Release notes for Rational Functional Tester 9.2.1

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 top 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.

Note: The ability to test HTML 5-based applications is available in the Eclipse environment, but not in the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET environment.

What's new in version 9.2.1

  • Ability to run multiple tests using the Ant plugin for Rational Functional Tester. See Testing with Ant.
  • Ability to use industry-standard mobile browsers, such as Chrome and Safari, to run Web UI tests for mobile web applications. You can run tests with Chrome on Android devices and emulators and with Safari on iOS devices and simulators. This capability uses Appium to actually run the tests. Before 9.2.1, you could only run tests on mobile devices using the generic browser that is bundled with Rational Functional Tester. See Running a Web UI test using industry-standard mobile browsers.
  • Ability to use pre-built Docker images to deploy the workbench and agents and start testing right away, with no need to install the product and the agents on different machines. See Testing with Docker images.
  • Cucumber integration has been enhanced with better reporting and a simplified approach to Cucumber dependencies. See Testing with Cucumber.
  • A new check box in the User Action Details section of the Test Editor to perform the Click, Hover, and Press Enter object actions asynchronously. By using this option, you can perform more robust tests that run reliably in test automation scenarios.
  • Ability to use Guided Healing for variables and verification points. You can delete and replace snapshots and hierarchies for multiple selected steps.
  • Ability to compare multiple reports and view the trend of a test from the Reporting dashboard of Rational Test Control Panel. See Actions in the reporting dashboard.
  • Ability to integrate with HCL OneTest Data to automatically generate data when creating a datapool. See Using HCL OneTest Data.

Installing the product

To install Rational Functional Tester 9.2.1, first uninstall any previous installations of Rational Functional Tester. Then, use the Install procedure in IBM Installation Manager to install 9.2.1.

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.

Installing .NET 2010 help

If you installed Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 .NET Integration, you must install Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 .NET help manually.

  1. After you install Rational Functional Tester Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 .NET Integration, open Rational Functional Tester, click Help and then click Manage Help Settings. This opens the Visual Studio Help Library Manager.
  2. Select the Install content from disk option.
  3. Click Browse and select the helpcontentsetup.msha file that is available by default in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\HelpLibrary\VS2010\ C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\HelpLibrary\VS2010\. The help manifest files for other translations are found within the locale folders available in the VS2010 directory. Click Next.
  4. Select FT and click Add. The Update button is enabled.
  5. Click Update. You are prompted to confirm the installation. Click Yes. The Rational Functional Tester .NET help is installed as local help for Visual Studio 2010.
Note: To view the Rational Functional Tester .NET Scripting help in the Visual Studio 2010 IDE, you must enable the local help option in the Help Library Manager.

Tip: To view the complete table of contents of the installed local help in the Visual Studio 2010 IDE, install the Visual Studio Help Keyword Index plug-in that is available from the Microsoft website. Alternatively, you can upgrade to Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 to view help in the Microsoft Help Viewer.

Known limitations and workarounds

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 at Troubleshooting documentation for Rational Functional Tester. As problems are discovered and resolved, the knowledge base is updated. By searching the knowledge base, you can quickly find workarounds or solutions to problems.

Viewing help topics from the context sensitive help and the product Welcome
  • 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.

Adobe Flex support

  • Testing Flex applications are supported only on 32-bit browsers.
  • Testing Flex applications are not supported on Mozilla Firefox 17.0 and later or on Google Chrome.
  • While taking a data verification point on multiple selected elements of a Flex list control, not all selected values are picked up.
  • Insert Test Object does not work for Flex and SparkFormControl.
  • It is not possible to play back actions that are recorded on the vertical scroll bar of a SparkList.
Microsoft Silverlight support
  • Rational Functional Tester only supports recording Silverlight applications on 32 bit Internet Explorer.
Microsoft .NET 4.5 support
  • Recording actions on the drop-down list of a RibbonFilterMenu is not supported.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate support
  • This limitation only applies to 64-bit versions of Windows. If you face any errors related to the loading of the package while creating a project in Rational Functional Tester, Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate Integration, download and install any missing dependencies (for example, msvcp80.dll and msvcr80.dll). Then, create a project.
PDF 9.0, 10.0 and 11.0 file testing support
  • When you record the tool bar buttons in Adode Reader 10.0 and 11.0, the action is recorded based on the position of the button which is read as 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:

  1. Navigate to the Rational Functional Tester Plugins Shared Folder.
  2. Back up the com.ibm.cds plugin and delete it.
  3. Restart Rational Functional Tester.
Other limitations and workarounds
  • To enable Google Chrome for testing, the extension must be installed from the Chrome Web Store.
  • 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 an Appium 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 at http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/functional/support/.

For product news, events, and other information, visit the product home page for Rational Functional Tester Software at http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/functional/index.html.

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.