• e2e_appmon Best Practices checklist items for setting up the e2e machine and recording scripts

• UIM (any version)
• e2e_appmon
• e2e_appmon_dev probe (any version)

• e2e guidance

Detailed requirements for running e2e transactions:

• Dedicated workstation:

• Robot:

• Probe:

Resolution:

• Both systems need to be identical - for example, 1024x768 especially if you are copying image files to other dedicated workstations to run the scripts form a different location. Keep resolution the same on the workstations and within VNC session when recording scripts.

• e2e_appmon_dev user:
  
  
  • You will need a login user name and password on the computer where the probe script(s) are run. userid/pwd entered in the profile must be for a domain account or local user account with full access and admin privileges as well as full privileges to the applications that need to be monitored.
    
    
• Application login:

• Once the script/scripts are recorded, you can copy the .src, .lst, and .rob files as well as any .bmp/image files from the system where the scripts were recorded to the other system(s) you want to run the scripts from - other dedicated workstations at other physical locations for instance. The files must be stored in ...e2escripting\scripts. We can create and use a custom probe for that so you can copy the files via drag and drop. Note that later versions of e2e allow you to configure this within the probe.

• Viewing Scripts:

• Security considerations for highly secured environment: You must keep the workstation desktop 'open' by disabling the screensaver, timeouts, etc. Note that you can use VMware to keep the Guest OS open but keep the physical machine locked. Other considerations for highly-secure environments include removing the monitor/keyboard, locking the rack/physical space.

Other Notes/Best Practices:

• Internet Explorer is always launched with low-level privileges. It can prevent some menu options in IE7/IE8 to be recorded. In this case, use the keyboard shortcuts. See an example at Internet Explorer keyboard shortcuts in the Help. See other Articles on browser support.

• An "about blank" page is seen by IE8/IE9 under Windows 7 as a suspicious page. So avoid using StartBrowser("IE","about blank"), prefer to use StartBrowser("IE","www.my_site.com").

• Pure text capture is not allowed in a web page under IE8/IE9, use WinTask Capture Wizard to capture the object content instead of a rectangle.

• Never use the Windows Start menu when you record your actions: the programs list in that menu varies from one Windows start to another. When you record your actions and want to start a program, use Shell statement and its wizard. And for ease of use, when you start Recording mode, you are asked if you want to launch a program.

Use ClickOnBitmap (for mouse clicks not correctly executed)
This happens on software where options are not in the menus but in icons. WinTask does not access by object icons.

Two functions for addressing this problem:

• ClickOnBitmap or

• ClickOnText

Use the e2e wizard (double-click on Capture Functions->ClickOnBitmap) via the e2e Help Menu when in the e2e script editor to walk through the process and automatically generate the correct lines in the script. Hint use "somewhere in a defined area" in the page and define enough area to locate the object/window you want.

- Use e2e_appmon_dev version 2.20 or higher for 64-bit OS environments.

Browser support

- In e2e_appmon_dev v 2.0 or higher, you can use IE10/11
- Chrome version 32
- Firefox (any version starting at version 10 or higher)
- The WTBho add on may be running in limited mode and can’t access the DOM (document object model) This can disable the proper functionality for text synchronization.

For any errors encountered during script execution check Articles.

According to WinTask Support note that since Windows 7, you can no longer use Pause and UseWindow when working on web pages.

OCR recognition: Even if it works for a while it can stop working.

This function's unreliability lies within WinTask itself or due to idiosyncrasies of Windows environments and is NOT reliable/consistent based on my experience in he field and in testing. Use either ClickOnBitmap or Sync on Image function instead.

Also note that as of the latest WinTask version, you cannot use "Wait for text" as it is no longer useable. As per the Help file in:

C:\Program Files\Nimsoft\e2e_scripting\HtmlHelp\default.htm

In the Remarks section it states:

"If the text to search is in a new window, prefer UseWindow function to wait for this new window (and so new text in this new window). Do not use a Pause until text to detect that a web page has finished to load, a UsePage is enough. Note too that within Internet Explorer, only a pause until OCR text can be used."

You can access the Help from the robot where e2e is deployed or you can access the basic WinTask functions online at:

http://www.wintask.com/onlinehelp/default.htm

For examples search using the Navigation menu on the left side of your browser:

Capturing Data in a Web Page

or

Capturing Data Using OCR

and

'Wait for Image' or even Wait for OCR Text example is available - just search on Wait for Image and note that the font is a bit hard to see on the left-side since its blue on blue.

Other:
See also nimWaitForWebContents in the Help file if you want to include that as a checkpoint within the NimRecorder script enabling the e2e_appmon probe to measure intermediate times in the process in addition to the total runtime of the script.

Other script example:
captured_string$ has the text captured from the indicated cell. Then an if-then-else statement can help as per below.

'UsePage("Cisco Unified CCX Serviceability")
ret = CaptureHTML("DIV[CONTENT='SHUTDOWN', INDEX='1']",captured_string$)

If captured_string$ = “SHUTDOWN” then
<generate alarm, do whatever else>
nimEnd()
end()
endif

'UsePage("Cisco Unified CCX Serviceability")
ret = CaptureHTML("DIV[CONTENT='PARTIAL SERVICE', INDEX='1']",captured_string$)

If captured_string$ = “PARTIAL SERVICE” then
<generate alarm, do whatever else>
endif

Your script continues from here…