1. DATA TABLE

Two Types of data tables

Global data sheet: Accessible to all the actions
Local data sheet: Accessible to the associated action only

Usage:

DataTable("Column Name",dtGlobalSheet) for Global data sheet
DataTable("Column Name",dtLocalSheet) for Local data sheet

If we change any thing in the Data Table at Run-Time the data is changed only in the run-time data table. The run-time data table is accessible only through then test result.

The run-time data table can also be exported using DataTable.Export or DataTable.ExportSheet

How can i save the changes to my DataTable in the test itself?
Well QTP does not allow anything for saving the run time changes to the actual data sheet. The only work around is to share the spreadsheet and then access it using the Excel COM Api's.

2. SMART IDENTIFICATION

Smart Identification is nothing but an algorithm used by QTP when it is not able to recognize one of the object. A very generic example as per the QTP manual would be, A photograph of a 8 year old girl and boy and QTP records identification properties of that girl when she was 8, now when both are 10 years old then QTP would not be able to recognize the girl. But there is something that is still the same, that is there is only one girl in the photograph. So it kind of PI (Programmed intelligence) not AI.

3. When should I use SMART Identification?

Something that people don't think about too much. But the thing is that you should disable SI while creating your test cases. So that you are able to recognize the objects that are dynamic or inconsistent in their properties. When the script has been created, the SI should be enabled, so that the script does not fail in case of small changes. But the developer of the script should always check for the test results to verify if the SI feature was used to identify a object or not. Sometimes SI needs to be disabled for particular objects in the OR, this is advisable when you use SetTOProperty to change any of the TO properties of an object and especially ordinal identifiers like index, location and creationtime.

4. Descriptive Programming

Descriptive programming is nothing but a technique using which operations can be performed on the AUT object which are not present in the Object Repository.

5. What is a Recovery Scenario?

Recovery scenario gives you an option to take some action for recovering from a fatal error in the test. The error could range in from occasional to typical errors. Occasional error would be like "Out of paper" popup error while printing something and typical errors would be like "object is disabled" or "object not found". A test case have more then one scenario associated with it and also have the priority or order in which it should be checked.

6. What does a Recovery Scenario consists of?

Trigger: Trigger is nothing but the cause for initiating the recovery scenario. It could be any popup window, any test error, particular state of an object or any application error.
Action: Action defines what needs to be done if scenario has been triggered. It can consist of a mouse/keyboard event, close application, call a recovery function defined in library file or restart windows. You can have a series of all the specified actions.
Post-recovery operation: Basically defined what need to be done after the recovery action has been taken. It could be to repeat the step, move to next step etc....

7. When to use a Recovery Scenario and when to us on error resume next?

Recovery scenarios are used when you cannot predict at what step the error can occur or when you know that error won't occur in your QTP script but could occur in the world outside QTP, again the example would be "out of paper", as this error is caused by printer device driver. "On error resume next" should be used when you know if an error is expected and dont want to raise it, you may want to have different actions depending upon the error that occurred. Use err.number & err.description to get more details about the error.

8. Library Files or VBScript Files - How do we associate a library file with a test ?

Library files are files containing normal VBScript code. The file can contain function, sub procedure, classes etc.... You can also use executefile function to include a file at run-time also. To associate a library file with your script go to Test ->Settings... and add your library file to resources tab.

9. When to associate a library file with a test and when to use execute file?

When we associate a library file with the test, then all the functions within that library are available to all the actions present in the test. But when we use Executefile function to load a library file, then the function are available in the action that called executefile. By associated a library to a test we share variables across action (global variables basically), using association also makes it possible to execute code as soon as the script runs because while loading the script on startup QTP executes all the code on the global scope. We can use executefile in a library file associated with the test to load dynamic files and they will be available to all the actions in the test.

10. What is the difference between Test Objects and Run Time Objects ?

Test objects are basic and generic objects that QTP recognizes and stores in Obect Repository. Run time object means the actual (present in application) objects to which a test object maps.

11. Can I change properties of a test object

Yes. You can use SetTOProperty to change the test object properties. It is recommended that you switch off the Smart Identification for the object on which you use SetTOProperty function.

12. Can I change properties of a run time object?

No (but Yes also). You can use GetROProperty("outerText") to get the outerText of a object but there is no function like SetROProperty to change this property. But you can use WebElement().object.outerText="Something" to change the property.

13. What is the difference between an Action and a function?

Action is a thing specific to QTP while functions are a generic thing which is a feature of VB Scripting. Action can have a object repository associated with it while a function can't. A function is just lines of code with some/none parameters and a single return value while an action can have more than one output parameters.

14. Where to use function or action?

Well answer depends on the scenario. If you want to use the OR feature then you have to go for Action only. If the functionality is not about any automation script i.e. a function like getting a string between to specific characters, now this is something not specific to QTP and can be done on pure VB Script, so this should be done in a function and not an action. Code specific to QTP can also be put into an function using DP. Decision of using function/action depends on what any one would be comfortable using in a given situation.

15. What is checkpoint?

Checkpoint is basically a point in the test which validates for truthfulness of a specific things in the AUT. There are different types of checkpoints depending on the type of data that needs to be tested in the AUT. It can be text, image/bitmap, attributes, XML etc....

16. What's the difference between a checkpoint and output value?

Checkpoint only checks for the specific attribute of an object in AUT while Output value can output those attributes value to a column in data table.

17. How can I check if a checkpoint passes or not?

chk_PassFail = Browser(...).Page(...).WebEdit(...).Check (Checkpoint("Check1"))
if chk_PassFail then
MsgBox "Check Point passed"
else
MsgBox "Check Point failed"
end if

18. My test fails due to checkpoint failing, Can i validate a checkpoint without my test failing due to checpoint failure?

Reporter.Filter = rfDisableAll 'Disables all the reporting stuff
chk_PassFail = Browser(...).Page(...).WebEdit(...).Check (Checkpoint("Check1"))
Reporter.Filter = rfEnableAll 'Enable all the reporting stuff
if chk_PassFail then
   MsgBox "Check Point passed"
else
   MsgBox "Check Point failed"
end if

19. How can I import environment from a file on disk?

Environment.LoadFromFile "C:\MYFile.ini"
Environment.LoadFromFile "C:\MYFile.xml"

20. How can I check if a environment variable exist or not?

When we use Environment("Para").value then QTP expects the environment variable to be already defined. But when we use Environment.value("Para") then QTP will create a new internal environment variable if it does not exists already. So to be sure that variable exist in the environment try using Environment("Para").value.

21. How can I make some rows colored in the data table?

Well you can't do it normally but you can use Excel COM API's do the same. Below code will explain some expects of Excel COM APIs

Set xlApp=Createobject("Excel.Application")
set xlWorkBook=xlApp.workbooks.add
set xlWorkSheet=xlWorkbook.worksheet.add
xlWorkSheet.Range("A1:B10").interior.colorindex = 34 'Change the color of the cells
xlWorkSheet.Range("A1:A10").value="text" 'Will set values of all 10 rows to "text"
xlWorkSheet.Cells(1,1).value="Text" 'Will set the value of first row and first col
rowsCount=xlWorkSheet.Evaluate("COUNTA(A:A)") 'Will count the # of rows which have non blank value in the column
AcolsCount=xlWorkSheet.Evaluate("COUNTA(1:1)") 'Will count the # of non blank columns in 1st row
xlWorkbook.SaveAs "C:\Test.xls"
xlWorkBook.Close
Set xlWorkSheet=Nothing
Set xlWorkBook=Nothing
set xlApp=Nothing