How to: Record a Video of Your Desktop as You Run Tests Using Test Settings

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You can configure the diagnostic data adapter that records a video from Microsoft Test Manager and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. This diagnostic data adapter saves a video recording of the desktop session during the test with the test result or attached to a bug. Videos can help other team members isolate application defects that are difficult to reproduce.

To create a video recording, you must install the Expression Encoder 4.0 diagnostic data adapter software. For more information about which software to install, see How to: Install the Required Software to Create a Video Recording Using Test Runner.

Warning

If you start your test run before you install Expression Encoder and you want to record a video of your computer desktop, you must stop your test run, install Expression Encoder, and run the tests again if. If you continue to run your tests, no video recording is created.

Warning

The video recordings do not support multiple monitor configurations.

The following procedure describes how to configure the diagnostic data adapter for the video recorder from the configuration editor. These steps apply to both the configuration editor in Microsoft Test Manager and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010.

The video recorder can be used with either manual or automated tests. For example, if you run a coded UI test remotely you might want to record the desktop to see the coded UI test as it runs. For more information about how to capture a video recording remotely, see How to: Set Up Your Test Agent to Run Tests that Interact with the Desktop.

Configuring Video Recording for your Test Settings

To configure video recording for your test settings

  1. Open the test settings that you want to configure for recording videos. For more information, see Creating test settings for manual tests or Create Test Settings to Run Automated Tests from Visual Studio.

  2. In the test settings, select the Role to use to record the video.

    Note

    For manual tests and automated tests this would be the machine that runs the tests.

  3. Select Video Recorder and then click Configure.

    The Configure Diagnostic Data Adapter – Video Recorder dialog box is displayed.

    Video configuration

  4. (Optional) Select the check box next to Save video recording if test case passes to specify saving video recordings for both failed and passed tests.

  5. Under Video Quality, configure the following drop-down list options:

    1. Frame rate: Specify how many frames per second you want to use in the video recording. The default value is 4 frames per second. Values between 2 and 20 can be specified.

    2. Bit rate: Specify how many kilobytes per second to use in the video recording. The default value is 1024. Values between 1000 and 10,000 can be specified.

    3. Quality(1-100): You can specify the quality of the video recording by selecting a range between 1 and 100. The default is 50 (mid-range).

    Warning

    Video recording of the test cases uses lot of storage space on the server because it is stored with the test results.

    Tip

    Test Attachment Cleaner

    The data that the video recorder diagnostic data adapter captures can use a lot of database space over time. The administrator of the database used for Visual Studio 2010 cannot control what data gets attached as part of test runs. For example, there are no policy settings that can limit the size of the data captured and there is not a retention policy to determine how long to hold this data before initiating a cleanup. You can use the test attachment cleaner tool to:

    • Determine how much database space each set of diagnostic data captures is using.

    • Reclaim the space for runs that are no longer relevant from a business perspective.

    For more information and to download the test attachment cleaner tool, see Test Attachment Cleaner for Visual Studio Ultimate 2010 & Test Professional 2010.

  6. If you are using Microsoft Test Manager, click Save. If you are using Visual Studio, click OK. The diagnostic trace collector settings are now configured and saved for your test settings.

    Tip

    To reset the configuration for this diagnostic data adapter, click Reset to default configuration for Visual Studio and Reset to default for Microsoft Test Manager.

See Also

Tasks

Create Test Settings for Manual Tests

Create Test Settings for Automated Tests as Part of a Test Plan

Create Test Settings to Run Automated Tests from Visual Studio

Concepts

Setting Up Machines and Collecting Diagnostic Information Using Test Settings

Running Manual Tests Using Test Runner

Recording and Playing Back Manual Tests