Hal wrote:
I'm taking a quick look at the Autokey capability of Fractint to see how useful it might be in regression testing during development of any new versions or features of Fractint.
You'd be doing a great service to help out with creating regression test cases. A LOT of regression testing could be done with batch files. Where this is possible it is better than using autokey. The autokey feature is 100% tied to the user interface. We made an effort after introducing autokey to add new menu/screen input items at the bottom of screens to avoid breaking autokey scripts. But it's still a brittle approach, which is not to say it shouldn't be done. The very fact that autokey IS brittle adds to the value for regression testing since it is so sensitive to interface changes. The value of batch file regression tests is that they don't depend on the interactive interface. We need both. While I don't subscribe to all aspects of Xtreme programming, having a robust regression test suite is a powerful tool. I have built some at work, and having such a suite is a huge benefity when doing large architectural changes. Hack away, run the test, hack away some more - the test suite gives courage to make more aggressive changes. Tim