Understanding Recordsets

In Certify, recordsets contain data values used in data-driven testing. Using recordsets during process execution, you can use the same process to input or verify different data. As the certification process moves through all critical business processes, the data values change to reflect the varying state of the underlying application data.

In order to create a recordset, you need to have an existing layout. A Certify layout is a collection of variables that define the data in a recordset. After a layout is created, you add recordsets and data values. Each layout can have multiple recordsets.

Recordsets are created and managed in the Certify Data window. In the Data Summary pane, layouts for the project are listed. When you select a layout in the Summary pane, the Recordsets tab displays all associated recordsets.

Recordset Mode

If a recordset is associated with the layout, then you need to set the recordset mode. Listed in the following table are the mode options:

Mode	When Executed	How Executed
Read Only	Reads recordset at the beginning of the execution.	Loops process once for each row until End of File
Append	Write recordset at the end of execution.	Appends to existing recordset and loops process until Abort or Exit
Clear and Append	Write recordset at the end of execution.	Creates new recordset for each execution session and loops process until Exit
Read and Update	Reads recordset at the beginning of execution.	Updates the recordset at the end of the process

Common Uses for Recordsets

In Certify, use recordsets in the following ways:

Common Use	Description
Attach a recordset at the process level in Read mode.	Loop through the process once for each record in the recordset. When all the records are read, the process execution ends.
Attach a recordset at the process level in Append mode.	Loop through the process writing values to a new or existing recordset. Since there is no end condition when writing to a file, the process executes until a condition is met. If you do not provide an exit or abort condition, you will create an infinite loop.
Attach recordsets at the step level in Read mode.	Read a record in a recordset in a process when a step executes, and no automatic looping occurs. You can read the following, previous, or specified record.
Attach recordsets at the step level in Append mode.	Write a record to a new or existing recordset when the step is executed and no automatic looping occurs.
Attach a recordset at execution.	Use a different recordset during an execution of the selected process. The read and write execution of the recordset works the same.
Create a recordset at runtime.	Use the Write Record system action to create a new recordset during process execution. Values are read from a recordset attached at the process level, and those values are used to create new values to a different recordset.

Importing Data Values

Data values can be imported from an external comma-separated value (CSV) file. Most spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft® Excel® export this format, or you can create a CSV file in an editor that can save straight text output. If you are importing a file, the first row is reserved for the heading, and it is not included in the data values. For more information, see Importing Data Values and Adding Them to an Existing Recordset.

Skip Characters

The caret (^) character is a special value that is designated as the skip character for any value in a recordset. Any step that refers to a recordset whose value contains this character is skipped. For example, if certain fields or objects are enabled or disabled based on data values, the skip character can be used in a recordset to designate when disabled fields should be skipped.