Testing a project: setting

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Testing a project: setting

Overview

Configuring the test mode

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Testing a project: setting

Overview

The test of the entire project simulates how the site or the application is started (e.g. via the executable for a WINDEV application). This makes it possible to test the entire site or application, even if its development is not complete yet. When a problem occurs during the execution of the project, you can start the debugger to identify and fix the problem.

Different parameters are used to:

Test a project by specifying a command line.
Test a project by specifying a specific runtime directory.
Test a project with a manifest (Windows Vista only).
Test a project using the rights granted to another user. This setting is used to check the operating mode of the application by simulating the UAC mechanism in Windows Vista.

Remark: The test of a project can be run regardless of the current element in the editor.

Configuring the test mode

Command line

To test a project using a command line, simply specify this command line:

On the "Project" tab, in the "Test mode" group, expand "Test mode" and select "Configure test mode" (Ctrl + Shift + F9).
Type the command line.
- The custom command line corresponds to custom parameters used to run the project test.
- The common command line corresponds to common parameters used to run the project test. These parameters are saved in the project and they are taken into account when the project is shared via the SCM.
The command line used during the test is displayed (concatenation of common and custom command lines).

The different elements of the command line will be passed as parameters to the current program.

Reminder: these parameters can be retrieved through programming with CommandLine.

Directory of files used for test

To configure the data files used when running the application test in the editor:

Open the project description: on the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "Description".
In the "Files" tab, select the location of test files:
- Directory of the current configuration or current directory: The data files used will be in the subdirectory corresponding to the project configuration (subdirectory of the project EXE directory).
- Specific directory: The data files will be found in the specified directory.
- Directory of the application data (recommended when using the application in Windows XP, Windows Vista and later). This directory is different if the data is common to all the application users or if the data is specific to each user.

Remark: User Groupware
If your application uses the User Groupware, you must also set the location of the User Groupware data files. To perform this setting:

Open the description window of the User Groupware: on the "Project" tab, in the "Project" group, click "User Groupware".
In the "GPU / Private Store" tab of the current configuration, click "Change" in the "User Groupware" option.
In the window that appears, click the "Files" tab.

For more details, see User Groupware: Options and settings.

Runtime directory

WINDEV allows you to run the project test in a directory other than the "EXE" directory of the project. Therefore, the test is run in conditions close to the ones found on the end-user computers.

To modify the runtime directory of the application:

On the "Project" tab, in the "Test mode" group, expand "Test mode" and select "Configure test mode".
In the window that is displayed, expand "Advanced modes (Windows Vista, UAC, ...)".
In the "Runtime directory" tab, check "Start the test mode in the actual runtime directory: ".
Select the desired runtime directory.
The data files that will be taken into account are the data files found in the directories specified:
- in the project description.
- in the description of the user groupware if the user groupware is used by the application.
Click the "Copy the files" button. For each data file, you can choose the directory into which this file must be copied:
- a directory proposed by default:
  - <RuntimeDir>: Standard runtime directory of the application. This directory is identical to the one chosen in the "Runtime directory" tab.
  - <DirDataUser>: Standard directory of the application data for a specific user. In Windows XP/Vista, this directory has the following format: "C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data\<Company Name>\<Application Name>".
  - <DirCommonData>: Standard directory of application data for all users of the same computer. In Windows XP/Vista, this directory has the following format: "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<Company Name>\<Application Name>".
  - <GlobalDirUser>: Standard directory of the data shared by several applications for a specific user. In Windows XP/Vista, this directory has the following format: "C:\Documents and Settings\<User>\Application Data".
  - <GlobalDirCommon>: Standard directory of data shared by several applications for all users of the same computer. In Windows XP/Vista, this directory has the following format: "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data".
- in a directory selected via the picker ([...] option).

Vista manifest

If Windows Vista (or later) is your operating system, WINDEV allows you to run the test of your application by using a manifest. This manifest can be included in the executable of your project when creating the executable.

Using a manifest allows you to specify the level of rights required to run the application.

The available manifests are as follows:

No manifest
No privileges
Maximum user privileges
Administrator privileges
Like in generation. This option allows you to automatically re-use the manifest characteristics specified during the last generation of application.

For more details on the different manifests, see Choosing a manifest for Vista.

Other user account

WINDEV allows you to run the test of the project in a directory by using a user account different from the current one. This allows you to run the test of the project by using rights other than the rights granted to the user currently connected.

Indeed, in most cases, you are the administrator of your computer when developing an application. In most cases, the users of your applications are standard users. This operating mode is even truer in Windows Vista.

WINDEV allows you to run the test of your applications as a standard user: you can easily identify the problems of your applications caused by the rights and correct them if necessary.

Remark: We advise you to combine this option with:

the use of a runtime directory. For Windows Vista, the runtime directory and the data directory must correspond to the Vista standards.
the use of a manifest (if your development computer runs on XP).

Caution: The management of rights is taken into account for the disks that use a NTFS file system. For the FAT32 file systems, the management of rights is not taken into account.

To run the tests by using another user account:

Create (if necessary) one or more users on your computer. New users can be created from the control panel of Windows ("User accounts").
In the "Other user account" tab, specify the characteristics of the user: Name, Password, Domain.
The next application test will be run with this user.

Remark: You cannot use an Administrator manifest with a local user who belongs to the administrator group.

Debug options

WINDEV allows you to configure the debugging options specific to the test mode.

You can:

ignore the timers: This option is used to disable the timers during the debugging.
systematically stop on the unchecked exceptions, errors or assertions. In this case, in debugging mode:
- the error window is not displayed,
- the debugger is directly positioned on the corresponding line of code.

These options are also available in the "Debugger" pane of the ribbon, during the test mode.