Release Notes® for Rational Functional Tester 9.1.1

This document contains information about new features, system requirements, and known limitations in IBM® Rational® Functional Tester.

Description

IBM Rational Functional Tester is an object-oriented automated testing tool that tests HTML, Java™, Dojo, Ajax, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft .NET, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Visual Basic, SAP, Siebel, Flex, GEF, and PowerBuilder applications that run on Microsoft Windows or Linux operating systems. You can also test Adobe PDF documents. You can test IBM zSeries, IBM iSeries, and IBM pSeries applications by using the terminal emulator that is packaged with Rational Functional Tester. With Rational Functional Tester, you can record reliable and robust scripts that you can play back to validate new builds of a test application.

Rational Functional Tester is available in two integrated development environments: Eclipse and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET. The eclipse integration supports both Java and simplified (non-programming) method of scripting while the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET integration supports Microsoft Visual Basic .NET scripting language.

To view the list of domains, software, and platforms that are supported for functional testing in each release of Rational Functional Tester and the compatible versions of Rational products that can be integrated with Rational Functional Tester, see Software Product Compatibility Reports.

To view the list of domains, software, and platforms that are supported for Rational Functional Tester, see the compatibility report.

What's new in version 9.1.1.1

Ability to compile all test scripts in a project at once from the command line. See Rational Functional Tester command line interface.
Support for optical character recognition (OCR), which allows you to use the image verification point to test text in your application. See Using OCR to test application text.
A timer has been added to the exists() API.
Support for Rational Quality Manager and Rational Team Concert™ 6.0.4.

What's new in version 9.1.1

Decryption support for encrypted datapool variable values. Security is provided by password verification. See Encrypting and decrypting datapools.
Ability for the Rational Functional Tester Extension for Terminal-based Applications to import a certificate from the server for secured connections. See Importing certificates from the server for secured connections.
Addition of a new algorithm for image-based verification points that supplements the existing pixel to pixel comparison. See Creating an image verification point.
Support for test script playback using the Microsoft Edge browser. See Running a script from the Microsoft Edge browser.
Ability to use the Rational Functional Tester plug-in for IBM UrbanCode™ Deploy on Linux computers.
Support for publishing test results to the Unified Reporting dashboard on IBM Rational Test Control Panel. See Unified reporting dashboard.

Installing the product

To install the product, install 9.1, and then use the Update procedure in IBM Installation Manager to update to the latest release. You can also update from 9.1.0.1 or 9.1.1. If you have an older version, you must first uninstall the older version and perform a fresh installation of 9.1. After the installation is complete, you can update to the latest release.

Rational Functional Tester is also included in the Rational Test Workbench package. You can use the Rational Functional Tester license when you install Rational Functional Tester through the Rational Test Workbench package.

Installing .NET 2010 help

If you installed Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 .NET Integration, you must install Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 .NET help manually.

After you install Rational Functional Tester Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 .NET Integration, open Rational Functional Tester, click Help and then click Manage Help Settings. This opens the Visual Studio Help Library Manager.
Select the Install content from disk option.
Click Browse and select the helpcontentsetup.msha file that is available by default in the Rational Functional Tester installation directory\IBM\SDP\FunctionalTester\vsnet\MSDNHelp\VS2010 directory. The help manifest files for other translations are found within the locale folders available in the VS2010 directory. Click Next.
Select FT and click Add. The Update button is enabled.
Click Update. You are prompted to confirm the installation. Click Yes. The Rational Functional Tester .NET help is installed as local help for Visual Studio 2010.

Note: To view the Rational Functional Tester .NET Scripting help in the Visual Studio 2010 IDE, you must enable the local help option in the Help Library Manager.

Tip: To view the complete table of contents of the installed local help in the Visual Studio 2010 IDE, install the Visual Studio Help Keyword Index plug-in that is available from the Microsoft website. Alternatively, you can upgrade to Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 to view help in the Microsoft Help Viewer.

Known limitations and workarounds

Known problems are documented in the fix list and download document. Select a fix list from http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27036170. From the fix list, you can view the download document for additional information.

Known problems are also documented in the form of individual technotes in the Support Knowledge Base at Troubleshooting documentation for Rational Functional Tester. As problems are discovered and resolved, the knowledge base is updated. By searching the knowledge base, you can quickly find workarounds or solutions to problems.

Contacting IBM Software Support

IBM Software Support provides you with technical assistance.

For FAQs, lists of known problems and fixes, and other support information, visit the product support page for Rational Functional Tester software at http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/functional/support/.

For product news, events, and other information, visit the product home page for Rational Functional Tester Software at http://www.ibm.com/software/awdtools/tester/functional/index.html.

Before you contact IBM Software Support, gather the background information that you need to describe your problem. When you are describing a problem to an IBM Software Support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:

What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
Do you have logs, traces, or messages that are related to the problem?
Can you reproduce the problem? If so, what steps do you take to reproduce it?
Is there a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to describe the workaround.

Trademarks acknowledgments

IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com® are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at Copyright and trademark information.

Adobe is either a registered trademark or trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States, and/or other countries.

Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.

Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

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