Use symbols to define data that is shared by a group of tests in the plan. Symbol definitions follow these syntax conventions:
- The symbol name can be any valid
4Test identifier name, but must begin with the
$ character.
- The symbol value can be any text. When the test plan editor encounters the symbol, it expands it (in the same sense that
another language expands macros). For example, the following test plan editor statement defines a symbol named Color and assigns
it the
STRING value "Red":
$Color = "Red"
- To use a $ in a symbol value, precede it with another $. Otherwise, the compiler will interpret everything after the $ as
another symbol. For example, this statement defines a symbol with the value Some$String:
$MySymbol = "Some$$String "
- To assign a null value to a symbol, do not specify a value after the equals sign. For example:
$MyNullSymbol =
- To indicate that a test is incomplete when generating a test plan completion report, assign the symbol the ? character. For
example:
$MySymbol = ?
If a symbol is listed in the argument list of a test case, but is not assigned a value before the test case is actually called,
the test plan editor generates a runtime error that indicates that the symbol is undefined. To avoid this error, assign the
symbol a value or a ? if the data is not yet finalized.