Full and true automation with Watir and AutoIT

Question

We use Watir with AutoIT to test our web applications with IE on Windows. AutoIT is used where Watir cannot handle processing its own Windows dialogs (for example, the Windows File dialog for downloading).

Because of AutoIT, we cannot run our tests using the task scheduler, since AutoIT operations from Watir code require an Interactive Desktop session.

We tried several tricks (RDP from RDP, etc.), but without success and are unable to perform real automation.

Any ideas? Open to AutoIT replacement if it can help us achieve true end2end test automation.

Answer 1

We had similar problems when we started testing our TeamCity agents, which ran as a service. This is because you are trying to start an interactive process from a service that is not interactive. We switched to ensure that our TeamCity agents work like normal processes, and the problem disappears.

You might want to look into the build management server to process it, and not just use the task scheduler, but in any case you want to avoid starting the test process as a service.

Answer 2

You need to use a scheduler that works with user rights. I previously used CruiseControl.Net for this.

If your process does not have user rights, it will not have access to the desktop windows, which is what you need if you use Watir, AutoIT, or some other tool. This is a permissions issue, not a tool issue.

Answer 3

I would replace Vatira .;)

I’m not quite sure about Vatira, but I think this is nothing more than a wrapper for the InternetExplorer.Application COM object, which you can easily use directly from AutoIt with all its functionality, through ObjCreate("InternetExplorer.Application") or through user-defined Features listed in IE Management

I really believe that you could script execute all your test scripts only in AutoIt. Why do you need an interactive desktop session?

Answer 4

I would replace Watir with iMacros . This is a commercial solution, but it can handle download dialogs, etc. And unlike Autoit, it can manage multiple instances at the same time.