I know this post is very specific to Windows 7 but I thought it was worth pointing out that some of the little tools embedded in the OS are often the most valuable to us testers (or anyone wanting to recreate an issue). One such tool is the Problem Steps Recorder in Windows 7. It’s a little app that records all of the actions a user performs and then documents them through screen shots and information about the actions. (Note – this is not a record and playback tool)
Open the start menu and type psr in to the search bar.
You should get the psr.exe file returned in your search.
Open the application and you’ll get the Problem Steps Recorder screen as follows:
Now, it’s a simple case of clicking Start Record and then doing your testing, recreating of bug or whatever it is you want to record. This isn’t exclusive to web either – this tool works for anything in your operating system. In my example I’m going to open Internet Explorer and then search for iMeta before browsing through a few pages within the iMeta site before opening up the iMeta twitter page.
After you have finished simply click stop recording and you will be asked to choose a save location. The file that is saved is a zip file, so give it a name and location and hit save.
Now open the zip file.
The zip file contains a .mht file which contains all of the details of your recording session. In my example below it has captured both desktops (we use dual desktops). The document that opens contains screenshots and descriptions of the actions taken. At the end there is a summary of actions too. You can skip to each part or play the screens as a slideshow too.
Here’s a couple of screens taken from the file.
The screen shots don’t do the final report justice. I’d suggest you give it a go to really see the details of the screens. At the end of the file is the following information. I’ve highlighted the test steps in bold/red:
“Recording Session: 12/01/2010 10:27:25 - 10:27:52
Problem Steps: 8, Missed Steps: 0, Other Errors: 0
Operating System: win7_rtm
Problem Step 1: User left click on "Internet Explorer (push button)"
Program: Windows Explorer, (win7_rtm), Microsoft Corporation, EXPLORER.EXE, EXPLORER.EXE
UI Elements: Internet Explorer, Running applications, Running applications, MSTaskListWClass, Running applications, MSTaskSwWClass, ReBarWindow32, Shell_TrayWnd
Problem Step 2: User keyboard input in "Google - Windows Internet Explorer" [... ENTER]
Program: Internet Explorer,(win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE SCODEF:CREDAT:, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: Internet Explorer_Server, Shell DocObject View, Google - Windows Internet Explorer, TabWindowClass, Frame Tab, Google - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame
Problem Step 3: User left click on " - Developing software, transforming business (editable text)" in "imeta - Google Search - Windows Internet Explorer"
Program: Internet Explorer, (win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE SCODEF:CREDAT:, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: - Developing software, transforming business, iMeta - Developing software, transforming business, imeta - Google Search, Internet Explorer_Server, Shell DocObject View, imeta - Google Search - Windows Internet Explorer, TabWindowClass, Frame Tab, imeta - Google Search - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame
Problem Step 4: User left click on "consultancy service (editable text)" in "iMeta - Developing software, transforming business - Windows Internet Explorer"
Program: Internet Explorer, (win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE SCODEF:CREDAT:, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: consultancy service, consultancy service, iMeta - Developing software, transforming business, Internet Explorer_Server, Shell DocObject View, iMeta - Developing software, transforming business - Windows Internet Explorer, TabWindowClass, Frame Tab, iMeta - Developing software, transforming business - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame
Problem Step 5: User left click on "Embedding Agile (editable text)" in "iMeta - Consultancy - Windows Internet Explorer"
Program: Internet Explorer, (win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE SCODEF:CREDAT:, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: Embedding Agile, Embedding Agile, iMeta - Consultancy, Internet Explorer_Server, Shell DocObject View, iMeta - Consultancy - Windows Internet Explorer, TabWindowClass, Frame Tab, iMeta - Consultancy - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame
Problem Step 6: User mouse wheel down on "iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile (pane)" in "iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile - Windows Internet Explorer"
Program: Internet Explorer, (win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE SCODEF:CREDAT:, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile, Internet Explorer_Server, Shell DocObject View, iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile - Windows Internet Explorer, TabWindowClass, Frame Tab, iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame
Problem Step 7: User left click on "> Follow us on Twitter (editable text)" in "iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile - Windows Internet Explorer"
Program: Internet Explorer, (win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE SCODEF:CREDAT:, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: > Follow us on Twitter, > Follow us on Twitter, iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile, Internet Explorer_Server, Shell DocObject View, iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile - Windows Internet Explorer, TabWindowClass, Frame Tab, iMeta - Consultancy - Embedding Agile - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame
Problem Step 8: User left double click in "iMeta Technologies (iMeta_UK) on Twitter - Windows Internet Explorer"
Program: Internet Explorer, (win7_rtm.), Microsoft Corporation, IEXPLORE.EXE, IEXPLORE.EXE
UI Elements: iMeta Technologies (iMeta_UK) on Twitter - Windows Internet Explorer, IEFrame “
As you can see the final file includes almost all of the information you would need to recreate any potential defects or scenarios. Along with the screen shots the information gives a complete picture, which can often be missing from many bug reports.
If you’ve got Windows 7 installed then try using the PSR.exe tool and see if you’d find it valuable.
Also let me know, via the comments (or twitter @rob_lambert) of any other awesome apps that come bundled with the OS. Shout out to Steve S for pointing me to the tool.
Enjoy.