One of the biggest limitations that QuickTest® Pro users face is that you can only edit a single test at a time.  You can open multiple supporting documents like function libraries, but you are always restricted to the single test.

Test Design Studio does not face the same limitation!  You can open as many tests as you want and even view multiple documents at the same time.  Let’s walk through the basics.

Opening Multiple Tests

Opening multiple tests is easy.  You simply select the ‘File –> Open –> File…’ command from the main menu, browser to and select the file you want to open.  Repeat the process for as many tests as you want to open at the same time (you can also open your tests directly from an open project in the ‘Solution Explorer’ tool window).  The screen show below shows two tests open at the same time on separate document tabs.  The tests are ‘CalcTest’ and ‘Test2’.

By simply selecting the different document tabs, you can easily switch between the two (or more) open tests.  What if you wanted to be able to view two tests at the same time?  Test Design Studio can handle that as well!  The document area can be divided into multiple horizontal or vertical groupings of documents.  Simply select the document you want to move and select ‘Window –> New Horizontal Tab Group’ or ‘Window –> New Vertical Tab Group’.

In the screen shot below, I have decided to create a new Vertical tab group to take advantage of the extra width provided by widescreen monitors.

You could even create a third, forth, or fifth (and it doesn’t stop there) tab group to view three or more tests at the same time!  Once your tab groups are created, you can easily move your documents between the tab groups by drag-and-drop.  Simply drag the document tab from one group into the tab area at the top of another group.

Working with Multiple Actions

The implementation within Test Design Studio 2.0 is that all the actions of a test are represented within the same editor (note we are considering altering this for Test Design Studio 3 where each action is opened separately).  The drop-down list at the top of each editor window allows you to switch between the available actions in that test, but you can only view one action at a time within the editor window.  So what happens if you want to view two or more actions from the same test at the same time?  Test Design Studio has you covered.  The solution is to duplicate your editor window!  You can do this with any editor, but it is especially useful when working with multi-action QuickTest® Pro tests.

To duplicate an editor, first make sure you the editor you want to duplicate is the current selected document.  Then select ‘Window –> New Window’ from the main menu.

When this command is selected, the current document window will be duplicated to create two document windows for the same file.  Each editor instance will be suffixed in the title bar with “:1” for the first editor, “:2” for the second editor, and so on.  Once you have duplicated the editor for your test, you can use the same technique shown above to position the two editors side-by-side in different tab groups.  You can then independently choose the action from the drop-down list that you want to view.  Below you will see the same test (e.g. ‘CalcTest’) displayed in two vertical tab groups.  On the left you can view ‘Action1’, and on the right you can view ‘Action2’. Try doing that with the QuickTest® Pro IDE!

New Feature: Test Design Studio 3

To give you one more thing to look forward to, Test Design Studio 3 will offer the ability for you to “float” your document windows out of the main IDE interface!  This is primarily beneficial to users with multiple monitors as you will be able to place documents (or groups of multiple documents) on separate monitors!

Summary

The focus of Test Design Studio has always been about enabling test developers to reach new levels or productivity, and the features outlined here are just a few of the ways you can use Test Design Studio to improve your efficiency.