Setting Recording Options for the Open Agent

This functionality is supported only if you are using the Open Agent.

You can set the recording options to optimize recording with the Open Agent in the following two ways:
  • In the Recording Options dialog box.
  • Within a script, by using the SetOption method.

Using SetOption overrides the value specified for the option in the Recording Options dialog box. If you do not set an option with SetOption, the value specified in the Recording Options dialog box is the default.

To set the recording options in the Recording Options dialog box, perform the following actions:

  1. Click Options > Recorder. The Recording Options dialog box appears.
  2. To set Ctrl+Shift as the shortcut key combination to use to pause recording, check the OPT_ALTERNATE_RECORD_BREAK check box. By default, Ctrl+Alt is the shortcut key combination.
    Note: For SAP applications, you must set Ctrl+Shift as the shortcut key combination.
  3. To record absolute values for scroll events, check the OPT_RECORD_SCROLLBAR_ABSOLUT check box.
  4. To record mouse move actions for web applications, Win32 applications, and Windows Forms applications, check the OPT_RECORD_MOUSEMOVES check box. You cannot record mouse move actions for child technology domains of the xBrowser technology domain, for example Apache Flex and Swing.
  5. If you record mouse move actions, in the OPT_RECORD_MOUSEMOVE_DELAY text box, specify how many milliseconds the mouse has to be motionless before a MouseMove is recorded. By default this value is set to 200.
  6. To record text clicks instead of clicks, check the OPT_RECORD_TEXT_CLICK check box. Recording text clicks is enabled by default, and is the fallback mechanism when testing applications which display texts. Micro Focus recommends to leave this check box checked.
  7. To resize the application under test (AUT) when a recording session starts, check the OPT_RESIZE_APPLICATION_BEFORE_RECORDING check box. This check box is checked by default, enabling the Silk Recorder to display next to the AUT. When this check box is unchecked, the AUT and the Silk Recorder might overlap.
  8. Define custom attributes for recording.
    1. Select the Custom Attributes tab.
    2. Select the technology domain of the application that you are testing. For example, to set custom attributes for a web application, select xBrowser.
    3. Add the attributes that you want to use to the list. Separate attribute names with a comma. Using a custom attribute is more reliable than other attributes like caption or index, since a caption will change when you translate the application into another language, and the index might change when another object is added. If custom attributes are available, the locator generator uses these attributes before any other attribute. The order of the list also represents the priority in which the attributes are used by the locator generator. If the attributes that you specify are not available for the objects that you select, Silk Test Classic uses the default attributes for the application that you are testing.
    Note: You cannot set custom attributes for Apache Flex applications.
  9. Set the classes that you want to ignore during recording and replay.
    1. Select the Transparent Classes tab.
    2. Add the names of any classes that you want to ignore to the list. Separate class names with a comma.
  10. Specify recording options for web applications.
    1. Select the Browser tab.
    2. Add names of attributes that you want to ignore during recording to the Locator attribute name exclude list. For example, if you do not want to record attributes named height, add height to the list. Separate attribute names with a comma.
    3. Add values of attributes that you want to ignore during recording to the Locator attribute value exclude list. For example, if you do not want to record attributes that have the value x-auto, add x-auto to the list.
    4. Check the OPT_XBROWSER_LOWLEVEL check box to record native user input instead of DOM functions.

      For example to record Click instead of DomClick and TypeKeys instead of SetText.

      If your application uses a plug-in or AJAX, use native user input. If your application does not use a plug-in or AJAX, Micro Focus recommends using high-level DOM functions, which do not require the browser to be focused or active during playback. As a result, tests that use DOM functions are faster and more reliable.

    5. Specify the maximum length for locator attribute values in the OPT_XBROWSER_LOCATOR_MAX_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_LENGTH field.
    6. Check the OPT_XBROWSER_ENABLE_SMART_CLICK_POSITION check box to automatically search for a free click spot on the object. If disabled, the click is always made in the center of the object, and might possibly be performed an object layered over the target.
    7. To force Mozilla Firefox to open external links in a new tab instead of a new window, check OPT_FIREFOX_SINGLE_WINDOW_MODE.
      Note: This option only works with Mozilla Firefox 52 or later.
    8. To disable iframe and frame support for browsers, uncheck OPT_XBROWSER_ENABLE_IFRAME_SUPPORT. If you are not interested in the content of the iframes in a web application, disabling the iframe support might improve replay performance. For example, disabling the iframe support might significantly improve replay performance for web pages with many adds and when testing in a mobile browser. This option is ignored by Internet Explorer. This option is enabled by default.
    9. In the Whitelist for iframe support, specify attributes of iframes and frames that should be considered during testing. Every entry in the list defines an attribute name and the corresponding value. All iframes and frames that do not match at least one of the entries are excluded. Wildcards are allowed, for example the entry "name:*form" would include <IFRAME name="user-form" src=…>. This option is ignored by Internet Explorer. If the list is empty, all iframes and frames are considered during testing. Separate multiple entries with a comma.
  11. In the Blacklist for iframe support, specify attributes of iframes and frames that should be excluded during testing. Every entry in the list defines an attribute name and the corresponding value. All iframes and frames that do not match at least one of the entries are considered during testing. Wildcards are allowed, for example the entry "src:*advertising*" would exclude <IFRAME src=http://my.domain/advertising-banner.html>. This option is ignored by Internet Explorer. If the list is empty, all iframes and frames are considered during testing. Separate multiple entries with a comma.
  12. Specify recording options for WPF applications.
    1. Check the OPT_WPF_PREFILL_ITEMS check box to pre-fill items in a WPFItemsControl, for example a WPFComboBox or WPFListBox, during recording and playback.
    2. Add the names of custom classes that you want to expose during recording and playback to the Custom WPF class names list.
  13. Specify whether to use Microsoft UI Automation support instead of the normal Win32 control recognition.
    1. Click the UI Automation tab.
    2. Set Enable Microsoft UI Automation Support to True to enable Microsoft UI Automation support instead of the normal Win32 control recognition.
      Note: The UI Automation support overrides the standard technology-domain-specific support. When you are finished interacting with the controls that require UI Automation support, disable the UI Automation support again to resume working with standard controls.
    3. In the Locator attribute name exclude list grid, type the attribute names to ignore while recording. For example, if you do not want to record attributes named height, add the height attribute name to the grid. Separate attribute names with a comma.
    4. In the Locator attribute value exclude list grid, type the attribute values to ignore while recording. For example, if you do not want to record attributes assigned the value of x-auto, add x-auto to the grid. Separate attribute values with a comma.
  14. Click OK.