Mostly Asked Rational Robot Interview Preparation Guide

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A test case describes the testable and verifiable behavior in a system. A test case can also describe the extent to which you will test an area of the application. Existing project artifacts, such as requirements, provide information about the application and can be used as test inputs for your test cases. TestManager provides built-in test input types, but almost any artifact can be used as a test input.

For example, here's what the following artifacts offer as test inputs:

* Requirements describe a condition or capability to which a system must conform.
* Visual models provide a graphic representation of a system's structure and interrelationships.

RUP is a process framework for developing software that helps you:

* Coordinate the developmental responsibilities of the entire development team.
* Produce high-quality software.
* Meet the needs of your users.
* Work within a set schedule and budget.
* Leverage new technologies.

Rational Suite is a set of tools for every member of the software development team. It contains the following tools:

* Rational Unified Process
* Rational RequisitePro
* Rational ClearQuest
* Rational SoDA
* Rational ClearCase LT
* Rational TestManager
* Rational ProjectConsole
* Rational Rose
* Rational PureCoverage
* Rational Purify
* Rational Quantify
* Rational Robot
* Rational TestFactory
* Rational Process Workbench
* Rational NetDeploy
* Rational SiteLoad

Rational tools are sold with the following packages:

* Team Unifying Platform - Rational Unified Process, Rational RequisitePro, Rational ClearQuest, Rational SoDA, Rational ClearCase LT, Rational TestManager, and Rational ProjectConsole.
* Analyst Studio - Team Unifying Platform, and Rational Rose.
* DevelopmentStudio - Team Unifying Platform, Rational Rose£¬Rational PureCoverage£¬Rational Purify, and Rational Quantify.
* TestStudio - Team Unifying Platform, Rational PureCoverage£¬Rational Purify, Rational Quantify, Rational Robot, and Rational TestFactory.
* Enterprise - Team Unifying Platform, Rational Rose, Rational PureCoverage£¬Rational Purify, Rational Quantify, Rational Robot, Rational TestFactory, and Process Workbench.
* Content Studio - Team Unifying Platform, Rational NetDeploy, and Rational SiteLoad.

1. Display the object for which you want to create the data test.
2. In Robot, click Tools > Object Data Test Definition.
3. Click Select to open the Select Object dialog box.
4. Select the object for which you want to create the data test in one of the following ways:
-- Drag the Object Finder tool over the object and release the mouse button. As you move the Object Finder tool over an object, the object type appears in the yellow TestTip.
-- Click Browse to open the Object List dialog box, select the object from the list, and click OK.
The Object List dialog box shows a hierarchical list of all objects on the Windows desktop, including hidden objects.
5. If the Select Object dialog box is still open, click OK to close it. The object classification of the selected object and its data tests appear in the Object Data Test Definition dialog box.
If the object is Unknown (not defined), the Define Object dialog box appears. Select an object type and click OK to open the Object Data Test Definition dialog box.
6. Do one of the following to display the Create/Edit Object Data Test dialog box:
-- To create a new test, type a name (50 characters maximum) in the Data test name box and click New.
-- To edit a custom test, select the test from the list and click Edit.
-- To copy a test and edit the copy, select the test and click Copy. Type the new name and click OK. Then, click Edit.
7. Select a property from the Property to test list. This property is the one whose values you want to capture in the data test. 8. Select the Column check box to add parameters for the vertical axis. Select the Row check box to add parameters for the horizontal axis.
9. Type an expression in the From and To boxes, or click the Expression button to the right of each box to build the expression.
An expression is a single value or property, or a combination of values, properties, and operators.
10. In the Using box (in the Create/Edit Object Data Test dialog box), type a property or select it from the list to further define the property that you are capturing and testing.
The Using box specifies what property Robot will modify to affect its iteration. For example, to iterate from row 0 to row Rows-1, Robot will set the Row property.
11. Select the check boxes under Additional parameters as needed.
12. In the Description box, type a description that indicates what the data test does.
13. Optionally, click Te s t to do the following:
--Verify the syntax of the data test before you save it.
-- If the syntax is correct, watch Robot perform the data test on the selected object.
When the test has ended, Robot opens a dialog box with the captured data. Click OK to close the dialog box.
14. Click OK to save the test and automatically verify it.
If the syntax of the expression is incorrect, the incorrect area is highlighted so you can correct it and then resave the test.

1. Start recording in Robot.
2. Open the Java applet or application that you want to test.
3. Navigate to the page that you want to test.
4. Start creating the Object Data verification point.
5. Assign a name, wait state, and expected result for the verification point and then click OK.
6. In the Select Object dialog box, drag the Object Finder tool over the page until the component you want to test appears in the TestTip.
7. Release the mouse button.
8. If the dialog box is still open, click OK.
9. If the Object Data Tests dialog box appears, select the data test to use and click OK.
10. Complete the verification point as usual.

1. Start Robot.
2. Click Tools > Extension Manager.
3. Verify that Java is selected. If not, select it.
4. To improve the performance of Robot, clear the check boxes of all environments that you do not plan to test.
5. Exit Robot.

1. Start recording in Robot.
2. Navigate to the Web page that contains the element to test.
3. Click the Object Properties Verification Point button on the GUI Insert toolbar.
4. Assign a name, wait state, and expected result for the verification point and then click OK,
5. Select the element to test and then click OK.
6. Click OK to insert the verification point.

1. Add an Object Data verification point.
2. With the Object Finder tool, select HTMLLink to test a text-based link.
3. Select a Contents data test to capture the URL of the destination.
4. Select the Case Sensitive verification method to test for the entire URL. Select the Find Sub String Case Sensitive verification method to test for part of the URL.

1. Add an Object Data verification point.
2. Select the HTMLTable object with the Object Finder tool.
3. Select a Contents data test.
4. Select the Case Sensitive verification method to test for all of the text in the table. Select the Find Sub String Case Sensitive verification method to test for any text item with the table.

1. Start recording in Robot.
2. Navigate to the Web page that contains the elements to test. For example, navigate to the page that is returned after the user submits a page to be processed.
3. Click the Object Data Verification Point button on the GUI Insert toolbar.
4. Assign a name, wait state, and expected result for the verification point and then click OK.
5. In the Select Object dialog box, drag the Object Finder tool over the page until the element that you want to test appears in the TestTip.
6. Release the mouse button and click OK.
7. If the Object Data Test dialog box appears, select the data test to use and click OK.
8. Select the verification method that Robot should use to compare the baseline data captured while recording with the data captured during playback.
9. Click OK.
10. When finished, click the Stop Recording button on the GUI Record toolbar.

1. To insert one or more new columns into the datapool file:
a. Click the row located either just before or just after the location where you want to insert the new datapool column. (Note that the order in which datapool column names are listed in Name determines the order in which values are stored in a datapool record.)
An arrow appears next to the name of the datapool row you clicked.
b. Click either Insert before or Insert after, depending on where you want to insert the datapool column.
c. Type a name for the new datapool column (40 characters maximum).
Make sure there is a script variable of the same name listed in the Configure Datapool in Test Script dialog box. The case of the names must match.
2. For each datapool column in the grid, assign a data type to the column, and modify the default property values for the column as appropriate.
3. When finished defining datapool columns, type a number in the No. of records to generate field.
If a different row has to be retrieved with each fetch, make sure the datapool has at least as many rows as the number of users (and user iterations) that will be requesting rows at runtime.
4. Click Generate Data.
You cannot generate data for a datapool that has more than 150 columns. Alternatively, if you do not want to generate any data now, click Save to save your datapool column definitions, and then click Close.
5. Optionally, click Yes to see a brief summary of the generated data.

1. If the script that will access the datapool is not open for editing, click File > Open > Test Script to open it.
2. Click Edit > Datapool Information to open the Configure Datapool in Test Script dialog box.
3. Either accept the defaults in the Configure Datapool in Test Script dialog box, or make any appropriate changes.
4. When finished making any changes, click Save.
5. Click Edit Existing Data.
6. In the Edit Datapool dialog box, edit datapool values as appropriate.
7. When finished editing datapool values, click Save, and then click Close.

1. Plan the Datapool
- What datapool columns do you need?
- What data type should you assign to each column?
- Do you need to create data types?
2. Generate the code
- Manually add datapool commands to the script
- Match up script variable names with datapool columns
3. Create and Populate the Datapool
- In TestManager, define datapool columns (including assign a data type to each datapool column).
- Generate the data.
- Verify generated data is correct (open back up to view)
- Test with script

1.Problem: During recording, you create a personnel file for a new employee, using the employee’s unique social security number. Each time the script is played back, there is an attempt to create the same personnel file and supply the same social security number. The application rejects the duplicate requests.
Solution: Use a datapool to send different employee data, including unique social security numbers, to the server each time the script is played back.
2. Problem: You delete a record during recording. During playback, each instance and iteration of the script attempts to delete the same record, and Record Not Found errors result.
Solution: Use a datapool to reference a different record in the deletion request each time the script is played back.
3. Problem: The client application reads a database record while you record a script for a performance test. During playback, that same record is read hundreds of times. Because the client application is well designed, it puts the record in cache memory, making its retrieval deceptively fast in subsequent fetches. The response times that the performance test yields will be inaccurate.
Solution: Use a datapool to request a different record each time the script is played back.

A datapool is a test dataset. It supplies data values to the variables in a script during script playback. Datapool’s should be considered whenever multiple records are being sent to the server in a single playback, and you want to send a different record each time.

1. Prepare for playback by restoring the test environment.
2. Set your playback options. You can also set these options after you start playback.
3. Click the Playback Script button on the toolbar.
4. Type a name or select it from the list.
5. To change the playback options, click GUI Options. When finished, click OK.
6. Click OK to continue.
7. If the Specify Log Information dialog box appears, fill in the dialog box and click OK.
8. If a prompt appears asking if you want to overwrite the log, do one of the following:
.Click Yes to overwrite the log.
.Click No to return to the Specify Log Information dialog box. Change the build, log folder, and/or log information.
.Click Cancel to cancel the playback.

Robot uses the Trap utility to detect the occurrence of General Protection Faults (GPF) and the location of offending function calls during playback. If a GPF is detected, Robot updates a log file that provides information about the state of the Windows session that was running.

You can use the Rational diagnostic tools - Rational Purify, Quantify, and PureCoverage - to collect diagnostic information about an application during playback of a Robot script.
After playback, Robot can integrate the diagnostic tool’s results into the Robot log, so that you can view all of the playback results in one place. You can choose to show any combination of errors, warnings, and informational messages. You can then double-click a result in the log to open the script in Robot and the appropriate file in the diagnostic tool.

An unexpected active window is any unplanned window that appears during script playback that prevents the expected window from being made active (for example, an error message from the network or application-under-test). These windows can interrupt playback and cause false failures.

Use the error recovery options to specify how Robot handles script command failures and verification point failures.

1. Open the GUI Playback Options dialog box.
2. Click the Error Recovery tab.
3. To specify what Robot should do if it encounters a failure, click one of the following options under both On script command failure and On verification point failure:
Continue execution - Continues playback of the script.
Skip current script - Terminates playback of the current script. If the script with the failure was called from another script, playback resumes with the command following the CallScript command.
Abort playback - Terminates playback of the current script. If the script with the failure was called from another script, the calling script also terminates.
4. Click OK or change other options.

1. Open the GUI Playback Options dialog box.
2. Click the Wai t State tab.
3. To specify how often Robot checks for the existence of a window, type a number in the Retry test every box.
4. To specify how long Robot waits for a window before it times out, type a number in the Timeout after box.
5. Click OK or change other options.

1. Open the GUI Playback Options dialog box.
2. Click the Log tab.
3. To output the playback results to the log so you can view them, select Output playback results to log.
4. To have the log appear automatically after playback is complete, select View log after playback. If you clear this, you can still view the log after playback by clicking Tools > Rational Test > TestManager, and then opening the log.
5. To have Robot prompt you before it overwrites a log, select Prompt before overwrite log.
6. Click one of the following: Specify log information at playback , displays the Specify Log Information dialog box so that you can specify the build, log folder, and log. Use default log information At playback, uses the same build and log folder that was used during the last playback. Uses the script name as the log name.
7. Click OK or change other options.

. Open the GUI Playback Options dialog box by doing one of the following:
. Before you start playback, click Tools > GUI Playback Options.
. Start playback by clicking the Playback Script button on the toolbar. In the Playback dialog box, click Options.

By synchronizing virtual testers to perform the same activity at the same time, you can make that activity occur at some particular point of interest in your test. Typically, synchronization points that you insert into scripts are used in conjunction with timers to determine the effect of varying workload on the timed activity.

A synchronization point lets you coordinate the activities of a number of virtual testers by pausing the execution of each tester at a particular point