Flash/Flex testing

The Flash/Flex/Air plugin in Ranorex Studio allows it to interface with the controls in such applications. This means you can record Flash/Flex/Air UI elements and work with them in Ranorex Spy.

However, these technologies require some manual instrumentation. Flash and Flex can be instrumented with the Ranorex Instrumentation Wizard in most use cases. Air needs to be instrumented entirely by hand.

This page explains the various instrumentation methods for all the technologies.

The automation of Flash/Flex applications requires the inclusion of the Ranorex Flex Automation Lib.

• Using the Ranorex PreLoader
• OR including the Ranorex Lib into Adobe Flex or Adobe Flash:
  • How to load the Ranorex Lib into a Flex application
  • How to load the Ranorex Lib into a Flash application

Depending on your flash/flex application, you can choose to use one of the following flexible instrumentation methods:

PreLoader (recommended)

The Ranorex PreLoader enables the automation of your Flash/flex application without modifying the application itself.

• Automatic installation using the Instrumentation Wizard 
• No modifications to your application needed
• Adobe Flash Debug Player has to be installed on the runtime machine

Automation Lib

The AutomationLib swc file has to be included in your flash/flex application (by adding a compiler argument).

• AutomationLib will be loaded in the background (will not affect the functionality of your Flash/flex application)
• No modifications to your website needed

Module

The Module swf file has to be loaded by adding a code snippet to your ⇢ ACTIONS (for flash) or to your ‘applicationCompleteHandler’ function (for flex).

• Module will be loaded in the background (will not affect the functionality of your Flash/flex application)
• No modifications to your website needed
• Module swf has to be copied to the web server

The following table shows you the different instrumentation options available for the supported versions of flash/flex:

	Flash			Flex		AIR*
	CS3	CS4	CS5	3.x	4.x	2.x	3.x	4.x
Preloader
Automation Lib
Module

*Support for Adobe AIR2 release in combination with Flex 3.5 and Flex 4 release:

	Supported
	Recommended

You can read/set common attributes (for example, the checkstate of a checkbox) directly by using the adapter as follows:

// Load the slider as a Flex element to access flex attributes 

FlexElement sliderFlex = repo.FlexTestPageDom.ContainerHSlider_Control.SliderHSlider.As<flexelement>(); 

sliderFlex["value"] = "100"; 


FlexElement containerFlex = repo.FlexTestPageDom.Self.FindSingle(".//container[@caption='Tree Control']"); 

containerFlex.SetStyle("borderColor","#ee0000"); 

</flexelement> 

To access custom attributes and styles, you first have to load your Flex item as a FlexElement to read your attributes. Here’s an example:

// Load the slider as a Flex element to access flex attributes 

FlexElement sliderFlex = repo.FlexTestPageDom.ContainerHSlider_Control.SliderHSlider.As<flexelement>(); 

sliderFlex["value"] = "100"; 



FlexElement containerFlex = repo.FlexTestPageDom.Self.FindSingle(".//container[@caption='Tree Control']"); 

containerFlex.SetStyle("borderColor","#ee0000"); 

</flexelement> 

The Instrumentation Wizard automatically activates Flash/Flex automation for your machine as ⇢ described here.

If the automatic instrumentation did not work, you can follow these steps to achieve what the Instrumentation Wizard would have done:

1. Install the Adobe Debug Flash Player on the machine on which you would like to record and execute Ranorex test scripts and for all browsers you would like to test with. The respective installers are available on Adobe’s download page.

2. Open your user profile directory %UserProfile%, e.g. by opening Windows Explorer and copying the string %UserProfile% into the address bar.

3. Create a new file called ‘mm.cfg’ in your user profile directory and insert the following line of code:
   C:Program FilesRanorex X.XBinRanorexAutomation.swf

   where ‘C:Program FilesRanorex X.XBinRanorexAutomation.swf’ needs to be replaced by the preloader location of your Ranorex installation. If the ‘mm.cfg’ file already exists, check if the location is correctly set to your current preloader location (Ranorex X.X might change after upgrading to a new version!). In addition to this configuration entry you can enable the logging mechanisms of the Adobe Debug Flash Player, which might be helpful if you have any problems with this kind of instrumentation. In such a case you can then simply provide the logging information to our support team. To enable logging you have to add (or modify) the following line of code to your ‘mm.cfg’ file:

   TraceOutputFileEnable=1This additional configuration entry forces the Debug Player to create a log file at the following location:
   C:Users[username]AppDataRoamingMacromedia Flash PlayerLogswhere [username] needs to be replaced by the username that is logged on.

4. If you run your application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

1. Start Adobe Flash Builder and open your workspace

2. Right-click on your project and choose Properties

3. Under Flex Compiler add the RanorexAutomation.swc file (located in the Bin directory of your Ranorex installation) to the the compiler argument as follows:
   -include-libraries "C:/Program Files/Ranorex X.X/Bin/RanorexAutomation.swc"

4. Append the following code to your ‘applicationCompleteHandler’ function:

   Flash/Flex

   import Ranorex.RxAutomation; RxAutomation.Init();

1. Save and compile your application

2. Run your application in a supported browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

3. If you run your Flex application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

1. Start Adobe Flash CS4/CS5 and open your application

2. Open the Publish Settings dialog (File > Publish Settings)

3. Include the Ranorex Flash Library in your Flash application under Flash->Script->Settings…->Library Path and choose ‘Browse to SWC file’

4. Select ‘RanorexAutomation.swc’ file in the browse dialog (RanorexAutomation.swc is located in the Bin directory of your Ranorex installation)
   Insert the following code into your ACTIONS (by pressing F9):

   Flash/Flex

   
   import Ranorex.RxAutomation; 
   
   RxAutomation.InitFromApp(stage);
   
   

   OR add the code to your ActionScript source file as follows:

   Flash/Flex

   
   import mx.controls.*; 
   
   import flash.events.*; 
   
   import flash.display.*; 
   
   import flash.ui.Keyboard; 
   
   import flash.geom.Rectangle; 
   
   import fl.events.SliderEvent; 
   
   // Add Ranorex library 
   
   import Ranorex.RxAutomation; 
   
   
   
   public class Simple extends MovieClip 
   
   { 
   
   public function Simple() 
   
   { 
   
   // Add to your constructor 
   
   RxAutomation.InitFromApp(stage); 
   
   } 
   
   } 

5. Run your application in a supported browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

6. If you run your Flash application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

1. Start Adobe Flash Builder and open your workspace

2. Right-click on your project and choose Properties

3. Under Flex Compiler add the RanorexAutomation.swc file (located in the Bin directory of your Ranorex installation) to the the compiler argument as follows:

1. 1. Append the following code to your ‘applicationCompleteHandler’ function:

      Flash/Flex

      import Ranorex.RxAutomation; 
      
      RxAutomation.Init(); 

1. Save and compile your application

2. Run your application in a supported browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

3. If you run your Flex application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

1. Start Adobe Flash CS4/CS5 and open your application

2. Open the Publish Settings dialog (File > Publish Settings)

3. Include the Ranorex Flash Library in your Flash application under Flash > Script > Settings…-> Library Path and choose Browse to SWC file

4. Select RanorexAutomation.swc file in the browse dialog (RanorexAutomation.swc is located in the Bin directory of your Ranorex installation)
   Insert the following code into your ACTIONS (by pressing F9):

   Flash/Flex

   import Ranorex.RxAutomation; 
   
   RxAutomation.InitFromApp(stage); 

   OR add the code to your ActionScript source file as follows:

   Flash/Flex

   import mx.controls.*; 
   
   import flash.events.*; 
   
   import flash.display.*; 
   
   import flash.ui.Keyboard; 
   
   import flash.geom.Rectangle; 
   
   import fl.events.SliderEvent; 
   
   // Add Ranorex library 
   
   import Ranorex.RxAutomation; 
   
   
   
   public class Simple extends MovieClip 
   
   { 
   
   public function Simple() 
   
   { 
   
   // Add to your constructor 
   
   RxAutomation.InitFromApp(stage); 
   
   } 
   
   } 

1. Run your application in a supported browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

2. If you run your Flash application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

1. Start Adobe Flash CS3/CS4/CS5 and open your application

2. Insert the following code into your ACTIONS (by pressing F9):

   Flash/Flex

   import flash.net.URLRequest; 
   
   var rxloader : Loader = new Loader(); 
   
   stage.addChild(rxloader); 
   
   rxloader.name = "__rxloader"; 
   
   rxloader.width = 0; rxloader.height = 0; 
   
   rxloader.load(new URLRequest("RanorexAutomation.swf")); 

1. Copy the RanorexAutomation.swf file, located in the Bin directory of your Ranorex installation, to your web server (where your .swf file is located)

2. Run your application in a supported browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

3. If you run your Flash application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

1. Start Adobe Flash Builder and open your workspace

2. Append the following code to your ‘applicationCompleteHandler’ function or initialization code:

   For Flex 3:

   Flash/Flex

   var rxloader : Loader = new Loader(); 
   
   Application.application.rawChildren.addChild(rxloader); 
   
   rxloader.name = "__rxloader"; 
   
   rxloader.width = 0; rxloader.height = 0; 
   
   rxloader.load(new URLRequest("RanorexAutomation.swf")); 

   For Flex 4:

   Flash/Flex

   var rxloader : Loader = new Loader(); 
   
   Application.application.rawChildren.addChild(rxloader); 
   
   rxloader.name = "__rxloader"; 
   
   rxloader.width = 0; rxloader.height = 0; 
   
   rxloader.load(new URLRequest("RanorexAutomation.swf")); 

1. Copy the RanorexAutomation.swf file, located in the Bin directory of your Ranorex installation, to your web server (where your .swf file is located) or where your AIR application is located.

2. Run your application in a supported browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari)

3. If you run your Flash application from the local drive, add your output directory to the trusted locations of Flash Player as follows:

1. 1. Open following link http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager04a.html#119065
   2. Add your project output directory

If you are encountering some issues when instrumenting the Flash/Flex/Air application, check out some possible solutions in the Ranorex Solutions and Best Practices section.