RVL Editor¶
Purpose¶
Rapise Visual Language Editor
How to Open¶
Use the RVL button on the main toolbar to open an RVL (.rvl.xlsx) file. The file will be opened by the RVL Editor in the Content View.
Features¶
The editor supports all RVL statements, including:
RVL is a recordable language. The Rapise recorder translates captured actions into objects stored in the object repository and a set of actions. Each recorded chunk can be inserted into the desired place in the selected sheet:
Recording is usually performed in conjunction with scripting and, potentially, some JavaScript for advanced tasks.
RVL Scripting¶
In addition to recording, you can use the RVL editor for authoring scripts. You may drag and drop actions from the Object Tree into the RVL. The RVL editor is also both keyboard and mouse friendly. You can either type whole commands or parts of them and rely on autocompletion, or simply select from a dropdown in a cell of the row.
When writing or modifying a script, it is recommended to work from left to right for script creation.
Auto Completion¶
The RVL Editor supports autocompletion. For example, if you type I in the flow column:
And hit the Tab key, the whole If statement is created:
Note: Tab is a trigger for autocompletion. If you use cursor keys or the mouse to leave the cell, autocompletion will not be executed.
If you go to the last line and change End to ElseIf:
Then an alternative branch is appended:
Similar logic works for Params, Conditions, Maps, Loops, Assertions, and so on.
Disabling Cell Auto Correction¶
Sometimes autocompletion prevents you from entering a desired value. For example, you have a global object navigator, and typing it into the Object column automatically changes it to Navigator.
The solution is to enter the cell to edit text and press F2. This will disable autocompletion for this cell, and then you can type any value.
Action Params¶
When you select an action from the list, the RVL Editor automatically fills in default action parameters. For example, if we choose:
And press Tab after DoLaunch, the RVL Editor fills in the default parameter:
DoLaunch has one required parameter, cmdLine. It also has a number of optional parameters. They are not added by default to make the script more concise. However, you might need all or some of them. So you can add them by pressing the Params button on the RVL Toolbar:
It is also possible to add parameters one-by-one using the dropdown in the ParamName column:
Password Param Value¶
Once the ParamType column is set to password, ParamValue should be an encrypted string. Setting an encrypted value is simple:
- Change ParamType to
string. - Type the plain value to be encrypted into ParamValue.
- Switch ParamType to
password- the plain value becomes encrypted.
Param Dropdowns¶
It is possible to define your own list of dropdown values for any parameter. In most cases, this is defined for custom functions.
For example, you might have a function SetState(stateCode) where you expect a predefined, limited set of state code values.
function SetState(/**string*/stateName)
You can define a dropdown for the stateName parameter so that the RVL editor suggests the following list:
The values for this dropdown are defined in the spreadsheet:
Moreover, a code is defined for each state name, so it can be re-mapped in the implementation of the SetState function:
Dropdown values are defined in the file Dropdowns.xlsx, which can be added to the test using the Create/Spreadsheet... menu item.
The full key to find a matching dropdown is objectid.method.paramName. If not found, it will check the method.paramName and paramName columns:
| Key | Example |
|---|---|
objectid`.`method`.`paramName |
Global.DoLaunch.cmdLine |
Functions.SetState.stateName |
|
MyButton.DoClick.clickType |
|
object_type`.`method`.`paramName |
VSFlexGrid.DoClickCell.row |
method`.`paramName |
SetState.stateName |
paramName |
stateName |
The dropdown can be defined in the current (next to Main.rvl.xlsx), in the parent test, and so on, up to the framework root (the folder pointed to by %WORKDIR%).
The RVL Editor always tries to find the best match for a dropdown column, starting from the nearest Dropdowns.xlsx and climbing up to the framework root.
Dropdowns can also be mapped to other values, i.e., human-readable menu area names to learned object IDs, state names to state codes, element names to XPath statements, and so on. This mapping is done by adjacent columns in Dropdowns.xlsx. The mapping can be one-to-many, so you can define the state code, state order number, and state capital for the same state name by adding corresponding columns.
Full Line Comments¶
Anything typed into the Type cell of the commented line is expanded to fill as many cells as needed to display the text. This is similar to the way Excel extends cell text across sibling empty cells:
Context Menu¶
- Find '
<object>' in Object Tree - This menu item is only available when you click on a cell in the Object column. - Flash '
<object>' - Flashes the object. - Show XPath/Location for '
<object>' - Shows the location string for the object. - Rename '
<object>'... - Renames the object in the object repository and fixes all references in the current sheet. - Play This Sheet - Executes actions from the active sheet.
- Play Selection - Executes only the selected range of actions. Useful for tweaking tricky actions and checking the result immediately.
- Play From Here - Starts execution at the selected line and proceeds until the end. Useful to continue a script from the point where it stopped.
- Ins Row - Inserts a new row before the active one.
- Del Row - Deletes all selected rows.
- Cut, Copy, Paste - Standard clipboard operations.
- Clear in Selection - Clears cell values in the selected region.
- Select All Rows - Selects the entire sheet.
- Insert Selected Rows Here - Clones rows at the current location.
- Move Selected Rows Here - Moves rows to the current location.
- Copy Selection as JavaScript - Translates the selected range to the equivalent JavaScript and puts the text to the clipboard.
- Copy Selection as Text - Puts the selected range as tab-separated text to the clipboard.
- Wrap Selection Into If - Encloses the selected range into a branch.
- Wrap Selection Into Loop - Encloses the selected range into a loop.
- Extract Selection as new Sheet - Creates a new sheet and moves the selected range into it.
Sheet Tab Context Menu¶
- Play this Sheet - Executes the current sheet.
- Rename... - Changes the sheet tab name.
- Remove Sheet '
<sheet name>' - Deletes the sheet from the workbook. - Copy RVL DoPlaySheet - Copies the call statement for the selected sheet for inserting into another RVL sheet in the same workbook.
- Copy RVL DoPlaySheet - Copy call statement for the selected sheet for inserting into the other RVL workbook.
- Copy RVL.DoPlayScript(...) - Copies JavaScript code to execute this sheet (call sheet from JavaScript).
Functions Object¶
Suppose you have some functions defined in the User.js file:
Calling JavaScript from RVL is performed via the Functions Object. It is not available in the object repository and is only displayed in the RVL Objects dropdown:
Once selected, it displays all user-defined functions from the User.js file:
File Extensions¶
RVL has the following file extensions:
rvl.xlsxrvl.xls
RVL is designed to be a simple grid language and it can be edited in any spreadsheet editor that supports .xls or .xlsx files (e.g., Microsoft Excel).
RVL Editor Shortcuts¶
- Shift+Enter - Inserts an empty line after the selected cell.
- Ctrl+D - Deletes the line of the selected cell.
- Ctrl+P - Reveals optional parameters for an action in the current line, acting like a click on the
Paramsbutton on the RVL Toolbar.
RVL Toolbox¶
Since Rapise 6.7, you can use the RVL Toolbox to quickly find RVL snippets, KB articles, and documentation links. The toolbox is located on the right side of the RVL editor.
The toolbox consists of three parts:
- Search field: Enter text here to filter the list of items.
- List of items: Select an item to preview. Some items can be dragged directly into the RVL area.
- Preview pane: Displays a description of the selected item. Click links to get more information.
If you select an item in the toolbox and see a yellow box with text Drag selected item to insert into RVL, you can drag the item to the RVL area.
There is also an advanced way of using the toolbox:
- Start typing what you want to do in the Actions column (the line must be empty).
- Then hit Enter and choose an item from the list using the arrow keys.
- Then hit Enter again to insert the snippet into the RVL.
If you want to keep the toolbox hidden, unpin it.
Move the mouse over the Toolbox label to reveal the list of items.
Navigate to Definition (F12)¶
To quickly navigate to the location where a specific function or Page Object action is defined, follow these steps:
- Click on the function name or action.
- Press the F12 key.
- Rapise will attempt to locate and open the corresponding definition.
Define a Map by Drag&Drop¶
When you drag and drop a spreadsheet (.xlsx) into the RVL, a map is created. This map refers to the data file using an absolute path, starting from the framework root (represented by %WORKDIR%).
However, if you hold the Shift key while performing the same action, the map is created with a relative path instead. This relative path is based on the current rvl.xlsx file.
DoPlayTest via Drag&Drop¶
When you drag and drop a test case into the RVL, a RVL.DoPlayTest call is created. The call refers to the test case using an absolute path, starting from the framework root (represented by %WORKDIR%).
However, if you hold the Shift key while performing the same action, the call is created with the test alias name (short name) instead:
Short names are useful when all test cases have unique names. This usually entails longer naming conventions; for example, instead of Invoices/Create, a test case should be named Invoices/Create new Invoice to avoid collisions with other test cases like Orders/Create.
Drag&Drop for DoPlayTest¶
When you drag and drop a test case into the RVL, it generates a RVL.DoPlayTest call. This call references the test case using an absolute path starting from the framework root, represented by %WORKDIR%.
However, if you hold the Shift key while performing the same action, the same call is created with the test alias name (short name) instead:
Short names are particularly useful when each test case has a unique name. In such cases, longer naming conventions can be used to differentiate test cases; for example, using Invoices/Create new Invoice instead of Invoices/Create to avoid collisions with other test cases like Orders/Create.