My test is running, but where am I?
When a test is running, there doesn't appear to be any easy way of determining exactly what step is executing. I guess Console or Threads might tell you, but it would sure be nice if the current step you're executing was front-and-center, with a little arrow next to it. Kind of like what it looks like when you pause.
We used to do this in SVT - but it used to come at a
cost.It used to take 100% of the machine's CPU to show you the line of code which was getting executed. I do not think it makes sense. No IDE or execution environment will show you with a pointer or arrow which line of code is getting executed unless you are single stepping the line of code in debug mode. It is of limited value because that line or arrow will be changing at 100 steps per second - so you will be mostly seeing screen flash or like in SVT, the arrow was actually behind 1000 steps in painting and only when execution paused or stopped did the arrow actually catch up with the actual line of code.
Yeah, but the only way to tell that your test case is still running is that you have a red square in your toolbar. When iTest goes away for a while, you really have no idea why.
You should be seeing a lot of activity in all the session windows as well.
Also on execution issues view, you should see the progress bar of time left for execution.
If I were seeing a lot of action, I wouldn't be wondering...
And if I'm running this for the first time, I probably won't have a progress bar.
It can be really hard to tell that iTest is doing anything. As I said, the only reliable indicator is that the green triangle has turned into a red square. In all that screen real estate, not exactly something that jumps out!
Interestingly, we're working now on an updated execution model for our next release. And our plan is to further integrate into Eclipse's standard model for executions (of any kind).
In this new model, there will be the difference between "run" and "debug". Run will run things exactly as they would run when executed in a back-office (headless) regression. That means that they'll run at full speed and without any UI stuff. Debug will be similar to what we have today -- in the sense that you can use breakpoints, single-step, etc. In the Eclipse model, there is a view that shows you a list of all of the running processes that have been launched. But in Eclipse's case, they also don't attempt to show you where you are in the middle of execution until you pause.
I recognize that, especially for former FanfareSVT users who were used to seeing that pointer move through the steps in a test case as it is executing, it can be frustrating not being able to see where you are in real time. The problem with the FanfareSVT model is that it limits you to a single thread. iTest is inherently multi-threaded, and then you face the question of how to show progress across a possibly large number of threads.
So perhaps we can consider an additional view that will list progress in real time for each of the threads, so that you can see what each thread is doing -- even while the threads are running.
Actually, threads doesn't do it. It seems to be at least one step behind. It claims I'm still in reboot_console, but I finished that step, and I'm trying to open a different device (according to Console).
