TestComplete Tutorial

What is TestComplete?

TestComplete is a testing tool developed by SmartBear that has been used to automate Web, Desktop, and Mobile (Android and iOS) applications. Using this tool, we can create, maintain, and run tests. The supported scripting languages are JavaScript, VBScript, Python, JScript, DelphiScript, C++, and C#. 

In TestComplete, we have an option for record and playback test creation. We can record a manual test and can have it played back and maintain it as an automated test. GUI testing, Unit testing, Regression testing, Keyword testing are some of the testing types that this tool supports.

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What are the capabilities of this tool?

Following are the capabilities of TestComplete,

• Build automated UI tests - Non-technical testers can quickly build automated tests using the record and playback functionality.
• Object recognition engine with AI - use the AI-powered visual recognition for identifying dynamic UI elements
• HTML5 test automation - we can create an automated HTML 5 test and run it on all the latest browsers. We can even add checkpoints for automatic bug tracking
• Data-driven Testing - we can separate data from experiments, so we can run tests with different input data sets
• Automated Test Reporting & Analysis - we can see the progress and status of our experiments in the form of reports
• Keyword-Driven Testing - each test can be built with a series of operations specified by keywords that represent user action
• Automated Test Reuse - we can reuse the tests across projects and environments

What are the benefits of TestComplete?

• TestComplete is very easy to use
• Provides scripting support for different languages
• We can view the properties of objects from a screen by using Object Spy
• Keyword tests have used to execute individual operations
• We will get a detailed report once the execution has done
• Provides integration with Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Selenium, Bugzilla, etc
• Excellent technical support from SmartBear on questions and issues 
• Using database checkpoints, we can verify data retrieved from the database against the baseline data

System requirements

Before going with the installation of TestComplete, we must ensure that our system is compatible to install the tool. Here are the recommended software requirements,

• Windows 7 or later 64-bit operating system
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 11
• Intel Core i5
• TestComplete recommends 8GB of RAM. But we can install it on a 4GB RAM too
• Requires 1.5 GB to 2 GB of disk space for installation
• 4 GB to 5 GB free disk space
• Display resolution should be 1024x768 or higher

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TestComplete installation

TestComplete 14.40 is the latest stable version released on March 31st, 2020. 

TestComplete installation is straightforward. Go to Automated Software Testing and request for a trial version. Once you get access, download the installer file. 

Run the installer file, and the installation wizard will pop up. Leave the default option enabled for 'Intelligent Add-on' and click on next. The next screen will show the default installation location, and you can change it if you want. Click on 'Install'. 

Once the installation has done, you will show a welcome message asking to activate your license. Click on 'Start a 30-Day Trial'. Once the activation has finished, the TestComplete window will automatically open.

Testing approaches in TestComplete

TestComplete provides a variety of testing approaches. Some of them are,

Unit Testing - when we want to test only a specific part of an application, we can create a unit test. We can even call internal methods of applications

Functional Testing - when we want to test the form in the customer's perspective, like check what the way does for each user action

White-Box Testing - we can use this when we want to test an application based on the access. This test has conducted with access no higher than the user

Regression testing - used to reuse a test on a project when changes have done to the code. We can compare the new results with the old ones

Parallel Testing - used to test multiple subcomponents of application in parallel. It has used to reduce time

Load Testing - used to put a predetermined load on the application and check its response. It will be used to identify any bottlenecks under certain conditions

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Create your first test

In TestComplete, we can create tests in two ways,

• Manual tests - add all the command and actions through script objects
• Record tests - use the recorder to track your actions and save them as test

Creating a test for a desktop application

We can create a test by recording the actions on the desktop application. We can record data input, item selection, etc. Open the TestComplete IDE, in the TestEngine toolbar, click on 'Test' and then click on 'Record' and later on 'Record Keyword Test'. Choose the desktop option.

The recording toolbar has opened, and the recording starts. You will have options to pause or stop the recording and add checkpoints. Open your application and perform actions. Once all the operations have shown on the application, stop the recording. It will create a new script routine where all the test actions have been saved.

Creating a test for web application

TestComplete supports testing of any web applications and provides support for HTML5, AJAX, ASP.NET, etc. If you do not have a web application to test, TestComplete provides a sample application. You can access the application through this http://services.smartbear.com/samples/TestComplete14/smartstore/

You have first to configure the web browser, i.e. add the SmartBear Test 

Extension to your browser in which you will be performing the test. In the TestComplete IDE, click on Test > Record > Record Keyword Test. 

Choose the web option, select the browser, and give the URL for your application. Enable 'Cross-platform web testing', if you want to record tests in a different browser or in a remote environment which is not supported by TestComplete directly. Click on 'Record'. Once the web application has opened, perform all the actions and stop the recording. All the commands recorded will be saved as a test.

Running the tests

• We can run the tests in multiple ways,
• TestComplete IDE
• Command-line
• CI tools like Jenkins, Bamboo, etc
• Scheduled task
• COM from external scripts
• Visual Studio tests or MSBuild projects

Open TestComplete IDE. The tests created earlier will be shown in the project explorer. Right-click on your script and click on 'run'. The test starts running, and we will also get options for pausing and stopping. We can use the pause option for debugging the test to go through logs. We can use the stop option to stop the test before it has completed. If any errors have been encountered during the test run, TestComplete will stop the test run, and the related information has been stored in test logs.  

If you have any doubts on TestComplete, then get them clarified from TestComplete Industry experts on our TestComplete Community!

How to analyze tests

All the operations performed during Testing are stored as logs. We can find the log file in the project explorer under Project Suite Logs > SmartStore Log. Each test run will generate a node, and the node icon represents the message type, i.e. successful, error, warning, etc. So, we can find the testing history for that project in the SmartStore Log. Once a test run has completed, the corresponding log will open automatically. 

The log node contains the actions performed along with the time when it has performed, description, and might also contain images. The picture panel shows the expected screen that was captured during test recording and the actual screen captured during the Testing. There will be an option 'View Comparison Results' to compare both the images of a screen. 

Comparison between TestComplete and Appium tools

• Below are the differences between TestComplete and Appium,
• Appium is an open-source tool while TestComplete is a proprietary tool.
• TestComplete is easy to learn when compared to Appium.
• Scaling up the Appium setup is complicated, scaling up the TestComplete structure is relatively easy.
• Test creation time is faster in TestComplete.
• With TestComplete, we can create tests on Mobile and process the results on Desktop. We cannot implement this in Appium.
• Appium has limited integrations while TestComplete provides many integrations.

Conclusion

TestComplete offers native support through which we can automate a BDD workflow. It provides integrations for a lot of task management, version control, and CI tools. Major companies like Cisco, J.P. Morgan, Boeing, McAfee, etc. have been using TestComplete.