QTP/UFT Automation Functional tool Introduction

QTP Introduction

HP Quick Test Professional (QTP), an automated functional testing tool that helps testers to perform automated regression testing in order to identify any gaps, errors/defects in contrary to the actual/desired results of the application under test.

This blog will give you an indepth understanding on HP QuickTest Professional, its way of usage, record and play back of tests, object repository, actions, checkpoints, sync points, debugging, test results etc and other related terminologies.

Where QTP Fits in?

QTP is a Functional testing tool which is best suited for regression testing of the applications. QTP is a licensed/commercial tool owned by HP which is one of the most popular tools available in the market. It compares the actual and expected result and reports the results in the execution summary

QTP History and Evolution:

HP Quick Test Professional was originally owned by Mercury Interactive and it was acquired by Hp. Its original name was Astra Quick Test and later named as Quick Test Professional but the latest version is known as Unified Functional Tester (UFT).

Advantages:

·        Developing automated tests using VBScript doesn't require a highly skilled coder and relatively easy when compared other object oriented programming languages.

·        Easy to use, ease of navigation, results validation and Report generation.

·        Readily Integrated with Test Management Tool (Hp-Quality Canter) which enables easy scheduling and Monitoring.

·        Can also be used for Mobile Application Testing.

·        Since it is a Hp product, the full support is provided by HP and by its forums for addressing technical issues.

·        Suitable for both client server and web based application

·         Better error handling mechanism

·         Excellent data driven and keyword testing features

·         

Disadvantages:

·        Unlike Selenium, QTP works in Windows operating system only.

·        Not all versions of Browsers are supported and the testers need to wait for the patch to be released for each one of the major versions.

·        Having said that it is a commercial tool, the licensing cost is very high.

·        Even though scripting time is less, the execution time is relatively higher as it puts load on CPU & RAM.

Testing Tools:

Tools from a software testing context, can be defined as a product that supports one or more test activities right from planning, requirements, creating a build, test execution, defect logging and test analysis.

This blog is designed for Software Testing Professionals with a need to understand the QTP in enough detail along with its simple overview, and practical examples. This blog will give you enough ingredients to start with QTP from where you can take yourself at higher level of expertise.

Before proceeding with this blog you should have a basic understanding of software development life cycle (SDLC). A basic understanding of VBScript is also required. You can also go through the basics of VBScript.

HP QTP uses Visual Basic Scripting (VBScript) for automating the applications. The Scripting Engine need not be installed exclusively as it is available part of the Windows OS. The Current version of VBScript is 5.8 which is available as part of Win 7. VBScript is NOT a object oriented language but a object based language.

Why VBScript?

Microsoft VBScript (Visual Basic Script) is a general-purpose, lightweight and active scripting language developed by Microsoft that is modelled on Visual Basic. Nowadays, VBScript is the primary scripting language for Quick Test Professional (QTP), which is a test automation tool.

This blog will teach you how to use VBScript scripting language in your day-2-day life of any Web based or Automation project development.

Lets discuss about VBScript in detail in Next blog...