Engines 3.0 offer keyboard commands for your tests. Keyboard commands allow Tricentis Tosca to act like a user: It navigates your application, typing on the keyboard. Typically, you will combine keyboard commands with click operations.
You can use the following types of keyboard commands:
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Single keyboard commands for simple commands
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Key combinations with the WinForms function SendKeys for more complex user interactions. For instance, if you want to mark all content of an entry field and then delete it.
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Virtual-key codes to simulate keyboard entries if your application doesn't support single keyboard commands or SendKeys.
You can also steer entire windows rather than individual elements in a window. To do so, use the Module TBox Send Keys of the Standard subset.
Enter text and numbers
To insert letters or numbers, simply enter the letters or numbers.
You can use uppercase or lowercase letters. Tricentis Tosca interprets capital letters as SHIFT + lower case letters.
Enter Jane and Smith into two different text boxes
Some applications might not accept the input of several text characters at once.
In this case, use the syntax {TEXTINPUT["<Unicode characters>"]} to enter your text as Unicode characters.
Use single keyboard commands
To perform single keyboard commands, use the syntax {COMMAND}.
Single keyboard command to press F6
The following commands are available:
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Command |
Action |
|---|---|
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BACKSPACE |
Backspace |
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BREAK |
Break |
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CAPSLOCK |
Caps Lock |
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CLEAR |
Clear |
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DEL |
Delete |
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DOWN |
↓ |
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END |
End |
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ENTER |
Enter |
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ESCAPE or ESC |
Esc |
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HELP |
Help |
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HOME |
Home |
|
INSERT |
Ins |
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LEFT |
<- |
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NUMLOCK |
Num Lock |
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|
Print Screen |
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RETURN |
↵ |
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RIGHT |
-> |
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SCROLLLOCK |
Scroll Lock |
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TAB |
Tab |
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UP |
↑ |
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SHIFT, LSHIFT, RSHIFT |
SHIFT, Left SHIFT, Right SHIFT |
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CTRL, LCTRL, RCTRL |
CTRL, Left CTRL, Right CTRL |
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ALT, LALT, RALT |
ALT, Left ALT, Right ALT |
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F1 ... F24 |
F1 ... F24 |
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LWIN |
Left Windows key |
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RWIN |
Right Windows key |
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APPS |
Windows context menu key |
Commands with click operations
You can also enter commands that use click operations:
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Command |
Action |
|---|---|
|
ALTCLICK |
Left-click while holding ALT |
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LALTCLICK |
Left-click while holding the left ALT key |
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RALTCLICK |
Left-click while holding the right ALT key |
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CTRLCLICK |
Left-click while holding CTRL |
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LCTRLCLICK |
Left-click while holding the left CTRL key |
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RCTRLCLICK |
Left-click while holding the right CTRL key |
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SHIFTCLICK |
Left-click while holding SHIFT |
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LSHIFTCLICK |
Left-click while holding the left SHIFT key |
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RSHIFTCLICK |
Left-click while holding the right SHIFT key |
Use SendKeys
This expression allows you to perform more complex user interactions. Use it to specify key combinations, or to send commands to controls that don't support the direct input of certain commands.
The Tosca SendKeys expression uses the WinForms function SendKeys.
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Syntax: |
{SENDKEYS["<Microsoft SendKeys command>"]} |
For a list of available SendKeys commands and their syntax, see the Microsoft SendKeys documentation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.sendkeys.aspx
The double quotation marks " that enclose the SendKeys command escape any special characters within the command. If your command contains double quotation marks as a special character, you need additional escaping. For more information on working with special characters, see chapter "Special characters".
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In this example, you want to enter the value (ABC) into the text box TextBox:
Keyboard commands for TextBox The double quotation marks escape the special characters { and }. |
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In this example, you want to highlight the entire content of the text box user and then delete it. First, you need to allow Tricentis Tosca to use the control user multiple times. To do so, modify the Module. Set the ModuleAttribute property Cardinality of the control user to 1-N. In the TestStep that you create from the Module, enter the following values.
Keyboard commands for user The double quotation marks escape the special characters { and }. |
In some cases, your application may need some time to process between commands. You can specify a delay in milliseconds with the steering param SendKeysDelay or the test configuration parameter SendKeysDelay.
If you have specified both parameters, the steering param takes precedence.
Simulate keyboard entries
This expression allows you to simulate keyboard entries by using virtual-key codes.
To use virtual-key codes in your expressions, use the syntax {KEYPRESS[<Virtual-key code>]}.
For a list of available virtual-key codes, see the Microsoft virtual-key codes documentation: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd375731(v=vs.85).aspx.
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You need to enter virtual-key codes without the prefix VK_. For instance: {KEYPRESS[RETURN]} instead of {KEYPRESS[VK_RETURN]}. |
If you want to perform key combinations, use the syntax {KEYDOWN[<Virtual-key code>]} for pressing the key and {KEYUP[<Virtual-key code>]} for releasing it.
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In this example, you want to highlight the entire content of the textbox Order with CTRL + A and then delete it.
Virtual-key commands for Order
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