writing functional tests for a desktop app in dotnet

Question

Hi, We are developing a desktop application in winforms using 3rd party controls,which are not UI automation compatible.Is there any way to do the functional tests through UI.We want to perform various actions on UI, n assert correct Ui changes are happening and the backend stuff changing(assert db record saved).

Answer 1

Have you tried using TestAPI?

Answer 2

If you want to take a look at Visual Studio 2010, it has some interisting built-in support for functional testing: http://blogs.msdn.com/balagans/archive/2009/10/28/9914045.aspx

Answer 3

We use the White framework for functional testing. It uses the Automation API, but for 3rd party controls which don't support that we wrote adaptors to expose them. It's not too hard, depending on the controls you use, but debugging support for Automation is pretty horrific. Your only real friends are UIAutomationVerify/UISpy and White itself.