UFT One
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software testing, Test automation |
| Predecessor | QuickTest Professional (QTP), Micro Focus Unified Functional Testing |
| Founder | Mercury Interactive |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Functional testing software |
| Owner | OpenText |
| Parent | OpenText |
| Website | www |
OpenText UFT One is a functional testing solution powered by artificial intelligence, designed to expedite automation testing across a wide range of platforms including desktop, web, mobile, mainframe, composite, and packaged enterprise software.
Previously referred to as Micro Focus Unified Functional Testing and QuickTest Professional (QTP), UFT One provides both keyword-driven and scripting interfaces within a graphical user environment. It utilizes Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) to script test workflows and interact with application elements. This tool allows developers to validate the user interface, service layers, and database components of applications through a unified console.
Initially created by Mercury Interactive under the name QuickTest Professional, the tool became part of Hewlett-Packard (HP) following HP’s acquisition of Mercury Interactive in 2006. The release of UFT 11.5 merged HP QuickTest Professional with HP Service Test into a single offering, which was distributed by HP Software Division until the division was sold to Micro Focus in 2016.
In 2023, ownership transferred to OpenText after it acquired Micro Focus, and OpenText now maintains and markets UFT One.
Description
OpenText UFT One is an automation tool tailored for functional and regression testing across diverse software platforms and environments. It detects objects within native graphical user interfaces or web pages and executes actions such as mouse clicks or keyboard inputs, while capturing object attributes like names or handler identifiers. The tool leverages VBScript for scripting test logic and manipulating application controls, with more sophisticated actions requiring programming skills.
Although its primary focus is on UI-driven test case automation, UFT One also facilitates testing beyond the UI layer, including operations on file systems, databases, Web services, and APIs.
Exception handling
UFT One manages exceptions using recovery scenarios that aim to maintain test execution despite unexpected errors. Nevertheless, due to its deep integration with application memory, certain exceptions may lead to non-recoverable termination of the tool.
Data-driven testing
The platform supports data-driven testing through the use of data tables formatted as Microsoft Excel workbooks. It provides both Global and Action-specific (local) data sheets that supply variable inputs to tests and verify expected outcomes, thereby increasing test adaptability and reuse.
Automating custom and complex UI objects
For UI components that are either customized or complex and not automatically identified by the tool, UFT One enables users to create virtual objects or employ insight objects based on bitmap comparisons. However, virtual objects are not supported during analog or low-level recording modes.
Extensibility
OpenText UFT One’s functionality can be enhanced through add-ins that enable support for additional development platforms not included by default, such as Web technologies, .NET, Java, and Delphi. These add-ins are packaged with HP QuickTest Professional within the HP Functional Testing suite.
User interface
The user interface of OpenText UFT One includes two modes for editing test scripts: Keyword View and Expert View. These modes allow UFT to operate as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), featuring standard IDE capabilities like setting breakpoints to pause test execution.
Keyword view
The Keyword View displays test procedures in a structured, tabular layout featuring columns such as Item, Operation, Value, Assignment, Comment, and Documentation. Each line in the table represents a script command, enabling users to insert, remove, or update individual steps. This view also accommodates properties for checkpoints, output variables, actions, conditional logic, loops, and breakpoints to aid in debugging processes.
Expert view
Expert View offers power users the ability to directly modify test source code utilizing VBScript. All test actions are editable here except for the root Global action, with any adjustments automatically reflected back in Keyword View.
Languages
OpenText UFT One employs VBScript as its primary scripting language. While VBScript includes support for classes, it does not provide polymorphism or inheritance capabilities. In comparison to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), VBScript excludes some Visual Basic keywords and lacks built-in support for debugging, event handling, and form design tools. HP has supplemented this with a debugger offering limited features relative to comprehensive IDEs available for VBA, Java, or VB.NET.
Additionally, certain Windows scripting technologies such as WScript, WSH, WMI scripts, and VB.Net code snippets can be embedded within Expert View scripts.
Drawbacks
OpenText UFT One is predominantly designed for Windows platforms and relies heavily on legacy Windows-specific technologies like ActiveX controls and the non-object-oriented VBScript language. Its browser compatibility is incomplete, notably lacking support for Opera. The Test Execution engine is tightly coupled with the GUI Test Code IDE, which means tests cannot be executed independently of UFT itself; however, remote execution on separate machines remains feasible.
The high cost of licensing typically limits adoption to smaller testing groups, which can result in isolated quality assurance workflows instead of fostering collaborative agile testing environments involving business stakeholders and development teams.
Integration
OpenText UFT One integrates seamlessly with Quality Center to facilitate management of tests, shared object repositories, libraries, recovery scenarios, and data tables. HP Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) supports various IT roles throughout the software lifecycle—from requirements gathering through delivery—and is designed to complement testing tools like UFT by helping detect functional defects within application code.