EricGoebel.com
Ad conseqvi magis ingenivm, pvervm

TACEX (test Automation Control nExus)

TACEX is a program which connects the Selenium web driver to a user friendly interface in order to provide a framework for testers to build, test and execute single or batch jobs of test scripts for web applications with the purpose of reducing time constraints on the QA process and expanding the capabilities and effectiveness of the QA team. TACEX allows iterative executions of test scripts written in C# or windows command line execution of primary features from applications capable of invoking the windows command line.

TACEX UI: The user interface where the tester configures how the test automation process will be performed and executes the automated processes from.
TACEX console: The complementary application to the form which handles all of the requests for updating Test Rails and the log file from the TACEX child process.
TACEX child process: Child processes are invisible agents of the TACEX UI which are spawned for each script selected to execute and for each browser selected to test.
XML config: The user config file is an xml file that contains string of data. This data is loaded into the TACEX UI each time the user starts it and it is written to and read from by both the TACEX UI and console during execution.
Test scripts: The test scripts are either written from scratch or are a revised file which was exported from a script created using the IDE. Within each file should contain a code for a test with instructions to update the log file and test rails when pass or fail conditions are met.
Log file: The log file resides where ever the user decides it should be and it will be written to when key operations are performed by the application. It can also be manually written to by the use of pre-defined functions available via the windows console command line.

Location: The functions and objects bundled into the runtime compiler are available to edit in the sub folder labeled “codeparts”.
header.cs: This file contains the namespace, class and various methods that are included by default with TACEX. This can be edited but be warned, modifications to this file can drastically change or break the core functionality. The purpose this file is exposed to the user is so that high level users can edit or add namespaces and classes.
footer.cs: Much like the header.cs, with the exceptionthis file contains only 1 piece of logic, the ending brackets to the classes and namespaces in the header.cs file and the line for closing a browser window after completion. The purpose this file is exposed to the user is the same as the header.cs file.

Main form
Load Config: loads all of the fields and checkboxes values currently set in the config to the UI (this is done when launching the application).
Save config: saves all of the fields and checkboxes values currently set in the UI to the config file.
Debug ON/Off: When this button is clicked it enables debug mode which allows the user to enter code into the window on the output panel. When running, no files are read and executed, instead the code in the debug window is executed.
Select Test Cases: Opens up a multi-select file browsing window that allows the user to select multiple test scripts to run.
Run: Executes the test automation process.

Output tab
Test Cases Selected: After selecting test scripts with the “Select Test Cases” feature, the number of files/cases selected will appear here.
Browsers Selected: After selecting browsers and saving the config with the “Browsers” series of checkboxes, the number of browsers selected to test will appear here.
Debug window: The Window/text field in which the user can type code to be executed in place of a test script/file.

Test Config Tab
Credential fields (Primary-tertiary username and password fields): When TACEX builds the child process using the user created test scripts it will replace certain parts of it in order to make it site indifferent. Refer to the table to see replacement values. If you have “Smith” in the primary username field then whenever TACEX sees the text “<user1>”, it will replace it with “Smith”.

Field	Replacement text	Field	Replacement text
Primary Username	<user1>	Primary Password	<pass1>
Secondary Username	<user2>	Secondary Password	<pass2>
Tertiary Username	<user3>	Tertiary Password	<pass3>

URL: Stores the universal URL to use when executing test scripts. Initialized in header file as "baseURL".
Log folder: The location you want the log files to be stored is set here. Note that you cannot include the file name in this path, the filename is procedurally generated. A log file is made for each day and the file contains a date stamp. Records within contain a timestamp for each recorded entry.
Browsers: TACEX comes bundled with 4 development browser drivers. These are stored in their own folder in the application directory. Each check box selected will mark its respective browser to be tested with the test cases selected at the time of execution.
Closer browser on complete: This checkbox is checked by default and is not saved in the config file. If the user wants the browser windows to stay open to manually observe results after a test script or debug session has ended they must remember to uncheck this box.