Summary

One of the design goals for TDS3 is to improve how QuickTest scripts are managed in the IDE.  Most file editors are designed to work with one file at a time, but a QuickTest script is actually multiple files grouped under a common folder.  This has always presented challenges when designing the editing experience, and is one of the reasons why it is more difficult to use common file editors with QuickTest scripts.

You need to be able to open a QuickTest script as a single entity, but must still be able to access the individual files that are part of the script.

Previous Implementation

In previous versions of Test Design Studio, the Solution Explorer tool window would only show you an entry for the QuickTest script as shown in the screen shot below:

When editing this script, the editor would include a drop-down list was displayed above the navigation bar for you to switch between the different actions in the script, as shown here:

This concept worked well when you needed to edit the individual action files, but what about opening the Data Table or Local Object Repository files?  Those files were not displayed in the Solution Explorer tool window, so we added special context-menu comments that allowed you to select those files.

This solved most usage scenarios, but some people choose to store additional files or subfolders along with each QuickTest script.  The only way to get to this data was to create a link to the corresponding file, but then it was no longer clear that the file was part of the script.

New Implementation

With TDS3, these problems are gone!  We have already discussed the new Document Navigation features, and have expanded on that functionality.

The Navigation Bar now combines the action selection along with the document elements, so you end up with a cleaner presentation that does not waste screen real estate:

The left-most entry in the Navigation Bar allows you to toggle between the available actions.  Then the normal document contents are displayed.

The Document Outline also breaks your code out by the individual actions and allows you to quickly jump to the relevant code in the editor:

Finally, the Solution Explorer tool window has been updated to show the contents within the QuickTest script folder itself:

All the standard binary files that are part of a QuickTest script are hidden from view, but the key files are still visible.  You will notice the ‘Default.xls’ entry for the Data Table as well as the ‘ObjectRepository.bdb’ files for each local repository.  There is also a folder called ‘Support Files’ that was part of the script as well as a file called ‘Script Details.txt’.  With this change, you will be able to access all the files that are important for your QuickTest scripts!  Of course, you can also collapse all that information out of view when it is not needed.

Wrap Up

We believe these changes will make it even easier to work with QuickTest scripts.  Since Test Design Studio is specifically designed to work with these file types, you also get a unique experience that is not available with standard text editors.