qtp_vs_winrunner

8/14/2019 QTP_Vs_WinRunner

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WinRunner vs. QuickTest Pro

Overview

Today Mercury has two functional testing tools WinRunner (WR) and QuickTestProfessional (QTP). WinRunner has been around since about 1995 while QuickTest Pro

has been available since about 2002. We have lots of companies asking us Whats thedifference between WinRunner and QuickTest Pro? and If they are both functionaltesting tools from the same company, then which one of the tools should we use? Thisdocument was developed as a short simple reference in helping to understand the basicsabout the tools in order to answer these two questions.

Mercurys position on the two tools is this:

The strategic direction for Mercury and its customers for Functional Testing is productintegration. The new releases of QTP and WR improve already existing integration wherecustomers can leverage complete WinRunner assets (scripts/functions) from QuickTestPro without any modification to these assets.

QuickTest Pro 8 has recently been released and WinRunner version 8.0 is planned forNovember 2004. There are no plans to phase out WinRunner.

QuickTest Pro remains Mercurys prime product for best customer satisfaction andexperience. For customers who need both products, Mercury continues to offer MercuryFunctional Testing as a combined package of both product offerings. The BusinessProcess Testing system will be extended to incorporate components designed inWinRunner for the WinRunner 8.0 release in November.

Environment Coverage Comparison

1 Common environments shared by both WinRunner and QuickTest Pro:

Web-Related Environments IE, Netscape, AOLJDK, Java Foundation Classes, AWT

Symantec Visual CafActiveX Controls

ERP/CRM Oracle: Jinitiator, 11i, NCACustom Client Server Windows

C++/CVisual Basic

Operating Systems Windows 98, 2000, NT, ME, XPLegacy 3270, 5250 Emulators

VT1002 WinRunner Only Environments:

Custom Client/Server PowerBuilderForteDelphi

CenturaStingraySmallTalk

ERP/CRM BaanPeopleSoft Windows

Siebel 5, 6 GUI ClientsOracle GUI Forms

3 QuickTest Pro Only Environments:

Source: Automated Solutions, Inc Page 1 of 6


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ERP/CRM SAPSiebel 7.x

PeopleSoft 8.x.Net WinForms

WebForms.Net controls

Web Services XML, HTTPWSDL, SOAPJ2EE, .Net

Multimedia RealAudio/VideoFlash

Recommend

We have been implementing Mercurys products since 1992 and have senior levelexpertise in WinRunner. We have been implementing WinRunner since the very firstversion of it. So like many existing WinRunner customers we have a huge knowledgeinvestment in WinRunner ourselves. However we have worked on the Mercurydevelopment team on the QuickTest Pro 6.0 and 6.5 releases, and have solid real-world experience in implementing QuickTest Pro since the 6.0 release. We havefound it to be a great tool to use and recommend it to all customers! Overall, werecommend using QuickTest Pro unless for some reason you have to use WinRunnerdue to an unsupported environment not existing in QuickTest Pro.

Overall, QuickTest Pro is easier to use and implement for both technical and non-

technical testers in comparison to WinRunner. QTP offers many features that arefound in WinRunner, but are easier to use. QTP also offers many features not foundin WinRunner that make test script creation, enhancement and maintenance easier.

Lets quickly discuss some key issues:

The WinRunner interface forces the user to look directly at TSL code. TSL is

the WinRunner programming language developed by Mercury. It is based onthe C programming language and therefore looks very similar. For testerswho do not have a technical background, they are not always comfortablewith having to always look at code. However QuickTest Pro offers a TreeView which is an icon-based view of the script. This is very easy to get usedto and non-technical people adapt to it quicker and feel more comfortableworking with it. For the technical user, they can always switch over to the

Expert View in QuickTest and look directly at code, and program away usingVBScript.

WinRunner uses TSL which is a proprietary language of Mercury. These types

of languages can be very restrictive and you are limited on availableresources. QuickTest Pro use the Microsoft programming language VBScriptwhich is very powerful, has lots of capabilities and there are lots of resourcesavailable.

We feel that there are many more point and click features in QuickTest Pro

than WinRunner. This makes its use easier.



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All the same features found in WinRunner are found in QuickTest Pro plus

more. Data Table integration is much easier and simpler with QuickTest Pro.

Data Driven Testing is easier with more options in QuickTest Pro.

Script enhancements are typically easier with QuickTest Pro because it has the

Active Screen where the windows and objects in your application are capturedfor later use. Using a point and click capability you can easily interface withobjects, their definitions and create checkpoints after having recorded a script without having to navigate back to that location in your application like youhave to with WinRunner. This greatly speeds up script development.

QuickTest Pro currently has built in integration with WinRunner in order to be

able to call existing scripts, which is great for customers who already have alarge test script investment with WinRunner. Likewise WinRunner 8.0 is tohave the ability to also call QuickTest Pro scripts. This eases the transition

from WinRunner to QuickTest Pro for existing customers.

Parameterization is much easier in QuickTest Pro and basically anything in

QuickTest Pro can be parameterized (statements, checkpoints and the ObjectRepository).

Capturing various output values is easier and simpler with QuickTest Pro.

Using this capability with parameterization enables you to easily developscripts that can do more in regards to testing.

We have been implementing QuickTest Pro in real-world environments and

have found it much easier to use, advance features are easier to implement

and the script development is quicker. We really enjoy using QuickTest Proand highly recommend it as the functional testing tool to use.

Winrunner

Summary

This product is a mature tool that has been around since approximately 1995. Itinterfaces with most of the leading development toolkits using the WindowsAPI andtoolkit DLLs to interface with the Application Under Test.

WinRunner offers a recording feature that will watch the individual tester and generate a

test script to simulate the same actions just performed. The script is displayed as aprogram which can be enhanced with checkpoints, logic and specialcoding/programming.

WinRunner also has integration with Excel spreadsheets for data driven testing and theability to write data out in Excel format or in simple text files.

- WinRunner Features and Benefits webpage from Mercury:Winrunner features

http://www.mercury.com/us/products/quality-center/functional-testing/winrunner/features.htmlhttp://www.mercury.com/us/products/quality-center/functional-testing/winrunner/features.html


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Pros

Mature product that has been around since about 1995.

Simple interface.

Many features. Many consultants and user group/forums for support.

Decent built in help.

Fewer features to have to learn and understand compared to QuickTest Pro.

Interfaces with the Windows API.

Integrates with TestDirector.

Cons

Has basically been superceded by QuickTest Pro.

Looking at program code for the test case.

Coding is done in a proprietary language (TSL). Very few resources available on TSL programming (it is based on the C

programming language, but is not C). Need to be able to program to a certain extent in order to gain flexibility and

parameterization. Need training to implement properly.

The GUI Map can be difficult to understand and implement.

QuickTest Professional provides an interactive, visual environment for test development.

Summary

Here is the description from the Mercury Interactive How it Works section of theQuickTest Pro web page:

Mercury QuickTest Professional allows even novice testers to be productive in minutes.You can create a test script by simply pressing a Record button and using an applicationto perform a typical business process. Each step in the business process is automateddocumented with a plain-English sentence and screen shot. Users can easily modify,remove, or rearrange test steps in the Keyword View.

QuickTest Professional can automatically introduce checkpoints to verify applicationproperties and functionality, for example to validate output or check link validity. For

each step in the Keyword View, there is an ActiveScreen showing exactly how theapplication under test looked at that step. You can also add several types of checkpointsfor any object to verify that components behave as expected, simply by clicking on thatobject in the ActiveScreen.

You can then enter test data into the Data Table, an integrated spreadsheet with the fullfunctionality of Excel, to manipulate data sets and create multiple test iterations, withoutprogramming, to expand test case coverage. Data can be typed in or imported fromdatabases, spreadsheets, or text files.

Advanced testers can view and edit their test scripts in the Expert View, which revealsthe underlying industry-standard VBScript that QuickTest Professional automatically

generates. Any changes made in the Expert View are automatically synchronized withthe Keyword View.



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Once a tester has run a script, a TestFusion report displays all aspects of the test run: ahigh-level results overview, an expandable Tree View of the test script specifying exactlywhere application failures occurred, the test data used, application screen shots for

every step that highlight any discrepancies, and detailed explanations of each checkpointpass and failure. By combining TestFusion reports with Mercury Quality Management,you can share reports across an entire QA and development team.

QuickTest Professional also facilitates the update process. As an application under testchanges, such as when a Login button is renamed Sign In, you can make one updateto the Shared Object Repository, and the update will propagate to all scripts thatreference this object. You can publish test scripts to Mercury Quality Management,enabling other QA team members to reuse your test scripts, eliminating duplicativework.

QuickTest Professional supports functional testing of all popular environments, including

Windows, Web, .Net, Visual Basic, ActiveX, Java, SAP, Siebel, Oracle, PeopleSoft,terminal emulators, and Web services.

QuickTest Pro How it Works webpage from Mercury:

quicktest-professional_works

We like QuickTest Pro and now prefer implementing it over WinRunner. When you getinto advance testing scenarios, QuickTest Pro has more options and they are easier toimplement compared to WinRunner in our opinion.

Do to the similarities in concept and features, an experienced WinRunner user can easilyconvert to QuickTest Pro and quickly become an efficient Test Automation Engineer!

We recommend that existing customers begin all new development with QuickTest Proand use the built-in feature of calling WinRunner scripts from QuickTest Pro for allexisting WinRunner scripts that they already have. As older scripts require updates andtime permits, we recommend replacing them with QuickTest Pro scripts. Eventually youwill be able to convert your test script library with all QuickTest Pro scripts.

Pros

Will be getting the initial focus on development of all new features and

supported technologies. Ease of use.

Simple interface.

Presents the test case as a business workflow to the tester (simpler to

understand). Numerous features.

Uses a real programming language (Microsofts VBScript) with numerous

resources available. QuickTest Pro is significantly easier for a non-technical person to adapt to

and create working test cases, compared to WinRunner.

Data table integration better and easier to use than WinRunner.

http://www.mercury.com/us/products/quality-center/functional-testing/quicktest-professional/works.htmlhttp://www.mercury.com/us/products/quality-center/functional-testing/quicktest-professional/works.html


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Test Run Iterations/Data driving a test is easier and better implement with

QuickTest. Parameterization easier than WinRunner.

Can enhance existing QuickTest scripts without the Application Under Test

being available; by using the ActiveScreen. Can create and implement the Microsoft Object Model (Outlook objects, ADO

objects, FileSystem objects, supports DOM, WSH, etc.). Better object identification mechanism.

Numerous existing functions available for implementation both from within

QuickTest Pro and VBScript. QTP supports .NET development environment (currently WinRunner 7.5 does

not). XML support (currently WinRunner 7.5 does not).

The Test Report is more robust in QuickTest compared to WinRunner.

Integrates with TestDirector and WinRunner (can kick off WinRunner scripts

from QuickTest).

Cons

Currently there are fewer resources (consultants and expertise) available

due to QTP being a newer product on the market and because there is agreater Demand than Supply, thus fewer employee/consulting resources.

Must know VBScript in order to program at all.

Must be able to program in VBScript in order to implement the real advance

testing tasks and to handle very dynamic situations. Need training to implement properly.

The Object Repository (OR) and testing environment (paths, folders,

function libraries, OR) can be difficult to understand and implement initially.


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