Image Objectsquishinfo ObjecttestSettings ObjectThis section introduces the APIs that Squish provides in addition to the standard features of the scripting languages it supports. The Squish APIs provide the facilities that test engineers need to test GUI applications, and offer a wide range of functionality, from interacting with AUT objects, to recording information in test logs, performing verifications, controlling the AUT, and more.
Here are some quick links to the Squish API functions (not including the Squish objects or the toolkit-specific convenience functions):
Many of the APIs' functions apply to particular objects, so being able to identify the object of interest is particularly important.
Squish provides several naming schemes, but the ones normally used are symbolic names and real names. Symbolic names are the most robust in the face of AUT changes, but real names can sometimes be more convenient to use. See How to Identify and Access Objects (Section 13.1) for more about names.
For Qt programs the easiest and most reliable way of identifiying an
object in code is to set an object name in C++ for all the objects of
interest (using the
QObject::setObjectName method), and then in test scripts use a
real (multi-property) name specifying the object's
objectName and its type. For example:
textEdit = findObject("{objectName='ConfigEditor' type='QTextEdit'}")
var textEdit = findObject("{objectName='ConfigEditor' type='QTextEdit'}");
my $textEdit = findObject("{objectName='ConfigEditor' type='QTextEdit'}");
set textEdit [findObject "{objectName='ConfigEditor' type='QTextEdit'}"]
In practice it would be tedious to give every single widget a unique object name (and currently only Qt supports it), so this approach is most often used when there are two or more identical widgets in the same form. For those toolkits that don't have object names we can use introspection when there are two or more identical widgets. (Examples of both approaches are given in the User Guide (Chapter 13).)
The most common situation is where we need to identify unnamed objects. This can be done using symbolic names or by matching an object's unique set of property values. The necessary information can be obtained using the Spy tool (How to Use the Spy (Section 13.19.3)). This tool can provide an object's symbolic name and its property-based (real) name. Another approach is to create a dummy test, interact with the objects of interest and then look in Squish's object map to see the names that Squish uses, and copy any that are needed.
Here's an example that shows both approaches for finding an unnamed
object of type QTextEdit. The object is in a
QMainWindow whose title is "My App":
# symbolic name
textEdit = waitForObject(":MyApp_QTextEdit")
# real (multi-property) name
textEdit = waitForObject("{type='QTextEdit' unnamed='1' " +
"visible='1' window=':MyApp_MainWindow'}")
// symbolic name
var textEdit = waitForObject(":MyApp_QTextEdit");
// real (multi-property) name
var textEdit = waitForObject("{type='QTextEdit' unnamed='1' " +
"visible='1' window=':MyApp_MainWindow'}");
# symbolic name
my $textEdit = waitForObject(":MyApp_QTextEdit");
# real (multi-property) name
my $textEdit = waitForObject("{type='QTextEdit' unnamed='1' " .
"visible='1' window=':MyApp_MainWindow'}");
# symbolic name
set textEdit [waitForObject ":MyApp_QTextEdit"]
# real (multi-property) name
set textEdit [waitForObject "{type='QTextEdit' unnamed='1' \
visible='1' window=':MyApp_MainWindow'}"]
The waitForObject function waits for the
identified object to be ready (visible and enabled) and then returns a
reference to it.
On the whole it is best to use symbolic names since they are more robust
in the face of AUT changes, since they only require us to update the Object Map (Section 15.9) rather than our test script code if an object's
properties change. (Note that for most GUI toolkits the
type property is mandatory when using real names.)
Squish objects blend in seamlessly with the scripting language's native objects. This means that you can use standard language features to construct objects of the wrapped types, invoke member functions, and get, set, and iterate over properties on these objects.
Here are some simple examples; many more examples are shown in the User Guide (Chapter 13).
# create an object of type QPoint
point = QPoint(10, 20)
# read a widget's width property
width = widget.width
# set widget's y-coordinate property
widget.y = 240
# call a member function
widget.setWindowTitle("My Widget")
# call a static function
QApplication.setOverrideCursor(Qt.WaitCursor)
// create an object of type QPoint
var point = new QPoint(10, 20);
// read a widget's width property
var width = widget.width;
// set widget's y-coordinate property
widget.y = 240;
// call a member function
widget.setWindowTitle("My Widget");
// call a static function
QApplication.setOverrideCursor(Qt.WaitCursor);
# create an object of type QPoint
my $point = new QPoint(10, 20);
# read a widget's width property
my $width = widget->width;
# set widget's y-coordinate property
$widget->y(240);
# call a member function
$widget->setWindowTitle("My Widget");
# call a static function
QApplication::setOverrideCursor(Qt::WaitCursor);
# create an object of type QPoint set point [construct QPoint 10 20] # read a widget's width property set width [property get $widget width] # set widget's y-coordinate property property set $widget y 240 # call a member function invoke $widget setWindowTitle "My Widget" # call a static function invoke QApplication setOverrideCursor [enum Qt WaitCursor]
For Tcl we must use the enum function to get enum values.
(See Tcl Notes (Section 14.13).)
The function names in the scripting language API use the following
convention: each colon (:) in the selector name is replaced
by an underscore (_). So, for example, the
+stringWithCString:encoding: selector becomes the script
function stringWithCString_encoding_ (note the underscore
at the end of the function).
Here are some examples to illustrate the usage.
# create an object of type NSString and initialize it with a value
s = NSString.alloc()
s.initWithUTF8String_('Ambient')
# read an object's intValue property
n = acontrol.intValue
# set an object's intValue property
acontrol.intValue = 33
# call an instance method
s.characterAtIndex_(1)
# call a class method
s = NSString.stringWithCString_encoding_("Zenith", 4)
// create an object of type NSString and initialize it with a value
var s = NSString.alloc();
s.initWithUTF8String_('Ambient');
// read an object's intValue property
var n = acontrol.intValue;
// set an object's intValue property
acontrol.intValue = 33;
// call an instance method
s.characterAtIndex_(1);
// call a class method
s = NSString.stringWithCString_encoding_("Zenith", 4);
# create an object of type NSString and initialize it with a value
my $s = NSString.alloc();
$s->initWithUTF8String_('Ambient');
# read an object's intValue property
my $n = $acontrol->intValue;
# set an object's intValue property
$acontrol->intValue(33);
# call an instance method
$s->characterAtIndex_(1);
# call a class method
$s = NSString::stringWithCString_encoding_("Zenith", 4);
# create an object of type NSString and initialize it with a value set s [NSString alloc] invoke $s initWithUTF8String_ 'Ambient' # read an object's intValue property set n [property get $acontrol intValue] # set an object's intValue property property set $acontrol intValue 33 # call an instance method invoke $s characterAtIndex_ 1 # call a class method set s [invoke NSString stringWithCString_encoding_ "Zenith" 4]
This function finds and returns (a reference to) the object identified
by the symbolic or real (multi-property) name
objectName or raises a LookupError
exception if no such object can be found. This function is best used for
non-visible objects. For visible objects it is much better to use the
waitForObject function instead.
This function takes an object reference (as
returned by the findObject function or by
the waitForObject function), and returns a
list of the object's child objects. The return type
is scripting language-specific, e.g., a tuple in Python, and an array in
the other languages. Examples are given below.
obj = waitForObject(":MyWidget")
children = object.children(obj)
# iterate over tuple
for child in children:
...
var obj = waitForObject(":MyWidget");
var children = object.children(obj);
// iterate over array
for (var i = 0; i < children.length; ++i) {
var child = children[i];
...
}
my $obj = waitForObject(":MyWidget");
my @children = object::children($obj);
# iterate over array
foreach $child (@children) {
...
}
set obj [waitForObject ":MyWidget"]
set children [object children $obj]
foreach child $children {
...
}
This function returns a true value if the object with the symbolic or
real (multi-property) name objectName exists;
otherwise it returns a false value.
If you know that a particular object exists and you just want to access
it (for example, to examine its properties or to perform an action on it
or with it), then use the waitForObject
function if the object is visible; or use the findObject function if the object is hidden.
This function takes an object reference (as
returned by the findObject function or by
the waitForObject function), and returns a
key–value map that holds all of the
object's properties. The keys are property names
and the values are the property values. The return type is scripting
language-specific, e.g., a Python dict, a JavaScript array, or a Perl
hash. Examples are given below.
For Tcl the data is written to an array whose name must be given as an
additional parameter. The same array should not be used in a second or
subsequent call unless you call array unset
on it before each use.
widget = waitForObject(":MyWidget")
properties = object.properties(widget)
# Best to use .iteritems(), .iterkeys(), or .itervalues() in Python 2
for name, value in properties.iteritems():
test.log("%s = %s" % (name, value))
var widget = waitForObject(":MyWidget");
var properties = object.properties(widget);
for (var name in properties) {
test.log(name + " = " + properties[name]);
}
my $widget = waitForObject(":MyWidget");
my %properties = object::properties($widget);
while (($name, $value) = each(%properties)) {
test::log("$name = $value");
}
This function returns a list of all of the AUT's top-level objects. The return type is scripting language-specific, e.g., a tuple in Python, and an array in the other languages. Examples are given below.
topLevels = object.topLevelObjects()
# iterate over tuple
for obj in topLevels:
children = object.children(obj)
...
var topLevels = object.topLevelObjects();
// iterate over array
for (var i = 0; i < topLevels.length; ++i) {
var obj = topLevels[i];
var children = object.children(obj)
...
}
my @topLevels = object::topLevelObjects();
# iterate over array
foreach $obj (@topLevels) {
my @children = object::children(obj)
...
}
set topLevels [object topLevelObjects]
foreach obj $topLevels {
set children [object children $obj]
...
}
The condition is a piece of code to evaluate,
normaly passed as a string, and that is expected to return a Boolean value.
The waitFor function loops one or more times, and on each
iteration it executes the condition code and
reads its return value. After each execution, if the
condition code's return value is
true, waitFor will finish and return
true. Otherwise, the waitFor function will
perform another iteration, that is, execute the
condition code again, and again check its return
value, repeating endlessly—or until the
condition code returns true, in
which case waitFor will finish and return
true.
This function is designed as a quick and easy way to poll for a
condition in the AUT, where each condition
execution takes a very short time (typically a fraction of a second),
and always returns true or false. This is
useful if you want to synchronize your script execution to a certain
state in the AUT.
See How to Create and Use Synchronization Points (Section 13.9) for examples of use.
Boolean waitFor(condition, timeoutMSec);
The condition is a piece of code to evaluate,
normaly passed as a string, and that is expected to return a Boolean
value. The waitFor function loops one or more times, and
on each iteration it executes the condition code
and reads its return value. After each execution, if the
condition code's return value is
true, waitFor will finish and return
true. If the condition code returned
false, the waitFor function checks to see if
the time it has been running has exceeded the
timeoutMSec—if it has,
waitFor finishes and returns false;
otherwise it does another iteration, starting with another execution of
the condition code.
This function is designed as a quick and easy way to poll for a
condition in the AUT, where each condition
execution takes a very short time (typically a fraction of a second),
and always returns true or false. This is
useful if you want to synchronize your script execution to a certain
state in the AUT.
See How to Create and Use Synchronization Points (Section 13.9) for examples of use.
Waits for a new application to start up, which Squish then hooks into. If the hooking succeeds it returns an ApplicationContext object representing the application that was started. This is used by Squish for test scripts which access multiple applications which are started by the AUT. (See also, Application Context (Section 14.3.11).)
Waits until the objectOrName object is accessible
(i.e., it exists and is visible and enabled). It returns a reference to
the object if successful or raises a (catchable)
LookupError exception on failure, i.e., if the function
times out. The function waits for a maximum of 20 seconds or if
the optional timeoutMSec parameter is used, that
many milliseconds. This function is useful if you want to synchronize your
script execution.
This function is only suitable for objects that are (or become) visible;
for non-visible objects use the findObject
function instead. And if you only want to know if an object exists, use
the object.exists function.
The function can also perform additional custom actions if required. This
is achieved by defining a function called
waitUntilObjectReady that takes a single argument (the
object), which it may use or ignore. If a
waitUntilObjectReady function is defined, whenever the
waitForObject function is called, in addition to its
normal actions it will also call the custom
waitUntilObjectReady function, with the object being
waited for as argument. (For an example of use, see the AJAX loading
example in the How to Synchronize Web Page Loading for Testing (Section 13.3.7) section.)
Waits until the objectOrName object is accessible
(i.e., it exists and is visible and enabled), and contains an item that
is identified by the itemText and that is itself
accessible. This function is typically used to access items inside
containers such as lists, tables, and trees.
This is an extension to the waitForObject
function for those widgets that contain their own items. On success, for
Java, Qt, and Windows, this function returns a reference to the
item (and, of course, items are objects, so the
returned reference can be used with any other Squish function that
accepts an object as argument). For the other Squish versions (e.g.,
Web), it returns a reference to the object identified by the
objectOrName (not the item!). In all cases, the
function raises a (catchable) LookupError exception on
failure, i.e., if it times out. The function waits for a maximum of 20
seconds or if the optional timeoutMSec parameter
is used, that many milliseconds.
This function moves the mouse to position x and
y relative to the top-left of the
objectOrName widget if one is specified, or
relative to the current screen otherwise.
This function is useful if you want to trigger events that need the mouse to be at a particular position. For example, tooltips normally only appear when the mouse is over a certain area.
There are toolkit-specific versions of this function that may have
different arguments:
mouseMove (Java) and
mouseMove (Mac OS X).
This function performs a mouse press. All the parameters are optional excepting that either both or neither of the coordinates must be present.
If x and y coordinates are
given, the press takes place at those coordinates, either relative to the
objectOrName object if one is specified, or
relative to the current screen otherwise. If no coordinates are given
the press takes place on the middle of the
objectOrName object if one is specified, or
wherever the mouse happens to be otherwise.
By default MouseButton.LeftButton is used, but this can be
changed by specifying the optional mouseButton
argument. Similarly a default modifier state of no modifiers is used,
but this can be changed by specifying the
modifierState argument. See Squish API Function Parameters for which values are valid for
the mouseButton argument and for the
modifierState argument.
There is a toolkit-specific version of this function that may have
different arguments:
mousePress (Windows).
This function performs a mouse release. All the parameters are optional excepting that either both or neither of the coordinates must be present.
If x and y coordinates are
given, the release takes place at those coordinates, either relative to the
objectOrName object if one is specified, or
relative to the current screen otherwise. If no coordinates are given
the release takes place on the middle of the
objectOrName object if one is specified, or
wherever the mouse happens to be otherwise.
By default MouseButton.LeftButton is used, but this can be
changed by specifying the optional mouseButton
argument. Similarly a default modifier state of no modifiers is used,
but this can be changed by specifying the
modifierState argument. See Squish API Function Parameters for which values are valid for
the mouseButton argument and for the
modifierState argument.
There is a toolkit-specific version of this function that may have
different arguments:
mouseRelease (Windows).
This function returns the object's class name as
a string.
(A suitable object can be obtained using the waitForObject function or the
findObject function.)
![]() | Python-specific |
|---|---|
This function is only available to Python test scripts; for other script
languages use the |
This function returns a true value if the object
is null (e.g., a null-pointer in C++); otherwise it returns a false
value.
(A suitable object can be obtained using the waitForObject function or the
findObject function.)
This function returns the object's class name as
a string.
(A suitable object can be obtained using the waitForObject function or the
findObject function.)
For objects that are created in test scripts, this is their
actual type name. For widgets and other application objects, Squish
tries to return the correct type name, and if that isn't possible,
returns "Object", the name of Squish's generic object type, instead.
JavaScript, Perl, and Tcl scripts should always return the correct type
name. Python scripts usually return "Object" for application objects,
but Squish's API for Python includes the className function, which returns the correct
class name of the object it is given, whether that object is created in
a test script or is an application object.
Casts the object to the given
type and returns a reference to that object, or
to a new copy of the object if the object is of
an immutable type. (A suitable object can be obtained using the waitForObject function or the findObject function.) The desired
type can be specified either by name (as a
string) or by using a type object.
For mutable objects the object itself is
modified. If the cast fails, 0 is returned.
See Event Handlers for Specific Objects (Section 13.8.3) for an example of use.
The compare, verify, and exception functions are used to record the results of tests applied to a running AUT in Squish's test log as passes or fails. The other functions can be used to programmatically record any kind of test results in the test log. (See also, the Verification Point Creator view (Section 16.2.19) and How to Create and Use Verification Points (Section 13.20).)
This function grabs an image of the screen the AUT is running on and saves it to disk. The filename should have a suffix denoting the image format to be used. Here's an example of use that is legal in Python, JavaScript, and Perl:
saveDesktopScreenshot("screen.png");
And for Tcl:
saveDesktopScreenshot "screen.png"
This function compares value1 and
value2, and if they are equal, a test result of
type PASS is added to the test log and this function returns a true
value. Otherwise a test result of type FAIL is added to the test log and
a false value is returned.
If the optional message parameter (of type
string—e.g., a comment, bug number, or test plan reference)
is present, it will be added to the test result no matter whether the
test passed or failed.
This function
excecutes the code passed as a string in code,
expecting it to raise an exception. If an exception is raised a test
result of type PASS is added to the test log and
this function returns a true value. Otherwise a test result of
type FAIL is added to the test log and a false value is returned.
If the optional message parameter (of type
string—e.g., a comment, bug number, or test plan reference)
is present, it will be added to the test result no matter whether the
test passed or failed.
This function unconditionally adds a FAIL entry to Squish's test log
with the given message string, and with the
detail string, if one is given.
This function unconditionally adds a FATAL entry to Squish's test log
with the given message string, and with the
detail string, if one is given.
This function unconditionally adds a LOG entry to Squish's test log
with the given message string, and with the
detail string, if one is given.
This function unconditionally adds a PASS entry to Squish's test log
with the given message string, and with the
detail string, if one is given.
![]() | Python-specific |
|---|---|
Since |
This function evaluates the condition and if it
evaluates to a true value (e.g., true or 1), a test result
of type PASS is added to the test log. Otherwise a result of type FAIL
is added to the test log. In either case the function returns the result
of evaluating the condition, (i.e., a true value
on PASS and a false value on FAIL).
If the optional message parameter (of type
string—e.g., a comment, bug number, or test plan reference)
is present, it will be added to the test result whether the test passed
or failed.
This function executes the verification point called
name. If the verification point references a data
set, the record parameter is used to identify the
record in the data set that should be used.
If the verification point's comparison succeeds, a test result
of type PASS is added to the test log and this function returns a true
value. Otherwise a result of type FAIL is added to the test log and a
false value is returned.
This function unconditionally adds a WARNING entry to Squish's test
log with the given message string, and with the
detail string, if one is given.
This function is used to handle expected failures in test scripts.
The function compares value1 and
value2, and if they are not
equal, a test result of type XFAIL (eXpected FAILure) is added to the
test log and this function returns a false value. Otherwise a test result
of type XPASS (uneXpected PASS) is added to the test log and a true
value is returned.
If the optional message parameter (of type
string—e.g., a comment, bug number, or test plan reference)
is present, it will be added to the test result whether the test passed
or failed.
This function is used to test for expected failures in test scripts.
The function evaluates the condition and if it
evaluates to a false value (e.g., anything that isn't true
or that's non-zero), a test result of type XFAIL (eXpected FAILure) is
added to the test log. Otherwise a test result of type XPASS (uneXpected
PASS) is added. In either case the function returns the result of
evaluating the condition, (i.e., a false value on
XFAIL and a true value on XPASS).
If the optional message parameter (of type
string—e.g., a comment, bug number, or test plan reference)
is present, it will be added to the test result whether the test passed
or failed.
Squish can handle tabular data (rows and columns—or in database terminology, records and fields). With respect to Squish's data handling functions, we use the terms “row” and “record” as synonyms, and similarly, “column” and “field”.
Squish can read in test data from .tsv
(tab-separated values format), .csv
(comma-separated values format), and .xls
(Microsoft® Excel™ spreadsheet format—but
not .xlsx format) files. In
the case of .csv and .tsv
files, Squish assumes that they use the Unicode UTF-8
encoding—the same encoding used for all test scripts.
![]() | Data Row Indexing |
|---|---|
In the Squish IDE, the first row of data is used for the headers, with row indexes shown counting from 1. However, the functions listed in this subsection use 0-based indexing, so the first record is at row 0, the second record at row 1, and so on. (And in fact the headers are accessible at row index -1.) |
The test data functions are used for data-driven and keyword-driven testing. For examples of data-driven testing see the Tutorials, and for examples of keyword-driven testing see How to Do Keyword-Driven Testing (Section 13.14).
This function returns the name of a file you can write to. If the
where parmeter is "shared", the
filename will have a path that locates the file in the test suite's
shared test data directory
(test_suite/shared/testdata/filename),
and if the where is "local" the
filename will have a path that locates the file in the test suite's,
test case's test data directory
(test_suite/tst_case/testdata/filename).
This function is designed to be used when you are running a script in a “learning” mode and want to create test data dynamically.
This function (along with the testData.fieldNames and
testData.field functions), is used for data-driven and
keyword-driven testing.
The testData.dataset function returns a
dataset object that refers to an array or tuple of
records. The data is retrieved from the file specified by the
filename—providing the data is in one of
the file formats that Squish recognizes.
The normal practice is for the filename to be
given without a path (e.g., mydata.csv). In this
case, Squish first tries to find the file in the test case's data
(i.e., in the test case's testdata folder if it has
one). If that fails, Squish next tries looking in the test suite's
shared data folder (i.e., in the test suite's
shared/testdata folder). If the file isn't found
(or is found but cannot be read or understood), Squish throws a
catchable exception. If the filename is specified
with a path (e.g., C:\mydata\mydata.csv), then
Squish tries to read that specific file and throws a catchable
exception if the file doesn't exist or isn't in a format that Squish
can understand.
The field names and field values can be retrieved using the functions described below.
This function returns a true value if a file called
filename exists in the AUT's current working
directory; otherwise it returns a false value.
This function returns the value of the field specified by the given
fieldName string or the given
fieldIndex integer, taken from the specified
record (i.e., from a particular row from
the dataset returned by the
testData.dataset function).
See Example 13.14, “Extracts from the Shared Scripts” in the User's
Guide for usage examples—in particular the
compareTableWithDataFile function.
This function returns an array or tuple of field names for the specified
record (i.e., from a particular row from
the dataset returned by the
testData.dataset function).
This function copies the file called filename
from the AUT's current working directory to the test case's directory.
This function removes the file called filename
from the AUT's current working directory.
If the filename is specified without a path, this
function copies the test data file called
filename from the test case's directory into the
AUT's current working directory. If the filename
is specified with a path, this function copies the specified file into
the AUT's current working directory. When the AUT is terminated the
copied test data file is automatically deleted.
Note that if multiple AUTs are involved—for example, if one AUT
starts another program—the deletion occurs when the program in
whose context the call to the testData.put function was
made is terminated.
For information about manipulating the Object Map using the Squish IDE see the Object Map view (Section 16.2.9). For more about Object Maps in use see Object Map (Section 15.9).
This function adds the given object to the object
map. (A suitable object can be obtained using the waitForObject function or the findObject function.)
This function loads an object map from the given
filename and uses it to
replace the current object map. If the file does
not exist, an exception is raised and the current object map is left
unchanged.
This function returns the real (multi-property) name for the given
object, or for the object with the given
symbolicName.
This function returns the symbolic name for the given
object, or for the object with the given
(multi-property) realName. If the
realName is incorrect it will simply be returned;
no exception will be raised.
This function returns an array (a tuple in Python) containing all the mapped symbolic names. The returned names are in an arbitrary order.
Every AUT that is started by Squish has a corresponding
ApplicationContext object. These objects provide the
following properties and functions. (For examples of use see How to Use ApplicationContext Objects (Section 13.10.2).)
Here are some quick links to the Application Context-related functions, methods and properties:
This function returns a handle to the application context object with the given name.
![]() | Tcl-specific |
|---|---|
When using the Tcl scripting language, this function is called
|
This read-only property holds the command line that the application was started with.
This read-only property holds the application's current working directory.
This function returns the value of the AUT process environment variable
called name or an empty string if no such
environment variable exists.
This read-only property holds the host the AUT is running on.
This function returns a false value if the application responds before
the timeout (in seconds) expired; otherwise it
returns a true value.
This read-only property holds true if the application is
still running; otherwise it holds false.
This read-only property holds the application's name.
This read-only property holds the application's process identifier.
This read-only property holds the port used by the squishserver that started the AUT.
This function reads and returns everything which the application has
written to the stderr stream since the last call to
readStderr, or since the application started if there has
been no previous call.
This function reads and returns everything which the application has
written to the stdout stream since the last call to
readStdout, or since the application started if there has
been no previous call.
This read-only property holds the time when the application was started. (The property's data type varies depending on the scripting language used.)
This read-only property holds the number of bytes of memory used by the application.
This function returns an array (a tuple in Python) of handles to all the existing application contexts.
This function causes Squish to attach to the application called
autName and returns a handle to its application
context. The autName must be the name of an
application that has been registered with the squishserver as an
attachable AUT. (See Configuring squishserver (Section 15.4.2.3).) No command line options can be
given since the application should already be running.
This function has the same optional arguments as the startApplication function. If the host and port
are specified they refer to the machine where the squishserver is
running—and this is not the host and port
where the attachable AUT is running. The AUT's host
and port can be specified when the AUT is registered with the
squishserver (see Register the AUT (Section 15.7.2.3)).
If attaching fails (e.g,. because the AUT is not running), this function throws an exception that can be caught in the test script. If the exception is not caught an error will be logged as an error in the test script's execution.
See Attaching to Running Applications (Section 15.7.2) for more information.
This function returns a handle to the current application context.
This function returns a handle to the default application context. It is
more reliable to use the currentApplicationContext function instead.
This function can be used to change the current application context. The
contextHandle object is a handle to an
application context that has been returned by the any of the functions
that return one—applicationContextList,
attachToApplication,
defaultApplicationContext,
currentApplicationContext, and
startApplication.
If the argument is omitted the default context is activated.
If the contextHandle object is invalid—for
example, if it refers to an application that has crashed—a catchable
exception (TypeError in Python), will be thrown.
This function starts the specified application and returns a handle
to its application context. The aut parameter
must be the name of an application whose path is already registered with
the squishserver. (See Configuring squishserver (Section 15.4.2.3)) In
addition to the application name, command line options can be included
in the string passed to this function.
Optionally, as second and third parameters a host
and port can be specified. If these parameters
are used, instead of connecting to the default host and port (as
specified in the Squish IDE's settings or on squishrunner's command line), a
connection to the squishserver on the specified host and listening to
the specified port will be established. This makes it possible to
control multiple applications on multiple computers from a single test
script.
The fourth parameter, timeoutSecs (an integer
number of seconds) can also be specifed. This tells Squish how long it
should be prepared to wait for the application to start before throwing
an error. If specified, this value overrides squishrunner's default
AUT timeout.
If you want to specify a timeout, but don't want to change the host or
port, you can do so by passing an empty string as the host (which will
make Squish use the configured host—localhost by
default), and by passing -1 as the port.
For more about how application context objects can be used, see How to Use ApplicationContext Objects (Section 13.10.2). (See also, the waitForApplicationLaunch function.)
Most toolkits' grabWidget function returns an
Image object. These objects provide a single method,
save.
This method saves the image to a file with the the given
filename using the
specified imageFormat. For example:
widget = waitForObject(objectName)
image = grabWidget(widget)
image.save("C:\\screenshot1.png", "PNG")
var widget = waitForObject(objectName);
var image = grabWidget(widget);
image.save("C:\\screenshot1.png", "PNG");
my $widget = waitForObject($objectName);
my $image = grabWidget($widget);
$image->save("C:\\screenshot1.png", "PNG");
set widget [waitForObject $objectName] set image [invoke grabWidget $widget] invoke $image save "C:\\screenshot1.png" "PNG"
This example takes a screenshot of the given object and saves it to the
file screenshot1.png in the root directory on
Windows, using the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) file format.
The supported image formats can vary, but those that are supported on
all platforms are:
"BMP" (Windows Bitmap),
"JPG" and
"JPEG" (both Joint Photographic Experts Group),
"PNG" (Portable Network Graphics),
"PPM" (Portable Pixmap),
"TIFF" (Tagged Image File Format),
"XBM" (X11 Bitmap), and
"XPM" (X11 Pixmap).
For iPhone testing, only
"JPEG" (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and
"PNG" (Portable Network Graphics)
are supported.
See
grabWidget [Java],
grabWidget [Tk],
grabWidget [Web], and
grabWidget [Win].
The global squishinfo object provides the following properties.
This read-only property holds Squish's major version number as a single integer (e.g., 4).
This read-only property holds Squish's minor version number as a single integer (e.g., 0).
This read-only property holds Squish's patch level version number as a single integer (e.g., 1).
This read-only property holds the current test's currently active settings group.
This read-only property holds the current test case's path.
This read-only property holds Squish's complete version number (major/minor/patch/release) as a single integer (see explanation further on).
This read-only property holds Squish's version number as a human-readable string (e.g., "4.0.1-final").
The squishinfo.version number is a unique number that
represents the complete Squish version number
(major/minor/patch/release). The number is composed of four bytes by
representing each part as a one-byte hexadecimal number. So
Squish 4.0.1-final would be represented by the number
0x040001FF where the 0x04 is the major version
(4), the 0x00 the minor version (0), the 0x01
the patch version (1), and the 0xFF the release (final).
The release is encoded using one of three hexadecimal numbers:
0xAA is used for “alpha”, 0xBB
for “beta”, and 0xFF for “final”.
Using a hexadecimal format version number makes it easy to write version-specific code in test scripts. Here's an example where we want some code executed only for Squish 4.0.0-final or later (for example, to take advantage of some Squish 4-specific functionality):
if squishinfo.version >= 0x040000FF: # code meant for Squish version 4.0.0-final or higher
if (squishinfo.version >= 0x040000FF) {
// code meant for Squish version 4.0.0-final or higher
}
if (squishinfo::version >= 0x040000FF) {
# code meant for Squish version 4.0.0-final or higher
}
if {[squishinfo version] >= 0x040000FF} {
# code meant for Squish version 4.0.0-final or higher
}
Squish provides a global testSettings object whose
properties and methods can be set to control certain aspects of test
execution.
This function returns the list of wrappers associated with the specified
application. (See also testSettings.setWrappersForApplication.)
If this property is true every test failure will cause Squish to take a screenshot of the desktop when the failure occurred; by default this property is false and screenshots of failures are not automatically taken
For example, let's assume that we ocassionally experience test failures when verifying the state of a specific widget in our nightly tests. We cannot explain the cause of the problem but suspect that the overall state of our application's GUI is broken due to as yet unknown external factors. To provide the developers with useful information via a visual inspection we enable automatic screenshot capturing—but for only for the test that is causing concern:
testSettings.logScreenshotOnFail = True # ... perform test ... testSettings.logScreenshotOnFail = False
testSettings.logScreenshotOnFail = true; // ... perform test ... testSettings.logScreenshotOnFail = false;
testSettings->logScreenshotOnFail(1); # ... perform test ... testSettings->logScreenshotOnFail(0);
testSettings set logScreenshotOnFail 1 # ... perform test ... testSettings set logScreenshotOnFail 0
If this property is true every test error will cause Squish to take a screenshot of the desktop when the error occurred; by default this property is false and screenshots of errors are not automatically taken
This function associates a list of wrappers with the specified
application. The list must
include at least one of the main toolkit wrappers such as Qt or Java.
Optionally, it may include application-specific wrappers (for those
Squish editions that support them).
Note that Squish 4's dynamic wrapper support greatly reduces the need to create and maintain application-specific wrappers.
Here is an example that sets the Qt toolkit wrapper as well as a custom application wrapper, and then starts the AUT:
testSettings.setWrappersForApplication("MyApp", ("Qt", "CanvasWrapper"))
startApplication("MyApp")
testSettings.setWrappersForApplication("MyApp", ["Qt", "CanvasWrapper"]);
startApplication("MyApp");
testSettings->setWrappersForApplication("MyApp", ("Qt", "CanvasWrapper"));
startApplication("MyApp");
testSettings setWrappersForApplication MyApp { Qt CanvasWrapper }
startApplication "MyApp"
(See also testSettings.getWrappersForApplication.)
This function returns the full path of the given
filename or raises a LookupError
exception if the file cannot be found.
If the where parameter is "scripts",
findFile looks for the filename in
the test case's scripts directory. If that doesn't
contain the file the function next tries the test suite's
shared/scripts directory. If that doesn't contain
the file the function tries the paths in the
paths.ini file (see Squish Initialization Files (Section 15.6)), and if it still isn't found, the function
tries all of the directories listed in the
SQUISH_SCRIPT_DIR environment variable (if it is
defined—see Environment Variables (Section 15.5)). As soon as the file is
found the filename with full path is returned; otherwise a catchable
LookupError exception is raised.
If the where parameter is "testdata",
findFile looks for the filename in
the test case's testdata directory. If that doesn't
contain the file the function next tries the test suite's
shared/testdata directory, and failing that the
function tries the test case's directory. As soon as the file
is found the filename with full path is returned; otherwise a catchable
LookupError exception is raised.
(See also, the source function and the Test Data Functions (Section 14.3.9).)
This function tells Squish to sleep for the specified nominal number
of seconds. The seconds argument can be a whole
number or a floating-point number. The actual sleep time will depend on
the current snoozeFactor. Unless you really do need to
force Squish to sleep, it is usually more robust to use the waitForObject function than to use
snooze.
The snoozeFactor can be set using the Squish IDE. Click
| to invoke the Preferences dialog (Section 16.3.11), then click the
Squish item, and then the
Playback item and then set the Snooze
Factor value. The snoozeFactor can also be set
by using squishrunner's command line options; see Recording a Test Case (Section 15.4.1.4) and Executing a Test Case (Advanced) (Section 15.4.1.5).
Reads and evaluates the contents of filename. Use
the scripting language's normal “import” mechanism (such as
Python's import or Perl's use) for modules in
the language's standard libraries and for third party modules, but use the
this source function to parse your own shared script files
rather than using the scripting language's import mechanism.
A common use case is to write something like
source(findFile("scripts", "common.js")). This uses the
findFile function to produce a filename
including a path and then evaluates that file's contents as a script.
This typically results in additional functions (and even new classes and
variables) becoming available to the test script that performs this
call.
(See also, How to Create and Use Shared Data and Shared Scripts (Section 13.21), and the Import Squish Resource dialog (Section 16.3.3) and the New Squish Test Script dialog (Section 16.3.8).)
This function simulates a native mouse click on the currently active
window. The x and y
parameters are the coordinates where the mouse click must take place in
screen coordinates. The button parameter is the
mouse button that should be used, and must be one of
MouseButton.LeftButton,
MouseButton.MiddleButton or
MouseButton.RightButton.
![]() | Small caveat |
|---|---|
In theory it is possible for a call to the |
This function simulates user keyboard input using the operating system's
facilities, sending keypresses to the currently active window, i.e., to
the window with keyboard focus. On Windows, this can be used to interact
with native Windows message boxes, for example. The keyboard input will
be sent to whatever widget has the keyboard focus. The input is
case-sensitive, so nativeType("R") is different from
nativeType("r").
This function can also simulate the input of special keys by using their
names and enclosing them in angle brackets (<>), and can simulate
combinations of keys by separating each key name with a +.
Here are some examples:
nativeType("Hello");
nativeType("<Return>");
nativeType("<Alt+F4>");
nativeType("<Alt+Tab>");
nativeType("<Ctrl+c>");
This is valid in JavaScript, Perl, and Python.
invoke nativeType "Hello" invoke nativeType "<Return>" invoke nativeType "<Alt+F4>" invoke nativeType "<Alt+Tab>" invoke nativeType "<Ctrl+c>"
The
nativeType function can accept all the normal
alphanumeric characters (which are written literally), as well as the
following special keys (which must be enclosed in angle brackets):
<Alt>,
<Ctrl>,
<Shift>,
<Escape>,
<Return>,
<Backspace>,
<Tab>,
<Pause>,
<PageUp>,
<PageDown>,
<Home>,
<End>,
<Left>,
<Right>,
<Up>,
<Down>,
<Insert>,
<Delete>,
<Print>,
<NumPad0>,
<NumPad1>,
<NumPad2>,
<NumPad3>,
<NumPad4>,
<NumPad5>,
<NumPad6>,
<NumPad7>,
<NumPad8>,
<NumPad9>,
<MenuLeft>,
<MenuRight>,
<F1>,
<F2>,
<F3>,
<F4>,
<F5>,
<F6>,
<F7>,
<F8>,
<F9>,
<F10>,
<F11>,
<F12>,
<F13>,
<F14>,
<F15>,
<F16>,
<F17>,
<F18>,
<F19>,
<F20>,
<F21>,
<F22>,
<F23>,
<F24>,
<NumLock>,
and
<ScrollLock>.
It is usually better to use one of the toolkit-specific type functions.
![]() | Small caveat |
|---|---|
In theory it is possible for keypresses entered with the
|
This function sends a sequence of low-level
native events to the window called windowName.
This function may be useful when interacting with windows from another
application or with widgets implemented with a foreign toolkit. For
interaction with standard application widgets it is best to use
the functions in Squish's API such as the type function.
Here's an example of use that is legal in Python, JavaScript, and Perl:
sendNativeEvent("Login", "username");
At present, the only supported types of event are simple keystrokes. Support for complex keystrokes and for mouse events might be added in a future version. Please contact technical support if this is an important requirement for you.