Visual Test 6 Bible [Paperback]

Thomas R. Arnold II (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0764532553 | ISBN-13: 978-0764532559

Automate the Testing of Your Software Development Projects Harness the power, flexibility, and new functionality of Visual Test 6 to enhance the effectiveness of your testing projects. Using concrete scenarios and detailed examples, leading Visual Test expert and veteran trainer Tom Arnold guides you through the entire test automation process — covering both the programming and project management skills needed to deliver high-quality Windows or Web-based software applications on schedule and within budget. Inside, you'll find complete coverage of Visual Test 6

• Get a complete tour of Visual Test's IDE, toolbars, and utilities
• Take full command of Test Language's constructs, functions, and procedures
• Jump-start your test automation process with the Scenario Recorder
• Use the Visual Test Suite Manager to organize and execute programs
• Master file input/output, pointers, callback functions, and links to Windows APIs
• Learn about Visual Test-based monkey programs for testing your applications
• Use Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 to test HTML documents
• Find out how to test software across a network

"A ‘must have’ for anyone wanting to get started quickly with Rational Visual Test." — Ed Humphrey, Product Manager, Rational Visual Test "The definitive reference for Visual Test!" — Jeff Cope, Systems Engineer, Compaq Corporation Source code for all the examples from the book included on CD-ROM, plus:

• Video interviews with industry experts Dr. Cem Kaner and James Bach about software test automation
• RealPlayer 5.0 — to watch the video interviews
• Richard Wartner's online Visual Test book
• ST Labs technical white papers and Test Now 2.0 add-on tool
• Evaluation copies of tools from TeamShare, Translation Craft, Seapine Software, and Soffront Software
• Links to some of the best Visual Test sites on the Web
• The complete electronic version of the book

Shareware programs are fully functional, free trial versions of copyrighted programs. If you like particular programs, register with their authors for a nominal fee and receive licenses, enhanced versions, and technical support. Freeware programs are free, copyrighted games, applications, and utilities. You can copy them to as many PCs as you like—free—but they have no technical support. www.idgbooks.com System Requirements: Windows 95; Windows 98; Windows NT 4.0

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Does your desktop glow bug-zapper blue? Visual Test 6 Bible will help you figure out Rational Visual Test 6 and enable you to unleash its powerful test-automation tools on your thorniest software projects.

This book documents the Visual Test 6 interface and explains how to use the Visual Test programming language. The author reveals how even the most perplexing pieces of Visual Test work and shows you how to use them in practical situations. Coverage of the Visual Test scripting language is very easy for the newcomer to follow, and a solid language reference backs up the author's excellent, example-rich tutorial. All of this book's programming examples accompany the text on CD-ROM, along with various supplementary materials.

Beyond its exploration of Visual Test itself, Visual Test 6 Bible serves as a resource for the software manager who is concerned with shipping a product as specified--on time and on budget. Thomas R. Arnold II, who helped develop Visual Test 4b, discusses the business and engineering implications of automated testing and acknowledges that in many instances, such testing is more trouble than it's worth. He helps you develop and manage a coherent quality-assurance plan and integrate it with the rest of the development process. It's the author's holistic approach to Visual Test and its uses that makes this book excellent. --David Wall

About the Author

About the Author Tom Arnold graduated from Purdue University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. He began his career in the computer industry at Asymetrix Corporation, where he was the Senior Test Lead and contributing developer for their Multimedia & Tools Group. Tom has dedicated the majority of his career to testing, working at Software Testing Laboratories (ST Labs, Inc.) and Microsoft Corporation. He has also developed and taught testing courses for Microsoft employees and other companies (such as MCI, IBM, Traveling Software, Spry/CompuServe, Attachmate, Hewlett-Packard, Delrina, Asymetrix, Aldus/Adobe, Peachtree, Compaq, Entergy, and Corel). As a Vice President at ST Labs, Inc., he led the development teams for ST Labs' add-on products, Test Now 1.0 and 2.0, and built the training department, which continued to provide training on Visual Test and other quality assurance topics. In late 1996 Tom consulted on the Visual Test 4.0b update (later renamed to Visual Test 4.0r when it was purchased by Rational Software Corporation). In 1998 he left ST Labs to join a new company focusing on the creation of instructional digital media (DVDs, CD-ROMs, streaming content, and plain old videos) for software products. Tom also moved onto the Rational Software development team as a Development Manager for the release of Rational Visual Test 6.0. He has written Software Testing with Visual Test 4.0 for IDG Books Worldwide, plays host and instructor in a Visual Test 6.0 video series, and teaches hands-on Visual Test classes. Visit www.vtindepth.com to get updates on all Visual Test-related topics or to contact Tom.

Product Details

• Paperback: 712 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (December 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764532553
• ISBN-13: 978-0764532559
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,719,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book saved us and our project, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Visual Test 6 Bible (Paperback)

Mr. Arnold's book offers both a helping hand for slow starters and a great jumping-off point for those that want to hit the ground running.

We weren't certain where to begin so we bought this book and it helped us understand that there are times when automation makes sense and there are definitely times when it should be put on the back burner.

When automation should be brought in to play, though, this book has extensive source code examples, a great language reference, and is encouraging every step of the way. He also points out key aspects of the product that aren't clearly documented by the software manufacturers (or not documented at all!).

Thanks, Tom, for your great writing style and for making our jobs easier!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Visual Test 6 Bible is a "must have" for Visual Test users., February 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Visual Test 6 Bible (Paperback)

Although this book is geared to new users starting out with Visual Test, even experienced Visual Test users will gather valuable nuggets of information. I particularly like how the author explains the use of Visual Test within the context of the software development process. Real world examples are sprinkled throughout which adds to its readability. I recommend this book to Visual Test users.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great book, although the name does not match perfectly, March 22, 2001

By 

Michael Nithammer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual Test 6 Bible (Paperback)

When I started a new job in the QA department of a software company accompanying my studies, I hardly knew anything about automated software testing and test scripts like Visual Test.

I was given the "Visual Test 6 Bible" in order to learn Visual Test. Within a few days reading the book, I successfully was able to write my first test scripts doing exactly that, what was expected.

The book was pretty interesting to read, easy to understand, at least for me being an intermediate C++ programmer, and quickly leading to results.

The only negative aspect of this book is the name, 'cos a book called "bible" should give a bit more in depth information, but since I currently am satisfied with the knowledge I gained by reading this book, I don't really miss it, just thought a different name could have matched better.