Odd behavior in Ranorex recording/repository

Ranorex Studio, Spy, Recorder, and Driver.
cliving
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 9:21 pm

Odd behavior in Ranorex recording/repository

Post by cliving » Thu Nov 06, 2014 8:50 pm

Hi,

I've been actively building a large test suite for a while now. I recently upgraded to 5.2. Today, I noticed an odd behavior.

When I recorded a test using a component I've used thousands of times (part of the home screen basically), it added a new entry into the repository.

It placed the new entry into the same rooted folder as the original item that it was duplicating. The RxPath (beyond the rooted folder) was the exact same. For reference --> the rooted folder was the same, the path on both items was: button[@text='nbMaintenance']. I just thought it was some oddity based on upgrading, so I recorded more tests.

Every time I interacted with that button, I was getting a new duplicate entry. So, after a few tests, I had nbMaintenance, nbMaintenance1, nbMaintenance2 ... all with the exact same Rooted Folder and RxPath.

I don't think it is doing it everywhere in the application/repository, but I have seen the behavior for just about everything in that module, as well as a generic toolbar that appears in just about every non-Home module.

One final weirdness, I can navigate around the application, clicking through that button above multiple times and get a different nbMaintenance addition every time (If I click it 5 times, I will get 5 new, duplicate entries in the repository from the same recording).

Any insight on what is causing this? It is going to blow up an already large repository very quickly (or I have to manually delete/change the duplicates on every recording).

Thanks

krstcs
Posts: 2683
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2012 4:14 pm
Location: Austin, Texas, USA

Re: Odd behavior in Ranorex recording/repository

Post by krstcs » Thu Nov 06, 2014 9:23 pm

Would you perhaps be able to post a Ranorex Snapshot of your application? That would give us some insight into what is happening. You can see this page for information on creating a snapshot.

Also, if you change the RanoreXPath Generation Mode to SIMPLE (in Global Settings -> Advanced tab) and try again, what do you get? Also, check Ranorex Spy and see what else is between your button and the rooted folder's element.

My guess is that either there is a bug in Ranorex (although path gen is pretty stable, so I doubt it) or your application under test has an iframe or some other kind of special container that the button is in that is making Ranorex think it needs to create a new one each time.
Shortcuts usually aren't...

cliving
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 9:21 pm

Re: Odd behavior in Ranorex recording/repository

Post by cliving » Thu Nov 13, 2014 8:00 pm

I verified the behavior with a simple recorded test using each generation method -- repeated the same test 3 times, I mean. In the recording, I interacted with the buttons in question 3 times. At the end, I had many duplicate entries. StepReduced showed some promise. It only created one entry for the 3 clicks of the button, but it uses wildcards. I've gone with more strict RxPaths in the repository, because I was getting slow playback (object recognition) in many of our more complicated panels. Hopefully, I can continue to avoid wildcards.

I am sending a snapshot to support. Hopefully, that will help diagnose the issue.