SAFS Framework Release Notes
2007.04.13

Definitions, Critical Reminders, SAFS Tools, Install Instructions, Setup Notes, New Stuff


Definitions:

SAFS Software Automation Framework Support
SAFS Engine A keyword-driven (aka data-driven) automation tool using SAFS.
SAFS/DriverCommands A SAFS Engine for tool-independent Driver Commands
SAFS/Selenium A SAFS Engine for web client testing using Selenium by OpenQA.

Back2Top, Definitions, SAFS Tools, Install Instructions, Setup Notes, New Stuff

CRITICAL REMINDERS

This release of SAFS has been a long-time in the making. The primary focus of this release was to provide NLS testing support within RRAFS and SAFS. A major push to support Selenium as a web testing engine in SAFS was also performed. If you contributed any code to the SAFSDEV project for inclusion in a future release please review the new source before assuming your contributed code is included in this release.

Because of the extensive NLS effort some generous contributions by third parties are not in this release. These contributions are slated for another release later this year (2007). It is not that we do not appreciate and value these contributions, we simply did not have the time and resources to merge, document, and test them while devoted to the NLS and Selenium efforts.

Affected customizations from previous releases:

If you have taken advantage of any of the customization capabilities of this framework, then you must take some simple precautions prior to installing this new release. Installing a new version of the framework will install new, default versions of customizable files.

SAFSTID.INI
If you have a modified SAFSTID.INI in your install directory, you should make a back-up, then evaluate how and if you want to merge with the new file.

SAFS Batch Files
If you have previously installed the SAFS Framework then you may have manually modified batch files or VBS scripts to handle custom project paths. You will need to backup modified files and evaluate how and if you want to merge such changes with the new files.

Failure to perform any of these prescribed backups may erase your prior customizations. Hopefully, you have backed them up somewhere already as part of your normal ongoing activities. Right?!

The highest STAF release that can work with SAFS is STAF 2.6.11 !
SAFS will not work with STAF 3.x or higher!


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STAFWrap.DLL, ComponentFunctions.DLL, DDVariableStore.DLL and associated scripts for registering DVariableStore.DLL are included in the SAFS\bin directory. The SetupSAFS script does register and\or move files to system directories as necessary.

COM classes supporting COM access to STAF for use in VBScript and other COM-related features exist in the latest version of DDVariableStore.DLL. Consult the sourcecode in CVS or any VBA or COM object browser until more proper documentation is made available. A very rudimentary "RUTHere" test script for this COM STAF interface can be found in SAFS\bin\DDVariableStoreTest.VBS .


Back2Top, Definitions, Critical Reminders, SAFS Tools, Setup Notes, New Stuff

Installation Instructions

Review Backup Reminders in Critical Reminders

If you have not done so, review the Critical Reminders concerning backups of locally modified or customized files from previous releases. I'd hate to say, "I told ya so."

Short-N-Sweet install instructions:

A Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Windows Scripting Host V5.6 or later is required. Refer to SetupSAFS.README in the Java Runtime and Windows Scripting Host sections for more details and install information for those tools.

  1. Extract the SAFSFramework .ZIP into ANY directory.
    Extract all files of the ZIP file into ANY directory.  A good choice might be something like C:\TEMP, or even C:\SAFS.  RRAFS (Rational Robot) users might do best to extract into their ".\Rational\Rational Test\sqabas32" directory. (Although this should not be necessary with a RRAFS release since that includes the SAFS install files already. Only do this if you are upgrading SAFS without upgrading RRAFS.)

    Enable "OVERWRITE Existing Files" if you have a previous release.

  2. Run the extracted SetupSAFS.wsf script.
    In Windows Explorer, locate "SetupSAFS.wsf" in that directory and double-click to execute it.
    (Note: previous releases used SetupSAFS.vbs.  This file has now been overwritten to call SetupSAFS.wsf instead.)

    SetupSAFS.wsf will prompt to confirm for the installation of the SAFS Framework and STAF.  The user has the option to skip these installations by pressing "No" or "Cancel" when prompted. You do not need to re-install STAF if you already have STAF installed.

  3. Setup SAFS and (optionally) IBM Rational XDE Tester or Functional Tester per SetupSAFS.README
    Verify/Complete any setup per that doc.

SetupSAFS.wsf will not install any program that will appear in Control Panel's "Add/Remove Program" application.


Back2Top, Definitions, Critical Reminders, SAFS Tools, Install Instructions, New Stuff

Additional Setup Notes and Information

Additional notes and instructions for this release can be found via the links below. These are generally reviewed in the listed order. The files are contained in the downloaded installation ZIP file and available once all contents of the ZIP file are extracted into the install directory. (The links to these will work once unzipped locally.)

SetupSAFS.README Install STAF and SAFS Services
SetupRuntime.README Runtime Setup for Testing
SetupRobotJ.README Optionally, setup IBM Rational XDE Tester or Functional Tester to use STAF and SAFS Services.


Back2Top, Definitions, Critical Reminders, SAFS Tools, Install Instructions, Setup Notes,

New, Fixed, or Enhanced Stuff

This release of SAFS has been a long-time in the making. The primary focus of this release was to provide NLS testing support within RRAFS and SAFS. A major push to support Selenium as a web testing engine in SAFS was also performed.

Because of this extensive NLS effort some generous contributions by third parties are not in this release. These contributions are slated for another release later this year (2007). It is not that we do not appreciate and value these contributions, we simply did not have the time and resources to merge, document, and test them while devoted to the NLS and Selenium efforts.

Many thanks to those who have contributed in one way or another for this release:

Most notable items, but not all-inclusive are:


Back2Top, Definitions, Critical Reminders, SAFS Tools, Install Instructions, Setup Notes
Carl Nagle, SAS
Project Manager, SAFSDEV
***REMOVED***