbar. Clearing the monitor text does not affect your recorded script.
Save Monitor Text As button Save Monitor Text As Save all the text in the monitor to a file. The Save As dialog box opens, in which you can specify a file name and location. The Save Monitor Text As command selects and saves all the text into a .txt file.
Monitor Message Preferences Monitor Message Preferences

The Monitor Options dialog box opens, in which you can set preferences for the Recording Monitor Getting Started Help, message time stamp, the message filter level, and the message color.

When you click this button, the Monitor options and the Message Text Color tabs open. These options are available on these tabs:

  • Show Getting Started Help: Displays instructions at the top of the monitor window for how to record a script by using the buttons on the Recording toolbar. The default is to display the Getting Started Help. If you clear this option, the Getting Started Help is not displayed.
  • Include time stamp in this message: Designates whether each line in the monitor has 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 time is specified including seconds.
  • Select message types to display: Specifies the message filter level 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 default colors are as follows: errors in red, warnings in yellow, and information in black. You can use this tab to change the display colors.