Run business process tests and flows

You can run business process tests and flows. Business process tests and flows can contain manual and automated components.

Note: This task is part of a higher-level task. For details, see Work with Business Process Testing.

Test and flow execution overview

You run business process tests and flows and view run results in the following modules:

Run and view in Module When
Test Plan module Typically when you design your tests.
Test Lab module

When you are ready to run a complete business process test or flow, or to run it as part of a larger test set.

From the Test Lab module, you can view the results of the test run. These results include the steps in each business component, the actual value of each component parameter for each iteration, and the results of individual steps.

Business process tests and flows can contain manual and automated components:

Manual runs When manual tests are ready (or, before automated parts of the test are ready), you can perform a manual run of the business process test or flow.
Automated runs

Automated components (such as those automated by UFT One) can be used in the same business process test. The appropriate application is launched to run the components.

Tip: If automating business components, you can check for problems arising from the combination and order of components in a business process test or flow by running the test in Debug mode. You can also check for syntax or logic errors in specific business components by running them individually in UFT One or another testing tool. For details, see Debug automated tests and flows.

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Run business process tests and flows manually

Run business process tests and flows with one or more manual components.

To run tests and flows manually:

  1. (Optional) Add iterations to business process tests and flows.

    In the Test Lab module, you can determine how many times a business process test runs (iterates) and with what data. For task details on iterating tests, see Define iterations for components, flows, and groups.

    Tip: Parameter values can also be provided using the Test Configurations tab in the Test Plan module.

  2. Run your tests and flows using Sprinter or the Manual Runner.

    For details on running tests manually with Sprinter, see How to Run Tests Manually.

    For user interface details on the Manual Runner for Business Process Testing, see Manual Runner Wizard for Business Process Testing.

    BPT Packaged Apps Kit users can run tests and flows in change detection mode, to see if changes were made to the packaged app since the test or flow was created/last modified. Tests and flows that are run in Change Detection mode run only the first iteration of the selected range of iterations of any component, flow, or test, even if multiple iterations are defined. For details about detecting changes, see Run tests in change detection mode.

  3. View and analyze test results.

    You can view the results of the latest test run in the Test Lab module in the Last Run Report tab at the bottom of the Execution Grid. This pane lists each step of all the business components in the test.

    For user interface details on the Last Run Report tab, see Execution Grid Tab.

    Note: When a test or flow run ends, the parameters displayed in Last Run Report show the date used in the run and not the dynamic date value. Dynamic dates are converted to the actual dates they represent.

    Tip: For samples of how to create graphs for Business Process Testing framework test run metrics, see this KB article.

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Run automated business process tests and flows

This task describes how to run automated business process tests and flows.

To run automated tests and flows:

  1. Prerequisites:

    Specify test parameters

    Before running a test within a test set, specify the values for any test parameters defined for the test. If you do not specify values, and valid default values have not been specified, the test run may fail.
    Allow ALM to run tests on a host computer

    Before you run an automated test on a host computer, ensure that the relevant testing tool on the host allows ALM to run tests.

    To enable ALM access to a specific UFT One client, open UFT One on the host computer, select Tools > Options > GUI Testing > Test Runs, and ensure that Allow other products to run tests and components is selected.
    Set the UPLOAD_RESULTS_AFTER_TEST_RUN parameter

    Test results are, by default, saved in ALM. When running an automated test from within ALM, you can avoid saving large test results by setting the UPLOAD_RESULTS_AFTER_TEST_RUN site parameter.

    For details, see Set configuration parameters.
    Enable communication with remote hosts

    When running default test sets on remote hosts, ALM communicates directly with the testing host to initiate the test. See your testing tool documentation for information about what ports must be opened and what other security settings must be adjusted to enable communication.

    ALM permissions to run UFT One components

    To run a UFT One component from ALM, you must have the necessary ALM permissions.

    For details, see Manage user groups and permissions.
    UFT One Remote Agent settings

    When you run a UFT One business process test from ALM, the test run may be influenced by UFT One Remote Agent settings on the UFT One computer. For details on the UFT One Remote Agent, see the UFT One help.
    Register ALM client in common mode

    In preparation for running UFT One business process tests remotely , you must first register your ALM client in common mode on the remote machine. For details, see Installation and upgrade.

    To run a UFT One business process test on a remote Windows 2012 machine, if the COM+ Network Access feature is not installed, you must restart the Windows 2012 remote machine after registration.

  2. (Optional) Debug tests and flows.

    Debug automated tests and flows to make sure that they run properly. For details, see Debug automated tests and flows.

  3. (Optional) Add iterations to business process tests and flows.

    In the Test Lab module, you can determine how many times a business process test runs (iterates) and with what data. For task details on iterating tests, see Define iterations for components, flows, and groups.

    Tip: Parameter values can also be provided using the Test Configurations tab in the Test Plan module.

  4. Determine if tests and flows should be run in change detection mode.

    If you have BPT Packaged Apps Kit enabled, you can run automated tests containing learned flows in change detection mode. This enables you to determine if the packaged app being tested has been modified. For task details on detecting changes, see Run tests in change detection mode.

    Tip: Tests and flows that are run in Change Detection mode run only the first iteration of the selected range of iterations of any component, flow, or test, even if multiple iterations are defined.

  5. Use the Automatic Runner to run the tests.

    You can run manual and automated tests automatically on your machine or on remote hosts using the Automatic Runner.

    In the Test Lab module > Test Sets tab, use one of the following:

    • Select a test set that includes one or more automated tests and click the Run Test Set button.

    • To run selected tests, select a test set and click the Execution Grid tab or Execution Flow tab. Select one or more tests and click the Run button.

    • To run only manual tests, select the tests and click the Run button. In the Manual Test Run dialog box, select Automatic Runner and click OK.

    Note:  

    • Dynamic dates are converted to the actual dates they represent.
    • If running an automatic test that contains component requests with manual implementations, those component requests are ignored during the run.

    For user interface details on the Automatic Runner, see Automatic Runner Dialog Box.

    Tests with UFT Developer Automation

    When running business process tests with UFT Developer components: 

    • The test runs on the UFT Developer machine.

    • When the test run ends, the status of each run is displayed in the Execution Grid. The Last Run Report tab displays details of the selected test and includes a link to the UFT Developer Run Report. If the test failed, the Last Run Report tab also displays information from the NUnit or JUnit console output. Business Process test information from NUnit or JUnit console are in the attachments to the test run.

    • Click the UFT Developer Run Report link to view the more detailed UFT Developer HTML Report. The Attachments tab includes a zip file containing the UFT Developer report, including all images.

  6. Resolve detected changes.

    If you have BPT Packaged Apps Kit enabled, and you ran the business process test or flow in change detection mode, you can resolve changes detected in the packaged app during the run. For task details on resolving changes, see View and resolve detected changes.

  7. View run results.

    After you run the test or flow from the Test Lab module, you can view the results in various formats:

    View results in the Test Lab module

    You can view the results of the latest test run in the Test Lab module > Execution Grid > Last Run Report tab. This pane lists each step of all the business components in the test, and, where applicable, the summarized results of main events reported by the testing tool.

    For user interface details on the Last Run Report tab, see Execution Grid Tab.

    When a test or flow run ends, the parameters displayed in Last Run Report show the date used in the run and not the dynamic date value.
    View the execution log

    You can view details about the automatic test execution after execution is complete in the Automatic Runner dialog box > Run > View Execution Log. For user interface details, see Execution Log Dialog Box.
    View UFT One reports

    If you have UFT One or the UFT One Add-in for Business Process Testing installed on your computer, you can view a complete UFT One report. The hierarchical report contains details on all the steps for all the different iterations and business components within the automated test run.

    To view the report, from the Test Lab module > Execution Grid tab > Last Run Report tab, click the link to the report about each iteration in the Status column of the pane.

    For details on viewing and analyzing the results of tests in the Run Results Viewer, see the UFT One help.

    Tip: For samples of how to create graphs for Business Process Testing framework test run metrics, see this KB article.

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Run Progress pane hierarchy example

The Run Progress pane hierarchy enables you to manually perform each of the individual component steps in the correct testing sequence.

For example, consider a business process test that contains four business components; Component1 (C1), Component2 (C2), Component3 (C3), and Component4 (C4). The test requires that components C2 and C3 be grouped and that the components and group are then run and iterated as follows:

  • the first iteration of C1, then the second iteration of C1, followed by
  • the first iteration of the group comprising C2 and C3, followed by
  • the second iteration of the group, followed by
  • the third iteration of the group, followed by the component C4.

This is illustrated as follows:

In addition, the entire test is iterated twice.

The test is displayed in the Manual Runner as follows:

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