DP 101 in 60 simple slides

What is DP?
DP stands for Descriptive Programming

But what IS DP?

Its a cool way to work without QTPs
Object-Repository (OR)

Why would I want to do that?

Many reasons

You have to
Functions & Recovery scenarios work with different actions
Different actions = Different ORs

Do I know you?

Cant be sure

You have to
Cant record certain objects
Auto-hide panels Objects with changing hierarchies Nested inner-objects, Sub menus

Hold still, damnit!

Even when you think you got it, all the properties turn out null

Simplicity
Why kill a fly with an atom bomb?
No need to use the OR for every one-time click button in the application

And,
You can do VERY cool things with DP

OK, bring it on

First, we need to better understand the Object Repository

What the OR is How does the OR work

I thought DP is all about NOT using the OR

Well, yes, but under the hood, DP & the OR work the same way
To understand the OR, is to understand DP

What is the OR?

A mysterious beast that records objects, in order to use them later

What is to record an object?

Write down how to identify it

Who are you?

=
How can I identify you?

Identification is done with properties and values

Who are you?

=
Your height = 400 Your title = NotePad You are visible (=True)

So, What IS the OR?

Collections of properties & corresponding values
Each collection represents an object

No mysterious beast here

OK, So what IS DP?

DP is a way for specifying the properties & values without using the OR interface No mysterious beast here, either

OK, I get it, theres nothing more than properties and values Can we get on with it?

How do I

actually use DP?

There are two ways

1
Throw the properties and values straight into a command

Its the good old syntax you know, except the string between the () is not the OR name. Its the property:=value identification string

Thats kinda restrictive What if I want to use multiple identification properties?

No problem:
VBWindow(height:=400, title:=New Document).Maximize

You can use as many properties as you like

All fine and well, but what if I want to use regular expressions?

No problem:
VBWindow(title:=.*Document.*).Maximize
ID strings are automatically interpreted as regular expressions

2
Throw the properties & values into a description object, and throw IT into the command

Here also, all the values are interpreted as regular expressions. To turn it off, use oDesc(Property1).RegularExpression = False

Method 1 is faster, best used for one or two commands, tops

When you want to execute multiple commands on an object, method 2 is a better choice by far
(allows one-time definitions, multiple uses)

You can use DP with OR

VBWindow(OR).VBButton(text:=OK).Click

Or (when oDesc is a description object):

VBWindow(OR).VBButton(oDesc).Click

But, you can only start from OR, and move to DP

So this will not work:
VBWindow(title:=notgood).VBButton(clickme).Click

And thats about it

You can use each of the methods (or combine them), and youll be able to use objects that are not in the OR

You said I could do really cool stuff with DP!

Right you are Well cover some of the more popular tricks and tips
These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Play with them and see the true power of DP

The power of the string

DP is nothing more than simple strings
We can do such interesting things with strings

The power of the string

Say we got an app with 4 checkboxes, check0, , check4 We can set all of them with a nice simple loop:

The power of the string

Very complex identification tasks can be done via strings manipulation Try different variations for yourself

Solving double objects

When QTP finds two object which match the same description, it freezes

This kinda sucks

DP has a magic property: index, which allows us to tell the double objects apart Index is a zero-based counter

All is well

Getting objects collections

This feature is so cool, deserves a title on its own

THE coolest thing you can do with DP, is to get a

collection of all the objects that math an identification

I dont know who you are, or how many are you, but I want to mark all of you!

Regular DP wont help - Dont know how to identify each checkbox

Object collections to the rescue! Step 1: define a description object

Object collections to the rescue! Step 2: get all matching objects

Object collections to the rescue! Step 3: Use the collection

oChildren now holds a collection of all the checkboxes So the first checkbox is accessed by: oChildren(0)

What can we do with it?

Anything we want

Example for common uses

Mark all Checkboxes

Mark all checkboxes with a certain property (even RO)

The possibilities are endless

Randomly input fields Input only mandatory fields Zero maintenance (new fields are added automatically, blind to UI changes) Select object which match complex identification criteria (write custom if filters)

The list goes on and on

OK, this is indeed cool, but it only gets us the inner controls of a given window. Can we also get the applications top level windows?

Sure

So, With DP we can work with no OR

Sometimes we have to use it Other times its just more fun and useful
DP also throws in a lot of extras that make it an inseparable part of good QTP automation
Taste it, Experience it, Learn it, Use it, Love it Its worth your while

And that was DP in 60 slides