Release notes for Rational Functional Tester 10.0.2
This document contains information about new features, system requirements, and known limitations in IBM® Rational® Functional Tester.
Description
IBM Rational Functional Tester is an automated testing tool that tests a broad range of applications, such as:
- HTML5-based web applications built on modern frameworks, such as Angular, React and Vue.js in the latest versions of the world’s popular browsers, both on the desktop and mobile devices
- Legacy HTML applications
- Java™ and .Net-based thick client applications
- ERP systems such as SAP
- IBM zSeries, IBM iSeries, IBM pSeries, and mainframe applications
- Ajax, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Visual Basic, Siebel, Flex, GEF, and PowerBuilder applications
- Adobe PDF documents
You can also import and work with Selenium tests and combine tests of various types into compound tests.
To view the full list of domains, software, and platforms that are supported for functional testing and the compatible versions of Rational products that can be integrated with Rational Functional Tester, see Software Product Compatibility Reports.
To view the list of supported domains, software, and platforms, see the requirements document on the HCL License & Delivery Portal.
Some of the older versions of software supported by Rational Functional Tester are deprecated. To view the list of deprecated software, see http://www.testworkbench-community.com/blogs/technology-currency-updates-for-rational-functional-tester-92.
Integrated Development Environments
Rational Functional Tester is available in two integrated development environments (IDE): Eclipse and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. The Eclipse integration supports both Java and simplified (non-programming) method of scripting while the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET integration supports Microsoft Visual Basic .NET scripting language.
What's new in 10.0.2
Starting from version 10.0.2, a 32-bit Rational Functional Tester installer and a shell-shared installer are also available to install Rational Functional Tester on a 64-bit Windows operating system. See Installing the product on Windows.
- You can now install Rational Functional Tester on Mac OS by using stand-alone and shell-shared installers. See Installing the product on Mac OS.
- Starting from V10.0.2, you can record and playback functional tests on Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox browsers using the JDK shipped with the product.
- You can integrate Rational Functional Tester with Bitbar Cloud in Windows, Linux, or Mac operating systems. To run a Web UI test from the test workbench on an Android or iOS mobile device in Bitbar Cloud, you must enable the Bitbar Cloud environment under Web UI playback preferences. Additionally, you can run Web UI test for Bitbar mobile devices by using an AFT XML file and command-line interface. See Running Web UI tests on Bitbar mobile device cloud.
- You can now enable Startapp infestation for recording and playing back test scripts under Functional Test preferences. The recording and playing back of a test script capture actions of only those applications that are launched through the recording monitor. Startapp infestation does not apply to browsers during the Web UI test playback. See Limit record and playback to StartApp application.
- Starting from Rational Functional Tester V10.0.2, the dataset is replaced by the dataset. You can convert a dataset to a dataset by using an earlier version of Rational Functional Tester. See Dataset overview.
- You can now run only the failed tests from the last execution of the AFT suite instead of running the complete AFT suite in the subsequent runs. You can run only the failed tests either from the application or from the command line. This saves time and eases your work as you can concentrate on the failed tests and take necessary action. In Rational Functional Tester, when you run the AFT suite by using the Run Distributed Test option, you can choose to run only the failed tests by selecting a check box that is available in the confirmation dialog box. The tests are executed in the same browser and agent in which the tests failed. The generated test report contains the details of the failed tests only. See
- As part of the experimental feature, you can now perform the image-based validation for Web UI tests. You can also record and play back the Web UI tests that contain HTML image tags. By using a newly available image property, you can either identify the contents through an image or create a verification point on the image. The images are validated based on the property that you define for each image when you play back the Web UI test. See
- You can now generate a new and an experimental unified report for Web UI tests. You must enable this experimental feature under Preferences before you generate the unified report from Test Navigator. See
- In previous versions of the product, you created the config file manually by adding parameters to it. Now, you can create a command-line config file from Rational Functional Tester by right-clicking the test asset and configuring the required options. See
Installing the product
For installation instructions, see Installing Rational Functional Tester.Rational Functional Tester is available as a standalone product and is also included with Rational Test Workbench. You can use the same license key for each installation.
Known limitations and workarounds
- To upgrade Rational Functional Tester from V10.0.1 to V10.0.2, you must first roll back the product to V10.0.0. Optionally, you can uninstall the existing version of Rational Functional Tester and then install V10.0.2.
- When you upgrade Rational Functional Tester from V10.0.0 to V10.0.1 on RHEL, you can ignore and close the error message, "VM terminated. Exit Code=1", which displays during the installation to proceed as it does not have any impact on the product functionality.
- When you install Rational Functional Tester V10.0.1 by using the launchpad program, a script error is displayed. You must close the dialog box to proceed with the installation.
- Known problems are documented in the fix list and download document. Select a fix list from http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27036170. From the fix list, you can view the download document for additional information.
- Known problems are also documented in the form of individual technotes in the Support Knowledge Base. For more information, see All technotes for Rational Functional Tester.
- This product includes context sensitive help and a product Welcome, which, in turn, include links to the information center help. These links only work while the correct version of the information center help is open.
- Rational Functional Tester only supports recording Silverlight applications on 32 bit Internet Explorer.
- Recording actions on the drop-down list of a RibbonFilterMenu is not supported.
- When you record the tool bar buttons in Adobe Reader 10.0 and 11.0, the action is recorded based on the position of the button, click(atPoint(x,y)).
- When you record on a PDF file that is opened in a Mozilla Firefox browser, you must first record actions in the browser and then begin the recording on the PDF file.
- Playback fails when only the find() API is used to locate objects. As a workaround, click the captured object first and then play back.
- In Rational Functional Tester Microsoft Studio Integration, the PDF crashes during the playback, following a few clicks.
Rational Functional Tester playback displays an unexpected message in the console
After playing back a script in Rational Functional Tester, a message such as the following is displayed in the console: The IBM Class Sharing Adaptor will not work in this configuration. You are not running on a J9 Java VM. This message is displayed because the version of Eclipse that is used in the IDE is from IBM and has the IBM Java optimizations enabled. To resolve the issue:
- Navigate to the Rational Functional Tester Plugins Shared Folder.
- Back up the com.ibm.cds plugin and delete it.
- Restart Rational Functional Tester.
- An Oracle Java Runtime Environment (JRE) must be installed and enabled for testing Google Chrome.
- Clearcase integration is only supported with a 32-bit installation of Rational Functional Tester.
- For testing 32-bit applications on Linux, Rational Functional Tester must be installed with 32-bit architecture.
- For testing 64-bit applications on Linux, Rational Functional Tester must be installed with 64-bit architecture.
- Mac OS is supported on agent computers only in Rational Functional Tester 9.2.
- With parallel test execution in 9.2.1, mobile devices are sometimes listed twice in the Run Test wizard, once for running the test with Chrome, and once for using the generic browser that is included with Rational Functional Tester. Be sure to select only one or the other. Parallel execution on an individual mobile device is not supported.
- When running mobile Web UI tests with Safari on iOS devices, tests containing JavaScript alerts fail to run. This is a core framework limitation.
Contacting IBM Software Support
IBM Software Support provides you with technical assistance.
For FAQs, lists of known problems and fixes, and other support information, visit the product support page for Rational Functional Tester software.
For product news, events, and other information, visit the product home page for Rational Functional Tester Software at https://www.ibm.com/us-en/marketplace/rational-functional-tester.
Before you contact IBM Software Support, gather the background information that you need to describe your problem. When you are describing a problem to an IBM Software Support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:
- What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
- Do you have logs, traces, or messages that are related to the problem?
- Can you reproduce the problem? If so, what steps do you take to reproduce it?
- Is there a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to describe the workaround.
Contacting HCL Support
HCL Customer Support provides you with technical assistance.
Before you contact HCL support, gather the background information that you will need to describe your problem. When describing a problem to an HCL support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:
- What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
- Do you have logs, traces, or messages that are related to the problem?
- Can you reproduce the problem? If so, what steps do you take to reproduce it?
- Is there a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to describe the workaround.