HP Sprinter Overview
Software version: 11.00
Publication date: October 2010
This file provides information about HP Sprinter 11.00.
Documentation Updates
The top of this document contains the following identifying information:
- Version number, which indicates the software version.
- Publication date, which changes each time the document is updated.
To check for recent updates of this or any other Sprinter documentation, or to verify that you are using the most recent edition, visit:
HP Software Product ManualsFor an overview of the product documentation, see the Welcome chapter of the HP Sprinter User Guide.
Minimum System Requirements and Supported Technologies
This section includes the following:
Minimum System Requirements
To successfully install and run Sprinter, your computer must meet the minimum system requirements shown below. However, performance may be improved by using systems with stronger/later setups than the minimum requirements.
Computer/Processor: | Pentium IV or higher microprocessor (minimum 1 GHz) |
Operating System: | - Windows XP 32-Bit Edition, Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3
- Windows Vista, 32-bit Edition with or without Service Pack 2
- Windows 7, 32-Bit Edition
|
Memory: | Minimum of 1GB. Additional memory is required when testing applications with multiple technologies or when using the Automatic screen movie recording option to capture movies during run sessions. |
Color Settings: | High Color (16 bit). |
Graphics Card: | Graphics card with 64 MB video memory |
Free Hard Disk Space: | 350 MB of free disk space for application files and folders. |
Language Support
On each of the supported operating systems, the Sprinter user interface can be displayed in the following languages:
To change your language settings, go to the General Settings pane of the Settings dialog box and select your language from the list of languages. You will need to restart Sprinter for the new language settings to take effect.
HP ALM Requirements
Sprinter functionality is available with:
- HP Application Lifecycle Management 11.00
- HP ALM Quality Center 11.00 Enterprise Edition
It is not available with:
- HP ALM Quality Center 11.00 Starter Edition
- HP ALM Performance Center 11.00 Edition.
For a list of the HP ALM permissions you need to run a test in Sprinter, see the Prerequisites step in the How to Run a Manual Test in Sprinter task in the HP Sprinter User Guide(Getting Started chapter > How to Run a Manual Test in Sprinter task > Prerequisites step).
Supported Technologies and Browsers
Power Mode can work with applications that were developed with the following technologies:
Technology | Version |
|---|
.Net | 2, 3, 3.5 |
Java | 1.6.10 and up. When working with Windows 7 or Vista operating systems,the Sprinter JRE Support Tool (JavaEnabler.jar) must be installed. The tool can be found in the <Sprinter installation folder>\bin directory. For more details, see the Troubleshooting and Limitations section of the Power Mode chapter in the HP Sprinter User Guide and the Help included with theSprinter JRE Support Tool. |
ActiveX | N/A |
Silverlight | 2, 3 |
WPF | All versions |
Dojo Web 2.0 Toolkit | 1.2.3 |
GWT Web 2.0 Toolkit | 1.5.3 |
ASP.net Ajax Web 2.0 Toolkit | 3.0.30512, 3.5.30729.1 |
YahooUI Web 2.0 Toolkit | 2.7.0 |
QuickTest Professional Extensibility | Web |
The following browsers can be used when working with Power Mode to test Web applications:
Browser | Version |
|---|
Internet Explorer | 6, 7, 8 |
Mozilla Firefox | 3.0.x, 3.5 |
Installing HP Sprinter
Software Prerequisites
The following are the prerequisites your system requires before installing Sprinter. If you run the Sprinter installation program and are missing these prerequisites, the installation program prompts you to install them. If you are running a
Silent Installation, these prerequisites must be installed first.
- Windows Installer 3.1
- Microsoft Data Access Components 2.8 SP1
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package ATL Security Update
- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1.
- Requires an internet connection. If unavailable, contact Microsoft for the installation package to manually install.
Installing Sprinter
You can install Sprinter from the HP ALM DVD or from the HP ALM Add-ins page.
To install Sprinter:
- Prerequisites:
- Access the Sprinter setup window from one of the following locations:
- The HP ALM DVD.
- Insert the HP ALM DVD into the DVD drive.
- If the DVD drive is on your local computer, and Autoplay is enabled, the HP Application Lifecycle Management setup window opens. If Autoplay is disabled on your computer, right-click the DVD drive and select Autoplay. The HP Application Lifecycle Management setup window opens.
- Click Browse DVD.
- Navigate to the <ALM_DVD_PATH>\ALM\Utilities\Sprinter folder
- Double-click setup.exe.
- The HP Sprinter 11.00 setup window opens. Continue to step 3.
- The HP ALM Add-ins page.
- Log in to HP ALM.
- Select Help > Add-ins Page.
- Click the HP Sprinter link. The HP Sprinter page opens.
- Click the Download HP Sprinter 11.00 link to download Sprinter.
The Sprinter_Install.zip file is downloaded to your local machine.
- Double-click the Sprinter_Install.zip file to extract the zip file.
- Navigate to the folder where you extracted the zip file and double-click setup.exe.
- The HP Sprinter 11.00 setup window opens.
- Click the Install Sprinter 11.00 link. The installation program opens.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Sprinter.
Note: Sprinter supports using extensibility toolkits developed for QuickTest Professional. If you want to use extensibilities with Sprinter, see Appendix A - Using Extensibility Packages in the HP Sprinter User Guide. Extensibility packages can be enabled any time after installing Sprinter.
Silent Installation
A silent installation (or quiet installation) is an installation that is performed in the background. You can install Sprinter silently on your computer, without the need to navigate through setup screens or for user interaction. You can also install Sprinter on remote computers.
- It is recommended to save any open files and close all open applications before running the silent installation.
- Install the prerequisite software for Sprinter. For the full list of prerequisite software, see Software Prerequisites. You can begin the silent installation only after all the required prerequisite software is installed.
Caution: The prerequisite software must be installed on the computer on which you are installing Sprinter, even if the silent installation is performed remotely. You can begin the silent installation only after all the required prerequisite software is installed.
- Open a command line and enter:
<HP ALM_DVD_PATH>\ALM\Utilities\Sprinter\Sprinter\MSI\HP_Sprinter_11_00.msi / quiet
Note: You can use most standard MSI command line options when installing Sprinter from the command line. For more information about performing a silent, or quiet, MSI installation, see the relevant Microsoft documentation.
Installing Sprinter on Computers for use with Mirroring
Sprinter's Mirroring feature enables you to run your test on multiple machines simultaneously with different configurations.
A test that is run with Mirroring has a primary machine and secondary machines:
- Primary machine. The machine on which you manually perform all the user actions in your test.
- Secondary machines. The machines on which Sprinter replicates your user actions.
To run a test with Mirroring you configure the secondary machines with the specific configuration whose compatibility you want to test. After you perform each user action on your primary machine, Sprinter replicates that user action on your secondary machines.
You install Sprinter on secondary machines the same way that you install it on your primary machine.
After you install Sprinter on a secondary machine, confirm that the Sprinter Agent icon is displayed in the notification area of the task bar of the secondary machine. If the Sprinter Agent icon is not displayed in the notification area of the task bar, the Sprinter Agent can be launched from the start menu (All Programs > HP Sprinter > Sprinter Agent).
Once Sprinter is installed on a secondary machine and the Agent is running, that machine is available for use in a Mirroring test. You should not run Sprinter on the secondary machine. The Sprinter Agent is configured to run automatically when the machine starts. For details on configuring the Sprinter Agent, see the HP Sprinter User Guide.
Notes and Limitations
This section includes the following:
Before you Install
This section includes information that is important for you to know before you install Sprinter.
General Limitations
- Sprinter does not support Mozilla Firefox version 3.6.
- Sprinter does not support Silverlight 4.
Sprinter and QuickTest Professional
Sprinter and QuickTest Professional share a variety of system resources. Before installing Sprinter on a computer on which QuickTest Professional is already installed, consider the following:
- Sprinter and QuickTest Professional 11.00 can be installed on the same computer. Sprinter cannot be installed on the same computer with earlier versions of QuickTest Professional.
- Sprinter and QuickTest Professional cannot be run simultaneously on the same computer.
- Any changes to the installation of one of these products will affect the other. If you uninstall, modify, or upgrade one product, the other may fail. You will need to repair the installation of the affected product.
- If you install QuickTest Professional after installing Sprinter, objects for the the following add-ins are recognized by QuickTest as WinObjects:
Supplemental Information
Use the information in this section as a supplement to the product documentation.
Additional troubleshooting information, guidelines, and feature-specific limitations are described in the relevant locations of the HP Sprinter User Guide. Make sure you are aware of those issues when working with the relevant features.
This section includes the following:
General Limitations
- When attempting to view a movie for the first time from the Welcome screen, you may receive a message that your operating system cannot find the movie file. When you attempt to open the movie from the Welcome screen again the file will be found and you will not receive the message again.
- Sprinter stores user information in HP ALM, in the Sprinter folder in the Resources folder. You should not modify this folder.
- If you close the Run Attachments dialog box and re-open it while an attachment is still uploading, the attachment is not displayed. Do not delete run attachments until they finish uploading.
- Sprinter may fail to run immediately after installation, on the Windows 7 operating system.
Workaround: Restart the computer.
- If you receive the message Sprinter could not startup, you may need to restart your computer.
- If you open a test from within Quality Center and manually set the status of a run in the Tests list without actually running the test in Sprinter, the run status is not updated in the Execution Grid tab in Quality Center.
Workaround: The status is displayed correctly in the Test Instance Properties dialog box for the run.
- The Sprinter Customization page in Quality Center is available only for users who belong to the TDAdmin group. Users who belong to a group with administration rights but who are not in the TDAdmin group will not have access to this page.
Power Mode Limitations
- Sprinter can work with Mozilla Firefox only if Mozilla Firefox was installed by a user with Administrator permissions.
- In user action descriptions, Sprinter does not properly identify GWT Richtext edit boxes by their name.
- Sprinter does not support windowless Silverlight applications hosted in Mozilla Firefox.
- Sprinter does not recognize dialog boxes opened by Mozilla Firefox.
- You must be logged-in with Administrator permissions (or have write permissions to the browser's installation folder) when launching Mozilla Firefox with Sprinter for the first time on all the machines in your run. Once you have launched Mozilla Firefox with Administrator permissions via Sprinter once, you no longer need them to use Mozilla Firefox.
- If you define an application with a name that uses the following special characters:
[ ] { } / \
the application and its associated information (rules, macros, data sets) are not saved in HP ALM.
- It is recommended that when you work with Power Mode you configure Sprinter to start your application when the run begins or manually start your application after the run begins.
If your application was started before the start of the run, Sprinter may not be able to work with your application.
- When working with Internet Explorer 7.0 or later on a Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system with UAC enabled, Sprinter may not recognize Web objects.
Workaround: Check and modify your Internet Explorer settings.
- Modify the Internet Explorer security settings, if needed.
For example, in Internet Explorer 7.0, select Tools > Internet Options. In the Security tab, clear the Enable Protected Mode check box and click OK.
- Enable the BHOManager Class Add-on if it is disabled. (Sprinter installs this add-on in Internet Explorer 7.0 or later. The BHOManager Class Add-on must be set to Enabled for Sprinter to interact with the browser and its objects.)
For example, in Internet Explorer 7.0, select Tools > Manage Add-ons > Enable or Disable Add-ons (or Tools > Internet Options > Programs tab > Manage add-ons button if the Manage Add-ons menu item is not listed). In the Manage Add-ons dialog box, click the BHOManager Class to highlight it. Then, in theSettings area, click the Enable radio button and click OK.
- Turn off UAC (User Account Control), if needed. This disables Internet Explorer's protected mode.
- When working with Power Mode, you should not have more than one instance of the application you are testing open on any machine in your run.
Business Process Testing Limitations
- Sprinter does not support the Data Awareness feature in HP ALM business process tests.
- User defined fields in steps are not supported in HP ALM business process tests.
- Steps in components are displayed in the order in which they were created and not by their logical order in the component.
- If you open a business process test that cannot be run, Sprinter displays the test without any steps. This may occur in, but is not limited to, the following situations:
- Your business process test has an input parameter linked to an output parameter, but the number of iterations for the components that contain the input and output parameters do not match.
- You created an output parameter for a flow but it is not linked to an existing parameter in a component.
Note that Sprinter will not display an error message for the test in this case.
Data Injection Limitations
- Data Injection does not support column headers that contain a period (.). A column containing a period (.) is displayed as empty and the data in the column is not injected.
Workaround: Replace the period (.) with a pound sign (#). Data injection treats these two characters as identical.
Mirroring Limitations
- User actions that are replicated on a secondary machine may not be displayed on an active remote desktop connection.
Workaround: Perform an action on the secondary machine via the remote desktop connection to refresh the display.
- When working with Mozilla Firefox, user actions are replicated only if you are logged in to the secondary machine with Administrator permissions.
- Sprinter cannot connect to a secondary machine when UAC (User Account Control) is enabled on the secondary machine.
Workaround: Run your test with an active remote desktop connection to the secondary machine, if you cannot turn UAC off on the secondary machine.
- Creating a rule in the Differences Viewer will not mark a difference as Resolved, in the following situation:
Open the Differences Viewer for a secondary machine in your run that is not synchronized with your primary machine (their action numbers do not match) and create a rule for the difference.
In this situation, the rule will apply only to any future actions in your run, but the current difference will not be marked as Resolved.
Workarounds:
- Click Ignore in the Differences Viewer to ignore the current difference.
or
- Exit the Differences Viewer and select the Skip or Sync options in the Machines sidebar for the secondary machine.
HP Support
You can visit the HP Software support web site at:
This web site provides contact information and details about the products, services, and support that HP Software offers.
HP Software support provides customer self-solve capabilities. It provides a fast and efficient way to access interactive technical support tools needed to manage your business. As a valued support customer, you can: search for knowledge documents of interest, submit and track progress on support cases, submit enhancement requests online, download software patches, and more.
To access the Self-solve knowledge base, visit the Self-solve knowledge search home page.
Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require an active support contract. To find more information about support access levels, go to: Access levels.
To register for an HP Passport ID, go to:
HP Passport Registration .
You can also access a localized version of the Software Support Web site in a number of languages by selecting the relevant language in the list on the top right of the HP Software Support Web site.
Legal Notices
© Copyright 2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.
The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
For information about third-party license agreements, see the Licenses directory on the HP ALM DVD.
