Recording Modes in QTP

QTP supports 3 types of recording modes

• 1) Context Sensitive
• 2)Analog
• 3) Low Level

Context Sensitive Recording mode

• Normal recording mode is also called Context Sensitive Mode
• It is the default mode of recording which takes full advantage of Quick Test Professional's  test object model.
• It recognizes objects in application regardless of their location on the screen.
• It records the objects in your application and the operations performed on them

Analog Recording Mode

• In analog recording mode, Quick Test Professional  records and tracks every movement of the mouse as you drag the mouse around a screen or window.
• QTP’s Analog recording is captured as  Tracks and stored in the directory of your test
• It is useful  for recording operations that cannot be recorded at the level of an object. Eg., A signature produced by dragging the mouse
• In Analog mode you can record 1) Record Relative to screen & 2) Relative to window
• When your analog operation are confined to just one window , use relative to window
• When your analog operation involve multiple screens like dragging and dropping an object from one window to other use the screen option

Low Level Mode

• This mode enables you to record on any object in your application, irrespective of  QTP recognizes the specific object or the specific operation.
• This mode records at the object level and records all run-time objects as either Window or WinObject test objects..
• It is used when the exact coordinates of the object are important for your tests.  A good example would be hashmaps where clicking different sections of a picture takes you to different links
• Used when recording tests in an environment (or on an object) not recognized by QTP
• Low level mode records the x,y coordinates of any clicks

Summary

• Analog recording and low-level recording require more disk space than normal recording mode.
• For both modes , screen positions during the record and run time needs to be identical otherwise script fails
• Hence, Use analog recording or low-level recording only when normal recording mode does not accurately record your operation.
• At times QTP automatically switches to low level mode while recording objects or environments not supported by QTP