Relative paths for tests/resources saved in ALM

When you save a test and its resources in ALM, ALM creates a path to test resources to ensure that they are loaded when you run the test. In UFT One, the path to your test's resources is defined either as a relative or an absolute path.

UFT One deals with the absolute vs. relative path mappings differently depending on where in ALM the resource is saved:

  • If you associate resources from the Test Plan module, UFT One prompts you to associate the resource using a relative path. You can choose to change the path to a relative path or maintain the full absolute path.

  • If you associate a resource stored in the Test Resources module, the absolute path is used.

If your test's associated resources are saved with a relative path, you have the option to update these relative paths to an absolute path. This conversion improves the test run performance by reducing the amount of time necessary for UFT One to find the associated resources. We recommend that you perform this conversion unless you have a specific reason for maintaining a relative path.

To convert your test's associated resources from a relative path to an absolute (full path), you can do the following:

  1. If your test resources are associated with a relative path, UFT One displays a warning message in the Errors pane.

  2. If you double click on this warning message, UFT One opens another dialog which enables you to convert the relative paths to the full absolute ALM path for resources associated with the selected test.

  3. In the dialog, select the tests and resources for which you want to convert the path, and UFT One performs the conversion automatically.

If you do not want to convert the associated test resource's relative paths, you can do one of the following:

  • In the warning message, select the option for UFT One to stop showing the warning message.

  • Clear the Provide warning to replace relative paths for resources associated with test saved in ALM option in the Folders pane of the Options dialog box (Tools > Options > GUI Testing tab > Folders node.

Note: Converting the test's association to the ALM resources associated with a relative path is irreversible. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to back up your tests before performing the conversion.

If you want to later re-enable UFT One to convert the associated resources relative paths, you can enable the option in the Folders pane of the Options dialog box or enable the warning per test in the Properties pane of the Test Settings dialog box (File > Settings > Properties node).