How to reduce Execution Speed with QTP

REDUCE EXECUTION TIME-METHODS

Context:

Everyone has an opinion on the matter – some insist the Object-Repository yields the best results, while others are strong advocates for working with Descriptive Programming. While one will insert every object into a variable and use that variable, another would use the objects straight from the Object-Repository, thinking it was the most efficient way.

Discussion :

I am going to  test manipulated the GUI through these  methods(Please make sure that we run all the methods on single instance):
1)Regular use of the object repository.

iTimer = Timer

For i = 0 to 50

    Browser("Google").Page("Google").WebEdit("q").Set i

Next

Print "Regular OR ="  & Timer-iTimer

2)Straightforward descriptive programming.

iTimer = Timer                                 

For i = 0 to 50

    Browser("index:=0").Page("index:=0").WebEdit("name:=q").Set i

Next

Print "Descriptive Programming = " & Timer-iTimer

3. OR via fixed reference variable (settings a variable to point to an OR object, and then using that variable).

iTimer = Timer

Set oEdit = Browser("Google").Page("Google").WebEdit("q")

For i = 0 to 50

    oEdit.Set i

Next

Print "OR via fixed reference = " & Timer-iTimer

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4. Descriptive Programming via fixed reference variable (similar to C).

iTimer = Timer

Set oEdit = Browser("index:=0").Page("index:=").WebEdit("name:=q")

For i = 0 to 50

    oEdit.Set i

Next

Print "Descriptive programming via fixed reference = " & Timer-iTimer

5. Runtime through Object-Repository (using the object repository to access the WebEdit’s runtime object, and setting the value by changing a runtime property).

iTimer = Timer

For i = 0 to 50

    Browser("Google").Page("Google").WebEdit("q").Object.value =  i

Next

Print "Runtime through OR = " & Timer-iTimer

6. Runtime through Descriptive programming (similar to E).

iTimer = Timer

For i = 0 to 50

    Browser("index:=0").Page("index:=0").WebEdit("name:=q").Object.Value = i

Next

Print "Runtime through Descriptive Programming = " & Timer-iTimer

7. Runtime through fixed object-repository reference (using the object-repository to get to the runtime object, inserting it into a variable, and using that variable)

iTimer = Timer

Set oEdit = Browser("Google").Page("Google").WebEdit("q").Object

For i = 0 to 50

    oEdit.value =  i

Next

Print "Runtime through OR fixed reference = " & Timer-iTimer

8. Runtime through fixed descriptive-programming reference (similar to G).

iTimer = Timer

Set oEdit = Browser("index:=0").Page("index:=0").WebEdit("name:=q").Object

For i = 0 to 50

    oEdit.value =  i

Next

Print "Runtime through DP fixed reference = " & Timer-iTimer

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9. Runtime through the OR and GetElementByID

iTimer = Timer

Set we = Browser("B").Page("P").Object.getElementById( "id" )

For I = 0 To 50

     We.Value = i

Next

Print "runtime through the OR and GetElementByID = " & Timer-iTImer

10. Runtime through the OR and GetElementByName

iTImer = Timer

Set we = Browser("B").Page("P").Object.getElementByName( "name" )

For I = 0 To 50

     We.Value = i

Next

Print "runtime through the OR and GetElementByName = " & Timer-iTImer

The Results
And here are the averaged results:
1)Regular OR = 5.59375

2)Descriptive Programming = 6.375
3)OR via fixed reference = 3.31253
4)Descriptive programming via fixed reference = 3.25122
5)Runtime through OR = 2.90625
6)Runtime through Descriptive Programming = 3.921875
7)Runtime through OR fixed reference = 0.203125
8)Runtime through DP fixed reference = 0.265625
9)Runtime through GetElementById = 0.20122
10) Runtime  through GetElementByName = 0.21019

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This turned up to pack some surprises, at least for me, but the bottom line remains the same – setting a variable to the GUI’s runtime objects is the most efficient method.
It seems that working directly through the object repository is faster than through descriptive programming (difference of almost a whole second – which quite shocked me, personally). This is reinforced by a more than a second gap when using OR and DP to access the WebEdit’s runtime object, however, the difference is wiped out by using a mediating variable.
It’s interesting to note that using the runtime object reduces the time by almost half, bringing it close to the performance of a fixed reference via a variable.
And the winner, by a full order of magnitude, is using the runtime object through a fixed reference variable. This is not surprising, as it avoids QTP’s GUI mapping mechanism completely (beside the first variable assignment).

Happy Automation

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