Test Bed Configuration

Configuration Features for Distributed Testing

It is often useful to run the same tests on different platforms. One of the problems faced when you attempt to run the same test case simultaneously on more than one computer is that you probably will need to have separate user ids defined for each computer. If you were just using record and playback techniques it would not be practical to do this. TestMap Extensions gives you the ability to write your test scripts in terms of a named test user. The attributes of this user such as user id, password and anything else you need, can be defined external to the test script in a separate tm_user.ini file.

If your test scripts involve more than one computer, you can use separate test user definitions for each one. The tm_agent.ini file can be used to associate each SilkTest agent with these test users.

You can define a tm_cnfg.ini file for each test bed. It defines a set of directories to manage your test bed. It also defines connection parameters to your databases. The syntax of this file even allows you to define a single cross-platform environment encompassing both UNIX and Windows directories. If needed, multiple host agents may be run in parallel on a single test bed.

The features of these configuration files allow your test scripts to reference them for data that might vary across different test bed configurations. Thus, your test scripts need no changes to run in multiple environments.

Functions for Distributed Testing

TmPickAgent - selects an available agent using a selection mask, and connects to it
TmFreeAgent - disconnects from an agent
TmFreeAllAgents - disconnects from all agents (except the host)
TmGetTestUserData - returns persistent information related to a test user (user id, password, or any other attributes you define) This data is defined in a separate INI file for each of your test beds, allowing scripts to be run with different test users without changing your test scripts.
TmGetActionMode - returns an action mode (keyboard, mouse, menu, hot-key) for the current test user. This allows your scripts to be reused while simulating interface preferences of different types of test users.