Rapise learning through analog recording

November 5th, 2014 by inflectra

What happens when all else fails? You use a hammer. In the case of Rapise, that hammer is analog recording.

There are several other methods of learning an object, from learning through doing, learning the objects themselves, specialized learning, and simulated objects. However when all else fails, the most basic, and most flexible, is learning using analog recording. However this method also tends to be the least reliable.

When you learn a flow using analog recording, it is most akin to a macro, or tape recording. The system learns coordinates for mouse path, clicks and keystrokes that are received. It will do what you want but it is blind. What I mean by blind is that Rapise has no awareness of the objects being interacted with, it merely follows the path regardless of the objects in its path.

When Does Analog Recording Make Sense

Where would you make use of this? In the case you need to click and drag as a part of your business process is one scenario. Another scenario might be where you are absolutely certain of the starting state of the application and do not care what happens other than to arrive at another known point. One more is where you have no other choice, the application is completely resistant to more robust forms of test automation.

If you are doing one or two steps with analog recording, it is OK. But, if you are recording hundreds of steps, we might suggest that this would be a good case for mixing in some manual test with your automation. The tests themselves will be difficult to modify, and may require a complete re-recording of the analog bits.

How to Activate Analog Recording

To activate analog recording, enter into your learn mode the way you normally would, and select the analog recording button in the learning window. Then proceed to record your path, this path will be stored as a file that will be played back at run-time. One hint is to make several smaller recordings and string them together. This way, if you make a mistake or need to make a change, you only need to re-record that portion.

There are good cases where you could find analog recording to facilitate your testing, we would recommend trying out the other methods first. In summary, analog recording is a fail-safe when the other methods fail.

rapise analog recording coordinates

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