MicroFocus SilkTest 2010

The curious QA Tester should already notice availability of SilkTest 2010 trial download on MicroFocus web site.The first thing you will notice is the size of download SilkTest 2010 package - 694 MB, the previous version SilkTest 2009 R2 download size was just around 200 MB. The reason is that now SilkTest 2010 product suite includes the following components:

• SilkTest Workbench is the completely new, native quality testing environment that offers .NET
scripting for power users and innovative storyboard-based visual tests to make testing more accessible.
• Silk4NET is plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio that allows QA Testers to efficiently create and manage functional, regression, and localization tests directly in the Visual Studio using Visual Basic or C#.
• Silk4J is plug-in for Eclipse enables QA Testers to create Java-based test scripts.
• SilkTest Recorder – enables QA Testers to record and replay tests using a GUI and then export
those tests to SilkTest Classic, Silk4J, or Silk4NET.
• SilkTest Classic is the traditional, 4Test SilkTest product.
• SilkTest Agents is the software process that translates the commands in tests into GUI-specific commands.

SilkTest 2010 supports applications that use the following browsers or are developed in Adobe Flex, Firefox, Internet Explorer, SAP, Win 32, WinForms and WPF. Micro Focus Silk Test 2010 supports the following databases SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2005, Oracle 11.1 and Oracle 11.2. SilkTest 2010 license policy didn’t change and requires installation SilkMeter 2008 or later with proper SilkTest license policy.

Silktest Interview Question 77 - How to download latest SilkTest 2009 trial version?

Last week Micro Focus, a leading provider of enterprise application modernization, testing and management solutions, announced the availability of SilkTest 2009 R2 and Silk4J 2009 R2 from Borland Software Corporation. Without a doubt Silk Test 2009 is quality choice for automated regression and functional software testing, but I wonder why Micro Focus labels the latest Silk Test version as 2009 R2. It is 2010 already, so label this famous automation test application as SilkTest 2010. The trial version of SilkTest is available for free download.

The latest version of SilkTest 2009 R2 also includes the following significant enhancements

Improved Open Agent Technology – Dynamic Object Recognition allows for a decoupling of an application's Graphical User Interface (GUI) object hierarchy from its representation in test scripts, resulting in significantly lower script maintenance.

Advanced synchronization capabilities eliminate the need to modify test scripts to include wait times, providing advanced automation for testing today’s dynamic Web applications.

Full cross-browser AJAX support – Silk Test now provides completely automatic synchronization for testing Web2.0 applications on Firefox 3.0 and 3.5 as well as Internet Explorer, 6, 7 and 8 through its open agent technology.

Enhanced support for system functions by the SilkTest Open Agent.

Dynamic Port Allocation – The SilkTest Open Agent also now uses dynamically allocated ports. The dynamic port allocation feature for the open agent makes it possible to leverage the supported technologies for SilkPerformer 2009 R2 GUI value unit tests.

Silktest Interview Question 76 - Why do we need to use SilkTest 2009 ?

Could you convince QA manager to invest money in buying SilkTest 2009 license for your QA organization, while QA manager doesn't like test automation and doesn't understand the reasons of using of Silk Test 2009? What is the point of starting the Firefox or IE browser using 4Test or Silk4J code, selecting radio button, checking check boxes, clicking buttons and verifying the text with the help of test scripts written in 4Test or Silk4J code? It is much easier to ask manual QA Tester to just click around the web site and visually verify that everything works as expected in the application, and even run a couple of SQL quires.

One of the ways to persuade QA Manager in investing time and money into developing test automation framework would be to ask him/her to test the application yourself during several QA cycles. It would be virtually impossible to test the application manually, because the testing becomes so prone to human error that no one can guarantee the testing was done right. In the same time Silktest 2009 can repeat the same mundane tests over and over without any complaints. The payoff of using Silk Test 2009 is the ability to change the application code frequently and almost immediately know that the change didn't brake anything. The test automation tool lets QA team to tests against browser interface, but in the same time Silktest SQL features allow direct interaction with databases like MS SQL, Oracle and MySQL to compare results of test execution and prove the web site is working duly.