Open Test Framework  
Toolbox

Table of Contents

The Toolbox contains all the OTX nodes (activities) to insert into the test sequence in the Workflow Designer by using drag-and-drop (click here for more information). The activities in the Toolbox are categorized by the OTX libraries (OTX Core and OTX extensions), in each library the activities are also arranged in logical groups.

Besides the OTX Core library and other OTX extension libraries, the Toolbox also contains some special libraries such as the Test Step library, the Diagnostic Database library, the Text Block library, the Player library and the Controls library. These special libraries do not have activities as the other libraries but they contain some elements or data displayed as nodes in the tree view. These nodes may be dragged and dropped into the Workflow Designer to create new activities with already-input data or to update the input data of the existing activities in the Workflow Designer.

The activities can be displayed in different view modes. Depending on how much space is available, one of the view modes is advisable. Users can change the view mode by using the Element representation drop-down list in the header of the Toolbox. There are 4 different view modes as shown below:

The Toolbox is a tool window, so it can be docked, floating, opened, closed, resized or set to auto hide. When starting the OTF the first time, the Toolbox is already opened and docked on the left of the Workflow Designer. You can open or close it via the Toolbox button () in the Ribbon.

Toolbox Features

The Toolbox can be divided into 3 main parts: the Header area, the Library Content area and the Library Category area.

Header area

In the Header area of the Toolbox, there are the Auto Hide command and Close command above. The Element representation drop-down list, the Filter text box and the contextual commands are below. The Element representation drop-down list helps to change the view mode of the Library Content (see above).The Filter text box supports searching the nodes according to the input keyword query. The contextual commands appears when one of the following special libraries is selected: the Test Step library, the Diagnostic Database library or the Text Block library.

No matter which node is selected in the Library Content, the Filter text box will filter all the nodes/activities in the Library Content according to the keyword query. However, in the case of the Diagnostic Database library, it only filters the child nodes of the selected node.

Below are the contextual commands with their descriptions:

Command Test Steps library Diagnostic Database library Text Block library Description
Manage Libraries ● ○ ○ Opens the Library Manager dialog which allows to manage references (similar to the References settings of the project settings).
Expand All ● ● ○ Expands all nodes (displays all the first level child nodes).
Collapse All ● ● ○ Collapses all nodes.
Diagnostic Shortname ○ ● ○ Displays the names in short names (command active) or in long names (command inactive).
Text Block Editor ○ ○ ● Opens the editor for text library.

Library Content area

The Library Content area of the Toolbox will display the content of a library such as all the activities in logical groups or the database in a tree view etc. You can use the commands in the Header to adjust the display of this area. In the OTX libraries, you can hover mouse over an activity to see its tooltip with OTX based specification. At the bottom of the tooltip is the More information... link to open the wiki web page for the current activity in the Internet browser.

Library Category area

The Library Category area contains all the libraries displayed as category entries. Here you can click on an entry and the content of the corresponding library will be displayed in the Library Content area. You can also enlarge or shrink the Library Category area by dragging the border between the Library Content and the Library Category upward or downward. Besides, you can customize the Library Category by using the commands in the expanded menu (click on the button ">>").

The entry of the Player library is only enabled when an OTP Monitor/Playlist/Initial-Values tab is opened on top. The entry of the Controls library is only enabled when an OTP Monitor tab is opened on top.

Below are the commands of the expanded menu (according to their positions from top to bottom):

Node Description
Show More Buttons Expands the Library Category Tabs area up one more row.
Show Less Buttons Shrinks the Library Category Tabs area down one more row.
Navigation Pane Options Opens the "Navigation Pane Options" dialog which allows to show/hide category tabs by checking/unchecking the corresponding check boxes and to change the positions between category tabs by using the "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons. Note that the changes only take effect after you clicking on the OK button.
Add or Remove Buttons Shows the list of all the available category tabs which allows to show/hide tabs by checking/unchecking the tab entries.