TestComplete provides you with a number of specific testing abilities that let you test your Delphi applications without any specific preparations. But if your tests need deeper access to the application’s internals, you must prepare your application in a special way.
Getting Access to Applications’ Internals
By default, TestComplete enables you to call applications’published properties from your tests.
If for some reason you need to get deeper access to your Delphi applications’ internal members, you should compile your application with debug information included. Once your application is compiled with debug information, TestComplete enables you to get access to its public, protected and private members, that is, you can address them from your tests.
| Note: | Some native methods and properties of Delphi applications still may remain unavailable for TestComplete. For more information, see Object Properties, Fields and Methods That Are Unavailable to TestComplete. |
The following topics describe how to adjust your Delphi compiler to make debug information included in your application:
Compiling Delphi XE6, XE7, XE8 and 10 Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi XE2 – XE5 Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi XE Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi 2010 Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi 2009 Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi 2007 Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi 2006 Applications With Debug Information
Compiling Delphi 7 and 2005 Applications With Debug Information
Using the StripTDS Utility
If your tests require debug information to be added to the application’s modules, you may face some problems. The most common problem is that you want to test the release build and do not want to ship it with debug information included. Another possible problem is that the size of the application’s modules increases when you compile it with debug information.
To resolve possible problems, use the StripTDS utility. It strips debug information from executables and libraries created with the Delphi compiler and saves it in separate files. This means that you can create release builds of Delphi applications with external debug information. You can easily test such builds and then publish them without recompiling.
For detailed information on how to work with the StripTDS utility, see About StripTDS.