Managing Object Repositories

The Object Repository Manager enables you to create and maintain shared object repositories. You can work with object repositories saved both in the file system and in a Quality Center project.

Each object repository contains the information that enables QuickTest to identify the objects in your application. QuickTest enables you to maintain the reusability of your components by storing all the information regarding your test objects in a shared object repository. When objects in your application change, the Object Repository Manager provides a single, central location in which you can update test object information for multiple components.

Note: Instead of, or in addition to, shared object repositories, you can choose to store all or some of the objects in a local object repository for each component.

If an object with the same name and description is located in both the local object repository and in a shared object repository that is associated with the same component, the component uses the local object definition. If an object with the same name and description is located in more than one shared object repository, and these shared object repositories are all associated with the same component, QuickTest uses the object definition from the first occurrence of the object, according to the order in which the shared object repositories are associated with the component. .

You can use the same shared object repository with multiple components. You can also use multiple object repositories with each component. In addition, you can save objects directly with an component in a local object repository. This enables them to be accessed only from that component.

If one or more of the property values of an object in your application differ from the property values QuickTest uses to identify the object, your component may fail. Therefore, when the property values of objects in your application change, you should modify the corresponding test object property values in the corresponding object repository so that you can continue to use your existing components.

You can modify objects in a shared object repository using the Object Repository Manager, as described in this section. You can modify objects stored in a local object repository using the Object Repository window