Terminology

This table defines some PTF terms:

Field or Control	Description
Asset	See Test Asset.
Runtime Options	A list of application environments available to the tester. Runtime options store application environment information such as URL, user ID, password, and Process Scheduler server, and information needed to run DataMover. PTF supplies this information to the test by default when a test does not explicitly specify such information.
Explorer	See PTF Explorer.
Grid	See Scroll.
Hook	Establish a connection between a PTF test and a PeopleSoft application browser.
Library	Similar to a test, a library contains one or more steps that together automate some discrete amount of test functionality. Unlike a test, a library is never run by itself. Rather, libraries are meant to be called (sometimes repetitively) by tests.
Log	An object that saves the experience of a single test run event. Logs report the success or failure of the testing process and include messages and screen shots to indicate where errors occurred.
Log Manager	A tool that enables PTF administrators to purge unneeded logs
Maintenance	The process of updating PTF tests and test cases to reflect object modifications present in upgrades or changes to the PeopleSoft application. This is done by way of a direct connection to the PeopleSoft metadata, not by running the test. For example, if a field is renamed in an upgrade, the PTF maintenance process can warn the user that a test containing a reference to the old field name will likely fail to find the object by the old identification method. The maintenance process can help the user find the obsolete field reference and replace it with the valid (renamed) field reference before running the test.
Mass Updated	A tool that enables you to modify test steps across multiple tests using search and replace.
Project	A PeopleTools Application Designer project. Projects are the primary means for moving PTF Tests and Test Case objects between databases.
PTF Client	An instance of the PTF runnable program installed on an individual user’s machine.
PTF Environment	An instance of a PeopleSoft application that has been configured to exchange data with one or more PTF clients, enabling clients to save and retrieve test assets from the application database.
PTF Explorer	A view of the PTF test assets stored within an application database. The system stores assets in a tree structure with collapsible folders for organizing the test assets. The pane containing the tree is the first pane visible to the user after start up and will always be the leftmost pane in the PTF user interface. It is labeled with the name of the application database.
Recognition	The means that the PTF client uses to identify (or find) HTML objects within the application. Often, this is the HTML ID property of the object.
Recorder	A feature of the PTF tool that is the primary means for creating new tests. While the Recorder is active, the PTF tool converts all of the user’s manual test steps into steps that can be saved as an automated test.
Screen Shot	An image generated during test run. A screen shot can be generated automatically by PTF to show the application window immediately after an error condition, or as a result of a step that uses the Log.Snapshot step.
Scroll	A scroll represents a rowset, which is a set of rows of data uniquely identified by one or more key fields. Rows in a scroll can contain child rowsets. Scrolls are rendered on PeopleSoft pages as grids of data or as a grouping of fields in a scroll area.
Scroll Area	See Scroll.
Step	The smallest unit of test functionality in PTF. A test will contain a number of steps. A step typically corresponds to a single manual test step or test instruction.
Test Asset	An object used in PTF to automate a functional test. PTF test assets are saved in the application database and can be retrieved at any time to help automate tests. The five types of test assets are: Runtime Options Libraries Logs Tests Test Cases
Test	The primary type of test asset in PTF. Tests contain steps that replicate the action of a tester running a functional test against the PeopleSoft application.
Test Case	A set of data associated with a test corresponding to the values entered or verified in the application. For example, if a hire test hires three similar employees into the PeopleSoft system, a user might elect to record one test and to configure that test to call three test cases, one for each employee hired. A test can have multiple test cases associated with it.
Test Editor	A space within the PTF user interface where users can edit individual tests and test cases. The Test Editor displays a test as a series of steps presented as rows within the test. Users can open multiple Test Editor panes to edit multiple tests simultaneously.
Variable	A variable is a reference to a section of computer memory that can be used to store information that is subject to change or modification. PTF tests often use variables to store values that are not known until the test is run. For example, you could use a variable to store an ID number generated by the PeopleSoft application during the test. Later in the test, the value of the variable could be manipulated, if necessary, and then used to set or validate other information within the PeopleSoft application.