Checkpoints

About Checkpoints

A checkpoint is a verification point that compares a current value for a specified property with the expected value for that property. This enables you to identify whether your Web site or application is functioning correctly.

Adding Checkpoints to a test

There are several ways to add checkpoints to your tests.

To add checkpoints while recording:

We can add checkpoints while recording the test. Use the commands on the Insert menu, or click the arrow beside the Insert Checkpoint button on the Test toolbar. This displays a menu of checkpoint options that are relevant to the selected step in the test tree.

From Menu bar

Use the commands on the Insert menu, or click the arrow beside the Insert Checkpoint button on the Test toolbar. This displays a menu of checkpoint options that are relevant to the selected step in the test tree.

To add a checkpoint while editing your test:

From Test Tree

 Right-click the step in the test tree where you want to add the checkpoint and choose Insert Standard Checkpoint.

From the Active Screen

 Right-click any object in the Active Screen and choose Insert Standard Checkpoint. This option can be used to create checkpoints for any object in the Active Screen (even if the object is not part of any step in your test tree).

Types of Checkpoints

A checkpoint is a verification point that compares a current value for a specified property with the expected value for that property. This enables you to identify whether your Web site or application is functioning correctly.

Quick Test Professional Checkpoint Types

Checkpoint Type	Description
Standard Checkpoint	Checks values of an object’s properties
Image Checkpoint	Checks the property values of an image
Table Checkpoint	Checks information in a table
Page checkpoint	Checks the characteristics of a Web page
Text / Text Area Checkpoint	Checks that a text string is displayed in the appropriate place in a Web page or application window
Bitmap Checkpoint	Checks an area of a Web page or application after capturing it as a bitmap
Database Checkpoint	Checks the contents of databases accessed by an application or Web site
Accessibility Checkpoint	Identifies areas of a Web site to check for Section 508 compliancy
XML Checkpoint	Checks the data content of XML documents

Standard Checkpoint checks the property value of an object in your application or Web page. The standard checkpoint checks a variety of objects such as buttons, radio buttons, combo boxes, lists, etc. For example, you can check that a radio button is activated after it is selected or you can check the value of an edit field.

Image Checkpoint checks the value of an image in your application or Web page. For example, you can check that a selected image's source file is correct.

Bitmap Checkpoint checks an area of your Web page or application as a bitmap. For example, suppose you have a Web site that can display a map of a city the user specifies. The map has control keys for zooming. You can record the new map that is displayed after one click on the control key that zooms in the map. Using the bitmap checkpoint, you can check that the map zooms in correctly.

Table Checkpoint checks information within a table. For example, suppose your application or Web site contains a table listing all available flights from New York to San Francisco. You can add a table checkpoint to check that the time of the first flight in the table is correct.

Note: You create a table checkpoint by inserting a standard checkpoint on a table object.

Text Checkpoint checks that a text string is displayed in the appropriate place in your application or on a Web page. For example, suppose your application or Web page displays the sentence Flight departing from New York to San Francisco. You can create a text checkpoint that checks that the words "New York" are displayed between "Flight departing from" and "to San Francisco".

Text Area Checkpoint checks that a text string is displayed within a defined area in a Windows application, according to specified criteria. For example, suppose your Visual Basic application has a button that says View Doc <Num>, where <Num> is replaced by the four digit code entered in a form elsewhere in the application. You can create a text area checkpoint to confirm that the number displayed on the button is the same as the number entered in the form.

Accessibility Checkpoint identifies areas of your Web site that may not conform to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. For example, guideline 1.1 of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines requires you to provide a text equivalent for every non-text element. You can add an Alt property check to check whether objects that require the Alt property under this guideline, do in fact have this tag.

Page Checkpoint checks the characteristics of a Web page. For example, you can check how long a Web page takes to load or whether a Web page contains broken links. Note: You create a page checkpoint by inserting a standard checkpoint on a page object.

Database Checkpoint checks the contents of a database accessed by your application. For example, you can use a database checkpoint to check the contents of a database containing flight information for your Web site.

XML Checkpoint checks the data content of XML documents in XML files or XML documents in Web pages and frames.

The following table shows the types of checkpoints supported for each environment that is supported by default with the QuickTest Professional installation.

	Web	Std	VB	ActiveX	Other Object
Standard	S	S	S	S	NA
Image	S	NS	NS	NS	NA
Table	S	NS	NS	S	NA
Text	S	S	S	S	NA
Text Area	NS	S	S	S	NA
Bitmap	S	S	S	S	NA
Accessibility	S	NS	NS	NS	NA
XML	S	NS	NS	NS	S (File)
Page	S	NA	NA	NA	NA
Database	NA	NA	NA	NA	S (DbTable)

S—Supported
NS—Not Supported
NA—Not Applicable

Note: Checkpoints are also supported for various external add-in environments. Refer to your Quickest Professional add-in documentation for details.