Coded UI is a highly powerful module in Visual Studio which simplifies coding in terms of UI and Functional Testing. However, Coded UI, in spite of its advantages has one major flaw – it typically generates a code which is based on recordings of manual tasks performed in the UI!
The recordings are done as per the pixels of the system and therefore difficult to decipher.
A solution to this is Coded UI Test Enhanced (CUITe) framework. This framework involves an open source Microsoft Tool called CUITe, which instead of recording the actions performed on a given UI, records the UI elements by Object ID.
How CUITE works
CUITe focuses on the PageObject Model of Automation which involves having an in-house repository for all the objects recorded from the HTML page, as below:
Advantages of CODED UI framework:
- Easier code maintenance.
- Zero need to change code to match UI changes (only the elements changed in UI need to be re-recorded).
- Auto generates code with namespaces, avoiding confusion regarding which namespaces are to be included.
- Code can be run on any system.
(Please Note: As record and playback functions involve recording by pixel values, UI elements may not be rendered at the same pixel location on all the systems) - Keyword and data driven testing becomes simpler as a result of automation and users can write their own custom code instead of customizing a system generated code.
With CODED UI’s growing popularity among the development community, it is likely that CUITe might be the next step forward in Functional Automation.
