Simulating keyboards and special keys actions on Web and native application windows

While recording a test, you can simulate keyboard or special keys actions on web and native application windows, or navigation dialogs such as browsers on Windows system. To simulate these actions, you can add the navigation action PressKey or InputKeys to the test script. New key combinations are available from version 9.2.1.1 of the product, their values must be entered with the proper format.

Before you begin

A Web UI test must be created from a recording and the test script must be open in the test editor.
Restriction:
  • PressKey and InputKey are not supported on Mac OS.
  • Only basic key combinations executed in browser pages like [CTRL]+[A], [CTRL]+[C], [CTRL]+[V] are supported.
  • New key combinations don't display in test scripts that were recorded with versions earlier to v9.2.1.1. If you want to benefit from the new key combinations in existing test scripts, you need to remove the existing test steps and add new ones.
  • Double byte characters are not supported.

Procedure

  1. In the test script, place the cursor where the step must be added, click Insert > Navigation action.
  2. In the Test Element Details section, select InputKeys or PressKey in the list of object ’s actions. For InputKeys and PressKey navigation actions, specify the string in the edit field that will be automatically entered at the playback time when the step is replayed. The PressKey navigation action is used to simulate the TAB key or specific kind of keys, see the list of supported navigation key values and their format below:
    Supported PressKey navigation actions and keys format
    • CONTROL->[CTRL]
    • Tab->[TAB]
    • Shift->[SHIFT]
    • Enter->[ENTER]
    • Escape->[ESCAPE]
    • PageUp->[PAGEUP]
    • PageDown->[PAGEDOWN]
    • F1 to F12 ->[F1] ….[F12]
    • Ctrl->[CTRL]
    • Alt->[ALT]
    • Del->[DEL]
    • “=”->[=]
    • “-“>[-]
    • “+”->[+]
    Examples of key combinations: [CTRL]+[ALT]+[S], [CTRL]+[C], [CTRL]+[V]
    PressKey action key entered to simulate special keys.
    InputKeys action is used to simulate UI controls like edit boxes for example.
  3. Optional: Select the check box Native System Input so that the Input keys/special keys actions are simulated at the screen level, on the active window. This option is used to handle non-html windows such as File browse dialogs. If you want to interact with File browse dialogs, you are recommended to keep the machine unlocked and the browser dialog to be in the foreground. This feature is not supported for AFT parallel executions where multiple browser instances are running.
  4. Or disable the option so that the action applies to the web application under test. But note that this feature is not supported by Firefox navigation browser.
  5. Save the test and run it.
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