Create a new solution

In Ranorex Studio, a solution is the top-level container that contains all other test files. Solutions are organized into one or more projects. There are different project types in Ranorex Studio, but the test suite project is typically used to build a test. A test suite project contains one or more test suites, which in turn represent the structure of your test with its test cases and modules.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to create a new solution to test a desktop application. New solutions you create always come with a test suite project.

In this chapter

RocketStart solution wizard

Click File > New > Solution using wizard… to open the RocketStart solution wizard. In the dialog that appears, click Desktop.

Configure your solution (see explanations below); then click Continue.

Solution name

• Give the solution a meaningful name or use the default name.
• By default, the solution name is used as the name for the test suite project in this solution, too.

Location

• Unless changed, the new project directory is created in RanorexRanorexStudio Projects

Click Additional options to access more options:

As mentioned above, the test suite project name is identical to the solution name by default. Here you can specify a different name for the project.

Programming language of the project. C# is the default, VBNet is also available.

When deselected, the solution files are saved in the project’s folder instead of in their own parent folder of the project’s folder.

If desired, check the box to add your solution and the project to a ⇢ source control system.

Select the application under test

Choose one:

Click Running applications and select one of the listed applications.

Click Browse for application > Browse for app and browse to an application using Windows Explorer.

Click Continue.

List of running desktop applications.
Section to browse for an application and specify optional command line arguments.

Select recording behavior

Use this screen to configure whether Ranorex Studio evaluates just one application, several applications, or all running applications when searching for UI elements. This is part of Ranorex Studio’s ⇢ whitelisting capabilities.

Choose one:

Focus on single application
Ranorex Studio records user interactions only in your previously selected application under test. Everything else is ignored. The whitelist contains only your AUT.

Focus on multiple applications
In addition to your AUT, you can add other processes to the whitelist to be recorded by Ranorex Studio.

No focus applied
All user interactions are recorded. The whitelist is empty.

Click Continue.

Final screen and tutorial panel

The final screen explains what happens once setup completes, i.e. that the tutorial panel will appear and provide you with a quick tutorial to guide you through the first steps with your test.

Read through the instructions and then click Finish to complete setup.

Structure of the desktop solution and its project

Once you’ve finished setup, Ranorex Studio opens in the test suite view with a simple prebuilt desktop test suite. This test suite is part of the test suite project that was created automatically with this desktop solution.

Test suite view
This is where you build and control your tests.

Your solution comes with a project that contains a simple prebuilt  test suite. It contains a test case with three recording modules: StartAUT which starts the Demo Application, Recording1 which is empty and ready for you to record test actions, and CloseAUT which closes the Demo Application.

Recording module view
In the recording module view of Recording1, you can record and manage test actions.

Empty actions table
This is where your recorded actions appear.

StartAUT and CloseAUT modules

The StartAUT and CloseAUT modules in the desktop solution template use a special mechanism to ensure the correct instance of the started AUT  is closed. This improves stability for tests based on the template. The mechanism is based on the advanced concept of variables and parameters, which is why the solution comes with a variable bound to both modules.