How to use Select Case Statement in VBScript for QTP

What is Select Case Statement in VBScript?

Select Case provides an alternate approach to nested If else loop. In case of multiple condition , it is better idea to read through the code and manage the expected behavior in the specific condition.

Syntax for Select Case Statement is : 

SELECT CASE (operation)

   CASE (expression 1)

      line of Codes

   CASE (expression 2)

      line of Codes

   CASE (expression 3)

      line of Codes

     .............

   CASE (expression n)

      line of Codes

   CASE DEFAULT

      line of Codes

END SELECT

How Select Case Works: 

Let me Explain how select case works. consider the below problem statement to explain this ?

Let us take an example to perform expected action from sum, multiply, subtract, or divide and show the result as output from the function using Select case function

function Perform_arithmetic_Operation(Operation_Name, numA, numB)
Select Case operation_Name
Case "Addition", "Add"
Perform_arithmetic_Operation= numA+numB
Case "Subtraction", "Subtract"
Perform_arithmetic_Operation= numA+numB
msgbox "subtracting numB from numA gives: "& Perform_arithmetic_Operation
Case "Multiply"
Perform_arithmetic_Operation= numA*numB
Case "Divide"
Perform_arithmetic_Operation= numA/numB
case else
Perform_arithmetic_Operation = "Invalid Operation Name"
End Select
End function

This function when called will send the solution as expected based on operation_Name, and value of A and B.

example on calling above function as : 
x = Perform_arithmetic_Operation("Addition", 13, 15)
msgbox x
will show value as 28 in the message box. 

We can also provide multiple value in the expression. In above example ,we have provided multiple expression 
e.g.: Case "Addition", "Add" . therefore the below expression will also add as in above example.

x = Perform_arithmetic_Operation("Add", 13, 15)
msgbox x
will show value as 28 in the message box. 

Manipulating and working with Word document using vbscript in QTP

In this article, we will discuss how to manipulate microsoft word document using QTP and VBScript. Learning working with microsoft word can help the users to generate reports of test results in word document . We will discuss on code for following problems in this article 

a. Creating a new Word document using vbscript in QTP
b. Opening an existing word document
c. Appending at the beginning and end of a word document. 
d. Reading content of a word document.
e. Formatting text of a word document.

We will discuss on capturing images and working with table in MS word using vbscript in some another article: 

Example 1 - Creating a new word document using vbscript. Writing some text in the document and closing the same

' Instantiate an object of word application 
Set objWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
' Add a new item of word application object
objWord.Documents.Add
' Adding some text in the word document
objWord.Selection.TypeText "testing time"
' Save the document as provided
objWord.ActiveDocument.SaveAs "C:\qtptesting.docx"
' Close instance of word application
objWord.Quit
' Release the object for word document.
Set objWord=Nothing

Example 2 - The above was example of adding a new document in case we wish to update an existing document, we can use the below code:

' Instantiate an object of word application 
Set objWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
' Open an existing word document
objWord.Documents.open "C:\qtptesting.docx"
' Adding some text in the word document
objWord.Selection.TypeText "testing time 2"
' Save the document as provided
objWord.ActiveDocument.Save
' Close instance of word application
objWord.Quit
'Release the object for word document.
Set objWord=Nothing

Example 3 : Now we have seen the text in above example 2 writes "testing time 2" just before testingtime. Suppose we want to write the text testing 2 in a new line after text testing, we can write the code as

Set objWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
objWord.Documents.open "C:\qtptesting.docx"

' Adding some text in the word document at the end of document:
objWord.Selection.EndKey 6,0
objWord.Selection.TypeText vbCrLf & "testing time 3"

objWord.ActiveDocument.Save
' Close instance of word application
objWord.Quit
'Release the object for word document.
Set objWord=Nothing

Example 4 : Next we want to format the text in the word document.

Set objWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
objWord.Documents.open "C:\qtptesting.docx"
' Adding formatting to the object, there will be lot of method to format , can refer to reference vbscript in QTP or word.
objWord.Selection.Font.Size ="18"
objWord.Selection.Font.Name ="18"
objWord.Selection.Font.bold = true
objWord.Selection.EndKey 6,0
' formatting changes in the code completes
objWord.Selection.TypeText vbCrLf & "testing time 3"
objWord.ActiveDocument.Save
' Close instance of word application
objWord.Quit
' Release the object for word document.
Set objWord=Nothing

Example 5: Reading content of a word document and storing in a string

Set objWord = CreateObject("Word.Application")
objWord.Documents.open "C:\qtptesting.docx"
set objdoc = objWord.Activedocument
strWordtext = ""

' read the number of words in the document and loop through the number of characters
iWordCnt= objdoc.Words.count
For i = 1 to iWordCnt
strWordtext = strWordtext + objdoc.Words(i)
Next
msgbox strWordtext
' specific changes in the code completes

objWord.Quit
'Release the object for word document.
Set objWord=Nothing

Example to explain working with excel application in QTP using VBScript

 In this post, we will know how to work with excel application with an example . We will explain how to copy a source file and create an destination file with same name or a dynamic name generated. We will also explain how to copy data from an excel worksheet to another worksheet, delete an excel sheet, and rename an excel worksheet using excel application object.

 The problem we will resolve using this code is as follows. 

In the below code, we will explain how to implement the above using vb script.

destfile = CopyFile("D:\testt\TestSupport_1.xls", "D:\testt\", 1)

copydata "D:\testt\generatedRpt.xls", destfile, "general_report", "temp"

masterfile = Copyfile(destfile, "D:\testt\TestingSupport_Daily_Data.xls",0)

'' Description - This function will copy the file from source location to destination folder. In this example we have used below three parameter as per our need.

''Source file - Exact name and location of the source file. This is an external file generated at a fixed location which was first part of problem and will be handled using QTP

''DestinationFolder - this is either the folder location with or without file name. 

''filename - this shows filename is included in the the destinationfolder. In case of dynamic naming of the file, provide value as 1 else provide value as 0.

function CopyFile(SourceFile, DestinationFolder, filename)

if (filename =1) then

'' generate a dynamic name for the file in case filename argument is provided as 1

    DestinationFile = DestinationFolder + "TestSupport" + cstr(DatePart("m",Now()))+ cstr(DatePart("d",Now()))+ cstr(DatePart("yyyy",Now())) + ".xls"

else

   DestinationFile = Destinationfolder

end If

    Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

    'Check to see if the file already exists in the destination folder

    If fso.FileExists(DestinationFile) Then

    ''In case of destinationfile already exists, delete the existing file

fso.DeleteFile DestinationFile, True

    End If

'' Copy the file from source location to destination location

    fso.CopyFile SourceFile, DestinationFile, True

''close the instance of filesystem object

    Set fso = Nothing

''return the value of file name as the rsturn value of the function.

copyfile = Destinationfile

End function

'

'' Description - this function will copy data from sheet1 of workbook1 to sheet2 of workbook2.

sub copydata(workbook1, workbook2, sheet1,sheet2)

'' Create an instance of excel object

Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application") 

'' define if the excel needs to be displayed and alerts to be displayed. here the excel will be visible but no alerts will be displayed in case of alert prompt in the excel application.

objExcel.Visible = True

objExcel.DisplayAlerts = False

'' create an instance of excel workbooks for source as well as destination workbook

Set objsrcFile= objExcel.Workbooks.Open(workbook1)   

Set objdestfile = objExcel.Workbooks.Open(workbook2) 

objsrcfile.Activate

'' create instance of worksheet in the workbook

Set objsrcSheet = objsrcfile.Worksheets(sheet1)

Set objdestSheet = objdestfile.Worksheets(sheet2)

'' gather the data from the source file to destination file

'' In the below example , we are copying the data from 4th row in source file to destination file. we can start from first row also if required.

icolcount = objsrcSheet.usedrange.columns.count

irowcount = objsrcSheet.usedrange.rows.count

for i = 4 to irowcount-1

for j = 1 to icolcount-1

''copies data from the destination file to the source file

objdestSheet.cells(i-3,j)= objsrcsheet.cells(i,j)

next

next

objsrcfile.save

objdestfile.save

''This is again a customised code to delete a sheet from excel file. 

objdestfile.sheets("Previous Day").Delete

'' This step renames the sheet in the destinstion file.

Set objWrksheet = objdestfile.Worksheets("Today")

objWrksheet.Name = "Previous Day"

set objWrkSheet = nothing

''Rename another sheet in the workbook

Set objWrksheet = objdestfile.Worksheets("temp")

objWrkSheet.Name = "Today"

set objWrkSheet = nothing

''Add a temp table at the end of sheets and name it as temp

Set objWrkSheet = objdestfile.Sheets.Add(, objdestfile.Sheets(objdestfile.Sheets.Count))

objWrkSheet.Name = "temp"

''Save the excel file and close the instance of excel aplication

objdestfile.save

objsrcfile.close

objdestfile.close

objexcel.quit

set objexcel = nothing

msgbox "done"

end sub

Tutorial about Array in VBScript for QTP

Array is a data type used to describe a collection of elements. An array can be one-dimensional or multidimensional array. In VBScript, array can be represented as follows:

Dim arrayOned(6) - represent a dimension array which can store 7 elements. Index starts from 0.

Dim arraytwod(6)(4) - represents a two dimensional array which can store 7*5 =35 element

Dim(6)(4)(5) - Represents a three dimensional array. We can describe  n-dimension array in similar ways.

The above arrays are example of fixed array. Once we specify an array with dim and providing size of array, it is created as fixed dimension array. We cannot change the size of the array.

We can also create dynamic array in VBScript as shown below:

dim arraydynam() - create a variable without providing the size of array.Redim arraydynam(10) - we can then assign a size to the array by using redim. We can resize the array size as when required. 

On reducing the size of the array, loss of information can take place, so care should be taken while reducing the size of array in dynamic array.

There are some useful inbuilt functions in VBScript used to work with arrays. Let us discuss on the same.

Split Function - Split can be used to split a string into array based on the delimiter provided. Syntax for Split function is:

Split (expression [, delimiter [, count [, compare]]]) - here expression denotes the string which will be splitted based on the delimiter provided. 

Count and compare are optional with default value as -1 (repeats all substring) and binary compare. Default delimiter used is space.

Ubound function - Ubound returns largest subscript for the provided dimension of an array. In Case of argument for dimension not provided, it gives the ubound for first dimension

UBound(array, dimension))

Lbound function - Lbound returns smallest subscript for the provided dimension of an array. In Case of argument for dimension not provided, it gives the lbound for first dimension

UBound(array, dimension))

Join Function - Join function does opposite of what Split function does. It joins all the elements in the array using the delimiter. Syntax of function is:Join(array, delimiter)

In case of join also, the default delimiter if not provided is space character.

Filter Function - Filter is used to create a sub array from array matching the particular condition.

Filter(array, value, include, compare) - In the function, include and compare are optional parameters, include can have value true or false, true for searching for element with particular value matching and false to return elements which do not have match the condition

Array function - This function creates an array based on array element provided in the argument.

e.g. : a = array ("testing ", "array", "by" ,"creating", "array", "using array functions)

IsArray function returns true/false that indicates whether a specified variable is an array or not

''A simple code explaining the various functions for array manipulation

dim arr, strjoin

arr = split("this,is, wonderfrul, test",",") ' create an array using split function

ilowbound = lbound(arr) 'get lowerbound and upperbound for array

iupperbnd = ubound(arr)

for i=ilowboud to iupperbnd Step 1 '' Loop the array element

msgbox arr(i)

Next

b= filter(arr, "t")

msgbox b(1)

strjoin = join(arr, ";")

msgbox strjoin

msgbox Isarray(arr)

Understanding operators and built-in String functions in VBScript

In the previous article we discuss on defining a variable, different types of variables in VBscript . In this article we will discuss on various operators and built in string functions in VBScript as are frequently used in QTP.

Let us start by discussing different types of operators. Operators are broadly classified into 
- Logical Operators
- Arithmetic operators
- Comparison Operators

Logical Operators - Logical Operator are used to perform logical operations and returns boolean value as true or false based on the inputs provided and operator used.

Logical Operator used are Not ( Not True = false)
And (Returns true if both A and B are true, false otherwise)
OR(Returns true if either of A or B is true)
xor ( returns false if either of A or B is true)

Arithmetic Operators - We have been performing arithmetic operation from the day we start our education. So this is easy.  The various arithmetic operators in VBScript  are +(addition), - (subtraction), *(multiply), /(division), 
\(integer division, return the quotient), 
mod (a mod b, gives the remainder on dividing a by b),
^(exponential function).
Of the Operators , defined above , + is used to concatenate two strings also.

Comparison Operators are used to compare two variable . Example of comparison Operators are =(equality), <>(Inequality), <(Less than ), <(greater than), <=,>= ( greater than or equal to). To Compare strings, we can use strcomp function.

We have discussed the various operators used in VBScript.Now let us discuss on various string functions that are inbuilt in vbscript and are useful to work with strings

Instr function - This function returns the location of first occurrence of one string within another string. 
str1 = "This is testing blog on VBScript testing"
str2 = "testing"
iLoc = Instr(1,str1,str2,0)
msgbox iLoc

Syntax is InStr([start,]string1,string2[,compare]). start and compare are optional parameters with default value as 1 and 0(binary compare)

Instrrev function - This function returns the location of first occurrence of one string within another string. While Instr starts search from start of string,In Instrrev The search begins from the end of string. But the location returned is from start of string.
str1 = "This is testing blog on VBSCRIPT testing test"
str2 = "testing"
iLoc = Instrrev(str1,str2,-1,0)
msgbox iLoc

Syntax is InStrRev(string1,string2,[start,][compare]). start and compare are optional parameters with default value as -1(end of string) and 0(binary compare)

LCase(string) converts string to lowercase
Ucase(string) converts to uppercase.

len(string) returns number of character in a string.

Left, right and mid are used to return specified characters from the string starting from left,right, and middle of string
str3 = left(str1,10)
str4= right(str1, 10)
str5 = mid(str1,5,10) 

LTrim,RTrim and trim are used to remove spaces on the left, right or middle of a string
str6 = trim(str1)

strComp compares two string and returns value as 0 if both string matches.
blncomp = strcomp(str1,str2[,compare])

space(number) returns the space character returned times as provided in the argument.

String(number, character) returns a string with character repeated number of times as provided in the arguments.

VB Script tutorial - Variables, Constants and Arrays

VBScript is used extensively with QTP for creating test script. With articles on VBScript, I will try to explain the VBscript and refresh the concepts for my self knowledge.
In VBscript, variables of all the data types are declared with the same data type called as variant


A variable can be defined as Dim abc. We may or may not need to define the variable explicitly. If we require every variable used must be defined. we need to provide option explicit.
Using Option explicit is a good practice as it keeps a check on the variables used in the script. 

Some Important point to note about variable declaration are :

• Variable for all the data type are defined as dim in vbscript

• VBScript is not case sensitive, therefore variable abc and ABC are the same.

• If Option explicit statement is defined, each of the variables used in the vbs file must be declared before use.

• A variable must start with alphabet and should not exceed 255 characters

• We can define variable everywhere in the script but it is best to define all the variable at the start of the function or script for better maintenance of variables

• We can ignore standard naming convention by defining the variable within square bracket but should avoid this.

• Multiple variable can be defined as Dim abc,def,qrtin 

We can also define an array variable, to store a set of values in a variable. An array can be one dimensional or multidimensional;'' For e.g. in below example we define the fixed size array, on trying on resize the array, it gives us error.
dim arra(5)
An array can be defined as dynamic array, we can resize the array then, below code explains how to create a dynamic array. Preserve is used to preserve value 
dim arrad() '' define a dynamic array variable without size provided
An variable defined at a function level can be used within the function in which it is defined. A variable defined at script level, can be used across the functions within the script. 
const abcd = 3

Option explicit
dim abc
abc = 3
msgbox abc



Dim [1Test 231]
[1Test 231] = "I have defined a variable not starting with alphabet and having a space in between"
msgbox [1Test 231]

An array can be a fixed size array defined as dim arra(5) , this will store 6 elements, but once defined the array size can not be modified. 


redim arra(3) 
arra(0) = 54 
msgbox arra(0)


redim arrad(3) '' Using Redim, we can define the size of the array. 
arrad(3) = 75  
redim preserve arrad(5) '' we use preserve the values stored on existing array using preserve as shown here. In this example we resized the array size to 5 and preserved the original value stored in array.
msgbox arrad(3)
We can also create multiple dimension array as dim arram(4)(5)(6).

In QTP, we can also define environment variable to be used across the actions.

Another type of variable in constant. A constant variable does not change its value once defined. Also value cannot to assigned to a constant post declaration of constant and its value

abcd = 43
msgbox abcd

How to compare 2 dictionary object and report the differences in QTP results

This post discusses how to compare two dictionary objects and display the difference between the values in two dictionary objects in table format in QTP results using Reporter.logevent.

''function to compare two Dictionaries 

Public Function Comfunct_CompareDictionary(ObjDictBase, ObjDictGen)

Comfunct_CompareDictionary = True 
''Check if both dictionary objects have the same number of items
If ObjDictBase.Count <> ObjDictGen.Count Then
Reporter.reportevent micFail,"Data in Dictionary 1 and 2","Data mismatch in the dictionary. there are " & objDictBase.Count & "records in dictionary 1 compared to " & objDictGen.Count & "records in dictionary 2" 
Comfunct_CompareDictionary = False
Exit Function
End If
''Compare keys and values
arrKeys = ObjDictBase.Keys
''Create a table for the differences
strTable = "<table border=""""2""""><tr><td>Key Name</td><td><Value in Dictionary 1</td><td><Value in Dictionary 2</td></tr>"
For i = 0 to uBound(arrKeys)
''Compare key names in both dictionaries and validate keys in one dictionary exists in other dictionary
  If Not ObjDictGen.Exists(arrKeys(i)) Then
''ObjDictBase has a key which ObjDictGen doesn't have, hence exiting the function
Comfunct_CompareDictionary = False
Reporter.ReportEvent micFail, "Key " & arrKeys(i) & " exists in dictionary 1 but not in dictionary 2, " Key difference in both dictionaries"
Exit Function 
  End If
  ''Compare value of each keys in both dictionary and display the difference between 2 dictionary in Qtp results 
  If ObjDictBase(arrKeys(i)) <> ObjDictGen(arrKeys(i)) Then
''ObjDictBase value for arrKeys(i) differs from ObjDictGen, then log the difference in the table created above
Comfunct_CompareDictionary = False
strTable = strTable & "<tr><td>" & arrkeys(i) & "</td><td>" & ObjDictBase(arrKeys(i)) & "</td><td>" & ObjDictGen(arrKeys(i)) & "/td></tr>" 
  End If
Next
If Comfunct_CompareDictionary = True Then
Reporter.ReportEvent micPass, "Comparision of dictionary 1 and dictionary 2","Both dictionary matches"
Else
strTable = strTable & "</Table>"
''Compare value of each keys in both dictionary and display the difference between 2 dictionary in Qtp results 
Call reportinQTPhtmlContent(strTable)
End If 
End Function

''Function to report in QTP result in table format

Public Function reportinQTPhtmlContent(strTable)

Set objdict = CreateObject("Scripting.dictionary")

objdict.Add "Status", micdone

objdict.Add "NodeName", "Table Data"

objdict.Add ("StepHtmlInfo"), strTable

Reporter.LogEvent "User", objdict, Reporter.GetContext

End function

Manipulating Array with examples using vbscript in QTP

In this post we discusses examples working with arrays and manipulating them in vbscript:

1.How to count number of elements in an array

intcount = ubound(arrayname)

2. How to join all the values in an array to a string and display the value in messagebox

dl=Array("Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday","Friday","Saturday")
daysinWeek = join(dl, " ")
msgbox "days in weeks " & daysinWeek

3. How to split values in a string in an array based on delimiter

dl="Sunday>Monday>Tuesday>Wednesday>Thursday>Friday>Saturday"
daysinWeek = split(dl, ">")

This method can be used on looping as shown in example below:

On error resume next

Set objDesc= Description.create

'Set of Property values are delimited by "," 

If (instr(1,strDescObj,",") >0) Then

''Split multiple links based on delimiter.

arrDesc = split(strDescObj,",")

intPropSet = Ubound(arrDesc)

''Loop through each of the link and click the required link

for i = 0 to intPropSet

strDesc = split(arrDesc(i),"|")

objDesc(strDesc(0)).value = strDesc(1)

Next

End If

Understanding Date time function: Using VBScript in QTP

Below are some of the useful function for working with date/time in vb script. We will use the functions and illustrate where the functions can be used.

1. Date - This returns the current date of the system.

2. Now - This returns the current Date and time of the system.So now contains time part as well as date part while date function returns only date.

3. Time - This returns the current time of the system. So in terms of relation between date , time, and now function 

Now = date + time

4. Year, Month, Day, hour, minute, second - These functions return year, month,day,hour,minute,second part for the expression.

example : day(now) or  minute(now)

Above functions discussed above are useful for timestamp , and also for generating a unique number based on the function used.

5. Timer - Timer returns the number of seconds from 12:00a.m. This function is very useful for evaluating time spent in performing an activity by taking timer at the start and end of the activity and subtracting the time between two.

6. DatePart - returns specific part of the date .Possible values or part of date , that can be extracted as shown below:

• yyyy - Year
• q - Quarter
• m - Month
• y - Day of year
• d - Day
• w - Weekday
• ww - Week of year
• h - Hour
• n - Minute
• s - Second

Syntax of the function is : DatePart("m",d))where d is the date as "2013-06-09" and m will return the month of the date.

7. DateDiff - Returns the difference between two dates: 

Syntax : DateDiff(interval,date1,date2). Interval can be yyyy,q,m, y,d,.... as discussed earlier.

8. DateAdd - Add specified date to the date.

Syntax : DateAdd(interval,number,date)

VB Script functions to manipulate strings in QTP

We should know the useful vb script function to manipulate strings. In this post, we will discuss some of the vb script function to manipulate strings and how they can be used in codes:

1. Instr searches for a string within another another string and returns the location of occurrence of one string within another string.It returns the position of first occurrence of the string.This function is used if we need to verify if a particular text appears in a string.

Syntax : InStr([start,]string1,string2[,compare])

Example - Report and loop in case a particular text in not found in the string :

If (Instr(1, string1, string2)>0) Then
    Reporter.ReportEvent micpass , "string 2 is found in string 1","As expected"
Else
    Reporter.ReportEvent micfail , "string 2 is  found in string 1","string 2 is not found in string1"
End If

2. InstrRev is similar to instr and can be used for similar purposes, with only difference search starts from the end of string, although count returned is from start of string.

InStrRev(string1,string2[,start[,compare]])

3. Trim , lTrim, Rtrim removes characters from both left and right, only left and only right respectively blank spaces.

4. Left , Right, and Mid returns a specified character from left, right, and middle of the string. 

Mid(string,start[,length])

5. len returns number of characters in the string.

6. Split splits a string based on the delimiter in the function.

Example - How to find the total number of occurrence of a string in another string.By default, string2 has value space if not provided.

arrString = split(string1,string2)
totOccurence = ubound(arrString)

Example- Total number of words in a string.

arrString = split(string1)
totOccurence = ubound(arrString)