A.: With TestComplete you can test any Windows application through the application’s user interface. Script routines simulate mouse movements, clicks, key presses and other user actions through Windows messages. This way of testing does not depend on the compiler. It is called functional or “black box” testing.

For Web pages and for applications created with .NET, Java, Visual C++, Visual Basic, Delphi and C++Builder compilers TestComplete provides access to methods, properties and fields of the application’s objects. Scripts can even access protected and private object fields. The same functionality is supported for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications. For more information about accessible object elements and about Open Applications, see the “Open Applications” topic in TestComplete’s help.

TestComplete version 6 also supports the testing of Web services. It provides access to methods and objects used by the Web service, lets you simulate calls to the service’s methods and check their responses.

Note that testing of Java, .NET and WPF (XAML) applications are supported by plug-ins specifically designed for this purpose. These plug-ins come with TestComplete Standard and TestComplete Enterprise. Web testing and testing of Web services is only supported by TestComplete Enterprise.

A.: Support for Java and .NET applications is provided by special TestComplete plug-ins: Java Open Applications and .NET Open Applications. They are included in both the Standard and Enterprise versions of TestComplete. Everything mentioned in this FAQ and the TestComplete help system is true for Java and .NET testing.

The .NET Open Applications plug-in provides TestComplete with the ability to access internal objects, methods and properties of .NET applications without recompiling them (if the Microsoft .NET Framework v. 1.0.3705 or later is installed on the given machine). That is, this plug-in makes .NET applications always “Open” to TestComplete. Your scripts can get access to public, protected, private, internal and private internal properties and methods.

The Java Open Applications plug-in provides TestComplete with access to public, protected, private and packaged methods, properties and fields of Java applications compiled with AWT, SWT, Swing or WFC libraries. There is no need to recompile the application for the plug-in to be able to access the application’s internals. Java Open Applications can be built with any development tool that supports one of the following Java virtual machines:

• MSVM, build 3309 or later.
• Sun JDK (or JRE) v. 1.1.8 - 6.0.
• BEA JRocket 5.0.

For instance, you can use Microsoft Visual J++ 1.1 or later, Borland JBuilder 3.0 or later, Sun Forte 1.0 or later, and so on.

A.: Both Microsoft Visual Studio 2003 and Visual Studio 2005 let you create, run and debug Windows CE applications targeting the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework. Let’s call them Windows CE .NET applications. To run such an application under a Win32 platform, you can either use the Windows CE device emulator (which is built in Visual Studio), or run the application as a Win32 application (provided that you have Microsoft .NET Framework v. 1.0.3705 or later installed on the given computer).

If you manage to run a Windows CE .NET application under Microsoft .NET Framework, you will be able to test it in TestComplete like you test ordinary .NET applications, which are meant to be run under the Microsoft .NET Framework. Testing of Windows CE .NET applications requires the .NET Open Applications plug-in. It makes the given .NET application “Open” for TestComplete and thus provides access to the application’s internals (objects, methods and properties). See the answer to the previous question.

If you are testing a Windows CE .NET application that was compiled under Visual Studio 2003, the application’s objects have no names at run time even though they were specified at design time. This problem does not exist in applications built with Visual Studio 2005. That is why it is recommended that you compile your Window CE .NET applications in Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 before testing them in TestComplete.

A.: TestComplete does not have special support for PowerBuilder applications: it does not recognize controls inside data windows, so it is not possible to make a PowerBuilder application an Open Application. You can test these applications in black-box mode by simulating mouse clicks, keystrokes and other user actions. You can also work with application objects exposed by Microsoft Active Accessibility. For more information on this, see the “Testing PowerBuilder Applications” topic in TestComplete’s help.

A.: TestComplete can work under Windows XP Professional x64 edition, Windows Vista 64bit edition and Windows Server 2003 x64 edition.

A.: Yes, TestComplete 6 introduces support for 64-bit applications. You can explore and test these applications the same way you test 32-bit applications.

A.: TestComplete should be able to work on a computer with any localization (German, French, Japan, Spanish, Russian, etc.) However, it can only work with one non-Unicode language at a time. This language is specified in the Language for non-Unicode programs property of the Regional and Language Options operating system’s dialog.

A.: Officially, Windows XP for TabletPC is not supported, however some of our customers run TestComplete on this operating system. We are planning to implement full support for Windows XP for TabletPC as well as for controls specific to this operating system in future versions of the product.

A.: Yes. Windows Vista support is implemented in TestComplete 5 and later. TestComplete 5 supports Windows Vista 32-bit applications, and TestComplete 6 supports both 32-bit and 64-bit applications.

For more information, see TestComplete - Windows Vista Support.

A.: TestComplete 4 works with any browser built on the Microsoft WebBrowser control. So, it supports Internet Explorer ver. 5 - 7 and WebBrowser controls embedded into your application.

As for TestComplete 5 and later, you can use it to test web pages shown in Microsoft Internet Explorer ver. 5 - 7 or in the appropriate versions of the WebBrowser control, or in Mozilla Firefox ver. 1.5 - 2.0. Also, you can test web pages that are displayed in Netscape Navigator ver. 8.1.2 (access to web page elements is only available if Navigator uses the Internet Explorer rendering engine. For more information, see “Testing Web Pages Shown in Netscape Navigator” in the TestComplete help file).

A.: TestComplete Enterprise edition includes the Web Testing plug-in that is used for functional testing of web pages. TestComplete 4 works with any browser built on the Microsoft WebBrowser control. It supports Internet Explorer ver. 5 - 7 and WebBrowser controls embedded into your applications. TestComplete 5 and later can test web pages shown in Microsoft Internet Explorer ver. 5 - 7 or in the appropriate versions of the WebBrowser control, or in Mozilla Firefox ver. 1.5 - 2.0. Also, you can test web pages that are displayed in Netscape Navigator ver. 8.1.2 (access to web page elements is only available if Navigator uses the Internet Explorer rendering engine).

TestComplete tests web pages (the client side of web applications) and does not depend on the server. Also, its ability to test web pages does not depend on the technology that is used on the server: ASP, ASP.NET, CGI, ISAPI, PHP or other.

A.: TestComplete Enterprise edition includes the Web Testing plug-in that is used to perform functional testing of web pages. The plug-in tests web pages (the client side of web applications) and does not depend on the software installed on the server. So, you can use it to perform functional testing of web pages produced by the AJAX servers.

A.: Yes, it works with them as with ordinary Windows applications, that is, TestComplete can simulate mouse clicks and keystrokes within the console window. However, these applications cannot be tested as Open Applications.

A.: You can use TestComplete via terminal services if both the tested application and TestComplete is installed on a remote server. In this case you use the terminal services environment to launch the applications and to control the test execution. However, TestComplete is useless if it resides on a different machine than the tested application. This is because the terminal window only transmits the image of the remote computer, but does not transfer any of the data required by TestComplete.