# Ruby access to Win Forms application **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [August 26, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010 "2007-08-26T02:15:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigjimmyk3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010/1 "2007-08-26T02:15:40Z")
I am a QA Engineer implementing a Ruby-based test framework to test the applications in my organization…the issue I have is about 20% of what we do is Windows Forms (.NET) applications…can I use Win32OLE for this, or would I need to use something like Ruby .NET or IronRuby? Basically the idea of the application under test is that it makes a socket connection to a server, then the server passes messages to it. When a message is passed of a particular type, a “screen pop” is generated. So what I want to do in a Ruby test is to: 1. Set up a mock of the server and establish connection with the application. 2. Send the application a message which should result in a screen pop. 3. Verify the screen pop came up. Anyway…any advice on this is greatly appreciated. I’ve done some Ruby work but am a newbie as it pertains to using it to access Windows. Jim ---
**Author:** ![bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigjimmyk3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010/2 "2007-08-26T03:32:45Z")
Just using the win32 apis with things like FindWindow to check the popup window is showing? ---
**Author:** ![bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigjimmyk3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 5:20am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010/3 "2007-08-26T05:20:53Z")
Jim K. wrote: > I am a QA Engineer implementing a Ruby-based test framework to test > the applications in my organization…the issue I have is about 20% of > > > what we do is Windows Forms (.NET) applications… The majority of your tests simply must use .NET. They should run as close as possible to the tested code. Every step farther from that code, the fuzzier and sloppier the tests get. In general, there’s always a role for tests that are easy to script. Raw Ruby, or Ruby+YAML, would allow you to invent graceful DSLs that simultaneously document and test business rules. Yet that’s not where you should start. > 1. Set up a mock of the server and establish connection with the > application. > 2. Send the application a message which should result in a screen > pop. > 3. Verify the screen pop came up. Mock the thing that pops the screen up. You don’t need to test the GUI itself, because you aren’t going to refactor or upgrade that. (Hopefully!) You need tests that cover only your own logic. That logic isn’t going anywhere if a test simply catches its outputs _before_ those outputs go into the real GUI. ---
**Author:** ![bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigjimmyk3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010/4 "2007-08-26T07:50:59Z")
> assert\_xpath, assert\_javascript, & assert\_ajax > Philip…Thanks for your thoughts…I guess my thought is that since I > am the QA guy, and am not writing the program code (I’d say we do > “moderately rapid but not agile” development), my job is just to > verify that the program works from a user perspective, not to unit- > test the code. So far, I’ve been using Ruby/Watir to drive the > browser and test our admin utility (which is a web application)…and > that’s worked great. The only thing remaining is to be able to > “drive” the win32 client so I can verify it responds appropriately to > messages it gets from the server. I guess my thought is, if I mock up > the client, how do I know the client is working (if I’m not actually > running it)? ---
**Author:** ![bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigjimmyk3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 7:45am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010/5 "2007-08-26T07:45:58Z")
On Aug 25, 6:32 pm, Jeremy W. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Just using the win32 apis with things like FindWindow to check the popup > window is showing? That’s exactly what I’m trying to do…nothing fancy, and I don’t need code-level/unit tests…since I’m the QA guy and not the developer, I just want to test the app itself to make sure at the user level, it works the way it should. So I’d think something like a FindWindow would work perfect…is that accessible through win32ole? Or something else? ---
**Author:** ![bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@bigjimmyk3](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/bigjimmyk3)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/ruby-access-to-win-forms-application/113010/6 "2007-08-26T11:29:39Z")
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