How to Learn Flows and Business Process Tests

This task describes how to learn a flow or business process test automatically while navigating your application.

1. Prerequisites

   Consider the following:

   • Make sure BPT Packaged Apps Kit is enabled. Access to BPT Packaged Apps Kit must be provided by your HP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Project Administrator using Project Customization. An administrator can enable BPT Packaged Apps Kit in ALM by clicking , then selecting Customize > Business Process Testing and selecting the Enable BPT Packaged Apps Kit checkbox. For details, see the HPE Application Lifecycle Management Administrator Guide: Business Process Test Page.

   • Make sure Unified Functional Testing is installed on the client machine along with its SAP add-in and ALM plug-in.

   • We recommend you close UFT before learning a flow or business process test.

   • Make sure that you belong to a user group that has the following task permissions: Modify Folder (Test Plan), Modify Test, Add Component Folder, Add Component, Add Step, Add Parameter, Modify Component, Modify Step, Modify Parameter.

   • In UFT, select Tools > Options and click the Run node. Ensure that the Allow other HP products to run tests and components check box is selected in the Run pane.

   • Set BPT Packaged Apps Kit reuse options. For details, see the HPE Application Lifecycle Management Administrator Guide: Business Process Test Page.

   Note: When using BPT Packaged Apps Kit, it is best to work with only once instance of ALM open. Do not open multiple instances of ALM in multiple browsers or tabs.

   For additional details on configuring UFT to work with applications, setting up BPT Packaged Apps Kit, and on configuring user permissions, see the HPE Application Lifecycle Management Administrator Guide: Managing User Groups and Permissions.

2. Open and log into the packaged app to learn

   Log into the app for which you want to learn the flow or business process test, and navigate to the point at which you want to start learning.

   Note: BPT Packaged Apps Kit is not able to learn the login procedure.

3. Create or select a flow or business process test in ALM

   1. In the Test Plan module, before learning, do one of the following:

   • Create a new flow or business process test in which to insert learned components. For task details on creating flows, see How to Create Business Process Tests and Flows.

   • Select an existing flow or test in which to insert learned components.

   2. If there are already components in the flow or test, and you want to insert the new components between existing components, in the Test Script tab, select the component after which you want to insert the new components.

      Note: To insert the new components at the beginning (before existing components), you must first insert the new components to a different location, and then change the order of the components manually after the Learn process is finished.

      Example: Suppose a flow contains the components Comp_1, Comp_2, and Comp_3. If you want to insert the new components between Comp_2 and Comp_3, select Comp_2.

4. Start the Learn wizard in ALM

   1. In the Test Script tab toolbar, click the Learn button to start the Learn wizard.

   2. If there are already business components in the flow or test, you are asked if you want to remove the existing component. If you select No, the learned components are inserted after the selected component.

   3. If other messages appear related to granting access to other assets, scripts, or applications, resolve the issues and click Retry.

   4. The Learn toolbar opens. When Learning, the title bar flashes. For user interface details on the Learn toolbar, see Learn Toolbar Page.

5. Learn the packaged app

   Perform the operations that you want to learn. In general, the operations you perform for a single flow or test should represent those of a single screen or transaction in your application. These operations are saved as actions, and you can see the actions listed in the Learn toolbar.

   Tip: You can set the recording mode to use while learning using the toolbar.

   As you perform actions, the Learn toolbar provides a count of the number of steps performed in the application.

   Tip:

   • To enable more efficient component reuse, it is recommended that you perform the same operation in the same manner each time you learn a flow or test. For example, clicking the Enter button or pressing the Enter key on the keyboard results in different learned steps. Therefore, if you are not consistent when performing such operations, two otherwise identical components might be considered only similar rather than identical. For reference details on how components are selected for reuse, see Criteria for Determining if a Component Can Be Reused.

   • Using keyboard input to navigate your app instead of clicking buttons outside your screen or tab results in fewer learned components in your flow or test. For example, clicking the Enter button during the Learn process results in the creation of a new component for the Enter button, whereas pressing Enter results in an additional step in the existing component. For app-specific details, see BPT Packaged Apps Kit App-specific Information.

6. Add checkpoints while learning the packaged app

   You can add object property checkpoints to a component during the Learn process. Object property checkpoints enable you to check object property values during a test run to determine if they match expected values. The test results provide information about which object property checkpoints failed during a test run, and why.

   Adding checkpoints and output values while learning eliminates the need for you to add these steps after learning components.

   1. While performing user actions in your app, in the Learn toolbar, click Insert and select the type of checkpoint to insert.

   2. If necessary, in the Object Selection dialog box, select the object on which you want to insert the checkpoint or output value.

   3. In the Checkpoint Properties dialog that opens, select the test object properties to check and click OK. The Learn toolbar counter changes to note that you added a checkpoint or output value step. In addition, this checkpoint step will be part of the learned component that is created after you stop learning the app.

   4. Continue performing operations in your application to continue learning.
7. Stop the Learn wizard

   When you finish performing the operations that you want to learn, click Stop in the Learn toolbar.

8. Review the Learn summary

   After stopping the Learn process, the Learn Summary dialog box opens.

   Click any learned component to see its steps.

   For user interface details on the Learn Summary Page, see Learn Summary Page.

9. Change the default location for learned components - optional

   In the Learn Summary dialog box, click Change Path to change the default location in which learned business components are stored.

10. Reuse components - optional

    If BPT Packaged Apps Kit detects that a learned component is similar or identical to an existing component, it displays the number of similar components next to the component name in the component tree.

    In Unified Functional Testing, you can reuse an existing component in your learned flow or test in place of creating a new component. Select a component that can be substituted with a reused component from the flow / test tree in the Learn summary. For user interface details, see the Unified Functional Testing User Guide.

11. Save the learned components into the flow or test

    Click Create to close the Learn Summary dialog box, create the new components to the Business Component module, and add the components to the flow or test.

    You see the learned components in Unified Functional Testing. Return to ALM and click to see the learned components with Business Process Testing.

    Note: Creation of business components for a learned flow or test may take some time.

12. Results

    BPT Packaged Apps Kit performs the following:

    • Creates automated business components in the Business Components module that correspond to screens, transactions, and so on, in your app.

    • Creates component steps based on the operations you perform.

    • Adds the created components to the flow or test.

    • Inserts the checkpoints and output values you defined.

    • Automatically creates input component parameters for controls in the application's user interface that require user input, such as text fields. The default value for these parameters is the value you insert in these fields during the Learn process.

    • Automatically creates screenshots.