Table checkpoint

• It can be used in cases when you need to verify that a particular cell in a table has a certain value or in some cases if the table itself has the defined number of rows of columns.
• When a web table or an equivalent table object is chosen to insert a checkpoint on, Table checkpoint properties get invoked.
• As a menu option, you choose “Standard Checkpoint” while recording. So the ground rules like creation, editing and maintaining are all the same.

Let us look at an example:
I will pick a random site that has a web table. Open in internet explorer. Start recording, insert checkpoint->Standard checkpoint and choose the table object in the web page:

Select the Web Table element and click OK.

In the properties window, select the cell and specify if a constant value has to be there or parameterize.
In the settings tab, the way in which the verification has to be carried out.

Cell identification, this tab is where the user has the settings to identify a particular row or column.

As I said earlier, since this is a variation of standard checkpoint all the same rules apply.

• Although, this in-built feature is available for checking tables I don’t find it very useful. There are other functions like GetRowCount, GetColumnCount, GetRowItem etc. to verify the tables. Let me explain that a little bit more before we move on.

• In practical scenarios checking just one cell might not suffice and creating a single checkpoint for each value in the table might get cumbersome. Eg: If a table is 3X3 then to check each cell, we will see 9 checkpoints. If the value in the second or first cell itself does not match, it does not signal an inconsistent table which kind of defeats the purpose and results in unnecessary continuation of checking the other cells.

• Instead by reading the table and using GetRowCount, GetColumnCount, GetRowItem functions you can establish a looping mechanism and check as needed and exit on failure. Only consideration for a tester at this point would be to make sure that he writes appropriate test results so that there is clarity.

• Also, table checkpoint fails in case of dynamic tables.