Test Steps

Steps are the individual actions that the test runner will perform on the tested web applications.

Test cases require at least one (enabled) step to be included in a test run. There is no limit of steps that can be added to an test case.

Types of steps

There are many different types of steps that can be added to test cases.

We provide the following categories:

Category	Description
Assertion	Check different conditions on the page
Context Change	Switch between frames and tabs
Documentation	Document the current state of the page
External	Make requests to external endpoints
Files	Handle files within applications
Interactive Table	Interact with Interactive Grids and Interactive Reports
Keyboard Interaction	Interact with the page using the keyboard
Mouse Interaction	Interact with the page using the mouse
Variables	Store and use variables
Visibility	Check visibility of differerent elements
Waiting	Wait for the page itself or elements to be ready for testing

Add new steps to test cases

To add a new step to an existing test case:

1. Open the Worksheet
2. Choose the test case from the list on the left
3. Click on the + Add Step button on the grid toolbar
4. Choose a step to add to the case
5. Fill the parameters for the step and confirm with Create

The step will be created and added to the step table. If the execution sequence was not set in the dialog, a value will be chosen automatically which puts the step at the end.

Add steps via wizard and template

Similar to adding test cases via our pre-defined templates, you can add steps directly to an existing case: Open the case within the worksheet where the steps should be added. Then, click on Add Steps via Template on the toolbar of the steps grid. Now choose the template you want to use for generating steps and fill the required values. After confirming, the steps are added to the test case.

note

Steps created by the wizard will be added below all existing steps, if any.

Manage order of step execution

The order of performing steps within test cases are controlled by the Execution sequence option. Steps with a lower value will be executed first.

Steps can be rearranged using the Move Up and Move Down buttons the top of the table. When clicking on these buttons, all selected steps move one entry towards the top or bottom respectively.

We recommend to use multiples of 10 for execution sequences to make adding steps between existing steps easier. You can use the Resequence Steps button of the table toolbar to reassign execution sequences of all steps according to this convention, beginning with the value 10. Alternatively, execution sequences can be edited directly in the grid or in the Edit dialog of each step. When changing values in the grid, changes must be saved using the Save button in order to be applied.

note

LCT does not enforce unique execution sequences to make editing test cases easiser. But steps with identical sequences can be executed in any order which causes test runs to be non-deterministic. Therefore we recommend to ensure unique execution sequences for steps when designing tests.

Exclude steps from execution

While building and debugging worksheets, it can be useful to exclude specific steps from execution. This can be accomplished by disabling them by using the Enable/Disable option in the Actions menu or by setting the value in the Enabled column to No. Changes to the state of steps must be saved using the Save button of the steps table.

Copy steps to the current or other cases

Open the Worksheet and test case which contain the steps you want to copy, then:

1. In the steps table, select the steps by selecting the checkboxes in the first column.
2. Click the Copy dropdown on the table.
3. Choose one of the following actions:
   • Duplicate: Create a copy of the selected steps in the current test case.
   • Copy to...: The copy dialog opens. Select the target Worksheet and case where you want to create a copy of the selected steps. Optionally you can give new names to the copied steps in the table below. Confirm by clicking the Copy button.

The following rules apply to the new steps when copying:

• The relative order of selected steps will be preserved, based on the execution sequence.
• Steps will be added below all existing steps, if any.
• Execution sequences will be multiples of 10, starting from the smallest value that is greater than the largest value of existing steps in the target case.
  • If no steps exist in the target case when copying, start with 10.

Note about timeouts in complex steps

LCT provides steps to handle APEX-specific components. Interacting with some of them require multiple actions. For example, the selectPopupLovValue step clicks on the Popup LOV to focus it, types the search string and finally clicks on the result. The timeout setting of these steps (or the Action timeout if not explicitly set) applies to all individual actions rather than to the whole step.