Windows Mobile/CE Test Automation

With M-eux Test, you can automate the UI tests of your Windows Mobile and Windows CE applications using Visual Studio, HP UFT or Eclipse.

M-eux test can access the attributes of the user interface elements as they are defined in the mobile operating system. This is an essential technique that has been used by test automation tools on the PC for many years. M-eux Test brings this functionality to the mobile world.

Below, you can see the Menu selection window from a test application on a Windows Mobile device. M-eux Test can access the definition of the list field and thus test/verify that the list field is enabled, how many items are in the list without actually dropping the list, the text of each item in the list, and etc. Without this technique, the tool would not be able to retrieve this information from the list field. Using M-eux Test you can access all these attributes and create simple scripts that are at the same time very powerful and reusable.

It is the only technique to deal with the high dynamic interfaces of the mobile applications. Windows of mobile applications are not classic windows. They interact with the user using swipes, gestures, expanded spinner elements, highly interactive lists and many other techniques.

Jamo Solutions did not create a scripting tool of their own. Instead we chose to extend existing well know tools so that the QA engineers can re-use their experience and are not locked into a specific environment.

M-eux test in action for Windows Mobile

Windows mobile is a wide-spread operating system for mobile devices developed by Microsoft. The system is used in end-user smart phones and in business mobile devices for management of data on the work flow.

CRM (Custom Relation Management) related applications, stock management, fleet management are examples of business applications that are used on Windows Mobile devices

Windows Mobile extends the familiarity of the Windows desktop to mobile devices. Windows Mobile is based on Windows Embedded CE and supports the .NET Compact Framework.

Automated testing of Windows Mobile applications

Jamo Solutions provides tools that automate the testing effort for mobile applications running on the Windows Mobile platform. A mobile application needs to be tested and verified before going live. Today tests that include the user interface of the mobile application are most of the time executed manual. With the technology of Jamo Solutions, these test cases can be automated.

The tool “M-eux Test’ is a test automation environment that ensures:

The re-use of test cases on different hardware platforms. Today Windows Mobile devices are available from different manufacturers. Form a specific manufacturer, you can have different models. All these windows mobile devices run the same operating system but have different hardware characteristics like screen resolution and keys. The scripts of M-eux test are hardware independent. Once implemented, a script can be re-used across different models.
The re-use of test cases across different version of the application under test. The scripts made by M-eux Test can easily be re-used to ensure that existing functionality is still working in new versions of the application under test. This is called regression testing.
Easy creation and maintenance of the test scripts. The technology applied by Jamo Solutions is easy to use, the scripts are readable and easy to maintain and the expertise gained by the usage of M-eux Test can be re-applied for testing applications on other platforms.

The technology platform of M-eux Test ensures the above requirements by supporting:

Testing through the user interface of the applications. Just like a manual tester will describe his test cases by using the user interface elements, the automated test script is verifying and driving the user interface elements of the mobile application under test. By recognizing the user interface elements, the script becomes hardware independent. If a new version of the application under test is released, then preserved functionality can be tested with the old scripts. The tool will take care of cosmetic changes like a menu item that is now in a new position. By using the user interface elements, the script becomes also readable for a non-technical tester and the script is easy to maintain. More information can be found in our solution description.
Extension of existing scripting environments. M-eux Test did not implement its own scripting environment. In order to ensure a fast learning curve and to ensure re-use of gained expertise, M-eux is an extension of existing scripting environments. For users with a test engineering background, M-eux Test extends the leading test automation tool QuickTest Professional from Hewlett Packard. For users with a developer’s background, M-eux Test extends Visual Studio from Microsoft and Eclipse

Windows Mobile GUI objects

M-eux Test is an all-round player and recognizes most of the user interface objects of Windows Mobile applications if these objects are developed following the Microsoft guide lines:

M-eux Test recognizes all user interface objects that are created following the Windows Mobile standards. All Microsoft Foundation Class objects are supported and special support is written for pre-defined applications like the agenda and the contact application.
M-eux Test can be configured to deal with user defined objects that are derived from the Microsoft standard objects.
Special support is foreseen for .Net Compact Framework customized objects.
M-eux recognizes the html user interface of web-based applications rendered by the mobile version of Internet Explorer.

This makes that out-of-the-box M-eux Test supports most of the Windows Mobile applications.

Business layer verification

In case of .Net Compact Framework applications, Run-on-Device supports also access from the test script to the business objects inside the application under test.

M-eux Test and Run-on-Device have also functionality to verify the contents of the mobile SQL database running on the Windows Mobile device.

Windows Mobile System verification

Special functions are implemented to verify the Windows Mobile operating system. The tester can at any time verify for example:

The number of processes running.
The loaded DLL’s inside one process
The memory consumption
The memory card space consumption
The battery status

The tester can fill automatically the working memory or the space on the memory cards in order to verify if his application can run in extreme conditions.

Special functions are foreseen to launch and verify the mobile communications:

Data communication
Phone calls
SMS messages
E-mail messages
MMS messages

M-eux test in action for Windows CE

In the enclosed figure you can see the power properties window on a Windows Embedded device. The tool can access the definition of the list field and thus test/verify that the list field is enabled, how many items are in the list without actually dropping the list, the text of each item in the list. Without this technique, the tool would not be able to retrieve this information from the list field. Using M-eux Test you can access all these attributes and create simple scripts that are at the same time very powerful and reusable.

Windows CE is the embedded real-time operating system from Microsoft for small footprint and mobile 32-bit intelligent and connected device.

Windows CE is a modular/componentized operating system that serves as the foundation of several classes of devices. The operating system is used in portable navigation or connected media devices, communication or thin client devices.

Automated testing of Windows CE applications

Jamo Solutions provides tools that automate the testing effort for applications running on the Windows CE platform. Each application including embedded applications needs to be tested and verified before going live. Today tests that include the user interface of the embedded application are most of the time executed manual. With the technology of Jamo Solutions, these test cases can be automated. The tool “M-eux Test’ is a test automation environment that ensures:

The re-use of test cases on different hardware platforms. The embedded application might be available on different devices with different characteristics. The tool M-eux Test supports the creation of scripts that are hardware independent. Screen resolution changes, different key board layouts will not lead to an additional scripting effort for automating the test.
The re-use of test cases across different version of the application under test. The scripts made by M-eux Test can easily be re-used to ensure that existing functionality is still working in a new version of the application under test. This is called regression testing.
Easy creation and maintenance of the test scripts. The technology applied by Jamo Solutions is easy to use, the scripts are readable and easy to maintain and the expertise gained by the usage of M-eux Test can be re-applied for testing applications on other platforms.

The technology platform of M-eux Test ensures the above requirements by supporting:

Testing through the user interface of the applications. Just like a manual tester will describe his test cases by using the user interface elements, the automated test script is verifying and driving the user interface elements of the embedded application under test. By recognizing the user interface elements, the script becomes hardware independent. If a new version of the application under test is released, then preserved functionality can be tested with the old scripts. The tool will take care of cosmetic changes like a menu item that is now in a new position. By using the user interface elements, the script becomes also readable for the non-technical tester and the script is easy to maintain. More information can be found in our solution description.
Extension of existing scripting environments. M-eux Test did not implement its own scripting environment. In order to ensure a fast learning curve and to ensure re-use of build expertise, M-eux is an extension of existing scripting environments. For users with a test engineering background, M-eux Test extends the leading test automation tool QuickTest Professional from Hewlett Packard. For users with a developer’s background, M-eux Test extends Visual Studio from Microsoft and Eclipse.

Windows CE UI objects

M-eux Test is an all-round player and recognizes most of the user interface objects of applications running on Windows CE and developed following the Microsoft guide lines:

M-eux Test recognizes all user interface objects that are created following the Windows CE standards. All Microsoft Foundation Class objects are supported.
M-eux Test can be configured to deal with user defined objects that are derived from the Microsoft standard objects.
Special support is foreseen for .Net Compact Framework customized objects.

This makes that out-of-the-box M-eux Test supports most of the Windows CE applications.