Recorder control center & hotkeys

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to use the Recorder control center and hotkeys effectively.

In this chapter

    Full/minimized view

    The Recorder control center is available in a full and a minimized view. Switch between them by clicking the button in the top right of the window.

    Full view displaying all controls and an actions table that shows the last four recorded actions.

    Minimized view that only shows the controls in the bottom ribbon.

    Standard functions

    The Recorder control center has three button-activated controls.

    Recorder control center standard functions

    Recorder control center button-activated controls

    Validation mode

    • Inserts a test validation action into the recording.

    Pause/continue

    • Pauses/continues the recording.
    • No user interaction is recorded while paused.

    Stop

    • Stops the recording.
    • Returns to Ranorex Studio.

    Add/delete actions during recording

    In the full view, the control center displays the last four recorded actions. From there, you can delete them or view their respective screenshots.

    List displaying the last four recorded actions.

    Mouse over the eye to display a screenshot of the action.

    Click the trash can to delete an action.

    You can also add one of three action types by clicking Add in the bottom right of the control center.

    Click Add to directly add one of three action types. Recording pauses while you do so.

    The available actions are Message, Screenshot, and Delay. For more information on what these do, refer to ⇢ Action properties.

    This is where you configure the selected action. Changes depending on the action.

    Click this button to add the action and resume recording.

    Enable/disable hotkeys

    Turn hotkeys on and off by setting the corresponding switch to on or off.

    Turning hotkeys on/off

    Switch to turn hotkeys on and off.

    Mouse over this info element to display the available hotkeys.

    Note icon

    Note

    While hotkeys are enabled, you won’t be able to use the hotkey characters (v, mti) in your recording, e.g. to enter a text.

    The uppercase characters VMTI can be used normally.

    Validation mode hotkey

    Pressing V on the keyboard activates validation mode in the same way clicking the Validate button would.

    Further reading

    The concept of test validation is described in Ranorex Studio fundamentals > ⇢ Test validation.

    Mouse movement recording hotkey

    Usually, mouse movements are not recorded. If you need to record mouse movements, you can do so by pressing M. Follow the instructions below to practice recording mouse movements.

    Recording a mouse movement

    Recording a mouse movement

    Move the mouse over the Introduction tab and press M

    Move the mouse over the name text field and press M

    Move the mouse over the Submit button and press M

    Move the mouse over the Exit button and press M

    Result(s):

    Once you’ve stopped recording, the action table will list four mouse movement actions. Each movement is linked to a UI element. 

    Recorded mouse movements

    Recorded mouse movements

    Tooltip validation hotkey

    Press T to start a tooltip validation.

    Further reading

    Tooltip validation is explained in Ranorex Studio fundamentals > Test validation > ⇢ Validation of tool-tips.

    Image-based recording hotkey

    Press I to activate image-based recording.

    Further reading

    Image-based automation is an advanced topic and is explained in Ranorex Studio advanced > ⇢ Image-based automation.

    Change recognition level

    When hotkeys are activated, the mouse wheel controls the recognition level of the UI element detection. Let’s take a look at this with a simple example.

    Initial recognition level:

    • Ranorex Recorder identifies every UI element during the recording.
    • This UI element identification is made visible by a red frame that follows your mouse movement during the recording (see image).
    Red-framed UI-element

    UI element with red frame

    Change the recognition level:

    Scroll the mouse wheel to move through the UI element levels.

    Recognition level change by mouse wheel zoom

    Recognition level changes as the mouse wheel is scrolled