Multiple QTP instances with sandboxie
I just learned a new trick.
Sandboxie is a freeware application that you can use to run two instances of QuickTest Pro simultaneously. Sandboxie will create a virtual sandbox separated from the rest of the applications on your machine. What happens in the sandbox stays in the sandbox, and what happens outside the sandbox stays outside.
Once you have sandboxie installed, run an instance of QTP in the sandbox and then run another instance outside the sandbox. They won’t see each other. Better yet, they won’t see each other’s browsers, so you can run two tests at the same time without them interfering with each other.
Of course sandboxie wasn’t written with QTP in mind. This is just one of many applications for it. Most of you are software testers, and I am sure that software testers can figure out the benefits of segregating a test app from the rest of your machine.
Tags: qtp, QTP-9.2, QuickTest Pro, QuickTest-Pro-9.2, sandboxie, Virtual-Sandbox
July 14th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Excellent tool, and a cool trick. I personally like using Virtual Machine technology for my isolated testing. As more players come on the market with strong virtualization products, the options get better and better. VMWare (arguably the leader in virtualiation software) now even offers a totally free product call VMWare Server that will allow anyone to create and manage virtual machines. While not as powerful as VMWare Workstation, it offers a lot of great features and is FREE.
Of course, to use a virtual machine, you technically need to have a license for all the software you install on it… including the operating system. For those without an OS Subscription from Microsoft, that could become expensive if you plan to stay legal. With that in mind, one obvious benefit of using the Sandbox approach is that you don’t need additional licensing.
Reply to Boyd Patterson
July 16th, 2007 at 9:27 am
I suspect that if sandboxie or similar tools become popular, many licenses will be rewritten to forbid the usage that I described here. For all I know, it is already prohibited, but I’m certainly not going to go read 10,000 lines of a license just to find out I’m not allowed to do something.
Reply to Will
August 2nd, 2007 at 1:15 pm
I hope this signles a new life for the site.
I really miss your posts and insights…
Reply to Yaron Assa