Turn Complex Code into a Single Button Click > aqCommunity

Current Articles | Categories | Search | Syndication

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Turn Complex Code into a Single Button Click By Nick Olivo @ 6:30 AM

Transform Code into Button Clicks

Back in April, I showed you how to programmatically verify that a directory contained a certain list of files. This approach works well, but if you weren’t using JScript, or if you weren’t sure how to convert that JScript to your language of choice you would’ve been unable to take advantage of it. So I took that same code that I’d written, and bundled it up into an extension. This article shows how to take that code and turn it into an extension, which ultimately becomes the Directory Validation Checkpoint.

Planning the Checkpoint

Here are the criteria I used when planning my checkpoint:

Users should be able to easily select the directory whose contents they wish to validate
Users should have the option to include the contents of subdirectories in the validation
Messages should be written to the log file confirming each file that was found
Errors should be written to the log file for any file that was not found
A text file containing the directory’s contents should be created and added to the Stores node of the TestComplete project

Creating the Checkpoint

To help people easily select the directory to verify, I created this simple form in TestComplete.

This table lists the controls I placed on the form, what I named each control, and the relevant properties I set.

Object	Name	Properties
TcxLabel	lblMessage	Caption: Select directory to be validated
TcxTextEdit	txtDirectory	Text = (set to blank)
TcxButton	cmdBrowseDirectory	Caption = …
TcxCheckBox	chkIncludeSub	Caption = Include Subdirectories
TcxButton	cmdOK	Caption = OK ModalResult = mrOk
TcxButton	cmdCancel	Caption = Cancel ModalResult = mrCancel
TSelectDirectory	dlgSelect	Caption = Select Directory to be validated Custom Root Folder = c:\

I also created an event for the cmdBrowseDirectory button, called directoryValidator_cmdBrowseDirectory_OnClick. Don’t worry about adding the code for that right now, just add the event to the button.

With the form created, I right clicked on the form and selected Export to File. I exported my form as c:\directoryCheckpoint\directoryValidator.aqfrm. Next, I took my earlier directory validation code, and modified it as below:

//This is Validate Directory

//This function generates the checkpoint and inserts it into the Code Editor. If the code editor panel is not displayed, it places 
//the code on the clipboard so it can be pasted in later.
function DesignTimeExecute()
{
  if (showDialog())
  {
	var path;
	path = UserForms.directoryValidator.txtDirectory.Text;
	targetFile = generateFileList(path)
	  checkTextObj = buildSyntax(path,targetFile)
	  checkText = Syntax.GenerateSource(checkTextObj) + "\r\n";
	    if (CodeEditor.IsEditorActive)
		  {
		    if (CodeEditor.CursorPos == CodeEditor.Text.length)
		      CodeEditor.Text += checkText;
		    else
		      CodeEditor.Text = aqString.Insert(CodeEditor.Text, checkText, CodeEditor.CursorPos);
		  }
            else
            {
              Sys.Clipboard = checkText;  
            }
	}

}

//This function generates the checkpoint during record time.
function RecordExecute()
{
  if (showDialog())
  {
	var path,targetFile;
	path = UserForms.directoryValidator.txtDirectory.Text;	
	checkTextObj = buildSyntax(path,targetFile);
	Recorder.AddSyntaxToScript(checkTextObj);
  }
}

//This function is used to generate the syntax used in the checkpoint
function buildSyntax(path,targetFile)
{

tFile = Syntax.CreateInvoke();
tFile.ClassValue = "Files";
tFile.InvokeName = "FileNameByName"
tFile.AddParameter(targetFile);

call = Syntax.CreateInvoke();
  call.ClassValue = "DirectoryContents";
  call.InvokeName = "Validate";
  call.AddParameter(path);
  call.AddParameter(tFile);
  return call;
}

//This function displays the form to the user and prompts him/her to select the directory
//whose contents are to be validated

function showDialog()
{
var dirDlg;
dirDlg = UserForms.directoryValidator;

dirDlg.txtDirectory.Text = "";

if (dirDlg.ShowModal() == 1)
{
		if (dirDlg.txtDirectory.Text == "")
		{
			msgDlg = UserForms.message;
			msgDlg.Caption = "Error"
			msgDlg.lblMessage.Caption = "Please select a directory."
			msgDlg.ShowModal();
			showDialog();
		}
	return true;
}
else
	return false
}

//This event updates the txtDirectory field so it displays the directory selected
function directoryValidator_cmdBrowseDirectory_OnClick(Sender)
{
  if (UserForms.directoryValidator.dlgSelect.Execute())
  {
  UserForms.directoryValidator.txtDirectory.Text = UserForms.directoryValidator.dlgSelect.Directory
  }
}

/*Name: Validate

Description: This function iterates over all the files listed in a txt file and checks to see if they exist.

Syntax: Validate(strInputTXTfFile)

Parameters: 
+ strInputTXTFile - string. The path & filename of the txt file whose contents you wish to validate.

Example: Validate("c:\\myFileList.txt");

function Validate(directory,strInputTXTFile)
{
	var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
	var txtStream = fso.OpenTextFile(strInputTXTFile,1);//Open the specified text file
  	var fileLog = Log.CreateFolder("Validating Listing of: " + directory)//add a collapsable node to the log for ease of reading
  	Log.PushLogFolder(fileLog)//have all messages written to the above node
	while(!txtStream.atEndOfStream)//for each line in the text file
	{
			var expectedFile = txtStream.ReadLine()//read the line
			if(aqFile.Exists(expectedFile))
				Log.Message(expectedFile + " was found")//if the file exists, log a success message
			else
				Log.Error(expectedFile + " was not found");//if the file doesn't exist, log an error
	}
	Log.PopLogFolder();//close the node we created earlier
}

/*Name: generateFileList

Description: This function looks through a directory and its subdirectories, and generates a txt file of all the files it found.

Syntax: generateFileList(strDirectory,strOutputFile)

Parameters:
+ strDirectory - string. The directory whose contents you wish to list
+ strOutputFile - string. The name & path of the file that will contain the function's output

Example: generateFileList("c:\\program files\\automated qa\\TestComplete 6","c:\\TestCompleteFileList.txt");

/*Name: collectFilesFromSubFolders

Description: This function loops through a list of subfolders and writes their contents to a text stream

Syntax: collectFilesFromSubFolders(objFolders,txtStream)

Parameters:
+ objFolders - enumeration. A collection of the sub folders that will be searched.
+ txtStream - object. A text stream that the files will be written to.

Notes: This is a helper function used by the generateFileList function. You do not need to call it directly.

function collectFilesFromSubFolders(objFolders,txtStream)
{
	for (;!objFolders.atEnd();objFolders.moveNext())//loop thru the folders enum
	{
		var objFolder = objFolders.item()
		var objSub2 = new Enumerator(objFolder.SubFolders)//get an enum for any sub folders contained in the folder
		
		collectFilesFromSubFolders(objSub2,txtStream)//gather files from any sub folders
		collectFilesFromFolder(objFolder,txtStream)//gather files from the specified folder
	}
}

/*Name: collectFilesFromFolder

Description: This function writes the contents of a folder to a text stream

Syntax: collectFilesFromFolder(objFolder,txtStream)

Parameters:
+ objFolder - object. A reference to the folder whose contents you wish to list.
+ txtStream - object. A text stream that the files will be written to.

Notes: This is a helper function used by the generateFileList function. You do not need to call it directly.

*/
function collectFilesFromFolder(objFolder,txtStream)
{
	var objFiles = new Enumerator(objFolder.Files);//get an enum for the files in the specified folder
	for(;!objFiles.atEnd();objFiles.moveNext())//loop thru the enum
	{
		var objFile = objFiles.item();
		var fileName = objFile.Path//get the file's name
		txtStream.WriteLine(fileName)//write the file's name to the specified stream
	}
}

Creating an Icon

As I’ve stated before, drawing is not my strong suit. However, I wanted a picture of a folder to be shown on the Extension toolbar. To get that picture, I opened Windows Explorer and took a screenshot by pressing Alt+PrtScn. Then I cropped out the image I wanted, and resized it in Paint .NET down to a 16x16 bmp. Here it is:

Creating the Description File Here’s the description file I created for this checkpoint:

Packaging the Extension

Unlike “traditional” plug-ins that need to be compiled, the extension’s source files just need to be packed into a ZIP archive. The archive extension should then be changed to tcx (TestComplete extension). That’s all, no other installation preparations are needed. You can download the package from this link.

Using the Extension

Once the extension is installed, you can create directory validation checkpoints while you’re recording or during design time. Just click the button on the Extension toob\lar to display our directory validation form. Then select the directory you want to work with and click OK. You’ll see code like this added to your script editor. DirectoryContents.Validate("C:\\Utils", Files.FileNameByName("DirListing_Utils"));

Conclusion

So that’s how easy it is to take code that you’ve written previously and encapsulate it into a script extension. This allows you to turn complex function calls into simple button clicks that speed up your test generation, and make automation much less daunting for non-technical users.

Until next time, onward automation!

Comments

Currently, there are no comments. Be the first to post one!

Click here to post a comment

aqCommunity