oo1 :: Introduction

QTP – Introduction

QTP stands for QuickTest Professional, a product of Hewlett Packard (HP). This tool helps testers to perform an automated functional testing seamlessly without monitoring once script development is complete. 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.

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

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 Center) 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.

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.

Automated Testing Process:

For any automated tool implementation, the following are the phases/stages of it. Each one of the stages corresponds to a particular activity and each phase has a definite outcome.

1.       Test Automation Feasibility Analysis - First step is to check if the application can be automated or not. Not all applications can be automated due to its limitations.

2.       Appropriate Tool Selection - The Next most important step is the selection of tools. It depends on the technology in which the application is built, its features and usage.

3.       Evaluate the suitable framework - Upon selecting the tool the next activity is to select a suitable framework. There are various kinds of frameworks and each framework has its own significance. We will deal with frameworks in detail later this chapter.

4.       Build the Proof of Concept - Proof of Concept(POC) is developed with an end to end scenario to evaluate if the tool can support the automation of the application. As it is performed with an end to end scenario which will ensure that the major functionalities can be automated.

5.       Develop Automation Framework - After building the POC, framework development is carried out which is the crucial step for the success of any test automation project. Framework should be build after diligent analysis of the technology used by the application and also its key features.

Develop Test Script, Execute and Analyze - Once Script development is completed, the scripts are executed, results are analyzed and defects are logged, if any. The Test Scripts are usually version controlled.