Connected and Self-Testing Applications

Applies to TestComplete 15.47, last modified on January 20, 2023
Information in this topic applies to desktop applications only.
Connected and Self-Testing applications are deprecated. These technologies will be removed in one of the future releases of TestComplete.
To create test code that runs from within your tested apps, use TestLeft, a SmartBear functional testing tool for developers.

TestComplete is built on an open, COM-based architecture. The testing engines, which the scripting object uses, can be reached from TestComplete as well as from the outside through TestComplete COM interfaces. This gives you the possibility to create special external testing applications and easily port the script code to the application’s code. That is, you can record script code, try it out and debug it inside the TestComplete user interface, and then port this script code to the application's code. One possible reason for moving the script code and creating special testing applications is more control over the test execution. The testing application can implement complex test logic, waiting loops and conditions. Another reason is deeper access to the internal objects of the application under test (the test code placed to the tested application have the same access to application objects, methods and properties as the application code, that is, you can easily get a self-testing application).

Imported script code can be extended to use application libraries, symbolic constants, classes and ordinary types. It can be compiled with the full syntax-check facilities of the compiler, and debugged with the development environment’s own debugger.

The porting is available only for those applications, whose language corresponds to the scripting language. Some scripts can be ported directly, some others require some changes. For instance, since DelphiScript is simply a subset of Object Pascal, DelphiScript routines can be imported to Delphi applications and compiled directly. The same is true for Microsoft Visual Basic applications and VBScript. Moving of C++Script and C#Script code to C++ and C# applications requires changes. See Writing C++ Scripts and Writing C# Scripts for more information.

The following topics contains detailed information about creating testing applications:

Connected Applications - Overview

Contains information about Connected Applications.

Creating Connected Applications in C++

Explains how to create Connected Applications in C++.

Creating Connected Applications in C#

Explains how to create Connected Applications in C#.

Creating Connected Applications in Visual Basic .NET

Explains how to create Connected Applications in Visual Basic .NET.

Creating Connected Applications in Visual Basic 6.0

Explains how to create Connected Applications in Visual Basic 6.0.

Creating Connected Applications in Delphi

Explains how to create Connected Applications in Delphi.

Creating Scripting Objects From Application Objects

Explains how to expose objects of Connected and Self-Testing Applications as top-level scripting objects in TestComplete.

Running Connected and Self-Testing Applications

Explains how to run test code that is located in a Connected or a Self-Testing Application.

Connect Class

Contains the description of the Connect class that stores wrappers for TestComplete runtime objects.

Using the var Type in C# Connected Applications

Explains the possible conflicts that may occur when you use the 'Var' keyword in C# Connected Applications.

Sending Messages to the Test Log From Your Applications

Describes how post messages to the test log from Connected and Self-Testing Applications.

Related Topics of Interest

Self-Testing Applications

Contains information about Self-Testing Applications (applications that use TestComplete to test themselves).
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