In order to understand what we are learning, we must know the keywords that we use frequently to describe something in Software Testing. Without knowing what we are talking about, understanding the information is like trying to understand a foreign language you’ve never heard of before. But in order to understand that foreign language, we must learn the meanings of its words. The same applies to any form of communication; even Software Testing.
Table of Contents
What is an Object?
An Object is any GUI (Graphic User Interface) element of a application that a user can interact with. Like a button, or table, or hyperlink.
What is a Property?
A Property is something that describes an Object. For example, a cat can be described as small, yellow, furry, cute. Likewise, an Object’s property can be described as Class Name, abs_x and abs_y (x y coordinates), class, height, html tag, html id, etc.
What is a Value?
A Value is something that describes a Property. For example, the Property Class Name can be described as a Web Button, and the Property abs_x abs_y can be described with 840 & 391 (pixel coordinates).
So to summarize: a Value describes a Property, a Property describes an Object, and an Object is any element or part of a (web) application.
What is an Object Class?
An “Object Class” is another way to say a “Type of Object”. Daily life example: Jazz, Hip-Hop, Heavy Metal, and Classical are all types of musics. Likewise the Link, Image, Browser, WebButton, etc. are Test Object Classes. In other words, they are types of Test Objects.
What is a Runtime Object?
Runtime Objects are objects that are displayed in your AUT while you are playing back your script. The information about these objects can be accessed using Object Spy.
In other words, the Runtime Object are the objects you can find on the running application that you are currently testing.
What is a Test Object?
Test Objects are the objects stored during a recording. Test Objects are classes in QTP that represent the objects in your application that is being tested. The Test Object is stored in the Object Repository. You can also see the Test Object classes for any particular environment in the Object Identification window.
In other words, a Test Object is the collection of information (like properties and their values) of a runtime object. This information, or Test objects, is used by QTP to identify the objects of a running application (runtime objects).
Test Object vs. Runtime Object
So if you look at the Object Repository window, it lists the test objects for you. So there is an OK button which is a winbutton; the OK is an object. But the OK object on the application is not the same as the OK object on the Object Repository. The Object shown in Object Repository is the Test Object. The Test Object refers to the information collected and stored about the actual object from the application.
The object you can see on the application is the true, real, actual object and is called the Runtime Object.
To Re-iterate: The Test Object refers to the information of the object stored in the Object Repository. Whereas the Runtime Object refers to the actual object on the application.
QTP uses the test objects to identify and recognize the Runtime objects of the application.
What is AUT?
AUT stands for Application Under Test. In other words, I believe it is the application you are currently testing.
Any thing on the page of the application that u can interact with is an object and by using Object Spy tool we can deter the property and value of the same.