Not sure what the reasoning behind this new feature is, doesn’t seem to have much value and why the QTP developers would disable the feature, but this is what is happening and how to fix it.

But did you know that you can also create a “memo” field which is basically a large multi-edit field like the “Description” field you find in various places like in the Management, Requirements, Test Plan and Test Lab modules?

By creating a memo field you will end up creating a new “tab” in various places which can be very useful.  An example of using this is in the Test Set of the Test Lab module.  In our Agile/RAD environment, our Test Sets are an actual representation of a small project release that will go out in a short time span.  The Test set will represent everything about this mini-project.  So I like to create a memo field called “Database Changes” to isolate out the database changes required for the project (if there are any) into this separate field.  This makes it easy to see what the changes are and I can create report in the “Dashboard” module of just the database changes to give to the DBA’s during code push day.  In order to do this you will need to first create the new memo field in the appropriate table (QC project entity).  In this example I’m adding it to the Test Set so I want to expand the Test Set table, expand the “User Fields” folder and instead of just clicking on the “New Field” button like most people do (which gets you the default field settings)…

…instead I will click on the down arrow next to the “New Field” button and select “New Memo Field”.

Now fill out the info like normal, but notice that the field type is now “Memo” (this wasn’t a choice in the field type for a standard field.

After saving your changes and returning back to the normal QC user interface, you will now see for the test set a new tab which is our new memo field.  Now I’m no longer limited on the amount of information I type in, and I get the effect of having a new tab.

1. Make sure everyone has logged out of the Quality Center and that you do not have any connections to it (make sure there are no connections to it through QuickTest Pro, LoadRunner or any other tools).  Close all browsers that are connected to QC also.
2. I recommend rebooting the server once before this process just to make sure the server boots up successfully.  If there  are any issues with the reboot it is easier to deal with that now than assume it has something to do with switching networks.
3. After a successful reboot and verifying that you can log back into QC, you can not shutdown the server.
4. IT can do what they need to do in order to move the server to the new network and assigning of the new IP Address.
5. Boot up the server on the new network.
6. After a successful reboot, on a client machine make sure any reference to the Quality Center has been closed and open a DOS window (command prompt – cmd.exe).
7. Now type “ipconfig /flushdns”.
8. You should get the message “Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache”.
9. Now if you access the Quality Center through a browser, the DNS should resolve to the new IP and you should be able to log in successfully.  All your connections should re-establish successfully.

The only real network requirement is that port 8080 be open so that QC can communicate through it, otherwise there is no tie to IP or domain.  This should be an easy, quick and successful switch.

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses

Written by Geoffrey James

The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. See what they get right.

A few years back, I interviewed some of the most successful CEOs in the world in order to discover their management secrets. I learned that the “best of the best” tend to share the following eight core beliefs.

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield.

Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of “troops” to order about, demonize competitors as “enemies,” and treat customers as “territory” to be conquered.

Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers … and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine.

Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by “pulling levers” and “steering the ship.”

Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control.

Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they’re told. They’re hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the “wait and see what the boss says” mentality.

Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children.

Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can’t be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds.

Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear.

Average bosses see fear–of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege–as a crucial way to motivate people.  As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions.

Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they’ll be a part of it.  As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization’s goals, truly enjoy what they’re doing and (of course) know they’ll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain.

Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change … until it’s too late.

Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don’t value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation.

Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees.

Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil.

Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly.

Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

Getting QuickTest Pro and Firefox to work together is not difficult, but you do have to perform a couple of system modifications.  This post will discuss getting QTP v11 to work with Firefox up to v11 on Windows7.

Environment:
Windows7, QTP v11 with patches up to 92, Firefox up to version 11

Notes:
* If you are on Windows7 you must have Administrator rights to be able to perform these steps.
** If you are running Windows7 you must have the QuickTest Pro patch “QTP_00699″ installed for complete Windows7 support.
*** Make sure you have at a minimum the following patches installed: QTPWeb_00090 and QTPWeb_00092 however I recommend you have all of the patches I have listed on my post: “QTP v11 Patches Overview” (http://www.asi-test.com/ASI/qtp-v11-patches-overview/)
**** Even though the patch 92 readme file states that this provides support up to Firefox 10, it actually provides support for Firefox 11 too.
**** Verify that a “QuickTest Professional X.X Plugin” is not installed in Firefox. Odds are it is not if you are having these problems but let’s check to make sure:

1. Open Firefox and go to Tools -> Add-ons from the menu.
2. If you see a “QuickTest Professional X.X Plugin” listed the click on the disable button.
3. Close Firefox

Steps so that Firefox sees QTP:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Navigate to the folder where your QuickTest Pro is installed and expand the following folder underneath it: <QTP Installation>\bin\Mozilla
3. You should see a structure like in the image below.  Notice how there is now a sub-directory called “Common” with the new supported Firefox versions.
4. Now click on the “Common” directory and you will see a file called “install.rdf”, open this file in Notepad.
5. In the “install.rdf” file you want to copy the “em: id” under the top section which is specifying QuickTest Professional (I highlighted it in this image; do not confuse it with the “em: id” in the bottom section which relates to Firefox itself).
6. Open another Notepad window and save it using the “em: id” from the step above as the file name (do not save it with an extension).  Now paste the full directory name to the “common” directory where QTP is installed in the contents of this new file.  The directory should look something like “C:\Program Files\HP\QuickTest Professional\bin\Mozilla\Common”.
7. Save the file and close it.  (It’s easier to do this process in a temporary directory due to security in Windows7, instead of in the final directory.)
8. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder where Firefox is installed (on my system that is “C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox”) and click on the sub-directory called “extensions”.
9. Now perform a click and drag of the file you created above in the temp directory, into this “extensions” directory.  Windows7 will prompt you with a security dialog box saying you have to have Administrator rights to do this.  Click the Continue button as long as you do (this whole process will only work if you are logged into your machine with Administrator rights).
10. Now open the Firefox browser. Go to Tools -> Add-ons and you should now see the “QuickTest Professional X.X Plugin” is enabled.
11. In Firefox, navigate to Google.
12. With QuickTest Pro, open the Object Spy and spy on the google search edit field.  QTP should now see the objects in your Firefox browser. In case the object is still identified as Window, make sure your firefox version is supported by the current QTP version – using QTP v11 with the QTPWeb_00090 and QTPWeb_00092 patches installed, you should be able to interact with all the Firefox versions up to version 11.  These steps are specific to what these patches install which provides support for Firefox versions 4.0 – 11.

Although this may happen in other configurations, the environment configuration I was using when I ran into this issue was with QuickTest Pro v11 on Windows7 with two monitors.  All of a sudden one day when I opened the Object Repository using any of the available methods in QTP, the Object Repository window would not appear – it wasn’t showing up anywhere.  QTP did a flash like as if it was displaying a new window but I couldn’t see it anywhere. If you tried to close QTP it would tell me that you first had to close the Object Repository window even though you couldn’t find it anywhere.

Solution: The Object Repository window was actually being displayed on a second monitor display that really didn’t exist anymore and so what you have to do is use the keyboard shortcut keys to “move” the window back onto your main display.

Press ALT + Space key -> then press the “M” Key -> then hold down either the left or right arrow key until you get the Window back on to the primary monitor.

In my situation, I use dual monitors and my #2 display is to the left.  Once a week I conduct a Professional Development training class in my office and hook up a projector to my machine and display it on the wall.  I unplug the #2 monitor and plug in the projector.  What is interesting is that when the projector becomes monitor #2, for some reason it displays off to the right side of the primary display instead of the left.  During the training I was going over automation with QuickTest Pro and so for some reason the system was still displaying the Object Repository on the #2 monitor – but for some reason it was still being associated with the right side as if the projector was still connected even though it wasn’t and my #2 display was back on the left side.  So in this case I performed the keyboard actions mentioned above and I used my left arrow key to get the Object Repository window to slowly crawl back to my main display.  It is a rather odd scenario even though QTP itself was being opened back on the main display without an issue but in case you run into this, the action above solves the problem.

Remember to always run these patches using the “Run as Administrator” feature.

Execution/Installation Order:

1. QTP_00699 patch (20 October 2010) – for QTP 11 for Windows7 provides complete support for 64bit applications in Windows7

2. QTPWeb_00078 patch (13 June 2011) – Add Support for Internet Explorer 9 (but this has a bug in it that gets addressed in the next patch below)

3. QTP_00850 patch (31 August 2011) – Fix “The operation cannot be performed” Error While Running the WinCheckBox.Set Method

4. QTPWeb_00086 patch (15 September 2011) – Support for 64-bit Internet Explorer Browsers

5 QTPWeb_00088 patch – Support for Running Steps in Google Chrome (2 October 2011) – you don’t really need this one if you plan on installing the rest of the patches because this is covered in patch QTPWeb_00090.

6. QTPWeb_00090 patch (13 December 2011) – provides support for Mozilla Firefox versions 4.0.x, 5.0.x, 6.0.x, 7.0.x, and 8.0.x.
(This patch also includes the support content from QTPWEB_00063 ‘Add Support for Firefox 3.6′ and QTPWEB_00088 ‘Support for Running Steps in Google Chrome’.)

7. QTPWeb_00092 patch (15 February 2012) – provides support for Mozilla Firefox versions 9.0.x and 11 when installed after QTPWEB_00090.

“vReturnCode=UBound(arrayName)”

But did you know that if you have a multi-dimensional array and execute the same statement, you will ONLY get the first dimension size.   However if you need the size of a different dimension then you can specify that dimension as the second parameter; in that parameter you can specify whatever dimension you are interested in.  For example if you execute

“vReturnCode=UBound(arrayName,2)”

you will retrieve the size of the second dimension.  This is important because your first and second dimensions could be different sizes and if you only use the first version of the statement above, you will only get the first dimension and potentionally not loop through all the values in your second dimension which will most likely be an issue, or error out if you end up trying to access an array element that is larger than the dimension which doesn’t exist.  Make sure you query for the correct dimension when using the UBound function.

Learn more in my “VBScript for QuickTest Pro” online training class by visiting my webpage: http://www.asi-test.com/ASI/products/

Tips & Tricks: Most people know and use the handy function “UBound” in their VBScript code to query for the size of an array.  Since arrays can be dynamic and change in size using the ReDim statement, most programmers will use the UBound function to retrieve the current size of the array from within their code so that they can process through the array correctly and completely at runtime.  The majority of the time arrays tend to be single dimensional and so people are used to using the statement in the following fashion: “vReturnCode=UBound(arrayName)”

But did you know that if you have a multi-dimensional array and execute the same statement, you will ONLY get the first dimension size.  However if you need the size of a different dimension then you can specify that dimension as the second parameter; in that parameter you can specify whatever dimension you are interested in.  For example if you execute “vReturnCode=UBound(arrayName,2)” you will retrieve the size of the second dimension.  This is important because your first and second dimensions could be different sizes and if you only use the first version of the statement above, you will only get the first dimension and potentionally not loop through all the values in your second dimension which will most likely be an issue, or error out if you end up trying to access an array element that is larger than the dimension which doesn’t exist.  Make sure you query for the correct dimension when using the UBound function.

Learn more in my “VBScript for QuickTest Pro” online training class by visiting my webpage: http://www.asi-test.com/ASI/products/

If your test cases are written with enough detail, a great way for a new tester to learn the system is to perform a regression test during a test cycle using the test cases and this should help test the application and likewise teach the new tester the new functionality.  If you think you’re too busy to write that level of detail, then think about down the road when you get new team members, are you going to have the time then to keep stopping what you are doing to explain things to the new person?  Take the time up front when you are writing the test cases while all the requirements and process is still fresh in your mind.  Enter in all the detail and explanations then as this becomes a one-time investment of time and requires minimal support later.

Test steps typically consists of two main elements, the “Action to Perform” and the “Expected Result”.  My guidance on this is that the “Action to Perform” shouldn’t have a ton of things to perform in the individual step, it should always have an “Expected Result” and it should be straight forward to validate the action.  If you don’t have an Expected Result, then your test step is low level and doesn’t have enough detail.  If there are too many things being done in the test step, then it needs to be broken down into multiple test steps.  For example, you should NOT have a test step that says “Log into the application” as this is too vague with not enough detail.  How do you want me to log in?  As a user, as a manager, as an admin?  Should I use a valid account or should I use an invalid account to test the negative logic?  Should I only use the mouse or should I navigate with the keyboard validating that the tabbing functionality works.

In addition, the Quality Center offers many key benefits which help with this whole documentation issue:

1. It enables you to make attachments at any level including at the individual test step level.  If you use the Quality Center and attach whatever documentation is available at the time, then you will never loose the original documentation and it becomes a handy resource to use during testing later on.
2. You can enter in the original requirements for the project and link the appropriate requirement(s) to the individual test case that validates the requirements.
3. You can provide various other high-level documentation, field data and information about the test case in the Details tab.
4. You can parameterize various values in order to make the test case more dynamic during test execution.
5. It maintains history so if you maintain your test cases you can see the changes that were made over time, in case you ever need to know something about the test case before it was changed.

1. How to increase importance: This to me is “what makes a tester valuable”; to me this is a tester who is technical and can test & verify a piece of software from all the various components involved. A solid tester has to be able to understand how the system operates from both a technical standpoint but also from a business standpoint. My testers also do the following in testing our software projects:
> Test the User Interface (UI testing).
> Perform full life cycle testing that includes Functional, Regression, and System/Integration Testing.
> Query the database for correct schema changes/structure and query to verify that the application has performed the correct data changes.
> Can navigate and make changes on a server.  We work on Linux servers and my testers can navigate through the Linux system at the command prompt, kick off cronjobs, shell scripts, verify configurations, log into other servers, etc.
> Can open up a PHP program and review the logic when necessary.
> They are also robust in using testing tools like the Quality Center, QuickTest Pro, SQL tools and various other tools used in a technical environment.

***These kinds of skills increase the importance and value of an employee/tester.

2. How to stay interested in testing?  My opinion is by staying technical and being involved in test automation, will cause you to constantly challenge yourself and have to learn new things.  These two things make testing more interesting and fun.
> Staying technical is very important because it addresses the value in the first part of the question (see above) and also keeps you very busy, very hands-on and having to test a lot more of the system which is so much more challenging but yet interesting at the same time.
> Test Automation is a valuable and hot skill to have today.  Most companies try to implement automation and always look for people that have that skill to contribute.  Test Automation is very interesting, challenging, technical, fun and very rewarding when you develop a process through automation that verifies various aspects of the application.
Staying busy, involved and testing projects from many different angles (UI, database, code, system and test automation) is very intriguing, interesting, exciting and fun.  At the same time your are providing great value to the company.