Specify values

In addition to simple character strings and numerical data, you can specify the following values in the Value column:

• "Keyboard commands": simulate keyboard commands

• "Click operations": perform mouse-clicks

• "Text expressions": use values you have previously saved, for instance in buffers or configuration parameters

• "Regular expressions": use regular expressions to compare strings

• "Resource expressions": reference a resource

• "Dynamic date and time expressions": generate dynamic time and date values

• "Graphical View": view dynamic expressions in a clear and easily understandable way

• "Number formats": define number formats

• "Random values: numbers and texts": generate random strings

• "Perform calculations": calculations, with or without Microsoft® Excel

• "UserSimulation": list of controls that additionally support user simulation

Specify all dynamic expressions with the following syntax:

Syntax:

{COMMAND[Parameter1][Parameter 2]…[Parameter n]}

Depending on the specific command, parameters are optional.

Engines 3.0 values support special characters and wildcards.

Special characters

Tricentis Tosca regards the following characters as special characters: {, }, [, ], ", and * (if the asterisk is part of a string and not a wildcard).

If you want to use special characters in your tests, you have to let the system know that it should treat these characters as part of a string.

To do so, escape special characters with double quotation marks: "

You can escape in one of two ways:

• Manually, by entering the quotation marks.

• Via the context menu entry Escape value. In this case, Tricentis Tosca automatically adds the correct escape characters. It interprets the asterisk literally as a character and not as a wildcard.

If you want to escape special characters manually, keep the following rules in mind:

Rule 1: You can escape characters individually, or you can escape entire strings

To use the value Tric*ntis, you can enter either Tric"*"ntis or "Tric*ntis".

This only applies if the asterisk is part of the string and not used as a wildcard. You do not have to escape wildcards.

Rule 2: The special character " needs special treatment

The special character " requires two types of escaping:

• Double quotation marks to escape a special character

• An additional leading double quotation mark to indicate that the subsequent " is the actual string and not the end of an escaped string

For instance: To work with the value {"Example"}, you need to enter "{""Example""}".

• The " in the beginning and the end escape the entire string, including the special characters { and ".

• The " tells the system to treat the subsequent " as a string.

Wildcards

Tricentis Tosca supports wildcards * in the following cases:

• In strings in the Value column

• In tables: row name, column name, cell name

• In identification parameters and transition parameters

You can enter more than one wildcard, e.g. *ri*n*s instead of Tricentis.

If you want to use the asterisk as part of a string and not as a wildcard, you need to escape it.

In this example, you are searching for a row that contains a cell whose content ends with 1967. In this row, you are looking for a cell in a column whose header starts with Last. Then you verify whether the content of this cell is Smith. Wildcards in a table

In this example, you use the parameter Title to search for a caption. The value Vehicle Insurance* specifies that the caption starts with Vehicle Insurance. Wildcard in the parameter Title